My Genealogy Hound

T. B. McKee, a practical and progressive farmer of Douglas township, living on section 16, is now conducting a successful business which indicates his spirit of determination, energy and enterprise. He owns two hundred and forty acres of rich and productive land and in addition to its cultivation he operates over three hundred and twenty acres within three miles of Creston. Living in Union county since 1880, he is widely known here, and it is with pleasure that we present to our readers the record of his life.

Mr. McKee was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1852, and was a young man of eighteen years when in 1870 he made his way to the middle west, settling first in Brookfield, Missouri. There he was engaged in railroading on the line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, being first employed as fireman on an engine running from Brookfield to Kansas City. Seven years were thus passed and in 1877 he removed to St. Joseph and became an engineer. Subsequently he took a run from Atchison to Hopkins, continuing in that position from 1878 until 1888, while later he was upon a run between Atchison and Creston and afterward between Kansas City and Creston. He continued with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company as a trusted employe for eighteen years and for fourteen years was an engineer. He was careful, putting forth every effort possible to avoid accident or delay, and his faithful service won him the entire trust of the corporation which he served.

On leaving that employ Mr. McKee went to Springfield, Missouri, where he entered the employ of the Frisco Railway Company as engineer upon a run between Springfield and Thayer, where he continued for six years. He afterward located in St. Joseph, Missouri, and was with the fire department of that city for a few years. During all his railroad experience he never had but one serious wreck and that was on the Frisco road. For some time he was engineer on a passenger train between Atchison and Hopkins and later from Kansas City to Hopkins and was well known along the line of the road.

Mr. McKee settled permanently in Union county in 1896. He was married in Creston on the 12th of June, 1884, to Miss Sylvia Van Landschoot, who came to Iowa with her parents in her girlhood days. In 1896 Mr. and Mrs. McKee located on the farm which Mrs. McKee had inherited from her father’s estate. Since that time Mr. McKee has greatly improved the place and has brought the fields under a high state of cultivation. He built a good house and outbuildings and has the farm well fenced, while everything about the place is indicative of his careful supervision and progressive efforts. He annually gathers good crops and he also profits by his stock-raising interests, feeding and fattening stock for the market. He owns a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Lawrence county, Missouri, and from that property derives a good rental.

Mr. and Mrs. McKee have four children who are yet living: William, T. Lyon, Sylvia and Arden, and they also lost a daughter, Mary, who died when but two years of age. Politically Mr. McKee is identified with no party but casts an independent ballot, regarding the capability of the candidate rather than his party affiliation. He and his wife were reared in the Catholic faith and are members of the Creston church. He is also identified with Creston lodge of the Maccabees and has been a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers since 1875. His life has been one of untiring activity and energy, and the success which he has enjoyed is attributable to his well directed labors, his careful expenditure and his determined purpose.