| 196 cont'd | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
CARLOS P. KEITH.
CARLOS P. KEITH, of Moran, whose advent to Allen county numbers him with the pioneers of Marmaton township, made settlement upon the broad prairie on section 30, township 24, range 21, then within the municipal boundaries of Osage township. October 24, 1868, was the day he drew up to his future abiding place and the dwelling he moved into was one of his own construction and measured 16x24 feet, one story, a commodious and inviting structure at that time.
Mr. Keith came to Kansas from Illinois. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, December 2, 1837, and in the spring of 1854 went into Ogle county Illinois, from whence he came to Kansas. He is a son of Carlos Keith who was born November 13, 1797, at Barnard, Vermont. The latter accompanied his parents into Ohio at a very early date and was there married April 22, 1824, to Elvira, a daughter of Munson Pond, born in Bridgeport, Vermont, October 5, 1806. The Keiths are among the original Americans. They are descended from Scotch ancestors who settled in New England and whose posterity aided in the establishment of independence in our country. The Ponds also possess this military distinction for Munson Pond was of that band of patriots who marched from Lexington to Yorktown in the days of "seventy-six." Carlos Keith was a soldier of the war of 1812. In civil life he devoted his energies to the farm. He followed his son to Kansas and died in Iola December 21, 1872. April 4, 1870, his wife died. Of their children Carlos P. is the fourth child.
Our subject had fair opportunities as a boy. His father operated a grist-mill on the head waters of Huron River, in addition to his farm, and in this Carlos Keith spent some of his early life. He was educated, liberally for his day, in the country schools and did not separate from the parental home till he was married. Until his semi-retirement from the farm his was a life of persistent and continued activity. The farm and its auxiliary enterprises have received his greatest care and most strenuous efforts.
December 24, 1860, Mr. Keith was married to Lucena Shoemaker, a daughter of Benjamin Shoemaker, from Perry, New York, a blacksmith and farmer. The surviving children of this union are: Dessie, wife of William J. Rumbel of Moran; Harold E., one of the young farmers of Marmaton township, and Miss Mabel C. Keith, a teacher in the Moran schools.
The year 1868 would seem not to have been an opportune time for
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settlers without means to enter a new country. The necessities of life were almost beyond the reach of the poor and life in those families could be sustained by the most ceaseless and interminable labors. Corn was worth two dollars a bushel, kerosene seventy-five cents a gallon, flour six dollars a hundred, poor hay nine dollars a ton and such a luxury as calico was almost too high to indulge in. Mr. Keith was one of the poor settlers. His inventory, upon his arrival in Allen county, included a team and wagon, a few dollars and a wife and three children. While engaged in the initial steps in the improvement of his own farm he earned the wherewith to buy supplies for his family by aiding other old settlers in doing theirs. He was not particular as to the kind of work, nor as to the price, but both were generally to his liking. As time went on his claim took on the appearance of a home and when, in late years, he erected his substantial and permanent buildings the whole farm of one hundred and eighty-six acres presented an appearance unexcelled on the Fort Scott road. In 1892, after a residence of twenty-four years, Mr. Keith left the farm to the care of his son, Harold E., and took up his residence in Moran. Here, on November 22, 1900, Mrs. Keith died, suddenly. She was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church and was a loyal companion of a worthy husband for nearly forty years.
In politics C. P. Keith is a Republican. His first presidential vote was for Lincoln and he has continued in the faith of the fathers till the present. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity and is regarded wherever known, as a gentleman of truth, character and patriotism.
Pages 196-197, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas: embellished with portraits of well known people of these counties, with biographies of our representative citizens, cuts of public buildings and a map of each county / Edited and Compiled by L. Wallace Duncan and Chas. F. Scott. Iola Registers, Printers and Binders, Iola, Kan.: 1901; 894 p., [36] leaves of plates: ill., ports.; includes index.
