L. PUT'T J.TP1!?4I?

Y
i-n GLQ STAG;. SD.
WAYDsEGYiLLE, CGTO 45068
513/897-4826
f^EEveii. F/^/niLy
II
II
were doctors,farmers
o P5"' ^
CD^' il.
rn CJI .
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O
iN.-A'v ;.;
Rosalie Yoakam
POT! ^URRI
t Martin and
. imn, hadei; ;
became a
farmer and a
sWllfuI violin player. He andhis.
wife, Abigail Bunnel Keever,
whom he-married in 1808. lived
on the SleepyHollow Farm.
George added a wing to the
northsideoftheoriginal brick
house from which their son,
Moses, practiced medicine.
, In 1845George was thrown
froma sulkyand died. :
Moses, George andAbigail's ,
son, was bom in 1810. He at
tended Miami University when
he was 16. At ^9, he began to
study medicinewith Dr. Joshua
Stevens ofMonroe. Hegraduat
ed fromthe Ohio Medical Col
lege of Cincinnati.
Three years later in 1834he
started his medical practice in
the north wingof his homenear
Ridgeville inClearcreek Twp. In
1838, hemarried Juliet Janney.
They hadtwo sons andeight
daughters. After hisparents'
deaths, Moses inherited the faiii-
ilyfarm.
Dr. Moses H. Keever traveled
by horse andbuggy to visithis
patients and mixed his own med
icines. Hispopularity as a doctor
is shown by the more than 300
^ragons,buggies and carria.sesat
his funeral. , .
His burial service was held at
the farm; family members were
buried ina family ploteastofthe
house. The bodieswerelater
rnoved tothe cemetery inSpring-
boro. , ,
Oneof Moses' children,Dr. .
DudleyKeever, next owned the
property. Dr. DudleyKeever
went to one-room schools as a
child and then attended Miami .
Valley College, the Quakerschool
near Springboro. '
DudleyKeever graduatedfrom
Miami Medical College, later '
called Cincinnati Medical School,
spent a year at Dartmouth Col-
lege, and served his internship at
the old'Cincinnati workhouse.
He started a medical practice
. in Springboro, then moved to
Centerville in 1891.
Dr. Keever began asa country
doctor calling onpatients by i
horseback orinhorse and buggy.
Later, he traveled byautomobile.
During his last years hesaw pa-..,
tients in his office only. He had
no staffbut greetedpatients.him-
self.
In 1939, Lewis P. Carr of The
Journal Herald wrote a feature
about Keever.
"At 80, he is white-haired, rud
dycheeked, rugged, active and
forceful in his quiet way," the sto
ry said.
In 1949, Dr. Keever was cited
as the physician with the most
years ofservice inthe'Montgom-'
eryCounty Medical Society. He
retired in1946 after practicing ,'
medicine for 63years. '
Keever diedat age93in 1953. -
Tosettle his estate, the farmwas
sold, ending itsownership by
four successive generationsof . =
Keevers.
Rosalie Yoakam, a Springboro
resident, is a member of the .
Springboro Historical society. She -
writes an occasional column for :
the Dayton Dally Newson the city's
history. She can be reached bye-- "
mallatrdyoakam58@yahoo.com.
For more information, contact the
society at 110s. MainSt, (513)748- '
0916.1 '
A . W E E k L Y P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E D A Y T O N D A I L Y N E W S
F / i / n i c /
L i i ' - Z Y j , . F T ~ : " 7 ' n f
W i i y K G V l . L L E , Q - . . j y 4 5 0 6 8
5 1 3 / 8 9 7 - 4 8 2 6
R o s a l i e Y o a k a m
P O T P O U R R I ; -
~ V r e c o r d e d . ' -
; ' t o t r i g u e d b y w h a t I c o u l d d e c i -
' p h e r o f t h e i n s c r i p t i o n , I \
i s e a r c h e d f o r o t h e r w d t t e n d o . c u - .
m e n t s a b o u t t h e p ^ r . M y s e ^ c h
1 u i i a ) v e r e d t h e f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a
t i o n : ' ^ .
M a r t i n K e e v e r w a s b o m m
1 7 2 7 . S o m e r e c o r d s s t a t e t h a t h e
. v N ^ f r o m P e n n s y l v a n i a ; o t h e r s
' i n d i c a t e h e c a m e f r o m M a r y l a n d ,
i ^ ; W h e n h e w a s 3 0 y e a r s o l d , ^
K e e v e r a n d t w o o t h e r m e n w e r e :
c a p t o e d b y I n d i a n s , f f i s c o m
p a n i o n s w e r e k i l l e d , b u t K e e v e r
w a s s p a r e d .
^ T h e c h i e f s s q u a w c h o s e t o
a d o p t h i m b e c a u s e h e r s o n h a d
' d i e d . A f t e r a b o u t t w o y e a r s ,
K e e v e r m a n a g e d t o e s c a p e . H e .
w a s p u r s u e d a n d r e c e i v e d a f l e s h
w o u n d a s h e d o v e i n t o t h e O h i o
R i v e r . , .
