Elliott Bushfield McKeever Biography


	This biography appears on pages 133-134 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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				ELLIOTT BUSHFIELD McKEEVER. 

	Elliott Bushfield McKeever, formerly a well known resident of 
Aberdeen, South Dakota, but now living in Moline, Illinois, was born in 
Hendrysburg, Belmont county, Ohio, March 23, 1845, a son of John 
McKeever, whose father was Alexander McKeever, a native of Scotland, 
who settled in Washington county, Pennsylvania. The mother of our 
subject, Mrs. Melinda (Dallas) McKeever, was a daughter of Robert A. 
Dallas, who was born in England. 

	Elliott B. McKeever attended the Harlem Springs Seminary, Cornell 
College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, and Scio College at Scio, Ohio, from 
which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1872. For 
a number of years he devoted his time to public school work and from 
1894 to 1898 was county superintendent of schools of Rock Island 
county, Illinois, after removing to that state from Clinton, Iowa, in 
the late '70s. He was a very successful educator, as he understood 
thoroughly the conditions met with in the conduct of the public schools 
and kept in touch with progressive movements in the field of education—
movements which seek to bring about a closer relation between the work 
of the schools and modern life. In the discharge of his important 
duties he served his community well and proved himself a public-
spirited citizen. He also gave evidence of his patriotism and 
willingness to subordinate personal interests to the general welfare 
when, in 1863, he enlisted in Company L, Ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer 
Cavalry, under command of Colonel W. D. Hamilton. The command remained 
at Camp Chase, Ohio, for a few weeks, spent in organization and drill, 
and was then sent to join Sherman's army at the front, remaining with 
him from that time until the surrender of Johnston in North Carolina, 
in the spring of 1865. Mr. McKeever took part in the fight around 
Atlanta that led to the capture of that city, in the famous march to 
the sea, and in the campaign northward through the Carolinas. Following 
the surrender of Johnston, the command to which Mr. McKeever belonged 
was stationed in North (Carolina to preserve the peace, and remained 
there until July, when it was honorably discharged. He reached his home 
in Ohio on the 5th of August, 1865. 

	Mr. McKeever was a strong supporter of the republican party until 
the Chicago convention of 1912, when he became a progressive of the 
Roosevelt type. He is liberal and broad-minded in his attitude upon 
important questions of the day, believing in giving woman the full 
right of franchise and favoring the initiative, referendum and recall. 
He is also unalterably opposed to the saloon and to all that it 
represents, and does everything in his power to secure the abolishment 
of the liquor traffic. The principles and ideals which govern his life 
are found in the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which 
he has been a member since he was thirteen years of age. For years he 
has been an active worker in the church and Sunday school and he is 
seeking constantly to advance the interests of religion. Fraternally he 
belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, being a charter member of 
Abraham Lincoln Camp, at Moline, Illinois, and he is also a charter 
member of R. H. Graham Post, No. 312, G. A. R., of Moline, in which he 
has filled the offices of quartermaster, chaplain, adjutant, junior 
vice commander, senior vice commander and commander. All who have been 
brought in contact with him acknowledge the genuine worth of his 
character and hold him in unqualified respect, and he has made and 
retained many warm personal friends. 

	Mr. McKeever was married on the 23d of December, 1873, at 
Conotton, Ohio, to Miss Laura Holmes, a daughter of John M. and Emily 
S. Holmes, of that place. Her father was an active anti-slavery 
republican and an intimate friend and supporter of John A. gingham. His 
wife, who was a Quaker and as strongly opposed to slavery as he, was a 
cousin of Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war. A man of initiative and 
sound judgment, Mr. Holmes was one of the first to introduce Merino 
sheep into eastern Ohio, proving that they could be profitably raised 
in that section. To Mr. and Mrs. McKeever were born three children: 
John Herbert, who married Miss Maude Bradfield, of Barnesville, Ohio, 
and a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Blanche, the wife 
of Dr. William Lewis Judkins, of Barnesville; and Emily R., who married 
William C. Bartlett, of Peoria, Illinois. The wife and mother passed 
away March 18, 1909, and on the 13th of September, 1913, at Rochelle. 
Illinois. Mr. McKeever married Miss Florence Stratford, of that place.