In the Beginning

GENERATION ONE

SOLOMON KEYES

The Immigrant, eldest known child of Robert & Sarah Keyes, was born say 1631. He married at Newbury 2 October 1653 Frances Grant.

Source: Anderson's Great Migration Begins.

Newly published in NEHGS The Register Vol 176, No 1 - Winter 2022: " The English Connection of Robert Keyes of Watertown and Newbury Mass and John Swett of Newbury" by Randy A. West, Robert Battle and Robert Charles Anderson. The family arrived later than thought, and the early Watertown records were written much later, and are in error concerning the Keyes and Swett families. Solomon was baptised 23 Mar 1632/33 in New Buckenham, Norfolk, England and arrived prob in 1637.

​

He and his wife Frances, appear to be the first permanent settlers of the town of Westford, Middlesex, MA, and his family was the oldest in town. History of the town of Westford in the county of Middlesex, Massachusetts : 1659-1883, pg 5

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

                                                                                                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The will was proved at Charlestown on 14 April 1702, with Edward Spaulding Senior, Eleazer Browne Junior and Andrew Spalding making oath that they were personally present and saw Solomon Keyes sign and seal this will.

No inventory or account was included in the probate packet.

​

In his will, Solomon named his wife, Frances, and his five sons (Solomon, Joseph, Moses, John and Stephen), but not any of his four living daughters.  He also names a daughter of Samuel Cleveland (who married daughter Jane).  That means that daughters Hannah, Sarah, Mary and Judith were still alive in 1701.

​

GENERATION TWO

JOHN KEYES 

From Genealogy of Robert Keyes and Solomon Keyes and Their Descendants (Asa Keyes):

"John Keyes, youngest son of Solomon and Frances, was born in Chelmsford, Mass., his birth there recorded.  We first hear of him in Marlboro, Mass., where is recorded the birth of his children.  He probably moved to Shrewsbury about 1720, and was one of the founders of the church there.  'He married March 11, 1696, Mary, daughter of Gersham and Hannah (Johnson) Eames. Gersham Eames died in Watertown, Mass., Nov. 25, 1676, and Mary was born four months after her father's death.  Her mother subsequently married a Ward, and became the mother of Col. Nahum Ward.  In Aug. 1723, a carpenter by the name of Ebenezer Bragg, was building a house for John, then Capt. John Keyes, in Shrewsbury.  On the night of the 7th, the house being nearly finished, was burned, as also the old one near it in which Major John was then residing.  Six persons were sleeping in the new house.  Three sons of Capt. Keyes, and two of Bragg's apprentices were burned, and Bragg saved himself by jumping from the window.  John, usually known as the famous Major John Keyes, lived with his wife 72 years.  Their son-in-law, Daniel Rand, married Martha Bruce for his 2nd wife, was married by Major John who had then passed his 95th year, and afterward lived with his father-in-law.  His farm was subsequently known as the Rand farm, and was purchased by Col. Joseph Henshaw of Rand or his heirs.  Maj. John died March 31, 1768. Mary, relict of Maj. John died April 16, 1772, aged 95 years and one month."

 

GENERATION THREE

GERSHORN KEYES 

From Genealogy of Robert Keyes and Solomon Keyes and Their Descendants (Asa Keyes 1880):

“Gersham Keyes eldest son of Maj. John, and the only one of his sons who survived the fire, married 1718, Sarah ------ and was living in Shrewsbury, on house lot No. 15, in 1729.  His wife joined the church there 1727.  After the birth of his children, says the record, 'Gersham removed to Boston and became a wealthy merchant.'  Gersham afterward removed to Virginia and established a ferry, still called Keyes Ferry, on the Shenandoah River, near Charlestown, Jeff. Co.  The ferry was then half a mile below its present site, opposite Sheler's Spring, now Keyes Switch.  There are no data to fix the time of Gersham's removal to Virginia, but in 1755, when Braddock with his force crossed the Shenandoah, he was living there, and from him supplies were bought for Braddock's army.  The descendants still preserve a letter, relative to the survey of the 'Keyes Ferry tract,' which we here insert, as showing the extent of that tract, and as every item relating to the father of his country must be interesting.

