Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 315 - 316

THOMAS E. KELLER, Postmaster of Clearwater, was born Feb. 22, 1844, the day of the month made memorable by the birth of the first President of the United States, and at the time this record was given to the biographers, had just celebrated his forty-fourth birthday. His birth took place in Brown County, Ill., and his parents were Joshua and Gulielma (Bundy) Keller, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. Joshua Keller was born April 9, 1798. Gulielma (Bundy) Keller was born Aug. 31, 1804. Joshua Keller removed from his native State to Illinois in 1830, and continued a resident there until his death, which occurred on the 31st of July, 1873. The mother is still living, and makes her home with her son Thomas E. The paternal grandfather of our subject, George Keller by name, served in the Revolutionary War. It is believed he was a native of Germany, and after the British army had been driven home, he settled in North Carolina, where he spent the balance of his life.

     To Joshua and Gulielma Keller there were born twelve children, six of whom are living, namely: Clementine A., widow of Thomas McKinney, and now a resident of Nebraska; Henrietta E., the wife of James H. Pyle, of Johnson County, this State; Eliza L., widow of the late Moses Thompson, of Adams County, Ill.; Mary E., Mrs. Clark Orton, also of Adams County; Lydia S., of Oakland, Cal., and Thomas E., of our sketch. Those deceased are - Catherine A., Gabriella P., Mariah E., William H., George V. and John R. The father was quite prominent in the affairs of Brown County, Ill., where he had settled in the pioneer days and where he built up a comfortable homestead from a tract of wild land.

     The subject of this sketch received a common school education and continued in his native State until near the close of the late war. In February, 1865, he enlisted in Company B, 14th Illinois Infantry, with which he served eight months, doing duty with his comrades mostly in North Carolina and Virginia. With his regiment he followed the rebel General, Joe Johnston, from Moorehead City into North Carolina until he surrendered, although our subject did not get near enough to participate in the actual capture. After the surrender the Union troops turned their faces homeward, marching up through the Carolinas to Washington, where they filed past the President in grand review and were soon thereafter disbanded.

     Mr. Keller now returned to his old haunts in Illinois and began to prepare himself for the duties of the future. He was married, Dec. 29, 1868, to Miss Elizabeth Ausmus, daughter of Peter Ausmus, of Adams County, Ill. Of this union there was born one child. Mrs. Keller died Aug. 10, 1869, and the child, which was unnamed, died two days later. On the 29th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Cooper, who was born in Pike County, Ill., June 19, 1852. Mrs. Keller is the daughter of William and Eliza (Harris) Cooper, who were natives of Kentucky and Ohio respectively, and are now residents of this county. She came with her parents to Kansas in 1879. Their household included ten children, six of whom are living, namely: Ellen, Mrs. K.; John; Mary, the wife of John Webb, of Ohio Township; Lizzie, a resident of Stevens County, this State, where also are located their brothers, Frank and Thompson. The latter is the youngest living. Those deceased are - William, Archie, Florence and Willis.

     The five children of our subject and his wife were born as follows: William E., Sept. 18, 1871; Ora E:., March 4, 1873; Mary E., Sept. 12, 1877; Jessie E., Feb. 2, 1880, and Frank E., June 28, 1882. Mr. Keller is the owner of a good farm of eighty acres in Ninnescah Township, and politically, a stanch adherent of the Democratic party. Socially, he belongs to McGovney Post No. 356, G. A. R. at Clearwater, and, with his excellent wife, is a member in good standing of the Christian Church. He is numbered among the public-spirited men of Sedgwick County, and no one is more interested in its development and progress.

[ Home ]