| WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS. | 161 cont'd |
CORWIN B. KEITH.
CORWIN B. KEITH, one of the old settlers of Marmaton township and a citizen who has performed an honorable part in the development of Moran and vicinity, came into Allen county in 1869 and located in Iola. He associated himself with Cyrus M. Simpson and engaged in mercantile pursuits. For ten years he was a citizen of the county seat and when he removed it was to locate in Gilfillan, Bourbon county, where his chief interests were for another ten years. His interests in Gilfillan were with the famous stone quarries there and while that notable place was the scene of his business activities his residence was, in the main, in Fort Scott.
In November 1892 Mr. Keith came to Moran. He opened a grain, coal and feed store and has since conducted that business. The ownership of a good farm in addition to the possession of an established business in Moran identifies him with the affairs of Allen county, permanently. Before coming to Kansas Mr. Keith resided in Ogle county, Illinois. He went into that county with his parents in 1853 from his birthplace, Huron county, Ohio. He grew up in Ogle county and obtained his education in the country schools and in Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris, Illinois. His father was Carlos Keith and his grandfather was Caleb Keith, both of whom were natives of the state of Vermont and went into Ohio as pioneers. The Keith ancestry were among the first settlers of New England. One of them, Rev. Jas. Keith, was the first minister of the town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He married Susanna D. Edson.
Carlos Keith, father of the subject of this review, died in Iola in 1872 at the age of seventy-five years. His marriage with Elvira Pond was pro-
| 162 | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
ductive of five children of whom Corwin B. is the fifth. The latter was born July 24, 1841. The other survivors are Carl P. Keith, of Moran, and Elvira, wife of J. T. Rhoades, of Vermont.
August 2, 1862, Corwin B. Keith enlisted in Company A, Second Illinois Cavalry and was detailed as Gen. Ord's escort and latter[sic] as Gen. Logan's escort. He was in the battles of Tallehachie, Willow Springs and the regiment took part in the campaign about Vicksburg and was afterward sent across into Louisiana and up Red River. Mr. Keith was discharged from the service in March 1863. He took up farming upon his return to Ogle county, Illinois, and remained in that vocation till his departure for Kansas.
Mr. Keith was married first at Mound City, Kansas, in 1870 to Miss Ella Morse, who died in 1874. December 19, 1899, he was again married to Mary Businger, of Bowlusville, Ohio. No children resulted from either marriage.
The Keiths of the olden time were Whigs. Those of the present are Republicans. For his political conviction Corwin B. is especially known and while he is not in the active work of the party he is at all times interested in its success.
Pages 161-162, 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.