M Vernon 26th March 1762

​

Mr Keyes.

Your letter of the 18th Feb'y was delivered to me at our last court, by Mr. Ramsay.  In regard to the Warrant which you enquire after, I can only repeat what I have often done before that it must have been returned with the others to the Proprietor's office, if I ever had such a one, but since it is not to be found there, I shall at your request declare all I remember concerning it, which is this, that there was a Warrant directed to me for surveying you (I think) four hundred acres of Land, either at or about your Ferry, which then stood lower down the river; but who it was to join on, or what was the reason of not executing it I cannot absolutely recollect; this I perfectly well know, that I did make you a survey at some place near to where your Ferry then stood, but I think it was in consequence of another Warrant, and that I have had such a Warr't as you ask after in my Possession and moreover that it was not executed owing to some dispute between Col. Fairfax and yourself.

I am Sir Yr. Hble Servt.                                                                                                                                                                            Go. Washington                                                                                                                            

 

Superscription.                                                                                                                                                                                            To Mr. Gersham Keyes,                                                                                                                              

In Frederick                                                                                                                                        

Recommended to the care of Mr. Ramsay                                                         

 

lighthorseinn.com/the-history

The History of the Light Horse Inn  

                                                           

Lord Fairfax sold some of his five million acres to speculators, farmers and businessmen including Robert Harper and Gersham Keyes.  Harper was a Philadelphia architect who settled in “The Hole” at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers.  He ran a ferry service across the Potomac from what was then called Shenandoah Falls.  In time, the town at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers became Harpers Ferry.  Keyes settled on land, which is now within the township of Bolivar and built his home and tavern on Washington Street.  According to tax records for 1790, Keyes owned a grist mill, saw mill, smithy (blacksmith shop), and two distilleries.  He grew wheat and corn, and owned 10 horses, 16 each cows and pigs, 32 sheep and seven pet deer.  Keyes owned eight books, an indication of wealth and education. Keyes also owned two slaves, likely a house servant and skilled worker rather than agricultural slaves.

​

Sometime just about 1800 the property is sold to General Harry "Light Horse" Lee, father of Robert E. Lee. "Lee's Legion" was the one of the most successful calvary brigade. He was a delegate to Congress in 1786, and advocated the adoption of the national Constitution in the Virginia convention. He was the ninth governor of Virginia. He was in Congress at the time of Washington's death, and was appointed by that body to deliver the funeral oration at Philadelphia.

​

Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, served as the Governor of Virginia and earned the respect and friendship of President George Washington as a commander during the American Revolution.

​

He was a brilliant man but terrible with money. He was involved in one impractical scheme after another. A few of these, such as one for developing land in the vicinity of Washington DC, were merely ahead of their time. Many prominent men of that era were perpetually in debt, owing far more than they could ever repay, and got by only by continually negotiating new loans from their peers.  He was a victim of the land speculation bubble of 1796 causing a crash in the United States real estate market. A series of bad financial investments land him in debtors prison. While in prison, he writes his Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department about the Revolutionary War.

​

In the 1840s it was known as Graham's Brick Tavern.

The Inn remained intact although derelict until the 1940s. The Light Horse Inn was used by the Ford Foundation as an example of an 18th century inn and tavern. The information gleaned from this building was used to rebuild Williamsburg and several of its Taverns.

​

In later years the inn was purchased by Amanda Goudie, known by the stage name of Amanda Lane. She was a singer with the Desi Arnaz Band. She had plans to restore the building but her contractor gutted the building and the ran off with her money. She lived for many years with a caved in roof and no exposed beams. Extensive research is ongoing to determine all of the buildings history and layout. There is a large basement summer kitchen with a massive fireplace used for cooking during the tavern days.

