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Below is a family biography from the book, History of Kentucky, Edition 7 by J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin and G. C. Kniffin and published by F. A. Battey Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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REV. WILLIAM STOREY KEENE was born on the 3d of December, 1840, in the town of Richmond, county of Surrey, England, situated on the river Thames, eight miles above London. His father was William George Keene, a merchant of Richmond, and his mother, Sarah Jane Keene, nee Storey, a daughter of Post-Captain John Storey, of the royal navy, and granddaughter of Sir John Millett, baronet, of Ealing. The grandfather of our subject was William Keene, of Richmond, merchant and Indian importer, and his grandmother, Miss Wentworth, daughter of Sir Thomas Wentworth, baronet of Richmond. Mr. Keene attended the grammar schools of his native town until nearly fourteen years of age, when he left his home and went to sea, in the merchant service, and before completing his nineteenth year had circumnavigated the globe. His first visit to the United States was made in 1858, residing in the town of New London, Conn., and serving in the fishing fleet, being master of the schooner “Statesman.” In 1859 he returned to England, and entered the royal navy as midshipman, serving on the line-of-battle ship “Conqueror” (which vessel was lost in the West Indies in 1863). Resigning from the navy in 1860 he returned to the United States, and entered the coast wise trade, sailing a schooner from New York to Brazil. He made his last voyage in the schooner “Haze,” in 1861, being shut in by the blockade in the port of Darien, Ga. After being in the South some time, he joined the Army of Northern Virginia, being attached to the Ninth Georgia Volunteers in the brigade of the celebrated G. T. Anderson (“Old Tige”) now of Atlanta, Ga. He remained with this command until he was captured by the Federal forces in East Tennessee operating against Gen. James Longstreet (to whose command Gen. Anderson’s brigade was attached); in 1864 he was brought North, and released upon parole. In 1863, while in the army, he was converted, joined the Baptist Church, and immediately began to preach. Upon being captured and brought North he entered the Baptist College at Georgetown, Ky., so as to complete his studies. He afterward accepted the pastorate of the Baptist Church in Versailles, Woodford Co., Ky. In 1866 he was married to Miss Sallie A. Davis, of Lexington, Ky., daughter of John Davis (a prominent horseman of that city). Mrs. Keene’s mother was a Miss Downing, of the same city. The fruits of this union were three children, two of whom, Willie G. and Maggie D., are deceased, and one, Lizzie J., is still living, now in her fourteenth year. In 1870, while preaching for the Baptist Church in Vevay, Ind., Mr. Keene left the Baptists and joined the Christian Church, his views of the Bible doctrine having undergone a change. In the fall of 1870 he began preaching in Boone County, Ky., and for thirteen years was pastor of the churches in Florence and at Point Pleasant. In 1884 he accepted the charge of the Fifth Street Christian Church in Covington, Ky., where he is now located. Mr. Keene is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being Royal Arch Mason. He is also an Odd Fellow, member of both the subordinate lodge and the camp, has delivered many public lectures for both orders in three States, and has been quite prominently identified with the temperance movement as an ardent worker and public speaker. He was naturalized in Burlington, Boone Co., Ky., in the year 1876.

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This family biography is one of 73 biographies included in the Boone County, Kentucky section of the book, The History of Kentucky, Edition 7 published in 1887 by F. A. Battey Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: History of Kentucky, Edition 7

View additional Boone County, Kentucky family biographies here: Boone County, Kentucky Biographies

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