A f t e r s w i m m i n g u n d e r w a t e r ,
h e h i d i n a b r u s h p i l e . ; W h e n h i s
p u r s u e r s c o u l d n o t f i n d h i m , t h e y
: a s s u m e d h e h a d b e e n l ^ e d . , ,
/ K e e v e r m a r r i e d C h r i s t i n a
: S c h w i s t e r w h e n h e w a s 3 7 .
S o o i i a f t e r h i s m a r r i a g e , n e a r ;
t h e f a l l s o f t h e ' O h i o , K e e v e r w a s i
s h o t i n . t h e s i d e b y I n d i a n s i n
a m b u s h . T h e p a i n f u l w o u n d t o o k
a l o n g t i m e t o h e a l .
K e e v e r r e c e i v e d 1 0 3 a c r e s o f
" t h e l a n d l y i n g b e t w e e n t h e
G r e a t M i a m i R i v e r a n d t h e V i r -
g i n i a r e s e r v a t i o n " i n 1 8 0 6 f o r s e r
v i c e i n t h e R e v o l u t i o n a r y W a r . ;
. H e ' s b e l i e v e d t o h a v e s e r v e d ;
: u n d e r C o l . L e c h r e y a t t h e f a l l s o f
t h e O h i o d u r i n g t h e w a r . H i s
n a m e , h o w e v e r , i s n o t o n t h e m i l
i t a r y l i s t .
T h e o r i g i n a l d e e d f o r h i s l a n d
w a s r e c o r d e d o n s h e e p s k i n a n d
s i g n e d b y P r e s i d e n t T h o m a s ,
f e r s o n a n d S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e
J a m e s M a d i s o n . K e e y e r w a s
r e q u i r e d t o l i v e o n t h e l a n d f o r
s e v e n y e a r s a n d t o m a k e
i m p r o v e m e n t s .
H e c l e a r e d t h e l a n d a n d b u i l t a
l o g c a b i n . I n 1 8 0 9 h e b u i l t a f i v e -
r o o m b r i c k h o u s e . H i s f a r m ,
w h i c h w a s n a m e d S l e e p y H o l l o w ,
i s a b o u t o n e m i l e e a s t o f R i d -
g e v i l l e o n L o w e r S p r i n g b o r o ^
R o a d . S i m o n K e n t o n , a n I n d i a n - -
s c o u t , i s s a i d t o h a v e v i s i t e d t h e
f a r m . ^
K e e v e r l i v e d t o b e 9 7 y : a r s o l d
a n d r e m a i n e d i n g o o d h e a l t h
: m o s t o f h i s l i f e . T h r e e . m o n t h s
b e f o r e h i s d e a t h h e w a l k e d t h e .
e i g h t m i l e s t o L e b ^ o n a n d b a c k i
t h e s a m e d a y . c a r r y i n g a l a r g e
c l o c k . F i v e d a y s b e f o r e h i s d e a t h
h e w a l k e d t h r e e m i l e s t o a n e i g ^ - . ,
b o r ' s h o u s e a n d b a c k a g a i n . H e
d i e d o n A u g . 1 0 , 1 8 2 4 .
H i s w i f e . C h r i s t i n a , w a s b o m
i n 1 7 3 7 i n P e n n s y l v a n i a . T h e
i n s c r i p t i o n o n h e r t o m b s t a t e s . v ;
. " S h e w a s h i s f a i t h f u l p a ^ e r a n d
c o m p a n i o n o n t h e f r o n t i e r i n
s c e n e s o f d a n g e r , s u f f e r i n g a n d . \ .
p r i v a t i o n w h i c h s h e e n d u r e d a n d ;
b o r e w i t h t h e f o r t i t u d e o f a h e r c H ;
i n e . " ^
' " S h e w a s o n o n e o c c a s i o n f o r a
: p e r i o d o f 3 w e e k s w i t h o u t s e e m g
t h e f a c e o f a h u m a n b e i n g . H e r - i
: h u s b a n d b e i n g o n a h u n t i n g e x p ^
d i t i o n . * ^ C h r i s t i n a d i e d o n N o i A ;
: ' - ' 2 4 ; : 1 8 3 7 ; S h e w a s 1 0 0 y e a r s c d i .
R o s a l i e Y o a k a m , a r e s i d e n t o t : v :
^ S p H n g b o r o , I s a m e m b e r o f . t h e - .
S p r l n g b o r o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . S p e
: w r i t e s a r i o c c a s i o n a l . c o l u m n f o r .
t h e D a y t o n D a l l y N e w s o n t h e c l t V i S
^ h i s t o r y . S h e c a n b e r e a c h e d b y - e - ' -
m a i l a t Y o a k a m d i w o r l d n e t a t L n e t
F o r m o r e I n f o r m a t i o n , c o n t a c t t h e
H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y a t 1 1 0 S . M a i n S t ,
_ . . ( 5 1 3 ) 7 4 8 - 0 9 1 5 . ' v t ' : ;