Families - Ewing
Horatio N. Keightley.
One of Knoxville's early citizens who gave his cooperation not only to
the promotions of all municipal enterprises but also to the development of
educational institutions was the late Horatio N. Keightley. He was a native
of the state of New York, having been born in Cortland county, on the 25th
of May 1823 and there he was reared and educated. during his boyhood he
attended the district schools in the vicinity of his home, supplementing the
knowledge therein obtained by a course in the schools of Auburn, New York.
Having decided to become a lawyer, upon the completion of his preliminary
education he entered the office of William H. Seward where he prepared for
admission to the bar. In 1850, at the age of twenty-five years, he came to
Knoxville and established an office continuing to be actively engaged in
practice here for over forty years. He was one of the well read and widely
informed attorneys of the county, and was connected with many of the
important litigations in its early history, having successfully pled many a
cause in the old courthouse. A man of high standards and upright principles,
he became known as one who always conscientiously devoted himself to the
protection of his clients' interests. In connection with his professional
work Mr. Keightley was also interested in the grain business and
agricultural pursuits. He owned two fine farms east of Knoxville that he
cultivated for two years, making a specialty of raising hogs.
Mr. Keightley married Miss Mary L. Ewing who was born in Smithfield,
Pennsylvania on the 25th of January 1831. They were married in this city on
the 25th of May, 1852 by the Rev. W. Y. Miller and always made their home
here. Mrs. Keightley was a daughter of Alexander and Jane (Campbell) Ewing,
the father a native of Uniontown and the mother of Somerset, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandfather, David Ewing was a native of Ireland. He came to
Knoxville in 1835 and with his brother, George established a general store.
Here he and his wife passed away and were lade to rest in the cemetery in
the vicinity of Knoxville. Grandmother Ewing's maiden name was Ruth Brown
and she was a native of Maryland. The maternal grandfather was John
Campbell, who emigrated from Scotland to the United States, first locating
in Pennsylvania but later becoming a resident of Ohio where he engaged in
farming until his death. Alexander Ewing, Mrs. Keightley's father was one of
the pioneer merchants of Knoxville, having opened a general store here in
1836, that he conducted for many years. He was one of the many who made the
long and perilous journey across the prairies to California in search of
gold. Both he and his wife passed away in Knoxville, her demise occurring on
September 26, 1866 and his on the 2d of January 1874. She was a member of
the Episcopal church, in the faith of which denomination they reared their
family. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. Keightley being the
only one surviving. The others were as follows, Anna M., the wife of William
M. Phillips of Galesburg; and John H., who in 1860 married Cornelia Weeks,
and the widow is now living in Eldorado, Kansas. Among the distinguished
members of the Ewing family is to be named General Ewing, and Mrs. Keightley
is also related to General Sherman. To Mr. and Mrs. Keightley were born
eight children, of whom five are now living. Ida, who was born on 4 February
1857, married John G. Breece, a farmer near Caldwell, Kansas and they had
three children; Henry, who was deceased; Agnes, the wife of Victor Larson;
Bertha who married Carl Stoner; and Charles, Horatio A., and Wilbur. Alice
C. was born 20 September 1861 and died 1 December 1907. Alexander Ewing,
born 15 September 1861, married Mary McAuly and had three sons: Thomas
Washington, Charles Nelson and Alexander Elwood. He was a resident of
Danville, Washington. Mary Ewing, born 5 January 1864 was a trained nurse in
Chicago and the widow of William Bradford by whom she had two daughters,
Helen and Dorothy. Martin Gay of Wellington, Kansas born 3 September 1866
who married Sarah E. Butts and had four sons, George Martin who was in the
United States Navy; Harry E.; Louis H.; and Albert Ray.
The family always attended the Episcopal church in which Mr. Keightly
held membership as did his widow. Fraternally he was a Mason and politically
a Republican and at all times he took an active interest in affairs of the
municipality, having served as justice of the peace and for several terms as
mayor. Mr. Keightley always gave his assistance in promoting the development
of the community along lines he deemed qualified to best serve the interests
of its citizens. He was the first to start the subscription that brought to
Knoxville St. Mary's school, an Episcopalian Institution, originally known
as Ewing University, so called from Mrs. Keightley's family. He was held in
the highest esteem, not only in Knoxville, where he had resided for so many
years, but in the entire country, and his death, on the 7th of April, 1896,
caused deep regret in the community. For several years prior to his demise
he had been living retired, his failing health having necessitated his
withdrawal from active life. He was survived by his widow, who had been a
resident of Knoxville for seventy-five years, forty-nine of which had been
spent on the old family homestead where she still lived. Mrs. Keightley had
an extensive acquaintance among the early pioneers of the Knoxville area,
whose names now figured prominently in the state's history. She well
remembered Lincoln's early days and struggles and was present at an address
he made from the Balcony of the old Hebberd House, in 1858 and many were the
interesting reminiscences she related of those early days."
