My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD KEATOR. Prominent among the representative and substantial business men who have contributed to the growth of Cortland, and now minister to its present prosperity by engaging heavily in many legitimate and well established commercial enterprises, stands the gentleman whose name heads this biographical article. He has been connected with the First National Bank for a period of twenty-eight years, and since 1889 has been the head of the institution; from 1876 until 1889 he was continued as vice-president, also serving as cashier from 1880 to 1889. Among his other important business interests are those that are contained in the Screen Door Co., of which he is treasurer, and the L. Y. Ice Co., of which he is president.

Joseph Keator, his grandfather, was born in the town of Marbletown, Ulster Co., N. Y., July 18, 1764. He was one of the men that seem born to succeed. By constant reading, well directed by a discriminating literary taste, he forced his way into the ranks of men of culture and refinement, and was well posted and informed in many of the sciences and the arts. He gave especial attention to the study of civil engineering, and having mastered thoroughly all the requirements of that period in the profession, he often ran lines for his fellow settlers and settled disputes concerning boundaries. He was in all essential respects a self-made man, and was given the highest consideration as was due a man of his parts. With his brother, John, he emigrated to Roxbury, Delaware Co., N. Y., where they jointly purchased a wild and uncultivated tract of land. They cleared a nice farm in the locality now known as Batavia Kiln. Joseph Keator made this place his home the remainder of his life, and was engaged in carrying on agricultural operations. Joseph Keator passed away May 1, 1817; his wife, Mary, who was born November 12, 1777, died October 12, 1851. They reared a large family, all of whom grew to maturity and occupied honorable and respected positions wherever their lots were cast. Joseph Keator being a shrewd business man, endowed with far-sighted judgment and economical in his habits, became quite wealthy, and at his death left a large estate to his heirs. He was a leader in his town, and was looked up to as a man of far more than ordinary ability.

Thomas Keator, father of our subject, was born on the old homestead in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., in 1803, and was educated in the district schools of his native place. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, but after he attained his majority he began a mercantile career in the town of Roxbury, where he resided until 1854. Then selling his stock and store, with all other property in Delaware County, he came to Cortland, and purchased the farm that is now owned by Wickwire Bros., which he farmed a short time, and then sold and removed to the village. In 1860 he bought a fine residence on Main Street, where he lived until his death, nineteen years later. He organized the First National Bank of Cortland in 1863, and it opened its banking offices for business in March, 1864, with Mr. Keator as its president. He remained president until his death, June 25, 1879. He was a Republican of the stanchest type, but never had time to give his attention to politics. He was a Christian gentleman of irreproachable habits, and was intensely interested in the welfare of the local Presbyterian Church. For that matter all beneficent and charitable organizations of the town received his unequivocal and unbiased support. If once his sympathies were enlisted or his support pledged, it was useless to attempt to make him change his position, for he was firm and followed a decision when once fully formulated. His wife, Betsey, daughter of John and Betty (Taylor) Moore, of Roxbury, N. Y., departed this life in her eightieth year. The following children were born to them: Esther (Porter); Jane (Newkirk) (Rogers); Elizabeth (Norris), deceased; Edward, the subject of this biography; and Mary (Chadbourne).

Edward Keator was born in Delaware County, and was educated at the Quaker School at Union Springs, and at the Clavrack Training School of Columbia County, N. Y. He served an apprenticeship as a printer in the office of the Cortland Democrat, and from there advanced to a position in the bank of which his honored father was the president, and of which he himself is now the head. In 1889 Mr. Keator was united in the bonds of matrimony with Hattie L. Jones, daughter of James Jones, cashier of the Wyoming Bank of Wilkesbarre, Pa. They have two children: Thomas and Oliver P. The family are attendants of the Episcopal Church of Cortland. Mr. Keator is prominent in political circles, and is a faithful adherent of the Republican party. Socially, he is a member of the local Masonic lodge. Our subject has made a splendid record as a business man of the best type, and is ably upholding the reputation for uprightness and fairness in dealing, that was first secured by his grandfather, and then continued by our subject’s immediate ancestor.