Charles Augustus Keene

Husband: Charles Augustus Keene	Born:	possibly in Appleton, ME 1 March 1801.
	Died:	in Appleton, 15 June 1881, buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Appleton, where his grave stone says he was age 80 years 3 months and 14 days.
	Father:	Benjamin P. Keene.
	Mother:	Mary Gardner.
Wife: Jerusha McLain of Hope (later Appleton), ME	Born:	7 June 1805.
	Died:	in Appleton 11 February 1890, age 85 years 8 months 1 day, buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Appleton.
	Father:	Fergus McLain.
	Mother:	Elizabeth Meservey.
	Married:	6 May 1824.

picture of Charles Keene's house in Appleton, ME

Charles A. Keene's house
in Appleton, Maine (1999)

Charles was a farmer, storekeeper, and frequently town clerk in Appleton.

Charles Augustus and his wife Jerusha (McLain) Keene had ten children, all born in Appleton, ME:

Charles Augustus, Jr., b. 1824; m. Ann W. Hewett, dau. of Ephraim Hewett.
Horatio Nelson, b. 25 April 1827; m. (1) Elizabeth Lincoln Johnson; m. (2) Eliza (Crockett) Smith.
Mary, b. 18 Dec. 1828; d. 4 May 1896; m. Harrison Church Pease.
Lenora, b. 14 Nov. 1831; d. 17 Feb. 1832.
Almeda, b. 29 Jan. 1834; d. 17 Sept. 1884; m. Onestine Meservey.
Melissa, b. 5 Nov. 1835. m. Merrill Brown.
Alonzo, b. 1837; m. Helen -----.
Almira, b. 1839; m.late in life to Eli Sprague as his 2nd wife.
Lewis McLain, b. 1843; m. (1) Sarah (called Lizzie) Dorsey who died in 1873; m. (2) Jennie (Marr) Webb; m. (3) ca. 1917 Jane Tremaine.
Maria, b. 1846; m. Seth Morris Hewett.

Line of Descent

Index of surnames

The Keene Bibliography

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Horatio Nelson Keene

picture of Horatio Nelson Keene

Husband: Horatio Nelson Keene	Born:	in Appleton, ME 25 April 1827.
	Died:	in Fremont, Nebraska, February 1903, where he was visiting and while his residence was in Rockland, ME.
	Father:	Charles Augustus Keene.
	Mother:	Jerusha McLain.

picture of Elizabeth (Johnson) Keene

First Wife: Elizabeth Lincoln Johnson	Born:	in Milo, ME about 12 June 1832.
	Died:	in Rockland, ME 6 July 1868, age 36.
	Father:	Levi Johnson, Jr.
	Mother:	Elizabeth Lincoln.
	Married:	in Appleton, 5 June 1852.

Second Wife: Eliza (Crockett) Smith	Widow of:	George L. Smith.
Second Wife: Eliza (Crockett) Smith	Married:	13 September 1870.

In the 1850 and 1860 census for Appleton, Horatio was listed as a farmer. By 1864, he had moved to Rockland, ME, where he owned and operated a shoe store while his family still lived in Appleton, as the following letter attests. The letter now in the possession of Henry R. Keene of Dedham, MA, was written by Horatio to his son, Albert, then 11 years old:

"Rockland Jan. 27, 1864
"My Dear Son
"It is with a degree of pleasure that I commence these few lines to you.

"It is a pleasure to know that I have a boy that is able to write so good a letter to his father. I hope you will be a good boy to your mother, and improve your time to the best advantage that you may be better qualified to write letters than you are now, good smart boys make good smart men. In your letter you said Anna wasn't very well, I am pleased to hear from your kind mother that she is better. I assume you have received a Bbl of flour you sent for.

"Do you take good care of your lamb? and does she grow well - I have not been out to see if I can exchange your acorns - will see before I go up. I was very much disappointed in not having an opportunity to go up last Saturday shall go up next Saturday if possible. I have just sent the valise up by Jethro Pease, told him to leave it at John Arnold's store.

"I went over to your Uncle Harrison's last Saturday night walked back Sunday night. They are all well, I am as well as usual. Hope you are all well. Perhaps Lewis will come down this week and I can go up with him. Business is rather dull at present.

"I send my love to you all, hoping that I shall be permitted to see you all in good health this week.

"From your father H. N. Keene."

I do not know when his family joined him in Rockland, but it was before 1868 when his first wife, Elizabeth (sometimes called Lizzie) died there. That he was well established in business in Rockland in 1865 is attested to by this ad that appeared in the newspaper Rockland Courier Gazette April 22, 1865:

Horatio N. Keene
(Successor to E. W. Bartlett)
Wholesale and Retail Dealer in
BOOTS, SHOES, RUBBERS, and OVERSHOES
LININGS, BINDINGS, KID and GOAT STOCK
RUBBER GORING, SHOE DUCK, PEGS, LASTS
SHOE NAILS and SHOE TOOLS of all kinds
At the Brook, Main Street
Rockland, Maine

The 1870 census for Rockland lists H. N. Keene and his three children, Albert age 16, Estella age 14, and Anna age 10, plus a housekeeper, Rose Duncan.

Horatio died in Fremont, Nebraska, where he and his second wife, Eliza, were spending the winter at the home of his brother, Lewis McLain Keene.

Horatio Nelson and his first wife Elizabeth Lincoln (Johnson) Keene had four children:

Albert Alonzo, b. in Milo, ME 26 July 1853; d. Hyde Park, MA in 1933; m. Alida O'Brien.
Estella E., b. in Milo, ME 15 Aug. 1855; d. in Fremont, NE 24 Oct. 1920. Stella, as she was called, never married. In 1898, she went to Fremont, NE, to keep house for her Uncle Lewis whose second wife had died the previous April, leaving him with two young sons. Later, she spent several winters in California with her Aunt Maria (Mrs. Morris Hewett). Also, she visited with her sister Anna (Mrs. Francis Darling), of Hyde Park. Stella returned to Fremont to live with her cousin, Lewis, Jr., and his wife, Edith, and died there in 1920.
Anna Evelyn, b. Appleton, ME 19 Sept. 1859; d. in Dorchester, MA 22 January 1947; m. Francis Woods Darling.
Frankie. There is a Keene family plot in the Achorn Cemetery, Rockland, ME, with a small headstone saying "Frankie, son of H. N. and Lizzie L. Keene." This headstone is next to the headstones of Lizzie and Horatio Keene. I have not been able to find a record of the birth and death of this child either in the Vital Records of the City of Rockland, ME, nor in any family documents. I do not recall his name being mentioned in the family so I assume he died while still a baby.

Line of Descent

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The Keene Bibliography

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Anna Evelyn Keene

Wife: Anna Evelyn Keene	Born:	in Appleton, ME 19 September 1859.
	Died:	in Dorchester, MA 22 January 1947.
	Father:	Horatio Nelson Keene.
	Mother:	Elizabeth Lincoln Johnson.
Husband: Francis Woods Darling	Born:	in Boston, MA, 16 December 1852.
	Died:	in Hyde Park, MA 27 July 1932, buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA.
	Father:	George Darling of Boston.
	Mother:	Eliza Duncan.
	Married:	in Rockland, ME 28 January 1880.

See the entry on Francis Woods Darling for details of this family.

Francis Woods Darling

Line of Descent

Index of surnames

The Keene Bibliography

Other sites of interest

The Keene Family Bibliography

Books containing the Vital Records of the Towns of Duxbury, Hingham, Marshfield, and Pembroke, found in the NEHGS Library in Boston.

Bowman, George Ernest, "Hezekiah Keen's Account Book with Family Records" The Mayflower Descendants, Vol. XXVIII (January, 1930) No. 1, pp. 1-6.

Gilmore, Albert Field, and Mae (Blake) Gilmore, comps., Keen Kean Keene (a paper, n. pub., 1974), found in the Priscella Jones Collection in the Library of the Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, ME.

Gray, Ruth, editor, Maine Families in 1790, Vol. 1 (Maine Genealogical Society, Special Publication No. 2, Camden, ME, Picton Press, 1988), page 170.

Gray, Ruth, "The Maine Seine," Bridging The Gap, Vol. 7, No. 1, Jan/Feb, 1985 (Farmington, ME: pub. by Maine Genealogical Society), p. 8.

Keene, Elsie, A Brief History of the Keene Family, (a paper n. pub.), found in the Priscilla Jones Collection in the Library of the Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, ME

Wakefield, Robert S., Janice A. Beale, et. al., compilers, Richard Warren of the Mayflower, Four Generations," Mayflower Families in Progress (4th Ed., pub. by General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1991)

Gravestones in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Appleton, ME, and in the Achorn Cemetery, Rockland, ME

Links to Sites of Interest

The New England Historic Genealogical Society: Home page for the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS).
Keen Family Genealogy Forum: Forum for posting queries about the Keen Family, including all obvious variations.
Keene Home Page: A line of descent from John Keen by Elizabeth Keene Young.
Appleton, Maine On Line Genealogy Page: Featuring genealogical records, maps, and news of local interest for Appleton, Maine.

This page is maintained by
James D. True
jimsancestry@hotmail.com
© Edward K. & Mildred True, and James D. True
Last Update May 27, 1999

If you are related to this family, I would love to hear from you. If you maintain your own genealogy or family history site related to this family, please let me know and I will provide a link to your site in exchange for your providing a link to this site.

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