by Karen Yvonne Hamilton, 2024

UPDATED September 18, 2025

Walter Joseph Valentine HAMILTON was born on October 31, 1880, to Richard HAMILTON (1840-1944) and Mary Appolonia WEEKS (1859-1917).  

SIBLINGS

*It is unclear if Nina was Richard’s child or the child of Mary’s first husband, George CHRISTIAN.

He married Minnie (last name unknown), and they had three daughters, Marie Violet (1913), Annie Thelma (1917), and Edna Cecelia (1919).

He then married Letty/Lettie J PENT,  and they had one daughter. Later in life, he married Alice Lenora PARKER on January 19, 1956, in Everglades City, Florida. 

Letty PENT Hamilton
Charlie Tigertale, Walter Hamilton, Gene Hamilton

By all accounts, Walter was a quiet man. Like all of the Hamilton family, he moved around frequently: Key West in 1885, Chokoloskee in 1900, Lostmans River in 1913, Hog Key in 1917, and Flamingo in 1920. 

Walter J.V. Hamilton Marie Violet and baby Rita Lostmans River 1940s
Walter J.V. Hamilton, Sarah Hamilton, Adaline Hamilton Mcbain, Ellen Alice Lowe Hamilton, Charlie Whidden. Lostmans River
Marie Violet, Annie Thelma, Walter J.V. and Minnie Hamilton

In 1918, Walter registered for the draft. It lists him as medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair.

Walter Joseph Hamilton’s homestead on Lostmans River

DEATH

Walter Hamilton died on April 14, 1957, in Lee, Florida, at the age of 76.

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SOURCES

1885 United States Federal Census; 1900 United States Federal Census; 1920 United States Federal Census; 1930 United States Federal Census; 1935 United States Federal Census; 1940 United States Federal Census; U.S. Native American Applications for Enrollment in Five Civilized Tribes (overturned), 1896; World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918; Personal family records Ernest Eugene Hamilton, Sr

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