Richard Short

Uncle of Ruth (Short) Ellingwood. In 1861, three years after his father’s death, he was a clerk, living at Cobourg with his mother and his brothers and sisters (the census, as WikiTree gives it).

He was very probably the “Richard J. Short” whose funeral notice appeared in the South Haven Tribune-Messenger of 16 September 1904 (record): “The funeral services of Mr. Richard J. Short were held this morning at 10 o’clock at his late residence near Cold Springs and were conducted by Rev. W. P. Law. Mr. Short was a native of Canada but had lived some years in Chicago and came from there last spring. He had no children but leaves a widow and an adopted daughter, who with her husband a Mr. Carpenter, resided with the older people. Mr. Carpenter is employed in the brick yard and several of the pall bearers were his fellow employes … The remains were followed to the grave in Lake View cemetery by a number of neighbors and friends.” Chicago would put him near his brother John Gerald, who was there from 1896 to after 1900, and his brother Joseph William had also spent years in the United States.

Open questions

• His Michigan death record (Van Buren County, 1904), which would name his parents and settle the identification; his wife’s name; the “J.” of the notice.