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CRIME OF THE CENTURY: VEXING TYCOON VANISHES

On December 2, 1919, Ambrose Small, entertainment impresario, vanished without a trace, thus setting off the largest manhunt in Canadian history. Major cities were searched, the Toronto Bay was repeatedly dredged, a Toronto dump was dug up, ashes from the Grand Opera House furnace were sifted on the advice of spirit mediums, and the basement of Small's mansion was excavated. A passion for women and gambling on fixed races earned Small some deadly enemies. The last person to see him alive was his lawyer, a Mr. E. Flock, who was settling the million-dollar details of recent theater transactions in his office at the Grand Opera House. At 5:30 p.m. Flock left his client and the building.

A year earlier, Ambrose had promised his wife, Teresa, that he would stop seeing his mistress, Clara Smith, but he didn't. The police investigation into his disappearance revealed a secret den attached to his office. The room had an outside entrance and was fitted out to "entertain" women. Neither Small's wife nor his mistress knew of its existence. The day Small disappeared, his secretary, John Doughty, did likewise, along with $100,000 from his boss's safety deposit box. Captured a year later, in an Oregon lumber camp, Doughty insisted he was not involved with the missing man. Rumors of a police cover-up to protect Teresa against charges of masterminding her husband's disappearance began to surface.

Small, a self-made millionaire, had started out as a hotel dishwasher and as a theater usher at the Grand Opera House. He then became the opera house's booking agent, bringing in racy, successful shows such as Bertha the Sewing-Machine Girl and School for Scandal. After his disappearance, spirit mediums claimed he was murdered, had amnesia, was abducted, or was gambling in Mexico with champagne bottles in his pockets and women on his arms. His ghost is said to haunt the Grand Opera House in Toronto and is credited with saving the theater's prominent architectural feature from accidental destruction in the 1970s.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

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Disappearance of Ambrose Small

On December 1, 1919, Ambrose Small sold all his theatre holdings at a profit of CA$1.7 million. The following day he met with lawyer F. W. M. Flock in Small's office at the Grand Opera House. Flock left at 5:30 p.m. and was the last person to see Small. That night, Small disappeared from his office. No one who testified for the police claimed to have seen him leave his office or in the Adelaide and Yonge Street area outside the building. A newsstand operator, Ralph Savein, claimed to have seen Small and had an altercation with him regarding the late shipment of that day's newspapers. At the time, however, this claim was discounted by the police, who considered it to be an attempt by Savein to gain fame from the case. Small had no motive to disappear: the millionaire did not take money with him, nor was there any ransom note, let alone evidence of kidnapping. At 53, Small owned theatres in seven Ontario cities and was the controller of 62 other buildings, a self-made millionaire at the height of his career. Because Ambrose Small was known to disappear occasionally to womanize and carouse, his absence was not reported nor was it noted for several weeks. In January 1920, Small's attorney, F. W. M. Flock, along with Teresa Small, now alarmed by Small's lengthy absence, notified the local police. Teresa Small offered a $50,000 reward for information about her husband's disappearance and whereabouts. The reward went unclaimed. The police launched an extensive investigation. Small was officially declared dead in 1924. The case remained unsolved until being closed in 1960.

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“MYSTERY MAN IS NOT MISSING MILLIONAIRE,” Toronto Star. April 23, 1921. Page 2. ---- But "George Cox" of Verona Cannot Be Interviewed To-day. ---- Where is "George Cox?" The mystery of the "mystery man," whom Constable Tallon, of Verona. claims to be Ambrose Small deepens, in that the whereabouts of Cox cannot be ascertained. He came to Toronto on Thursday, and he appears! to have disappeared yesterday, after spending a few hours with the constable's relatives at 1985. Dundas st.

The Star called at the house this morning to interview "Mr. Cox."

"He is,not here," said one of the lady occupants of the house, "and we haven't anything to say concerning him."

"He has been staying here with Fallon's relatives?" queried The Star. "He was here on a very short visit, but he has gone," was the reply.

"Can you tell me where he is?"

"No, I don't know."

"Does that mean that if you did know you would not tell?"

"That's just it; you've hit it exactly," was the reply. The lady spoken to refused to say when Cox and his policeman companion took their departure, but volunteered the information that a "story" in a morning newspaper to the effect that the Grand Opera House barber had seen Cox at the house, was untrue.

"The man saw no one while he was here nor did he say anything about who he was or why he had come to Toronto."

See by The Star, George Howarth, proprietor of the opera house barber shop, Adelaide street, said he was telephoned to go to Dundas street on Wednesday night to see the man, but being satisfied from what he had heard that the man was not Small he declined to go.