 

Interesting Fact:

The county set rates for various commercial enterprises, including tavern and boarding house costs.  If you were to stay at Mr. Keyes “ordinary” or tavern, your costs would be:

Overnight: 7 cents                                                                                                                   

Breakfast: 10 cents                                                                                                                   

Supper: 28 cents                                                                                                                     

Board for your horse: 10 cents                                                                                            

Quart of whiskey: $1.25

​

GENERATION THREE

Capt. Humphrey Keyes

A Patriot of the American Revolution for VIRGINIA. DAR Ancestor # A065383

 

The following story was told by a great-grandson of Edward Gantt Pyle, published in "The Pyle-Pile Family in America." Humphery Keyes was a businessman in Boston. He married Marcella Wade and they had two sons, John Wade Keyes and Frank Keyes. Humphery Keyes owned some ships and on one of the voyages was captured by Turkish pirates and held slave for 9 years before escaping and making his way back home to Boston.

​

When he returned, he found his wife, thinking he was dead, had married another man with whom she wished to stay. Humphery took his two sons and moved south where he operated a ferry across the Shenandoah. Young Sarah Hall, aged 17, would ride the ferry for fun. When her wealthy father discovered his favorite daughter (of 14 children) wanted to marry the older Humphery, he was horrified. But married they were and had 8 children including Lucretia Keys.

​

Humphrey probably moved south to Virginia to join with his father, who had moved to Virginia a few years earlier and established the ferry.

​

- From Genealogy of Robert Keyes and Solomon Keyes and Their Descendants" (Asa Keyes, 1880):

"Humphrey Keyes was a Sea Captain, married in New England, probably in Boston, Marcella Wade, had two sons, was wrecked off the coast of Turkey, and taken captive by the Algerines. He escaped and returned home after some years, to find that his wife supposing him dead had married another, with whom she passed the remainder of her life. After her death, Capt. Humphrey married in Virginia, Sarah Hall, born 1745, consequently ten years old at the time we first hear of Gersham at his ferry on the Shenandoah. Her three brothers were the founders of Halltown, in Jefferson Co., and in ‘notes on Jefferson Co., Virginia’ printed in Va., 1857, we find that ‘Sarah lived with her parents in a little dale near a fine orchard, at the foot of the hill where Rion Hall now stands.’ The same record states that Capt. Humphrey Keyes was proprietor of Keyes Ferry in 1775. Capt. Humphrey died April 19, 1793, so says an old family record, now in possession of Jno. T. Keyes, Bristol, Tenn., which record gives also the birth of John, son of Humphrey."

 

GENERATION FOUR 

HUMPHREY8 KEYES (SARAH7 EAGER, LYDIA6 WOODS, LYDIA5 RICE, AGNES4 BENT, JOHN3, ROBERT2, JOHN1) was born August 29, 1721 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and died April 19, 1793 in Keyes Ferry, Berkeley County, Virginia. He married (1) MARCELLA WADE April 26, 1744 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. She was born 1723 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, and died Abt. 1762. He married (2) SARAH HALL Abt. 1762 in Virginia. She was born Abt. 1745 in Virginia, and died December 31, 1822 in Berkeley County, Virginia.http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/i/e/Rod-J-Fields/BOOK-...

"Humphrey Keyes was a Sea Captain, married in New England, probably in Boston, Marcella Wade, had two sons, was wrecked off the coast of Turkey, and taken captive by the Algerines. He escaped and returned home after some years, to find that his wife supposing him dead had married another, with whom she passed the remainder of her life. After her death, Capt. Humphrey married in Virginia, Sarah Hall, born 1745, consequently ten years old at the time we first hear of Gersham at his ferry on the Shenandoah. Her three brothers were the founders of Halltown, in Jefferson Co., and in ‘notes on Jefferson Co., Virginia’ printed in Va., 1857, we find that ‘Sarah lived with her parents in a little dale near a fine orchard, at the foot of the hill where Rion Hall now stands.’ The same record states that Capt. Humphrey Keyes was proprietor of Keyes Ferry in 1775. Capt. Humphrey died April 19, 1793, so says an old family record, now in possession of Jno. T. Keyes, Bristol, Tenn., which record gives also the birth of John, son of Humphrey."

