56 - The Disappearance of Ambrose Small

Ambrose J. Small was a wealthy theater manager who disappeared without a trace on the evening of December 2, 1919 near one of his theaters in Toronto, Ontario. There was no shortage of theories and possibilities as to what happened. Was it the long-suffering wife? The obsessive, clingy mistress? The secretary who had robbed him? Or someone else?

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Opening music from https://filmmusic.io. "Dark Child" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Closing music by Soma.

SOURCES

Lethbridge Herald, January 14, 1925.

“$65,000 was set aside to trace Ambrose Small.” Montreal Gazette, November 13, 1922.

“Allege effort to blackmail in Small case.” Regina Leader-Post, June 5, 1922.

“Ambrose Small case confession called forgery.” Winnipeg Tribune, November 25, 1936.

“Ambrose Small not man found by detectives.” Montreal Gazette, August 16, 1921.

“Arrested when he bared his head.” Boston Post, December 5, 1920.

“Bares torture in kidnapping of Canadian.” Santa Ana Register, August 15, 1921.

“Believe Small is alive.” Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1920.

“Doughty and detective are on their way.” Montreal Gazette, November 25, 1920.

“Doughty says absconded when panic stricken.” Vancouver Sun, December 31, 1920.

“Doughty sent up for trial, theft charge.” Ottawa Citizen, December 31, 1920.

“Ex-janitor and wife to testify against Doughty.” Montreal Gazette, November 26, 1920.

“Excavation of dump for Small body planned.” Winnipeg Tribune, November 14, 1928.

“Former Small maid gone from asylum.” Ottawa Journal, December 19, 1924.

“Hoping arrest of Doughty to solve mystery.” Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1920.

“Hotelman would see detective.” Montreal Gazette, June 26, 1922.

“Is Small in bay?” Saskatoon Daily Star, April 5, 1922.

“Lost millionaire dead to world but legally alive to law.” Spokane Spokesman-Review, April 22, 1923.

“Man exploited as lost millionaire unknown cripple.” Des Moines Tribune, August 16, 1921.

“Mystery gives way to strange acts of sleuth.” Salt Lake Tribune, November 4, 1928.

“New Langsner move in Small case expected.” Winnipeg Tribune, November 16, 1928.

“New Orleans opera house, scene of glorious triumphs, now a mass of ruins.” Musical America, December 13, 1919.

“Not Small, declare Sackett and Hogarth.” Des Moines Tribune, August 16, 1921.

“Nothing overlooked by police searching for Ambrose Small.” Vancouver Province, December 3, 1920.

“Only vague chance.” Montreal Gazette, November 26, 1920.

“Paris knows nothing of Ambrose J. Small.” Ottawa Journal, August 13, 1920.

“Permission for probate given.” Winnipeg Tribune, June 5, 1923.

“Prof. Langsner to attempt to solve disappearance of five-year-old Julia Johnson.” Winnipeg Tribune, November 1, 1928.

“Prof. X's mind slowly clearing.” Camden (NJ) Courier-Post, January 12, 1920.

“Reward of $50,000 starts new international search for Small.” Buffalo Times, May 28, 1923.

“Reward offer of $50,000 to expire Sept. 1.” Des Moines Register, August 15, 1921.

“Search for Small's body in Montreal.” Ottawa Citizen, January 19, 1921.

“Small's body is found in dead house.” Regina Leader-Post, August 13, 1920.

“Small fake is exposed – newspaper hoax bared by Register.” Des Moines Register, August 16, 1921.

“Small named defendant in $52,500 suit.” Windsor Star, May 5, 1922.

“Small thought buried near ravine.” Windsor Star, March 9, 1922.

“Small will not genuine, according to an aunt.” Winnipeg Tribune, March 22, 1924.

“Suspected of being Ambrose Small, he resents detention.” Vancouver Sun, December 3, 1920.

“Think Ambrose Small may be alive and in hiding near Kemptville, Ontario.” Calgary Herald, February 5, 1921.

“This clue doubted.” Windsor Star, June 24, 1922.

“Thought he was Small.” Montreal Gazette, February 21, 1921.

“Thought man in Des Moines may be lost magnate.” Freeport (IL) Journal-Standard, August 15, 1921.

“Toronto detective, returning with Doughty, declares only part of Small story is known.” Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1920.

“Toronto studies Langsner claim in Small case.” Winnipeg Tribune, October 6, 1928.

“Trace missing millionaire.” Nebraska State Journal, August 15, 1921.

“Vienna's Sherlock Holmes unknown to police world.” Winnipeg Tribune, September 13, 1928.

“Visit to bank vault.” Montreal Gazette, November 26, 1920.

“Witness avers Doughty of kidnapping.” Montreal Gazette, March 23, 1921.

“Witness says signature on will forgery.” Ottawa Journal, November 19, 1936.

“Woman friend of Small in Toronto.” Montreal Gazette, May 25, 1922.

Allen, Robert Thomas. “What really happened to Ambrose Small?” Maclean's Magazine, January 15, 1951.

Daubs, Katie. “Toronto's scoundrel of the century.” Toronto Star, September 7, 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20190907/282321091692393

Dominion Law Reports, vol. 64 (C.E.T. Fitzgerald, C.B. Labatt, Russel S. Smart, and A.P. Grigg, editors). Toronto: Canada Law Book, 1922.

O'Leary, Dillon. “Small: foul play or did he run out?” Ottawa Journal, November 23, 1974.

St. John, Jordan. Lost Breweries of Toronto. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.

https://www.grandtheatre.com/mysterious-disappearance-ambrose-j-small

http://www.hogtownempire.com/

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/porchlightcanada/1919-small-ambrose-12-2-1919-t1102.html

http://theothersidetv.ca/extra-research-season-4-episode-10/

http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2016/04/collecting-ambrose-small.html

https://calebandlindapirtle.com/inside-mind-murderer/