Recalling a once-famous 19th century Germantown kidnapping

The investigation of the famous 1874 child kidnapping of Charley Ross comes to life in Carrie Hagen’s new book “We is Got Him: The Kidnapping that Changed America,” published earlier this year.

Part 3 of 5

The investigation of the famous 1874 child kidnapping of Charley Ross comes to life in Carrie Hagen’s new book “We is Got Him: The Kidnapping that Changed America,” published earlier this year.

The kidnapping took place in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. Hagen decided to write about this topic after visiting the Germantown historical society, where she meet some retired history teachers who told her all about Ross.

The title of the book derives from first of 23 ransom letters sent to Ross’ father. The kidnapping was remarkable at the time, because police had no precedent for dealing with a kidnapping involving ransom letters.

As a result of this case, Pennsylvania was the first state to make kidnapping a felony. It would not become a federal crime until the 1930s.