Shoot family.
William Shoot (1809–92) was co-owner with Francis Davis of the livery stable mentioned by Clemens in “Villagers” (98). In 1852 the stable and twenty-eight horses were consumed in a fire. A third partner was added to operate the rebuilt Shoot, Jordan & Davis Livery Stable, advertised as “the largest and most splendid Stable, outside of St. Louis, in the State” (“Monroe House,” Hannibal Journal, 19 May 1853). In May 1853 Shoot became proprietor of Hannibal’s finest hotel, the Brady House, which he renamed the Monroe House (Marion Census 1850, 312; Marion Census 1860, 776; Hagood and Hagood 1985, 74; “Another Destructive Fire!” Hannibal Missouri Courier, 1 Apr 52; “The New Hotel,” Hannibal Journal, 11 May 53).
Mary J. Shoot (b. 1822?), the eldest daughter of Jesse H. Pavey, was thirteen years old when she married William Shoot, as Clemens notes in “Villagers” (99). The couple had at least four children: John A., Mildred Catherine (Kitty), Julia F. and Mary B. (Mollie). Mary J. Shoot is listed in the 1866 Hannibal city directory as a dealer in millinery items; by the mid-1870s she had moved to New York with her daughter Mary (Marion Census 1850, 312; Marion Census 1860, 776; Honeyman, 52; SLC to unidentified correspondent, 19 Oct 76, TS in CU-MARK).
Mildred Catherine (Kitty) Shoot (b. 1840?) married Charles P. Heywood in 1858, four years after he arrived in Hannibal from Massachusetts to become paymaster of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. In 1871 she introduced herself to Clemens after he gave a lecture in Homer, New York. Clemens wrote his wife of the meeting and described Shoot as one of the “little-girl friends of my early boyhood” (4 Dec 71, CU-MARK). In “Villagers” (99) he mistakenly calls her “Mrs. Hayward” [begin page 348] (Marion Census 1850, 312; Holcombe, 954–55; Mildred C. Heywood to SLC, 15 Jan 1910, CU-MARK).
Mary B. (Mollie) Shoot (1863?–1954) is incorrectly identified in “Villagers” (99) as “Mrs. Hayward’s daughter.” In fact, she was the much younger sister of Mildred Catherine Shoot (Mrs. Charles P. Heywood). Mary B. Shoot was born in Hannibal, but by the mid-1870s had moved with her mother to New York. Using the stage name Florence Wood, she made her debut in Augustin Daly’s stock company and had modest success as an actress. In noting that she later became a “troublesome” London newspaper correspondent, Clemens was confusing her with Florence Hayward (1865–1925) of St. Louis, a journalist who had annoyed him during his 1896–97 stay in London by pressing him for an interview (“Mrs. Felix Morris, a Former Actress,” New York Times, 19 Apr 1954, 23; Odell, 10:184, 208, 570, 604; 12:242, 251;13:592; 15:6, 217, 503, 792; NCAB, 11:160–61; SLC to Florence Hayward, 29 Oct 96, 29 Jan 97 and 3 July 97, MoHi).
