The Charlie Ross mystery remains still a mystery. The man Julius C. Dellinger of Denver, this state, still believes he is the lost lad, although there are links in the chain of evidence to maintain his claim, that have not as yet been forged.
One of the missing links at this time is the inability of the searchers interested to procure the photograph of Dellinger when he was a child. It was upon the evidence contained in tis photograph that much depended to establish the belief of Dellinger that he is Charlie Ross.
J.F. Gaffney, identified with the case here in Shelby, believed that his sister, mrs Gibson of Georgia, had the missing tin type, but Mrs. Gibson, notwithstanding a diligent search, has not been able to find it. Nor have other relatives been successful.
Persons who have interviewed Dellinger have been struck by the resemblance of the type of countenance as between himself and the early photographs of Charlie Ross. The man unquestionably has the same cast and peculiarity of feature. Notably is this true of the mouth. The man advanced into old age has the same type of upper lip, and general contracted form of mouth that was observed on the features of Charlie Ross.
Apparently, notwithstanding all the publicity of the case, Dellinger, is no closer today to a solution of his identity than he was since the case was opened. Which is to say, that it has been by no means disproved he is Charlie Ross.
A letter from Dellinger, now in this office, is signed with a question mark after the name thus—“Julius C. Dellinger?”
Amongst the letters recently received bearing on the case is one from far away Wyoming. This interesting communication is as follows:
“Mr. J.F. Gaffney, Shelby North Carolina
“There is a woman here who claims to have positive information in regard to Charlie Ross. Her name is Mrs. A.M. Parker.”
The letter is from Torrington, Wyoming.
Mr. Gaffney is in receipt of a letter from Julius C. Dellinger, dated from Denver April 6th, to which the man without a name reiterates his belief that he is Charlie Ross, and quotes others who are of the same opinion.
The letter is interesting as revealing the man’s simplicity and sincerity of mind with relation to the case. The communication is as follows:
Denver, N.C.
April 6th, 1926
Mr. J. Frank Gaffney
Shelby, N.C.
My dear Mr. Gaffney:
I have been anxiously awaiting your decision as to my resemblance to the little picture which was published in The New York World, while we were living in Gaffney in 1874.
My reason for this anxiety is that many people ask and write to me as to what I think about the pictures which are now being published of Charlie Ross. They ask me if I remember them. I say to them all, I wish that I had the little picture which I had taken at Gaffney so that they could compare them together. I do not wish to make any statement until you and others make their statement. In other words, I want the people to be the judge as to whether I am Charlie Ross or not. Today I received from a lady in Kansas a poster which was published on September 1st, 1874 offering a reward of $20,000 for the return of the child, and this also gave his description, and among other things it said ‘slight cow lick on the left side where hair parted.”
This cow lick is also on the left side of my forehead where the hair is parted. Have a letter from Mrs. Gibson in which she stated that her step mother had written her that her father’s old album in which was the little picture of mine was burned when Miss Sue’s house got burned.
I saw Mrs. Proctor and Mrs. McKnight this afternoon as they came over here on business. Mrs. Proctor says that she is firmly convinced that I am Charlie Ross. I do not know why. Would like to hear from you some time soon, and would also like to come over as soon as I can, but would prefer to allow all this publicity die down ere I do. Trusting that you and Mrs. Gaffney are both well this fine weather. I beg to remain,
Very truly yours,
Julius C. Dellinger
From the front page of The Cleveland Star, Monday, April 19, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn97064509/1926-04-19/ed-1/seq-1/
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