A Delaware Disappearance

The disappearance of Horace Marvin, Jr. became a national sensation.

In early March 1907, young Horace, just a few weeks shy of his fourth birthday, was playing in the yard of his father's new farm in a sparsely populated area near Dover, Delaware. The family had just moved from Iowa and this was the first day Horace had to explore their new home. In the farmyard with Horace were his brother John and cousin Rose, all visible to neighbors helping the previous owner move off the farm. Then Horace disappeared without a trace. Within two weeks this heartbreaking event was being reported to hundreds of other families in newspapers across the country and around the world.

Horace's disappearance would be the most publicized missing child story until the Lindbergh kidnapping exactly twenty-five years later. Local author Brian G. Cannon tells the full story of this tragedy for the first time.

Brian Cannon is a Delaware native with family connections back to early Dutch and English settlers. He developed his love of history while growing up hearing family stories, as well as local myths and legends. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he had a twenty-year career in fire protection and safety management in the insurance industry. Following retirement, he had the opportunity to work for the State of Delaware at the New Castle Court House Museum, retiring as the lead interpreter after twenty-two years.