The kidnapping of Willie Whitla was big news in 1909. Who was Willie Whitla? He was the son of a prominent Sharon lawyer. March 18, 1909, in Sharon, Pa., 8-year-old Willie Whitla, the son of prominent lawyer James Whitla, a student at EastWard School was called from class by the school’s janitor, William Sloss. Outside the school, James H. Boyle and his wife Helen McDermott Boyle were waiting in a horse-drawn buggy. James Boyle had told Sloss that Willie’s father sent him to pick up the boy from school. Willie’s teacher, Anna Lewis, complied with the couple’s request, put Willie’s coat on him and led him to the buggy. Inside the buggy, Willie began asking questions. “When am I going to see my daddy?” Willie said. “Pretty soon, kid,” said James Boyle, unwrapping a cheese sandwich and handing it to him. “You see, we came here to keep you safe. This whole town is about to be quarantined because of small pox; it’s all over the place. Now your dad loves you so much, he asked us to take you to another town, where you’ll be safe. “But first, we got a little business to take care of. I’m going to stop up here by the postal box, and we want you to get out and mail this little letter to your mom and dad, so they will know you are safe.” That night, the ransom note arrived at the Whitla home. “We have your boy and no harm will come to him if you comply with our instructions. If you give this letter to the newspapers or divulge any of its contents, you will never see your boy again. We demand $10,000 in $20, $10 and $5 bills. If you mark the money or attempt to place counterfeit money you will be sorry. Dead men tell no tales. Neither do dead boys. You may answer at the following address: Cleveland Press, Youngstown Vindicator, Indianapolis News, and Pittsburgh Dispatch in the personal columns. Answer: “A.A. will do as you requested.” The ransom attempt was botched when the ransom instructions were leaked to the police. Three days had passed with no sign of Willie. On March 21, in Cleveland, on the Payne Avenue streetcar, two young riders, Edward Mahoney and Thomas Rumsey, noticed a familiar face among the riders — the boy whose picture was on the front page of all the newspapers. Cleveland police searched boarding houses and saloons soon to apprehend the kidnappers. The trial was held in Mercer, Pa., less than 50 days after the kidnapping. James Boyle got a life sentence; his wife got 25 years. He tried to convince the press that the kidnapping idea was not his, but that of Harry Forker, Mrs. Whitla’s brother. According to Boyle, on the night of June 8, 1895, Boyle found Forker removing papers from the body of Dan Reeble, Jr., on the Federal Street sidewalk in Youngstown. Boyle began blackmailing Forker, mostly small amounts, until November 1908, when he demanded $5,000. Forker allegedly told Boyle he didn’t have that kind of money, and he ought to consider kidnapping his nephew. Jimmy Boyle died of pneumonia at the Riverside Penitentiary in January 1920. Mrs. Boyle served her time, remarried and moved to Chicago. As for Willie, he went to become a successful attorney in Sharon. But, like his kidnapper, Willie succumbed to pneumonia, at the age of 31.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 02:47:13 +0000
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