Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Keck, Sterling 1845 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 16, 2007, 3:34 am

Author: Emma E. Forter

STERLING KECK.

    Sterling Keck, one of the prominent residents of Summerfield, Marshall
county, and now living a retired life, was born in Claiborne county, Tennessee,
on September 9, 1845, the son of Philip and Rachel (Goin) Keck.

    Philip Keck was born in Pennsylvania and was the son of John and Anna
(Hansley) Keck, both of whom were natives of the state of Pennsylvania, and
where the father was engaged in farming. John Keck was the son of Conrad Keck
and wife, also natives of that state. The families later moved to Tennessee and
there John Keck died in 1859. Philip Keck after moving to Tennessee became the
owner of a large plantation consisting of over three hundred acres of land. It
was there that he died in 1880 at the age of eighty-five years. Rachel (Goin)
Keck, the mother of Sterling Keck, was born in Tennessee in 1816. She was the
daughter of Uriah Goin. She grew to womanhood in home state and there lived her
life, her death having occurred some years ago.

    Sterling Keck received his education in the common schools of his native
state and there grew to manhood on the home plantation. At the age of seventeen
years he enlisted in the Union army, and served in Battery B, First Tennessee
Light Artillery, and saw much active service in and about Nicholasville,
Kentucky. He was in the Twenty-third Army Corps and did good service for two and
a half years. After the close of the war he returned to his home and engaged in
teaching, and was for four years one of the successful teachers of his state. He
then retired from the work as a teacher and engaged in farming on his tract of
land for fifteen years. In 1879 he left Tennessee and went to Gage county,
Nebraska, where he purchased eighty acres of land at twelve dollars per acre. He
held this land for a time, when he traded it for land in Thomas county, Kansas.
In 1890 he left Nebraska and came to Marshall county, where he purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of land in section 24, Balderson township. The place was
partially developed and had some improvements. He later built a fine eight-room
house and made other extensive improvements. Here he engaged in general farming
and stock raising with much success for the next eighteen years, when in 1909 he
retired from the active duties of farm life and moved to Summerfield. Here he
has a beautiful modern house and six acres of land. The land is just across the
line in Nebraska.

    While actively engaged in farm work, Mr. Keck was an extensive raiser of
cattle, and each year had ready for the market some two hundred head. He was the
largest hog raiser in Balderson township. He was also a dealer in mules and each
year he shipped large numbers of these animals to the various markets of the
country. As a business man and farmer he demontrated his ability to handle
matters of large proportions.

    Sterling Keck was twice married. His first wife was Harriet Harman, whom he
married on October 18, 1866. She was born in Tennessee in 1848 and died on July
13, 1908. To this union the following children have been born: Roxie Ann,
Clarcie, Lucretia, Emeline, James William, Melvin, Belle, Josephine, Proctor,
Bert, John, Eva, Iva and one that died in infancy. Roxie Ann is the wife of
William Wymore, of Portland, Oregon, and to them have been born five children;
Clarcie Brown lives in Montana, where Mr. Brown is engaged in farming; Lucretia,
now deceased, was the wife of James McMahan; Emeline is the wife of L. McMahan
and they reside in California; James William resides in Montana; Melvin is
farming on the home place; Belle is the wife of L. Vanortwick, a farmer of
Richland township: Josephine Arnold resides in California; Proctor L. is a
farmer of Richland township; Bert lives in California; John is a resident of
Montana; Eva Fralin resides in Richland township, where Mr. Fralin is engaged in
farming and Iva is now deceased.

    In 1909 Mr. Keck was united in marriage to Mrs. Maggie Munday, who was born
in Tennessee on May 27, 1881, where she grew to womanhood and was united in
marriage to Oscar Munday, by whom she is the mother of two children, Nellie and
Claud, both of whom are at home. Mrs. Keck is the daughter of William and Sallie
(Lane) Munday, natives of Tennessee.

    Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Munday came to Marshall county and
established their home in section 19, Richland township, in 1902. Oscar Munday
engaged in general farming and stock raising for a number of years and met with
much success, in his chosen work. He and his wife were among the prominent
people of the community and were active in the social life of the district. Some
years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Munday became the wife of Sterling
Keck, and since their marriage have lived in their beautiful home in Summerfield.

    At the time Sterling and Harriet Keck left Tennessee to establish a new home
in Gage county, Nebraska, they were the parents of six girls and eight sons.
With his wife and large family of children, Mr. Keck landed in Gage county with
but twenty-five dollars in money. The long and difficult journey was made with
horses and covered wagons, and in the party that came at that time there were
eight wagons and forty-two people. The trip occupied forty-two days, and was
fraught with many hardships and dangers. The roads were but trails and there
were few, if any, bridges spanning the creeks and rivers.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)


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