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By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.
November 12, 1900: Prominent Boyertown businessman Charles R. Bird has vanished. He is the owner and manager of a prosperous bakery at 105 East Philadelphia Avenue that had been started by Charles Litschi.
This morning at 5:00 he helped his workers load up two teams for deliveries, as usual. When he heard the 5:31 train coming in, he picked up a prepacked bundle that included an extra suit of clothes and a hat, hurried to the station and boarded the train for Pottstown, paying his fare to the conductor.
It has been learned that he withdrew $700 from his account at the Farmers Bank several weeks ago and probably has another $300 with him. His wife is totally baffled by his disappearance and has refused to make any statement to reporters.
Apparently, he said goodbye to his two sisters last night, telling them he was going away, never to return. Bird is the nephew of Dr. Thomas J.B. Rhoads and cousin of Col. Thomas Leidy Rhoads.