Jonathan H. Keith
Jonathan H. Keith, an honored pioneer of Sugar Creek Township, was born in Lewis County, [now] West Virginia,
August 8, 1811. He was the youngest of thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters, born to James and Mary Ann (Allkire) Keith, the former a native of Winchester, Va., of English and
Scotch descent, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. His boyhood and early youth were
spent working upon his father's farm in his native county. In the spring of 1828, he accompanied his
parents to Miami County, Ohio, but in the following fall the family came to Shelby County, and located in the woods
of Marion Township. In the spring of 1829, they removed to a farm which the father had purchased in Brandywine
Township, near the present site of Fairland. In 1832, they removed to Sugar Creek Township, and located upon
a tract of land in Section 32, upon which the subject of this sketch has ever since resided. The chief occupation
of his life has been that of a farmer. His first marriage occurred April 10, 1836, when Keziah Hutchison became his wife. She was born in Warren County, Ohio, March 27, 1818, and was the
daughter of James and Sarah (Ulry)* Hutchison. She died March 31, 1837. On the second day of April 1848, Mr.
Keith was married to Elizabeth Crosby, who was born in Clermont County, Ohio, August 25, 1829,
and was the daughter of Joseph
and Mary (Cook) Crosby. The
first marriage of Mr. Keith resulted in the birth of one child, Sarah C.,
born March 11, 1837, died September 12, 1837. He and his present wife are the parents of ten children, as
follows: Marshall, born January 29, 1849, died in infancy; Mary K., born April 26, 1850; Frances
L., born January 23, 1852, died August
19, 1884; Maude, born April 23, 1854; Joseph M.,
born October 27, 1856; James W. S., born December 22, 1858; William A.,
born November 25, 1861; Susan M., born March 6, 1864, died June 6, 1884; Edward E., born February 27, 1867; Oscar
H., born April 30, 1869. Mr.
and Mrs. Keith are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The former became a member of the F. &
A.M. about thirty-one years ago. In politics he is an ardent Republican. He has served his township
as Justice of the Peace five years. He served as Second Lieutenant in Co. H, Third Indiana Regiment, of Mexican
War, from June 1846, to July, 1847. He owns a good farm of 160 acres.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Chicago: Brant & Fuller, 1887, pp 751-2, "Sugar
Creek Sketches".
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
* Also spelled Ulrey, Ulery.
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