Shelby County Tn - Biographies - The Goodspeed Biographical Sketches "K" Surnames
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Patrick KALLAHER, city wharf-master of Memphis, is a native of the county of
Clare, Ireland, where he was born March 15, 1847.  In 1850 he was brought by his
parents to America, and was reared to manhood in Louisville, Ky., and Nashville,
Tenn., and given a good English education.  In 1868 he came to Memphis, and was
given the position of charge of the cotton sheds of the city, continuing until
1876, when he was elected city wharf-master, and has filled this position
continuously and still holds the same to the satisfaction of all, and to his own
credit.  He is also engaged quite extensively in real estate dealings in this
city, and has made his business highly successful, owning at the present time
considerable valuable property, and being a stockholder in various incorporated
companies in the city, and a director in the People’s Insurance Company, and
other corporations in the city.  When he first took charge of the wharf there
were only 300 feet paved; now there is nearly half a mile paved and the wharfage
has been reduced from 5 cents to 2 ˝ cents per ton.  Mr. Kallaher is a member of
the Catholic Church, and is an unswerving Democrat in politics.  In 1875 he
married Miss Margaret Fleming, who died in 1875 (October), leaving no issue.
Mr. Kallaher is regarded by his fellow citizens as one of the most successful
young men of the city of Memphis, from a financial standpoint.



Elias KECK, proprietor of a livery stable at 403 Second Street, Memphis, that he
established in 1855, was a native of Virginia and was raised in Shelby Count,
Ind., where his father moved when he was a small boy.  He was educated in the
common schools of that county and then engaged in farming until 1851, when he
moved to Memphis, and four years later established his present business.  Mr.
Keck started without means, but has, by judicious management, accumulated a vast
amount of city real estate, besides a valuable farm six miles from the city, on
Big Creek Plank Road, in the Sixth District.  This farm is one of the most
valuable and best improved farms in this section of the State.  In 1864 Mr. Keck
married Miss Mattie Felts, a native of Memphis.  Five children were born to
them, four living.  The death of one was caused from the bite of a dog.  Mrs.
Keck died January 1, 1876, a consistent member of the Second Presbyterian
Church, of Memphis.  Mr. Keck was married the second time, in 1882, to Miss
Jennie Thweatt, daughter of J. O. Thweatt, a prominent farmer of Shelby County. 
Mrs. Keck was born near Memphis, but lived near Cuba, in Shelby County, where
they were married.  One child has been born to this union.  Mrs. Keck is a
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Keck belongs to the K. of
H.  In politics he is a Democrat.  He is an honest, upright business man, well
known in Memphis.



Edward A. KEELING, secretary of the Merchants Exchange, is a native of this city
and was born March 16, 1849, being the son of Edward A., Sr., and Martha
(Armstrong) Keeling, natives, respectively, of Giles County, Tenn., and
Pittsburgh, Penn.  The father, who was one of the prominent business men of
Memphis and New Orleans in ante bellum days, died here in 1850.  Our subject
grew to years of maturity in this city and was here educated and started in life
for himself.  In 1863 he accepted a position in the office of a steamboat agency
in this city, and later accepted a clerkship on one of the Mississippi River
boats, continuing until 1867 when he entered the employ of the Memphis & Ohio
(now the Louisville & Nashville) Railway as office clerk in this city, and in
1873 was made their agent at Mason, Tenn., and in 1874 was put in charge of the
office at Brownsville, Tenn.  In January, 1878, he resigned this position and
engaged in the general milling business at that place.  In the fall of 1881 he
returned to Memphis and engaged in a brokerage business, and in January, 1883,
upon the organization of the Merchants Exchange, was elected its secretary, and
has filled this position in a highly creditable manner until the present time.
He is a Democrat; is a prominent Mason, being Worshipful Master of South Memphis
Lodge, the pioneer lodge of the city, and Generalissimo of St. Elmo Commandery,
K.T.  He is also a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church.  October
15, 1874, he was joined in marriage to Miss Mary Nabers, daughter of Hon. B. D.
Nabers, of Mississippi, and by her has four living children, one son.



KELLY, Roper & Reilly, wholesale grocers and cotton factors, is a leading
business house of Memphis and is composed of M. J. Kelly, John Roper and James
Reilly.  The business was originally established in 1866 by James and John
Roper, but in 1882 became Kelly & Roper, and December 1, 1885, the present firm
was established.  They are now doing a very large business over the State of
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Northern Alabama, keep several
commercial travelers on the road and have a large number of employees to carry
on the business in this city.  Hon. Morgan J. Kelly is a native of Clare County,
Ireland, where he was born in December, 1849.  He came to the United States in
January, 1863, and engaged as clerk in the wholesale dry goods trade in
Cincinnati, Ohio, until 1872, when he came to Memphis and in 1877 engaged in the
wholesale and retail grocery business which he conducted successfully until
1882, when he entered his present business with Mr. Roper.  He is a Democrat and
as such represented his county in the State Legislature in 1882-83.  He is a
Catholic, a member of the K. of H., and is unmarried.



A. J. KNAPP, general passenger and freight agent of the Mississippi & Tennessee
Railroad, is a son of A. G. and Elizabeth (Martin) Knapp.  The father was born
in Vermont and reared in New York.  When young he went to Cincinnati, Ohio,
where he married Miss Martin, a native of Ireland, who came to this country in
1835.  They moved to Memphis in 1846, where they passed the residue of their
days.  In their family were eight children, four of whom are now living—two sons
and two daughters.  The other son is receiving clerk of the Louisville &
Nashville Railroad.  The father began as a molder in an iron foundry, and from
that arose by his own efforts to the ownership of large interests in the foundry
business.  He was a Whig in politics and his wife a member of the Presbyterian
Church.  He died in 1860 and she in 1863.  The Knapp family are of German
descent.  Our subject, the oldest child of the family, was born August 3, 1845,
in Cincinnati, Ohio, but was reared and educated in Memphis.  At the age of
thirteen he began to assist in his father’s foundry, where he continued some
seven years.  In 1865 he began as a warehouseman for the Memphis & Ohio (now
Memphis division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad).  From that he steadily
arose to clerk, local agent, chief clerk of the passenger and freight
department, and general freight and passenger agent in 1876.  In 1863 he married
Julia C. Rogers, of Germantown, Tenn., by whom he has three children: Mamie R.,
Edmonds S., and Burke R.  In 1883 his first wife died and the following year he
married Lucy C. Bierce, a native of Cleveland, Ohio.  Politically Mr. Knapp is a
Democrat.