A Father's Seventeen-Year Search Ends
After a divorce and years of wandering, a father reunites with his daughter thanks to a newspaper advertisement.
After having lost his daughter 17 years ago when she was but two years old, Alonzo Ellsworth Shirley has finally found her and now a happy family reunion is being arranged. Parted from the child by a divorce at Camas, Washington, Mr. Shirley stayed on the scene until his wife married a second time. Then he bade goodbye to the little one, which had been given into the custody of the mother, and joined the Salvation Army. Since then his wanderings have carried him over the greater part of the world, but finally the call of the northwest brought him to Portland. The child was recovered by means of an advertisement in a local paper.
“Since then his wanderings have carried him over the greater part of the world, but finally the call of the northwest brought him to Portland.”
This story highlights the pre-digital era's reliance on print media for personal connection and the profound impact of family separation caused by divorce and social upheaval.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.