| HON. JOHN KEENAN, (deceased); born March 21, 1816, in King;s Co., Ireland; with two brothers and two sisters came to America in 1838, locating near Lima, Ind. In 1843, four of them, John, George, Catherine and Frances I., came to Dane Co. Mr. Keenan at once bought part of the present homestead, and did good work as a pioneer of the times, clearing and breaking; 80 acres were under cultivation, and a good log house built at the time of his marriage for Flora McKee in 1850; she was born in County Down, Ireland, whence her parents, David and Jane McKee, came to the United States in 1844; and from New York City to the town of Dunn, Dane Co., in 1848, when Madison was the village capital of a new State.Mr. and Mrs. Keenan began in the log house and made a cultivated homestead of the wild prairie around them; in 1864, the pioneer house was supplanted by a large most pleasantly located farmhouse; Mr. Keenan died Dec. 18, 1870, leaving six children-John A., Robert M. Jennie I., Charles T., Agnes and George. Mr. K. was a regular attendant of the Presbyterian Church; was a Democrat, and represented his district in the Wisconsin Legislature; was also Chairman, etc. of his town for many years; no man ever filled these positions with more modesty and ability; his widow and children now enjoy a pleasant home, and splendid 658-acre farm earned by him.
Ref. 1880 History of Dane County, Wisconsin, page 1255. |
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