The Man Everyone Called ‘Mickie’ Had a Secret Family 2,000 Miles Away
A letter from Scranton revealed that a familiar White Bluffs resident had a wife, a son and two daughters—and that they had long assumed he was dead.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A. C. Wade this week received the following interesting communication, dated December 1, from Scranton, Pennsylvania:
“My Dear Mr. Wade: Just a line to let you know that my father arrived in Scranton safely after his five-day trip. He has been telling us how good you have treated him and I want you to let me thank you for your kindness. He is feeling fine and was very much surprised at all the changes he found in Scranton.
“You would not believe him, he said, when he told you he was married and has a wife and two daughters and a son. He said he wished you were here to see for yourself. My father has been away from home for the last 24 years, so you can imagine how surprised we were to see him. I am his youngest daughter and as I was only four years old when he went away, he was surprised to find me married. I have been married just one month today and he cannot seem to believe it is true.
“Mr. Wade, my father wants you to answer this letter and let him know how things are out there and he wants you to let him know whether Swanson started to fix the shack yet. He has been telling us about his victrola and all the records and I hope he gets along there as it seems so strange for me to have a father, as we thought he surely must be dead when we did not hear anything from him for so long.
“Mr. Wade, when he comes back there I wish you would be kind enough to drop us a line for him once in a while. I would surely appreciate it very much. Wishing yourself and family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I remain, Mike Roche’s daughter Mary.”
Although a resident of White Bluffs for the last 12 or 15 years, it is doubtful if, outside of possibly a few of his old cronies, anyone here ever suspected that “Mickie” had a wife and family.
“It seems so strange for me to have a father, as we thought he surely must be dead when we did not hear anything from him for so long.”
Long before social media made it possible to vanish and reappear, people moved west and fell out of contact with families who assumed the worst. The story is a reminder that migration can sever ties for decades—and that the person everyone in town knows may be carrying a whole other life.
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