On This Date in Minnesota History: June 18

*June 18, 1892 – On this date, Mamie Schwartz, a little four and a half-year-old girl was last seen near her home at 174 East Ninth Street, St. Paul, between 3 and 4 p.m. When neighbors hear of the child’s disappearance, some of them said they had seen her standing near a street organ grinder, which was playing in the block. All that (Saturday) night a search was made by her parents, assisted by relatives, but no trace of the girl could be found.

Mamie Schwartz

The missing child, from a photograph taken when she was two years old¹

The most important, and in fact, the only clue to the disappearance of the girl was given to police detectives on Monday morning, when the proprietor of the West House hotel, on West Tenth Street, informed Mrs. Schwartz that on Saturday afternoon a woman called at his place. She put a dollar on the desk and said she wanted to use his sitting room for a short time. She left a small yellow satchel and went out. As near as he could tell it was about 3 p.m. when she first called. Sometime afterward she returned with a child and asked for soap, water, a towel and a pair of scissors. These were furnished and she cut the child’s hair and put on a dress, which she took from the satchel. As she entered the hotel, she remarked, “Well, I have found my child.” Because the proprietor would not accept pay for the use of the room, she ordered a lunch, which was brought to her. A few minutes later when the hotel keeper looked into the room, both the woman and child were gone.

The proprietor of the hotel did not pay much attention to the woman, and the only description he could give was that she was of slender build, dressed neatly in black, and acted very nervously. The child’s appearance he did not notice, except that she had a habit of looking up sideways to anyone talking. This, Mrs. Schwartz says, convinces her that the girl was her daughter.

A plea was made to Minn. Governor Nelson for help and a state reward of $500 was offered upon Mamie’s disappearance. A circular announcing this was sent to the Superior police and the matter was turned over to Capt. Gallagher of the police force.

The family and police continued to look for the girl, but it was as if she had disappeared from the face of the earth, until…

On June 4, 1893, Valentine J. Schwartz, a pressman on the Daily Volkszeitung, identified his five-year-old daughter, Mamie Florence Schwartz, abducted from her St. Paul home last June, today in West Superior, Wis.

Three weeks ago, at a circus in West Superior, Capt. Gallagher identified the child but preferred to communicate with Minn. Gov. Nelson before taking proceedings to recover her. She was discovered through a birthmark, a small red spot on the back of her neck. This information was given to Mr. Schwartz and he arrived in the city late Saturday night. Sunday morning he identified the girl as his daughter, and there was a most happy reunion. The little girl recognized him at once, and, throwing her arms about his neck, kissed him fervently and called him father. Information at hand led the police to believe the child was taken immediately from St. Paul to Duluth, where she was kept by her unknown abdustress for several months.

Mamie when she was found²

“The woman took me to Duluth on a street car.” Her abductress had evidently become tired of keeping her, and had placed her in the family of the Levins, of the East end, to board. She was to pay them $3 per week board, but only paid this for a few weeks. In Feb. the Levins determined to move to N. D., and were about to turn the child over to the county, when Joseph Allard, a Northern Pacific switchman, went through the legal formality of adopting her. Allard had no children, and was very much attached to the little girl.

He was loath to turn her over to her father, and kissed her an affectionate goodbye. Mrs. Schwartz had several months ago given up hope of ever finding his little daughter. He said: “When I was coming on the train from St. Paul Saturday night I thought to myself if I do not find Mamie this time…I will give up all hope of ever seeing her again.”

Little is known of the child’s abductress, as the Levins family gave the child to Allard, and had themselves little or no information or history to share.

¹Saint Paul Daily Globe; “Where Is Mamie? Not the Slightest Trace Obtained of the Missing Child. The Detectives Beginning to Move With a Little Vigor. Facts of the Disappearance and Description of the Girl. Evidence Indicates That Mamie Schwartz has Been Kidnaped.”; June 26, 1892; p. 2.

St. Paul Daily Globe; “Little Mamie Found. Capt. Gallagher, of the West Superior Police. Locates the Lost Child. She Is Recognized by a Birthmark on the Back of Her Neck. Recognized by her Father and Now on Her Way to St. Paul. The Child First Taken to Duluth by an Unknown to Abductress.”; June 5, 1893; p. 1.

²The Saint Paul Globe; May 4, 1895; p. 3.

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