Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....Keck, Philip 1840 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 29, 2006, 6:51 pm

Author: James L. King (1905)

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.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.

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