My Genealogy Hound

N. A. Keller, another successful business man of St. Francis, was born in Tennessee, but grew to manhood in Union County, Ill., where he went with his father, Rev. Francis F. Keller, when but a child. The father was a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and followed that calling for many years. The mother, Elizabeth Keller, was a member of that church for nearly sixty years. She recently died at the age of seventy-eight years. N. A. Keller attended the district schools in Union County until twenty-one years of age, after which he spent a year at Gravel Hill, Mo., and then taught school for several years in Missouri and Arkansas. After this he went with Gregory, Lasswell & Co., of Maiden, Mo., where he remained for about two years engaged in the general merchandise business, and then came to St. Francis, and after embarking in business for some eighteen months, accepted a position on the road for Kelley, Goodfellow & Co., boot and shoe dealers of St. Louis, with whom he remained for about two years, traveling in Southern Illinois and West Tennessee. He then returned to St. Francis and took a position with Clemson & Calvin, with whom he continued until July 1, 1889, when he purchased the entire stock of that firm. He was married January 20, 1886, to Miss Mattie Calvin, daughter of Robert T. Calvin, of Pulaski County, Ill., and the sister of Mr. Hiram Calvin of the firm of which Mr. Keller was the trusted employee. Two children were born to this union: Tell and Pearl. Mr. Keller has been reasonably successful since coming to St. Francis, and is the owner of three houses and lots in the village. He is a member of Evergreen Lodge No. 581, I. O. O. F., of Illinois, and belongs to the Triple Alliance, in which he carries $1,000 insurance, and also $1,000 in the Globe, of Baltimore, Md. Mrs. Keller is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.