 

GEERATION FIVE

JOHN WADE KEYES

From "History of Limestone County, Alabama", p. 37:

"William Moore, from whom the town subsequently took its name, settled at Mooresville around 1808.  He was soon joined by, among others, Ben Dunklin, Amos Vincent, Thomas H. Thach, Isaac Campbell, Donald Campbell, Joseph Sloss, James Walker, Luke Pryor, father of the future Congressman and Senator of the same name, Levi Edmundson, James D. Scott, Dr. Bibb, Dr. Withers, John DeWoody, John Wade Keyes, Winfield Scott, a nephew of the celebrated general, and others."

​

From: Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society, Vol. iv, p. 548, Mrs. P.H. Mell:

"The last resting place of this Revolutionary soldier is in an old family burial ground upon his plantation, three miles from Athens on the Huntsville road.  His lovely rural home was situated upon a hill about half a mile from Swan creek.  His wife, Louisa Talbot Keyes, lies beside him.  John Wade Keyes was born in Mystic, near Boston, Mass., Sept. 25, 1752, and died near Athens, Ala., Feb. 13, 1839. 

 

His ancestry and many acts of his life are told in a book of the Keyes family called Solomon Keyes and His Descendants, by Judge Asa Keyes, of Vermont, published in Battleboro.  We find from this that he was the son of Capt. Humphrey Keyes and Marcella Wade.  His father was a sea captain of Boston.  After many successful voyages he was wrecked and taken captive by the Algerians.  He was a prisoner for years, but finally made his escape.  Upon his return to Boston he took John, his oldest son, and went down into Virginia. 

 

An old family record in Tennessee shows that Capt. Humphrey Keyes in 1775 was proprietor of 'Keyes' Ferry' on the Shenandoah River.  A member of the family has now in his possession a letter written by General Washington relative to the survey of Keyes' Ferry tract on the Shenandoah near Charleston, Jefferson County, Virginia.  John Wade Keyes married January 27, 1773, in Virginia, Louisa Talbot, niece of President Monroe.  She was born near Alexandria, Va., April 20, 1756, and died near Athens, Nov. 6, 1836.  This happy couple lived together for sixty-three years.  "Early in the Revolutionary war there was a call made for volunteers under Gen. John Thomas in the Shenandoah Valley.  John Wade Keyes was the second man to enlist; he was engaged in the battles of Bunker Hill, Lexington, Trenton, White Plains, Princeton, Brandy-wine and King's Mountain. 

 

Capt. John Keyes settled near Alexandria, Virginia, moved thence to the vicinity of Blountsville, Sullivan County, East Tennessee, and finally to Athens, Limestone County, Alabama, where he was one of the pioneer settlers.  It is said that he would never consent to apply for a pension and when asked for his reasons he would reply, 'I fought for patriotism, not pensions.'  He greatly honored and loved George Washington and he showed his admiration by naming his twin sons for him; one was called George and the other Washington.  George Keyes commanded a company under Gen. Jackson and was afterwards made a brigadier-general of militia.  Among the descendants of John Wade Keyes were Chancellor Wade Keyes, one of the most prominent jurists that Alabama has produced; George P. Keyes, a noted journalist; Col. John B. Richardson, of New Orleans, commander of the famous 'Washington Artillery' during the war, and others of distinction at the present day."

​

Dictionary of Alabama Biography:

KEYES, JOHN WADE, sr., soldier of the American Revolution, pioneer settler and planter, was born September 25, 1752, in Mystic, Mass., and died February 13, 1839, at his plantation home, three miles from Athens; son of Capt. Humphrey and Marcella (Wade) Keyes, of Boston, the former a sea captain, who removed, about 1775, to Jefferson County, Shenandoah Valley, Va.  He was educated in the schools of his community; volunteered in the Revolutionary army, under Gen. John Thomas, of Virginia; was in the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, White Plains, Princeton, Brandywine, and King's Mountain.  After the close of the war, he settled near Alexandria, Va.; afterwards removed to Sullivan County, Tenn.; and later located permanently at Athens, Limestone County, where he was among the founders of that city while Alabama was still a territory.  He acquired extensive tracts of land and built a large house, in which he lived and died.  He was an ardent admirer of Gen. George Washington, and followed him in politics.  He and his wife are buried in the old Keyes burying plot, on the old homestead.  Married: January 27, 1773, in Alexandria, Va., to Louisa Talbot, a niece of President Monroe.  Children: 1. twins, George, m. Nellie Rutledge (q. v.); 2. Washington.  Last residence: Athens.

