Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Keltie, Howard T 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Howard T. Keltie, dependent upon his own resources from an early age, is today 
one of the most prominent representatives of industrial life in Joliet and in 
business affairs has been energetic, prompt and notably reliable. He is today 
secretary and treasurer of the Keltie Stone Company, which is operating 
extensively in the quarrying and sale of stone; nor have his efforts been 
confined alone to one line but have reached out to various fields of activity 
wherein the business development of the city has been promoted, while 
individual success has also been accomplished thereby. Mr. Keltie was born in 
Clinton, Canada, June 27, 1851, a son of Thomas and Mary H. (McCullough) 
Keltie. The father was a native of Scotland and at an early age became a 
resident of Kingston, Canada, whence he removed to Clinton and there died in 
the prime of life. He was a carpenter by trade and in that manner provided for 
the support of his family, which numbered wife and seven children, three sons 
and four daughters, of whom two sons have now passed away. The mother, who was 
of English parentage, was born in Canada and died in Detroit but was buried at 
Joliet. In religious faith she was identified with the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Howard T. Keltie was but three years of age when taken to Point Clark 
on Lake Huron. Four years afterward he returned to his native town and there 
attended the common schools until he reached the age of sixteen, when he began 
earning his own livelihood through employment in a stave factory. He afterward 
spent three years as engineer in the drilling of salt wells in Ontario in the 
vicinity of his old home and coming to Illinois, he was engaged to put down an 
artesian well at Lemont, beginning the work in July, 1873. He dug a well 
thirteen hundred and sixty feet deep—the first deep well in the locality. 
Subsequently he spent several months in deepening wells in Joliet, after which 
he returned to Canada, where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1874 he 
arrived in Mendota, Illinois, where he dug an artesian well twenty-two hundred 
feet deep and subsequently he put down a well at Champaign, Illinois. Later he 
deepened the well at Mendota and his next contract was near Marseilles, 
Illinois, where he put down a well that was twenty-one hundred feet deep. It 
was while at Marseilles, that Mr. Keltie formed the acquaintance of Mr. Hays 
of the Joliet Stone Company, who engaged him to buy an engine and machinery 
for sawing stone and put it in operation. With this company Mr. Keltie 
continued as an engineer for four years and was then superintendent of the 
quarries for a similar period. In 1884 he bought an interest in the Joliet & 
Chicago Stone Company and superintended the work at the quarries at Fourth and 
Rowell avenues. Two years later he was made vice president and secretary as 
well as superintendent and continued to act in those capacities until he 
resigned in 1893. Organizing the Douglas & Keltie Stone Company, he became its 
manager and soon afterward bought his partner's interest changing the name to 
the Keltie Stone Company, of which he has since been secretary, treasurer and 
manager. Under his supervision quarries were opened between Jackson and Cass 
streets on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, where the company bought a 
large tract of land. He also opened and began to operate twenty acres west of 
Joliet on the some railroad. The quarries are provided with steam plants, 
derricks, siding and other necessary equipments, and the product is a good 
quality of building stone. He is also a contracting stone-mason and does all 
the work in this line for the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad. He also has 
had contracts for the material used in the government piers at South Chicago 
and at the present writing the Keltie Stone Company has the contract with the 
Great Lakes Dredging & Dock Company to furnish thirty thousand cords of stone 
for the new town of Gary, Indiana. Shipments of stone are made to all parts of 
the country with particularly large markets at Milwaukee and St. Louis. Mr. 
Keltie has become one of the foremost representatives of the stone industry in 
Joliet, having developed his business along modern progressive lines, and his 
keen perception, careful management and correct business principles have 
enabled him to develop an enterprise which has reached a large volume. 
Extending his efforts into other fields of activity, Mr. Keltie is financially 
interested in the Will County Bank and was one of the incorporators of the 
Vance Furniture Company, acting as its secretary until the business was sold. 
In community affairs Mr. Keltie is deeply and actively interested. He is a 
valued representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained high 
rank, belonging to Mount Joliet lodge, No. 42, A. F. & A. M.; Joliet chapter, 
No. 27, R. A. M.; Joliet commandery, No. 4, K. T.; and to the Medinah Temple 
of the Mystic Shrine in Chicago. He is likewise connected with the Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, having served as chancellor 
commander in the latter organization. In his political views a stalwart 
republican, he has served as a member of the county central committee, has 
been treasurer of the Working Men's Republican Club and has labored earnestly 
and effectively in behalf of the principles in which he believes. He has 
served as a member of the board of school trustees for Joliet township and as 
its president, and in 1904 was elected a member of the city council, to which 
position he was re-elected in 1906. In Joliet Mr. Keltie was married to Miss 
May T. Smith, who was born in this city, a daughter of William Smith of 
Joliet, and they have three children, William H., Arthur J. and Laura M. They 
also lost one son, Howard, who was killed in front of their residence by a 
street car when four years of age. The family hold membership in the First 
Baptist church, in which Mr. Keltie is now serving as a trustee. They are well 
known socially and the hospitality of their own pleasant home is greatly 
enjoyed by many friends. Mr. Keltie thoroughly enjoys home life and takes 
great pleasure in the society of his family and his associates. He is always 
courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally have for him 
warm regard. A man of natural ability, his success in business from the 
beginning of his residence in Joliet has been uniform and rapid. He is, 
moreover, a public-spirited citizen and has ever supported those interests 
which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral 
worth is deserving of the highest commendation. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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