P. J. KELLER. For many years actively identified with the advancement of
the agricultural interests of Jackson county, P. J. Keller, through industry
and good management, has acquired a fair share of this world's goods, and is
now spending the sunset years of his long and useful life in pleasant
leisure and true comfort, enjoying the fruits of his early labors. A native
of Germany, he was born near the river Rhine and in close proximity to the
border line of France, his birth occurring December 7, 1838. He is a son of
the late Andrew Keller, and is of French ancestry, the Keller family having
originated in France. His grandfather Keller served as a soldier in the army
of Napoleon Bonaparte, his home having been on the French line. His
great-grandfather on the paternal side, a refugee from France, fled from
Paris to Switzerland, Frederick the Good having urged the refugees to
populate his country.
Andrew Keller was born, in 1812, in Germany,
near France, on der Rhinefels, and there grew to manhood and married. With
his family he afterwards immigrated to America, settling first in Waterloo,
Illinois, where he lived a few years. Locating near Red Bud, Randolph
county, in 1853, he was for a time engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Disposing of his farm, he went from there to Jackson county, and later to
Perry county. His first wife dying in 1846, he subsequently lived in various
places, moving frequently. During the Civil war, although then an old man,
he responded to the last call for volunteers, enlisting in the Eighty-first
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died while with his regiment, his body
being laid to rest in the National Cemetery at Corinth, Mississippi. A man
of strong personality, liberal-minded and progressive, he invariably
commanded the respect and regard of his neighbors and associates, and in
whatever community he lived was always a leader.
Andrew Keller was
twice married. He married first, in his native land, Elizabeth Hoch, who
bore him six children, as follows: Philip, deceased; Barabara, deceased;
Phoebe, deceased; P. J., the special subject of this sketch; John, deceased;
and Peter, a resident of Willisville, Illinois. She died in St. Louis,
Missouri, in 1846. He married again, in 1847, Catherine Havel, a native of
Germany, and of their union two children were born, namely: Henry; and
Elizabeth, deceased. Of his third marriage there was one child, a daughter.
A lad of seven years when he crossed the ocean with his parents, P.
J. Keller had but limited educational advantages, his book knowledge, with
the exception of an attendance of three months at a subscription school,
having been acquired by careful home study and intelligent reading. Through
his own efforts he has become well versed in law, but his professional
practice has been confined to the local justice courts. Soon after attaining
his majority Mr. Keller, who had been brought up in Monroe and Randolph
counties, came to Jackson county, and for a time followed the carpenter's
trade. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war he responded to a call for
troops, and was mustered into Company C, Eighteenth Illinois Infantry, and
at the expiration of his term of enlistment was mustered out, by
consolidation of the companies, of Company A, of the same regiment. He was
listed to promotion from the ranks of his superiors, but having refused to
join the Knights of the Golden Circle he was refused a commission.
Returning home after the war, Mr. Keller embarked in agricultural pursuits,
and was actively and prosperously engaged in general farming until 1899,
when, having accomplished a satisfactory work, he retired from business
pursuits, although at times he still practices law to some extent. For many
years he was one of the wide-awake, successful auctioneers of the county,
and cried sales throughout a large territory.
Politically Mr. Keller
is a Democrat, but he has never been an aspirant for official honors, being,
in fact, strenuously opposed to office holding. He is a true optimist, being
firmly convinced that everything in nature and the history of mankind is so
ordered as to produce in the universe the best possible conditions only, and
the highest good. He is a friend of the people, and is held in the highest
esteem, being looked upon by his neighbors as a sort of "patron saint." His
religion, he says, is to do right as God has given him light to interpret
the right, a doctrine that if followed surely adds to the betterment of the
world and to the uplifting of mankind.
Mr. Keller married first,
March 8, 1860, Elizabeth Bradley, daughter of Frank Bradley, a prominent
farmer of Jackson county, and of their union six children were born, as
follows: W. H., a school teacher in Idaho; P. Ferdinand, of Ava, Illinois;
Kent E., of St. Louis, Missouri, a graduate of the Southern Illinois Normal
and who read law in St. Louis and was admitted to the bar in Illinois; Harry
Bradley, engaged in farming at Ava; Mrs. Effie Afton, of Idaho; and
Elizabeth, who died in infancy. The mother of these children passed to the
life beyond in 1874. Two years later Mr. Keller married Mrs. Martha
Hamilton, and to them two children were born, namely: Mrs. Ida L. Finnegan,
living in Old Mexico; and George A., deceased. Mrs. Martha Keller died about
ten years after her marriage with Mr. Keller. He subsequently married for
his third wife Mrs. Charity Crews, who died in 1891, leaving one child,
Louise Keller.
Extracted 15 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 964-965.