Charles Monroe Keeling, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 385-386 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CHARLES MONROE KEELlNG, M. D. 

	Dr. Charles Monroe Keeling, of Springfield, has been a resident 
of South Dakota since territorial days, having arrived here on the 5th 
of August, 1887. As he had been licensed to practice medicine one year 
before, practically his entire professional career has been spent in 
that town, where he enjoys a large and remunerative practice. He was 
born near Sulphur Hill. Shelby county. Indiana. February 15, 1863, a 
son of Dr. William W. and Mary R. (Spier) Keeling also natives of the 
Hoosier state, the former born in 1831 and the latter in 1838. About 
1895 they removed from Indiana to Nemaha, Nebraska. The father, himself 
a physician, is probably the oldest practitioner in that state and he 
still follows his profession to some extent, while the mother retains a 
keen interest in the life around her. 

Dr. Charles M. Keeling was educated in his native state and there 
began teaching at the age of seventeen. He subsequently studied 
medicine under the direction of his father and later entered the 
Medical College of Indiana, located at Indianapolis, and was graduated 
from that institution in 1887. The school is now a part of the State 
University. Following his graduation he practiced for four months with 
his father and then came to Dakota, opening an office at Delmont, 
Douglas county, where he remained only four months, when he removed to 
Tyndall. He remained there a like period and then came to Springfield, 
arriving here on the 23d of April, 1888. He has since remained a 
resident of this town and enjoys the confidence and patronage of many 
in Springfield and its vicinity. He is an able and conscientious 
physician and also keeps abreast of the most advanced thought in the 
profession. A brother of his, William F. keeling, now a resident of 
Marmarth, North Dakota, was for many years a resident of South Dakota 
and taught school in Bon Homme county. He came to the territory in 1886 
and left South Dakota about 1897. 

Dr. Keeling was married in 1882 to Miss Viola E. Osborn, a native 
of Indiana, who died at Springfield, July 7, 1910. She was the mother 
of one daughter, Era, now the wife of William M. Kirby, an attorney at 
law, who has an office in Springfield. They have twin boys, William M. 
M. and Charles K., born November 21, 1914. 

Dr. Keeling is a communicant of the Episcopal church of 
Springfield and in politics he is a democrat. He has never had time for 
office seeking and when on one occasion he was nominated for state 
representative he declined to make the campaign. The Doctor has taken a 
great interest in secret societies and holds membership in quite a 
number. He belongs to the blue lodge of Masons at Springfield; the 
chapter of the Eastern Star at that place; the Royal Arch chapter at 
Scotland; the commandery at Yankton; and the Mystic Shrine at Sioux 
Falls. He also holds membership in the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, the 
Modern Woodmen and the Royal Neighbors, the Modern Brotherhood of 
America and the Maccabees. During the existence of the lodge of Knights 
of Pythias in Springfield he was also a member of that body. He has not 
only won success professionally but has in all things proven a worthy 
and valuable citizen of his community, enjoying the full confidence and 
goodwill of his fellow men.