​

- The Democrat (Huntsville, AL),  Thursday, 30 May 1833:  Col. Keyes of Athens, was elected cashier of the Decatur Bank at the last meeting of the Directors on Thursday, 25th April.

​

Born in Mystic, MA; son of Humphrey and Maracella Wade Keyes, John was a volunteer soldier from the Shenandoah Valley in the American Revolution under General John Thomas of Virginia. He was the second man to enlist. He was in the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, White Plains, Princeton, Brandywine, and King's Mountain.

​

On January 27, 1773 he married Luvisa Talbot a niece of President Monroe. After the war they settled near Alexandria and then moved to Blountsville, Sullivan Co., Tenn., and finally to Athens, Alabama where he was one of the founders of the city. Alabama was not a state at that time. He acquired extensive tracts of land and built a large house where he lived and died.

​

John was an ardent admirer of General George Washington and when his twin boys were born in 1792 he named one George and the other Washington.

​

The Alabama Courier                                                                                                                                       

Dec. 13, 1900

John Wade Keys

A local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, has been organized at Athens with a good membership. This chapter has been formed through the work of Mrs. Aurora, Pryor McClellan. The chapter was named in honor of John Wade Keys, who in the early settlement of his came to locate among the pioneers and build for him a home. He was a faithful soldier of the Revolution and served as a continental soldier during the entire war and settled three miles from Athens. He was the grandfather of Chancellor Wade Keys, one of the most prominent jurists Alabama ever produced, and also the grandfather of George P. Keys, a prominent journalist of the state now living.

​

Yes, sir. He was my grandfather, though a very little fellow away, back in those far away days. I still retain a most pleasant reminiscence of my grandpa Keyes and his delightful home. He lived as stated, three miles from Athens, out on the Huntsville Road. His house stood on a hill scarcely a half mile from “Old Swan,” a stream long famous for its fine trout. Its beautiful goggle eye, It's pretty sun perch and its powerful pike. What long and handsome strings have I seen in my days of proud fisherman fetch in from “Big Hole” and other favorite spots.

​

His home was an ideal place for a small boy. It had the biggest and most beautiful apples I have ever seen, as I now recall them. How yellow and mellow and luscious. It was very many years thereafter before I knew they were the “Hoss Apple” and not “horse apple” being named from their East Tennessee originator and ancestral kinsman of the celebrated Dr. Hoss, celebrated among all Methodist people as a preacher and editor of one of the greatest religious papers of the world.

​

One of the beautiful pictures that has remained with me through all these changeful years is the shearing of his sheep by this peaceful old soldier at his lovely rural home. His fleecy flock grazing near by. It was one lovely forenoon, in the early summer time, I stood beside him as with shears in hand, he sat in his favorite seat in front of his home. He called one of the flock, called it by name. It lifted its head from the tender blades it was ripping and looked towards the spot where the old soldier sat. And then when it heard its name repeated, it came in a lope and stopped and stood still, just where the kind voice had called it. And when the clipping of the snowy wool was done for, the well sheared sheep was dismissed and another one of them was called by name. And so the pleasing process went on and on. This picture at this peaceful rural home has stayed with me through all these years as one of the delightful memories of my childhood. And rarely, if ever at all, have I read this sweet scripture without recalling that interesting scene.

​

“He calleth his own sheep by name, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

​

 I never knew that my grandfather's name was John Wade Keyes, but it may be so, for in the genealogical history of the Keyes family, prepared by the late Judge Isaac Keyes of Vermont, it is stated that his mother was Marcella Wade, and my eldest brother's name, as stated, was John Wade. In this little work, however, my grandfather is spoken of simply as Captain John Keyes.

​

His father was Captain Humphrey Keyes, a sea captain of Boston. In his last voyage, he was wrecked off the coast of Turkey and was taken captive by the Algerines. When years thereafter he had made his escape and got back to his home, it was to find that his wife, who had mourned for years for him, had at last married another. The generous old son of the seas and the good woman he had left and loved so long ago soon settled the trying situation. He took John, his elder son, and went down into Virginia. The mother retained the younger boy, Frank.

​

Captain Humphrey Keyes in 1775, was proprietor of Keyes Ferry on the Shenandoah. then as now, a noted locality. This record, too, tells that Captain John Keyes was the faithful friend and fellow soldier through the war. He never, however, asked for a pension. I remember well being told by my brother, the late Dr. John W Keyes, so long, a citizen of Montgomery, that once someone inquired why he did not apply for a pension. The brave soldier lost no time in replying, “Sir, I fought for patriotism, not for pensions.” He never needed them and therefore disdained to seek them. He showed his friendship and admiration for Washington by naming his twin sons for him. One was called George and the other Washington. The former was my father. They were so much alike in feature and form that their most intimate friends frequently mistook one for the other. In the latter part of their lives, my father being more of a soldier than his brother, could be recognized by his erect stature and his soldiery carriage. He commanded a company under General Jackson and was afterwards, during his absence from the state elected Brigadier of the militia, an office much honored in those distant days. He and his brother were men of affairs and besides being planters were engaged in the mercantile business in Mooresville and Athens and also in Columbia, Tenn. My father died at the early age of 41. His brother followed him in less than two years.

​

My grandmother's last resting place is in the same old family burial ground side by side with the old revolutionary soldier. I have a most pleasing remembrance of her. She was greatly beloved by her family and her many friends. She was a Miss Louisa Talbot of Virginia and was a niece of President Monroe.

​

All the old citizens of Athens remember, no doubt, my grandfather s daughter, Mrs. John M. Richardson. At her death, the oldest and last of the family, having cut her second set of teeth and having received her second eyesight. She was very familiar with the history of the Keyes family and once wrote a very interesting history of it. But its whereabouts I have lost sight of long ago. In many respects, she was a remarkable woman. I never knew one who suffered so many bereavements. I never knew one so cheerful and hopeful under it all. But the one great grief, the one that seemed hardest to bear was the death of her youngest daughter. She was in the very freshness and loveliness of young womanhood. She was very beautiful and greatly admired. One summer afternoon, she had mounted a horse for an hour's ride with a young gentleman. Just as they were ready to start her horse became restless and finally threw her to the ground. A limb was fractured. She was borne to her room and Drs. summoned. But the nervous shock was so great that in spite of all they could do, when the early dawn had come, the home that had been so bright and happy for her had become a house of lamentation.

​

Years after that sad event, “Aunt Polly,” she was everybody's “Aunt Polly” died at the home of her son, Colonel John B. Richardson, in New Orleans. There is one thing well worthy of note just here. While the dear old saint lay a-dying, the child of her affection appeared in a halo of glory just above her head. Those who watched by her bedside gazed at the beautiful vision in unutterable amazement and admiration. Finally, it faded slowly away. And when again, they looked on the classic face of the faithful old servant of the Lord, she ceased to breathe. Mother and daughter had me.t “A miracle.”

​

All of my grandfather's family have passed away. Those of the second generation that yet remain are Colonel John B. Richardson, Commander of the famous Washington Artillery during the war, and now, as for many years, one of the leading businessmen of New Orleans, Mrs. Eliza Cooper, mother of an eminent member of the Huntsville Bar, her half-sister, wife of a leading merchant of Denver, whose name escapes me just now, and myself. These are all that are left, so far as I know.

​

Well, we all do as a lead. Yes, sir. Captain John Keyes, the old revolutionary patriot who sleeps in the soil of dear old Limestone, was my grandfather,

Geo. P. Keyes.

 

GENERATION SIX

GEORGE KEYES

BIOGRAPHY and GENEALOGY

(b. 1792 -1833)

Limestone County, Alabama

 

General George Keyes, soldier, planter, and public man, was born November 8, 1792, in Washington County, Virginia, and died June 13, 1833, at Athens, Alabama. He was the twin-son of John Wade and Louisa (Talbot) Keyes of Virginia who came to Alabama Territory. They were pioneer settlers of Athens in Limestone County, Alabama. John Wade Keyes was a Captain in the Revolutionary Army, serving under Gen. Thomas. Louise Talbot was a niece of President Monroe.

​

George’s grandparents were Humphrey and Marcella (Wade) Keyes, who moved to Virginia from Massachusetts. The Keyes family came to America from England and first settled in Mas, where one of them assisted at the Boston Tea Party.

​

Education and War

George was educated in the schools of his community and at an early age, entered the Indian War, as a captain.

​

Afterward, he was made brigadier-general of militia and bore the title all his life. He was active in all the public affairs of Limestone County and wielded much power for good throughout the State. He married on Nov. 16, 1820, in Tennessee Nellie Rutledge (b. Mar 1, 1799, Sullivan Co. Tennessee – Oct 22, 1831 Alabama)

Their children were

GENERATION SEVEN

1.Lt. Wade Rutledge Keyes, Esq. (1821-1879) married Mamie Whitfield of Florida (see more below)

2.Martha Louise Keyes (Sep 23, 1823, Franklin, Alabama – 1887)

2. Dr. John Washington Keyes (b. Nov. 25, 1825, Limestone Co., AL -1892 Florida married Julia Louisa Hentz daughter of Caroline Lee Hentz, author (see more below)

3.George Presley Keyes, married 1st Fannie Gayle of Montgomery, 2nd Miss Rivers of Louisville, Ky. 3rd Jennie S. Rainey (see more below)

4.Martha Louise Keyes (Sep 29, 1822- May 6, 1887), married Judge Henry Cox Jones, (1821-1913) of Florence, Alabama

5.Major George Presley Keyes ( b. Sep 8, 1829, Limestone Co., AL – d. Mar 11, 1906, Sheffield, AL)

6.Jane Charlotte Keyes (b. Nov. 16, 1827, Limestone Co., Alabama – d. Mar 26, 1853, New Orleans, LA) may have married Gen. John Rather of Tuscumbia.

7.Buran Keyes (b. Jan 1, 1832-d. Jun 29, 1848

George Keyes died on June 13, 1833. His last residence was Athens, Limestone County, Alabama.

 

His son George Presley Keyes

Gen. Keyes’s son, Major George Presley Keyes, was born September 8, 1829, at Athens to Gen. George and Nellie (Rutledge) Keyes. He was a lawyer, editor, and public official, and died in Sheffield, but is buried in the Keyes burying plot, near Athens, Limestone County, Alabama.

​

His educational advantages were the best. He graduated from LaGrange College, in 1847, studied law, and was admitted to the practice, but relinquished that profession for literary and newspaper work. He edited the “Athens Herald” two years; removed to Montgomery and held the office of register in chancery.

In 1861, he volunteered for service at Fort Morgan, Mobile; in 1862, was a sergeant-major in HILLIARD’S legion and later became a Colonel. He became incapacitated in the Kentucky campaign and returned to Montgomery and commanded the home guards until the date of surrender.

He was then reappointed register in chancery and held that office until ousted by reconstruction politicians. George P. Keyes was associate editor “Montgomery Advertiser” in 1880, established “The Alabama Progress;” in 1882, and removed to Florence, Alabama. He later threw his influence to the building of Sheffield, Alabama, and was influential in inducing capital to invest and develop the town. He erected the first frame residence, and later, the first brick residence there. George Presley promoted many enterprises and was active in all interests of the town, to his death. His editorials and other writings made him widely known.

He was a Democrat; a Mason; and a Methodist. He married: (1) in Aug. 1859 Amaranth ‘Fannie’ L. Gayle (2) in 1879, in Louisville, Ky., to the daughter of Rev. R. H. Rivers; (3) in 1887, to Jennie S. Rainey, of North Carolina. He died in Sheffield, Alabama March 6, 1906.

………………………………………….

Wads Keyes, Jr.

Gen. George and Nellie Keyes’ son, Wades Keyes, Jr. was a lawyer, chancellor, and assistant attorney-general of the Confederate States of America. He was born in 1821 at Mooresville near Athens.