The Star learned this morning that Irving Cowan, manager of the Grand Opera House, has "looked the man over" and is satisfied that he is not his missing employer. "He is nothing like him," says Mr. Cowan. "The action of the constable in bringing the man to Toronto is absurd," stated Mrs. Ambrose Small to The Star when asked if she had seen. the "mystery man" from Verona.. "Mr. Brannigan, who was Mr. Small's manager at Kingston- for twenty years, saw the man and states he is not the man. Sergt. Mitchell also is satisfied he is not Mr. Small. I suppose the constable is looking for notoriety and the next thing we will hear he will be in the movies."

#toronto #newspaper interview #newspapers writing about themselves #mysterious disappearance #ambrose small #grand opera house #criminal suspect #police investigation #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

Author Geordie Telfer marks 100yr anniversary of disappearance of Toronto theatre impresario Ambrose Small

Last night, December 2nd, author Geordie Telfer hosted a special reading of Hogtown Empire to mark the 100 year anniversary of the disappearance of Ambrose Small, the subject of his recently published book. The event took place at the prestigious One King West Hotel& Condos in downtown Toronto which was one of the very last places Ambrose was sighted on that fateful night in 1919. Held in the…

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#1919 #Ambrose Small #authors #Brian Kaulback #Bruce Bell #cold case mysteries #famous Canadian mysteries #Geordie Telfer #Hogtown Empire #missing millionaire #money #One King West #Toronto

AUTHOR GEORDIE TELFER LAUNCHES "HOGTOWN EMPIRE" BOOK ABOUT NOTORIOUS 100YR OLD TORONTO COLD-CASE MYSTERY

AUTHOR GEORDIE TELFER LAUNCHES “HOGTOWN EMPIRE” BOOK ABOUT NOTORIOUS 100YR OLD TORONTO COLD-CASE MYSTERY

Big CONGRATULATIONS to local author GEORDIE TELFER on his packed-house book launch last night held at Toronto’s Dominion Pub & Kitchen. He entertained his guests with selected readings, music and original songs that told the tale of the disappearance of Toronto theatre mogul & millionaire, Ambrose Small (pictured below), who led a life of dodgy dealings and showbiz shenanigans.“Hogtown Empire” i…

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AUTHOR GEORDIE TELFER TACKLES CANADA'S 100YR HISTORIC COLD-CASE CRIME WITH NEW BOOK, HOGTOWN EMPIRE!

AUTHOR GEORDIE TELFER TACKLES CANADA’S 100YR HISTORIC COLD-CASE CRIME WITH NEW BOOK, HOGTOWN EMPIRE!

I’d like to introduce you to my newest client, author GEORDIE TELFER and I’m excited to put all my publicity skills into marketing and promoting his thrilling new book, HOGTOWN EMPIRE, due for release later in the fall, just in time for seasonal gift-giving. Geordie explores all the urban myths and mysteries surrounding the infamous disappearance of Toronto theatre impresario Ambrose Small100…

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#Ambrose Small #authors #Bruce Bell #Geordie Telfer #Grand Opera House #Hogtown Empire #murder mystery #mysterious disappearance #Toronto #Toronto history #Toronto theatre #true crime

Toronto gothic

So, next year is going to be the 100 year anniversary of the disappearance of Ambrose Small. He was a Canadian theatre owner and millionaire - owned a bunch of theatres including the Grand Theatre in London, ON, and the Grand Opera House in Toronto, ON. The day after he sold all his theatres for a profit of 1.7 million dollars, he completely disappeared. He didn’t take any money from his bank account and his lawyer who helped negotiate the deal was allegedly the last person to see him alive. After his disappearance, more of Ambrose’s shady side (gambling, ongoing affairs, a secret sex room built into the Grand Opera House, etc) came to be widely known. A bunch of different theories circulated - that his wife killed him or ordered a hit, that he disappeared with one of his mistresses, etc. Arthur Conan Doyle was even invited to work on the case, but ultimately decided not to, for his own reasons. No definitive clues were ever found and the mystery was never solved. Ambrose was officially pronounced dead in 1924 (he would have been 61) and the case was closed in 1960 (he would have been 97 if he were alive.) A part of me thinks it would be cool to somehow solve this mystery by next year, but I wouldn’t even know where to start looking that hasn’t been looked at, and most of the original police files have allegedly been destroyed.

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The Diary of Ambrose Small

Recently acquired by one of our procurement agents, this unassuming book adorned by the sigil of the black goat was found at an estate sale in Toronto Canada after the remodeling of the Grande Theater in midtown.

The make of the book is standard of textiles of the early industrial era, but like all things written, its what's on the inside that counts...

Annotated and hand-scribed is the fascinating journey of a novice practitioner in the black arts going beyond his depth. Though not explicitly stated, it is believed that the book was written the by wealthy Canadian theatre magnate Ambrose Small -who suddenly disappeared in December of 1919.