by Karen Yvonne Hamilton, 2024

Mary Elizabeth Hamilton was born on October 15, 1888 to Richard HAMILTON (1840-1944) and Mary Appolonia WEEKS (1859-1917).

She married Henry Short on May 27, 1901, in Key West, Florida. It is said that Henry Short was one of the shooters at the ambush of Edgar J. Watson at Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee in 1910. Many say that Short’s shot was the one that killed Watson.

The true story of the Hamilton family in Peter Matthiessen’s book, Killing Mr. Watson

Henry Short

She then married John Franklin Johnson and they had seven children together.

John Franklin JOHNSON, Mary HAMILTON Johnson, and Roy ACUFF

She died on January 15, 1968, in Lee, Florida, at the age of 79, and was buried in North Naples, Florida.

NOTE: If anyone has photos of Mary Hamilton, please share. Thank you.

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