Contributed by Susan Wolfe, from the 1912 History of Knox County,
Illinois, Its Cities, Towns and People, Volume II, The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, Chicago, page 9.
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Undated
photograph of Agnes Breece, Mary L. Ewing Keightley, Ida Keightley Breece,
and Agnes Breece's young son.
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Family
Group Sheet for David Ewing (1770-1847), Ruth Brown Ewing (1780-1863) and
their known children Alexander Ewing (1806-1874), Margaret Ewing Whitton
(1809-1871), and George M. Ewing (1818-1879).
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Family Group Sheet for George M. Ewing (1818-1879), Elizabeth Maria
Taylor Ewing (1826-1904) and their children Sevina Ewing (????-1911), Souisa
Ewing, Catherine Ewing Weeks (1846-1931), Frank Brown Ewing (1847-1928), Ann
Dell Ewing (1849-????), Emma Ruth Ewing Price (1851-1927), Aleck Ewing
(1953-1877), Louise Ewing (1856-1917), and Elizabeth K. Ewing (1868-????).
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Knoxville, Illinois, Cemetery, Section VIII, pages 113 and 135, record of burials.
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Knoxville, Illinois, Cemetery gravestone photographs of 1) Horatio Nelson
Keightley (1823-1896) and his wife, Mary Louise Ewing Keightley (1831-1919),
and 2) their daughter, Alice M. Keightley (1859-1907). Mary Louise Ewing
Keightley was the sister of John H. Ewing.
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Knoxville, Illinois, Cemetery gravestone photographs of Alec
Ewing (ca 1853-1877) and Louise Ewing (1856-1917).
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Knoxville, Illinois, Cemetery gravestone photographs of David
Ewing (1772-1847) and Jane Campbell (1799-1866), first wife of
Alexander Ewing (1806-1874).
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Knoxville, Illinois, Cemetery
gravestone photograph of Margaret Ewing (1809-1871), wife of William H.
Whitton (1806-1871).
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Images contributed by Susan Wolfe.
Well, as I wade through this maze of identical names, and have found new
cousins, we have come across another interesting fact. We recently ran into
two descendants of Mary Louise Ewing and her husband Horatio Nelson
Keightley. They have both sent pictures and information and do we have a
mess to figure out now. I will try to explain this in the simplest terms
possible.
George Marshall Ewing and his wife Elizabeth Maria Taylor, had a daughter
named Ann Dell Ewing. There is an Ann Dell Ewing Lawrence in El Dorado,
Kansas. Since many of our family moved to El Dorado, Kansas we assumed she
went along and married a man with the last name Lawrence, in El Dorado.
However her descendant has said she was born in 1849, which corresponds to
the records I have, but she married a Charles H. Runkle. So, I looked in the
computer files, and in Illinois, sure enough under Illinois marriage records
I have an Anna Ewing marrying a Charles Runkle, in Knox County October 12,
1869.
I can not rule out the fact that perhaps he died, and she remarried a Mr.
Lawrence later on, because of where she is placed in the Cemetery in El
Dorado, Kansas. So we will start her off as a Runkle ,and leave it to your
imagination on the Lawrence name until further proof.
I still have this Nellie Ewing who married a Charles T. White in Knox County
in October 3, 1869. This seems to be a popular year and popular month. There
are some corrections to be made on the George Marshall Ewing and Elizabeth
Maria Taylor marriage. We typed Aleck Ewing as a son of George, and indeed
he was, and his tombstone bears the name Aleck. Perhaps he didn't want his
Grandfather's name?? I also left off Louise and Aleck as having been born in
Knoxville, Illinois. I stand corrected for leaving this out. According to
Phyllis Rice, descendant through Alexander Ewing
Keightley, her Bible and records say that there was a Margaret Ewing, born
in 1859 in Illinois, per the Census Records. Whom she belongs to, is
questionable, but Phyllis believes she belongs under the household of George
Marshall and Elizabeth Maria Taylor Ewing. She also questions the validity
of Sevina Ewing and Souisa, or Louisa Ewing as part of that family. So you
will have to be the judge on which is which. I only type what I have proof
of, and knowledge about. I have read these names in a book and in the Church
records in Illinois, they may belong to an entirely different family of
Ewings. I really don't know for certain.
Sincerely,
Your tired author,
Susan Ewing Wolfe
