Northumberland-Schuylkill County PA Archives Biographies.....Keim, Joseph 1859 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 31, 2005, 11:54 pm Author: Biographical Publishing Co. JOSEPH KEIM, outside-foreman at the Henry Clay Colliery near Shamokin, Pa., was born July 19, 1843, in Blythe township, Schuylkill County, Pa., and is a son of Jacob and Maria (Steck) Keim. Jacob Keim, our subject's father, and his brother Peter were the first of the family to come to America. They took an active part in the development of the anthracite coal industry. Jacob Keim’s life came to an untimely end when our subject was only six years of age, at the Kaska Williams Colliery, in Schuylkill County, it being the first accident of the kind in the anthracite coal region. Peter Keim spent his life in mining and had always worked with his brother until Jacob's death, when he removed to Wisconsin and took up a homestead. His family was swept away by an epidemic of cholera morbus. Joseph Keim, our subject, was the eldest one of the family upon his father's death, having a younger sister and brother. The brother, Jacob, born two weeks after his father's death, is yet living and is a resident of East Mahanoy township, Schuylkill County, where he follows mining as a business. The sister, Katherine, became the wife of Lawrence P. Brennan, and they reside at Jackson's Patch. At the age of eight years our subject went into a coal-breaker as a picker of slate, attending school only for a short time during the year, and then under incompetent teachers, which gave him very poor advantages for obtaining an education. From picking slate he became a driver of teams in and around the mines, and next he engaged in farming, after which he ran an engine in Schuylkill County. His first position was with P. D. Luther, who operated the Kaska Williams Colliery, in Schuylkill County. Later our subject was employed as foreman at the Penitentiary Colliery, also operated by Mr. Luther. Shortly afterwards he enlisted in Company H, 173rd Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., and entered the Civil War for nine months, remaining for about ten or eleven months. He did not participate in any engagement, as he arrived on the field too late for the battle of Gettysburg. After receiving his discharge from the army he began work in the Kaska Williams Colliery under the employ of Mr. Luther, and ran engines for some time. Later he went to what was known as the Berry Colliery, which had been operated for a time by P. J. Berry, but upon his failure returned to the hands of the MacNeal Coal & Iron Company. Mr. Keim was appointed superintendent of the Berry Colliery ; his success in this connection made him the choice of the company to operate the Jackson's Patch collieries, a much more responsible position. The strikes of the W. B. A. entailed great losses and put to large inconvenience the MacNeal Company and, upon the company's failure, the property passed into the hands of White, Fowler & Snow, and our subject remained in their employ. This company continued in business but a short time, when Franklin B. Gowen, who was the president of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, foreclosed the mortgage, taking everything out of the mines and closing them up. Mr. Keim was with the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company while this was being done and subsequently he was transferred to the Knickerbocker Colliery near Yatesville, under the same management, in the capacity of a foreman, remaining there until about 1872, when he was again transferred to the Shenandoah City Colliery, remaining until May 1, 1884, when he left and went to Pottsville and went into the natural ice business for one year. On October 12, 1885, he again entered the employ of the company, going to the North Franklin Colliery at Trevorton, and remained there until April 23, 1888, when he was transferred to the Henry Clay Colliery at Shamokin, where he has since remained. This is one of the most important positions of the kind in the section; it includes the Henry Clay, Peerless, Sterling and Big Mountain workings, and Mr. Keim has the superintendence of the outside workings of the Henry Clay and Big Mountain. Our subject married Elizabeth Simmet, who died at Shenandoah, May 23, 1880. They have been blessed with six children: Mary, the wife of Edward Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa.; Matilda, the wife of John P. Quinn of Shamokin, Pa.; Herman J., a cutter by trade, who was employed by a large Chicago firm for five years, but is now in business for himself in the West; Leo L., who lives in Shamokin, Pa., and is in the employ of the Henry Clay Colliery; Rose, unmarried; and John, who died in 1880 at Shenandoah. Mr. Keim is a stockholder in the Shamokin Title & Trust Company. He is a Republican in politics and very much interested in all national affairs, but has never sought an official position. He is a member of Lincoln Post, No. 140, G. A. R., of Shamokin, and in 1897 was its commander; and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Keim's portrait accompanies this sketch, being presented on a foregoing page. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899) This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb