ENOCH KEYS. There is no better known, more prominent or more highly respected family in East Bethlehem township than the one of whom we now write. Jacob Keys was born and reared in Germany, and there married, his children being Mary (Mrs. William Horner), Elizabeth (Mrs. Thomas), Enoch, Andrew, Adam and Sarah (all now deceased); Andrew and Adam were wheelwrights in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Enoch Keys was born in February, 1785, in Germany, and when four years of age crossed the Atlantic with his parents, who immediately on landing proceeded westward to Washington county, Penn., and, buying a tract of land in East Bethlehem township, made a settlement there. Here Enoch was reared to manhood amid pioneer scenes, his education being such as could be gleaned from the primitive schools of the vicinity. He married Rachel, daughter of James Perry, and children as follows were born to them: Luther, Parker, Enoch, Jr., Elizabeth, Dorcas, Hannah, Cynthia and Rachel, of whom are now living: Mrs. Elizabeth Teagarden, at Clarksville, Greene Co., Penn., and Dorcas, Hannah and Rachel, in East Bethlehem township. Otto Keys was adopted by Miss Hannah Keys, and was married to Julia Florence Horton, by whom there is one child Estella Horton Keys, born December 19, 1891. The Misses Dorcas, Hannah and Rachel Keys are ladies uniformly respected for their many Christian virtues; they are devout members of the Baptist Church.
Enoch Keys, their father, was an undertaker, as was his father before him. He died March 11, 1824, in politics a stanch Republican, and in religion a consistent Baptist. The family farm consists of eighty acres of the choicest land to be found in the county, and is cultivated by Otto Keys, who is a rising and popular young agriculturist of considerable intelligence. The name Keys is regarded, wherever known, as the synonym for virtue, probity and unswerving integrity, and is held in the highest esteem.
Text taken from page 1463 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]