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From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [KILKENNY-L] Bio of John O'Keeffe
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 07:39:31 -0600


Biographical and Historical Record of Ringgold and Union Counties...Chicago:
Lewis Pub. Co., 1887.

Colonel John O'Keeffe of the firm of John O'Keeffe & Company, dealers in
clothing and gents' furnishing goods; engaged in business at Creston in 1876,
with H. Newman, in the clothing and merchant tailor business. This partnership
continued about three months, when the present firm was established. The
business house of John O'Keeffe & Company is located on Adams street, and is by
far the most complete establishment of the kind to be found in Union County.
Colonel O'Keeffe is a native of the Emerald Isle, having been born in the city
of Kilkenny, Ireland, March 8, 1850. His parents, James and Ellen O'Keeffe, are
still living in Ireland, and are the parents of five children, our subject being
the only one residing in America. He is not, however, the first one that came.
His father came when he was a young man, and married Ellen Doran, an American
lady of Irish ancestry. They were married at Steubenville, Ohio, and their two
eldest sons born in that State. About five years subsequent to their marriage
the father returned to his native country with his family. The maternal
grandmother of Mr. O'Keeffe was born in Ireland. Her maiden name was O'Connell.
She was well educated, and a teacher in her native land, when the penal laws of
Ireland punished with death those who were detected in teaching the people the
simplest rudiments of the language. She afterward came to America where, as
previously stated, the mother of Colonel O'Keeffe was born. The parents of our
subject were well-educated, refined people, and gave their children
opportunities for a liberal education. The two sons that were born in America
are lawyers by profession, one of whom is located at Dublin and the other at
Carlow. He was then only a youth, but had become possessed of a strong desire to
come to this country, and resolved to make an effort to accomplish his wishes.
He accordingly left college, unknown to his parents or the faculty, and, going
to Liverpool, with the money furnished for his college expenses, purchased as
ticket for New York, where he landed in November. In that city he found friends
of his father, who rendered him what assistance he needed. In the spring of
1864, he engaged as correspondent for the Irish-American. He joined the famous
Sixty-ninth Regiment, and continued with them for a time, when he was taken sick
and sent to the hospital at Hagerstown, Maryland. He remained there two months,
and in the meantime Lee had surrendered and the war had closed. He returned to
New york City, and soon after engaged to learn the merchant tailoring business
with Messrs. Calvert & Robinson on Broadway. In 1868 he enlisted for service in
the United States Army, underwent a competitive examination, and was made Second
Lieutenant in the Second United States Calvary. He remained in the army until
1872, and then resigned. His field of operations was in Montana, Wyoming, and
Dakota. He was engaged in several battles with Indians, and at the battle with
the Sioux at Powder River in 1869, received three wounds. He also received a
gunshot wound at the battle of the Sweet Water in 1870. At the close of his
military service he went to Omaha, Nebraska, and engaged in the merchant
tailoring business, and remained there until he moved to Creston. Colonel
O'Keeffe served on the staff of Governor Gear, with the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, for four years, or during the entire administration of that
Governor. May 26, 1886, he was appointed a special aid-de-camp on the staff of
Governor Larrabee. He has served five years on the city School Board, and two
years of that time was its president. He was married in Omaha to Miss Ellen
Murphy, a native of that city. They have two children- Clara and Frank R.

Cathy Joynt Labath
Irish in Iowa
http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/index.htm


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