My Genealogy Hound

PHILIP KECK.
Philip Keck, a prosperous farmer of Auburn township, owns a fine farm of 160 acres in section 20, township 13, range 14, on which he resides, and a nearby tract of 160 acres which he uses in grain farming and stock-raising. Mr. Keck was born May 1, 1840, in Wittenberg, Germany, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Hoover) Keck.

The father of our subject died on his farm in Germany, and the mother and her children came to America and settled in Ohio. She died in Kansas, aged 66 years. The family consisted of four children: John, who died in Darke County, Ohio; Jacob, of Oakland, California; Mrs. Kate Franklin, who died at Topeka; and Philip, of this sketch.

Our subject was five years old when his mother took passage for herself and family on the sailing vessel “George Washington,” landing at the port of New York 31 days later. The destination of the family was Darke County, Ohio, and almost the whole of the journey was made by boat, three months elapsing from the time the little party left Germany until the new home was reached. Here, surrounded by many hardships, Mr. Keck grew to sturdy young manhood. When the Civil War broke out, he felt it his duty to assist in supporting the government of the country which had extended so cordial a welcome and provided so desirable a home, and on September 10, 1861, he enlisted for three years in Company K, 34th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., under Captain Smiley and Col. Don Piatt. The history of this famous regiment is incorporated in the records of State and Union, and during its years of notable service, no more faithful soldier was found than Philip Keck. Much of the service of this regiment was in the mountains of West Virginia and the 34th Ohio won as honorable a position as any other regiment and was one of the victorious ones at the battle of Winchester under General Sheridan. Mr. Keck’s term of service expired just after the battles of Winchester and Cedar Creek and he was honorably discharged in 1864.

After the close of his army service, Mr. Keck returned to Ohio and continued to farm there until 1868, when he came to Kansas, accompanied by his wife and two children. He located in Auburn township, Shawnee County, where he bought 160 acres in section 19, township 13, range 14, 30 acres of which had been broken. On the property stood a log cabin, which sufficed for a shelter until he could build a comfortable house. In 1897 he purchased the farm on which he now resides. The land is all in one body and makes one of the finest farms in his section of the county.

Mr. Keck was married August 20, 1865, to Charity M. Reed, who was born in Darke County, Ohio, March 26, 1844, and is a daughter of Allen and Mary (Wood) Reed, natives of Ohio. They have had 10 children, of whom Benjamin died at the age of three years, and Martha, at the age of three months. The survivors are: William J., who owns a fine farm near his father; Maria Belle, who is the wife of Michael Boley, of Topeka township; Ida, who is the wife of William Snyder, of Auburn township; Allen, a farmer of Auburn township; J. Noah, Frank and Minnie, who live at home; and John, who married Meryl Coffman. Mr. Keck is proud of his 19 grandchildren, all of whom do him credit.

Mr. Keck cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln and has always been a Republican. He is a justice of the peace in Auburn township, and for 15 years he has been a member of the School Board, during which period the present fine school building has been erected. He has been a member of Lincoln Post, No. 1, G. A. R., at Topeka, for many years and is honored there as a worthy comrade. For the past 27 years he has been a deacon in the Wakarusa Valley Congregational Church. Mr. Keck is widely known and commands the respect, as he enjoys the esteem, of his fellow-citizens, his neighbors and his family. A portrait of Mr. Keck accompanies this sketch, being presented on a foregoing page in proximity to this.