- JOHN M. KEEP, the subject of this brief sketch, who was the
second son of General Martin
- KEEP, was born at Homer, Cortland county, in the state of
New York, on the 26th of January, 1813. His parents were both
from New England and among the first settlers in Cortland county.
- After attaining the rudiments of education at the district
school, he at an early age entered the
- Cortland Academy, at Homer, where he pursued the usual routine
of academic studies, and prepared himself for college. He enetered
Hamilton College in 1832 and graduated in 1836. The same year
he commenced his legal studies with Augustus Donnelly, a distinguished
counselor-at-law, at Homer, N.Y., and completed them with Horatio
Syemore, Esq., at Buffalo. He was duly admitted to the bar and
commenced practice at Westfield, N.Y., and in the year 1845 he
removed to Beloit, in the state of Wisconsin, then a mere settlement,
where he continued to reside until his death. Here he engaged
not only in a large law practice, but also took a very active
part in all the enterprises that promised to promote the growth
of the place and enhance the welfare of society. In the purchase
and sale of lands, in the erection of buildings, in the promotion
of institutions of learning and the construction of railroads
he took an important part, and in many of these enterprises was
the animating spirit.
- In the spring of 1856 he was elected, without opposition,
judge of the First judicial circuit of the
- state of Wisconsin, but at the end of two and a half years
he was compelled to resign this laborious office on account of
the loss of health and the pressure of his private business.
It soon became evident that consumption had fastened itself upon
him, and from this time the wasting of his bodily powers went
on gradually, although he retained to the last moment of his
life the full vigor of his mind.
- Upon the death of Judge KEEP, meetings of the bar were held
at Beloit, Janesville, and also of
- the First judicial circuit, and appropriate resolutions passed
and eulogies pronounced upon the life and services of the deceased.
- He was married in 1839 to Cornelia A. REYNOLDS, daughter
of John A. REYNOLDS, of
- Westfield, N.Y., a lady of rare culture and Christian virtues.
- In the family circle, the place of all others to test the
value of genuine worth, Mr. KEEP was
- tender and affectionate, very anxious for the welfare of
his children and particularly solicitous about their education.
He left four children, two sons and two daughters.
-
- Taken from "Rock County, Wisconsin, Vol. II"
by William Fiske Brown, (c)1908, p. 722-723.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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