KEEDY, John Allen
John Allen KEEDY, residing on section 10,
Richland township, Marshall county, is one of the very few
pioneers of the township now living. A residence here of over
sixty-two years has made him familiar with the history of the
county, and given him a wide knowledge of the grand men and
women who, like himself, came here in poverty and endured the
trials and hardships that tested the character of each and
brought out the old in them as by a refiner’s fire. One by one
he has seen them drop by the wayside “when life’s fitful dream
was over,” until he begins to feel as did Elijah of old that he
alone is left.
John A. KEEDY is of German descent. His
grandfather, John KEEDY, being a native of Germany, who, with a widowed mother
and two brothers, came to this country when he was but sixteen
years of age. The family located in
Tennessee, and the brothers of John
enlisted in the service of their adopted country in the
revolutionary war, and were never afterward heard from. John
grew to manhood, married and reared a family, of whom one son,
Abraham, born in Tennessee, in 1798, married Patsy GRAY, born in
1799, and a daughter of John GRAY, a native of Scotland, who
came to this country in 1812, and located within seven miles of
the great mammoth cave of Kentucky, and later moved to Orange
county, Indiana, where the marriage of Abraham KEEDY and Patsy
GRAY was consummated. Her father, after having moved to
Martinsville,
Indiana, and there assisting in laying out the
town, came to Marshall county, Illinois, about 1836. He purchased the farm
now owned by William J. RAMSAY, in Richland
township, resided there a short time and then returned to Indiana, where his wife died. After the death
of his wife he again came back to
Marshall
county, where he died some years later.
Abraham KEEDY and his wife lived in Orange
county, Indiana, until 1821, when they moved to Martinsville, in the same state, at a time
when the Indians were still numerous in that locality. Here they
remained until 1834, when they came to
Marshall county, locating on the southeast quarter of
section 16, Richland township. At that time there were but
few settlers in this locality and the country was in almost its
primitive state. A rail pen was first erected, in which the
family lived until a more substantial structure of logs could be
erected. Abraham KEEDY was by trade a blacksmith, at which he
worked in connection with farming during his entire life. He
built a shop on his farm and had the patronage of the settlers
for many miles around. The first season here he worked in the
harvest field for Colonel John STRAWN for which he received two
bushels of wheat for each day’s work. He resided on the farm
until 1858. His wife dying the previous year, he concluded to
move to Minonk,
Illinois, where he subsequently
died.
Abraham and Patsy KEEDY were the parents of
ten children, two of them dying in infancy before leaving Indiana. Nine grew to
maturity, as follows: John Allen, our subject; Polly, who
married George BELL, both being now deceased; Sarah, deceased
wife of Zachariah PERRY, also deceased; Helen, who married
George HARPER, and both are now deceased; Virginia, who became
the wife of Samuel JONES, but both are now deceased; Louis who
entered the service of his country with the rank of captain, and
died in the discharge of his duty; Abraham and Martha, twins,
both deceased, and Wesley, the youngest. The parents were both
consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he
served as class leader and trustee for many years. In politics
he was originally a whig, but became a republican on the
organization of the party.
John Allen KEEDY, our subject, was born in
Orange county, Indiana, April 25, 1820, and was but one year old
when his parents removed to
Martinsville,
Indiana. In his childhood he was
frequently held in the arms of Indian men and women and played
with the little papooses. He was fourteen years old when the
family moved to Marshall county, and well remembers the
journey by ox team. Here he attended the first school in the
township in what was known as the Bird schoolhouse. It was a
very rude affair, and the instructions imparted therein were
almost as rude as the structure. He remained at home, assisting
his father in the shop and upon the farm until June 30, 1841,
when he married Caroline Matilda Thair FOSTER, a native of
Kentucky, born October 10, 1820, and daughter of Rev. John C.
FOSTER, a Methodist preacher, who came to this county in 18 38,
and died here.
After marriage our subject settled upon a
farm of thirty acres given him by his father, his entire cash
capital being fourteen dollars. But what of that; he had good
health, a loving wife, great hope for the future, and why should
he not be happy? On that farm he remained eight years, then
moved to Lacon, where he lived one year; then went to
Indiana by team, railroads then being
yet in the future so far as this section was concerned. He,
however, soon returned, located on section 10, Richland township, where he still lives. The
home farm comprises eighty acres of fine, well improved land, in
addition to which he owns one hundred and sixty-five acres of
timber land.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
KEEDY, a son, Ambrose Dudley, who married Jemima RAMSEY, a woman
of good Christian character, a member of the Presbyterian
church, who died in 1877, leaving two children, Luella M. and
Margaret C., both of whom grew to womanhood. They are members of
our subject’s household. The daughter, Luella V., was unmarried
and died at the age of nineteen, having been born on the 25th of
September, 1850.
John Allen KEEDY is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, of which body his wife was also a
devout and loyal member. In the teachings of that church she
spent her entire life, dying April 23, 1894, having an abiding
faith in the promises of the Master and the desire to be at rest
over there. Mr. KEEDY has always taken a somewhat active part in
the work of the church, and has served as trustee ever since the
chapel was erected in his neighborhood. He is the only survivor
of those originally forming the church on section 14. The work
of the Sunday school has always enlisted his most earnest
efforts and he has given much of his time as teacher and
superintendent, in each capacity serving faithfully and well.
Politically, Mr. KEEDY was originally a
whig, but unlike his father, on the dissolution of the whig
party, he drifted into the democratic party, with which he has
since been identified. Officially he has served his township as
assessor, collector and treasurer. His son Ambrose Dudley was
assessor of the township seven years, and has also served as
school trustee. The father and son make their home together and
both are highly respected citizens of the county. The father has
passed his three score and ten years, and is a well preserved
man with many friends throughout Marshall and adjoining
counties.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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