American Historical Ephemera and Photography

$20,000 Reward. Has been offered for the recovery of Charlie Brewster Ross, and for the arrest and conviction of his abductors. He was stolen from his parents in Germantown, Pa., on July 1st, 1874, by two unknown men. Printed reward broadside issued by Pinkerton's National Detective Agency featuring an illustration of a young Charlie Brewster Ross, a "Description of the Child," and a "Description of the Kidnappers." Approx. 6 1/4 x 12 in. (creasing at folds, toning, dampstaining, adhesive residue on verso). [Philadelphia, PA]: Wm. F. Murphy's Sons, stationers, printers, 509 Chestnut St., 1 September 1874. Signed in type by Allan Pinkerton.

[With:] A newspaper clipping illustrating a scene from "The Trial of Westervelt." William Westervelt was accused of being an accomplice in the kidnapping of Ross.

Charles Brewster "Charley" Ross (born May 4, 1870 – disappeared July 1, 1874) was kidnapped from a sidewalk in front of his family home in the affluent Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia on July 1, 1874, becoming the first nationally publicized kidnapping for ransom case in the United States. The suspects were two men in a horse-drawn carriage who had lured Charley Brewster and his brother into the carriage. The Ross family soon received the first ransom note demanding $20,000. The family, unable to pay the ransom, enlisted the aid of the police and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Nearly 700,000 posters and fliers were distributed nationwide by the Pinkertons. The young child's fate remains unknown, and his case is one of the most famous disappearances in U.S. history.