Robert Thomas Johnson of Key West married Caroline Dorsett Lowe FIVE times between 1885 and 1922. These two would fight, divide up their property, and divorce. Then they would get back together and re-wed only to repeat the cycle all over again.

Clarie Lariz (Laris) told an amusing story about this man. At age 79, Clarie was still so tickled over this story that he laughed until he had tears in his eyes. It seems that Bobby Johnson was known for being a very thrifty person. The custom in Key West in the olden days when people wed was that people would go over the couples home and shivaree them.

The shivaree consisted of beating on pots and pans or anything that made noise and kept it up until the newlyweds gave the noisemakers a treat to go away. Bobby Johnson always ignored the shivaree and refused to furnish refreshments.

The last time Bobby married Miss Carrie, the men of Key West decided there was no way Bobby was going to get away with resting them. The men went down to the waterfront with a mule and wagon and loaded up a smoke stack that belonged to a ship that was being repaired.

Clarie recalls, “When we got to Bobby’s house, “We used hammers or sticks or anything we could get our hands on and beat the hell out of that smoke stack.”

When Clarie was asked if it did any good, he replied, “Oh damn right it did. He came out and gave us all a dime for ice cream. We all agreed it was the best ice cream we ever tasted because Bobby Johnson paid for it.”

(Written by Jane Garcia Rowland, edited by Karen Yvonne Hamilton, 2022)