My Genealogy Hound

HENRY A. KEELER. There were seven brothers named Keeler came from Germany to America, two of whom settled in Pennsylvania and the remaining five went to different sections of the country, their place of settlement being unknown except that it was in the west. The two who settled in Pennsylvania were James and Joseph. James went to Phoenixville where some of his descendants still reside. Joseph (great-grandfather) located in Frederick township, Montgomery county. He owned a large farm on which stood the Green Tree Hotel, which he conducted in connection with his farming. For forty years or more he was the host of the hotel and was known far and near as a genial and an upright man. He was a member of the Reformed church and donated the ground on which the Keeler church now stands, which he and his children helped to build. It is occupied on one Sunday by the Lutherans and on the next by the Reformed church. Several years before his death he rented the hotel to his son Eli, and building a fine residence on one corner of his farm he lived in retirement until his death in the early part of the ‘60s. He married Mrs. Boyer and they had the following children: James, Eli, Benjamin, Franklin, Lebina and Delina (twins), and Sarah.

Benjamin (grandfather) was born in the hotel, as were all the other children, and received his education in the district schools during the winter months. During the summer he worked on his father’s farm. He married Miss Esther Stitler, daughter of Adam Stitler. After his marriage he rented his father’s farm, on which he worked until 1856, when he came to Norristown and entered the employment of Bean & Wentz, lumber dealers, and remained there until two years before his death, which occurred in 1875. Benjamin, like his father, was a Democrat, but never held office. He was a member of the Washington Troop of Cavalry, commanded by Captain John Smith, of Pottstown. He and his wife are both buried in the Keeler cemetery. Their children were: Franklin, Amanda, Adam Wilson, William, who died in infancy, Henry S. and Mary Jane, deceased. Franklin married and Amanda became the wife of John Auckie. Adam Wilson enlisted in Company E, Ninety-fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers and served in the Sixth Corps, which belonged to the Army of the Potomac and was in the battles and skirmishes incident to four years’ service. He never married as he was a sea-faring man and saw but little of shore life. Henry S. married Miss Ida McCauley, but had no children. He enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, attached to the Western Army, and did duty chiefly at Rock Island, Illinois. Mary Jane married Walter Rodenbaugh and had two children, Walter and Norman.

Franklin S. Keeler was born in Frederick township, where he grew to manhood and then came to Norristown to engage in canal boat transportation on the Schuylkill canal, in which he continued for twenty years or until about 1875, when he engaged in the barge transportation business as captain, operating in New Jersey bay and Long Island sound, and is still thus engaged. His home is in Norristown, although he is away a good deal of the time. His opportunity for an education was afforded by the common schools of the day and since attaining manhood he has had the everyday schooling of a practical life. In politics he is a Republican but was never in one place long enough to aspire to public office. He married Emma Heckman, daughter of John Heckman, who was killed in the civil war. Their children were Elmer A., Henry A., Katie A. and William S. Elmer A. married Ida Heckman, now deceased, and has two daughters, Laura and Cora, who reside in White Stone, Long Island, New York, and are attending college at Dean Academy, Franklin, Massachusetts. Elmer A. commenced driving mules on the canal for his father when he was ten years of age, attending school in the winter. After six years spent in this way he grew tired of the business and went to New York city. With the money he had saved he acquired a part interest in a barge, and managing his affairs with skill and industry he acquired more barges from time to time and eventually became a stockholder and manager of a Canal Company. He is also president of the Excelsior Company of New York. He is a Republican. Katie A. is unmarried and resides with her parents in Norristown. William S. is a graduate of the Norristown high school and is a draughtsman and assistant superintendent with R. S. Newbold & Son.

Henry A. Keeler was born in Hamburg, Berks county, August 21, 1867. He attended the common schools of Hamburg until he was thirteen years of age when his parents removed to Norristown. For a year he clerked in a grocery store owned by Mr. Davis. He then went to New York and was engaged by his brother Elmer on a barge. At the age of eighteen he returned to Norristown and served an apprenticeship of three years with James A. Hurst in the carpenter trade, and was Mr. Hurst’s foreman for three years and a partner in the business for four years. Mr. Hurst went out of business and Mr. Keeler continued by himself as a contractor. He is a Republican and a member of Cavalry Baptist church.

He is a member of Norristown Lodge, No. 620, Free & Accepted Masons; Norristown Chapter, No. 190, Royal Arch Masons; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar; Norristown Lodge, No. 714, B. P. O. E.

He married Maud I. Matthias, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Dalby) Matthias. She was born in Radnor, Delaware county, December 14, 1872. Their children are: Earl A., Claud H., Ronald G., Ralph L., Marion E. and Henry.