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We are offering a letter, dated September 8, 1904, to Seth Alonzo Ranlett, West Newton, Massachusetts regarding the mysterious disappearance of his nephew Charles [his brother Horace's son] while he was on board a ship.[Upper left corner of envelope says "Return to H.D. Ranlett, Ranlett, California". [Ranlett was a copper mining town that sprang up during the Civil War due to the high demand for copper during those years.] In Lieutenant Seth A. Ranlett's 1902-1905 journal which we have on at the present time, Seth writes about this letter that he received regarding his nephew's disappearance.
We believe the letter may have been from Horace's wife or from another family member; it is not clear. The letter begins, "Dear Ellen and Alonzo [Ellen was Seth Alonzo's wife]. Horace asked me to write for him as he is in no proper [state of] mind to do it. Though he has been trying to do so for several days. He fears that you will see in the death columns of the Boston papers (copied from the San Francisco press) the notice of the sad news that has come to him from Australia. The American Consul at Sydney wrote, under date of August 8th, that the Steamer "Medie"(White Star Line), which sailed from Cape Town July 1st, had arrived and that the officers had reported that "Charles A. Ranlett, a passenger on the steamer for Sydney, was missing on the 25th of July when near Sydney, and after a thorough search throughout the ship he could not be found". Their conclusions were that in the night Charlie had gone overboard, how or why they could not say".
"Charlie had sent what money he had from Cape Town to the American Consul at Sydney, intending to get it there, to purchase a ticket to San Francisco. He was enroute for home to see his father and brother, having been absent from home for 3 1/2 years. He was so happy, no doubt, at the thought of being with them once more. Horace was prostrated with grief. He is now in a very sad frame of mind, and moans through his sobs, "Oh my boy - my boy lying in the cold, icy oceans, no one near who knew him or cared for him". All this is hard for him to bear and is a great strain on me as his sorrow is mine. Charles had been working nearly two years in the Construction Department of the De Beers Explosive Works at Summerset West, Cape Colony. These are the largest powder works in the world and have cost about 25 million dollars".[**OUR NOTE** -the explosive works was established by De Beers Consolidated Mines in 1900 to supply dynamite to South African diamond fields, and later produced dynamite for the development of gold mining in the region.]
According to this letter, Horace had received a letter from Mr. Morris, a friend of Charles' who apparently worked with him at Summerset West, who said that Charles was a faithful and attentive worker. In his letter Mr. Morris asked Horace to let him know when Charles arrived in San Francisco, which, as we know he never arrived. "Horace has written letters to the Consuls at Cape Town and Sydney, and to Mr. Morris. He will also try to get information from the officers of the ship, so he can find out who Charles' fellow passengers were, and possibly visit some of them. Horace will write to you both very soon. We both feel very sad. Lovingly yours, Horace & Nellie". **NOTE** - a very sad story, and of course we wonder if through Horace's investigation, any light was shed on what happened that night. According to the letter, Charles was looking forward to seeing his family and was making the trip all the way from Cape Town to Australia and then on to San Francisco for this purpose. We wonder if there was foul play involved, and if so, why.