​

He was educated by private tutors, entered LaGrange college, and later the University of Virginia. He studied law in Lexington, Kentucky, and under Judge Coleman at Athens. After a tour of Europe, he moved in 1844, to Tallahassee and was the author of two volumes on legal subjects, the one on Chancery practice won him the Chancellorship of the Southern division of Alabama in 1853.

​

In 1861, he was appointed assistant attorney-general, Confederate States Army, a position he held throughout the existence of the Confederacy. At the close of the war, he resumed the practice of law and removed to Florence, Alabama where he resided to the day of his death.

​

He was a Democrat; a Mason; and a Methodist. He married in Florida the daughter of Gen. George Whitfield of Tallahasse. They had one known daughter:

1.Mary Keyes who married Dr. Charles Boaz Whitfield of Demopolis. He died in Florence, Alabama, and is buried in the Keyes burial plot near Athens, Alabama.

Wade Keyes (1821 – 1879) was a lawyer, scholar, judge and professor from Alabama who served as the first and only Assistant Attorney General of the Confederacy, 1861–1865. After the Civil War he practiced law in Florence, Alabama.

 

Early life

Keyes was born 1821 on his father's plantation at Mooresville, Limestone County, near Athens, Alabama. He was first being educated by private tutors at home, followed by studies at LaGrange College, Alabama and the University of Virginia. Keyes had to leave the University of Virginia due to illness and death in the family. He later read law under Judge William Richardsson and Judge Daniel Coleman in Athens, before attending Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where he graduated from the law department.

 

Lawyer, scholar, judge and professor

Following his graduation Keyes spent a year in Europe. After returning to the States, he moved to Marianna, Florida, where he began to practice law in 1844. His specialty was property cases. In 1851 Keyes moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he established a law practice. He wrote three legal treaties on property law: An Essay on the Learning of Remainders (1852), An Essay on the Learning of Future Interests in Real Property (1853) and An Essay on the Learning of Partial and of Future Interests in Chattels Personal (1853).

 

In 1853, the Legislature elected Keyes Chancellor of the Southern Division of the Court of Chancery, over Francis Bugbee and Sterling G. Cato of Barbour County. He served for a six-year period until 1859. As a judge of equity Keyes would successfully apply his considerable learning to adjudications of complicated real and personal property cases.

​

While serving as chancellor, Keyes began to teach classes of property law at Montgomery. After the end of his tenure, he founded the Montgomery Law School as a permanent continuation of his teaching project. It was incorporated in 1860 as an independent institution, but attached to the University of Alabama as its law department. As the founder Keyes role as the sole teacher was guaranteed by the incorporation act. At the initiative of Justice Samuel F. Rice, the Legislature granted the school the right to confer academic degrees and to license its students to practice law. The turmoil of the Secession Crisis led to the closing of the school in February 1861, as the students left and volunteered for different military organizations.

​

Assistant Attorney General

The crisis that led the students to leave his school also caused Keyes to join the military. He enlisted as lieutenant in the Montgomery Rifles, and served at Pensacola, Florida. This was a unit in the Army of Alabama before the state became part of the Confederacy. When Judah P. Benjamin became attorney general of the Confederacy he made Keyes his assistant. Benjamin had met Keyes when he was chancellor and valued him as an administrator, legal scholar and proficient writer. As assistant attorney general, Keyes did more of the routine work of an attorney general than Benjamin did and was the man who actually ran the day-to-day work of the department. When Benjamin on September 17, 1861, was appointed secretary of war Keyes took over as acting attorney general until Thomas Bragg officially took office November 21, 1861.  Bragg held the office until March 18, 1862, when succeeded by Thomas H. Watts. When Watts was elected governor of Alabama, he resigned, and Keyes served as acting attorney general from October 1, 1863, until January 2, 1864, when George Davis became the fourth and last ordinary attorney general of the Confederacy. Keyes also served as Attorney General ad interim during the Christmas Holidays of 1861, in October and November 1862, in August 1863 and in September and October 1864.

​

Keyes wrote 23 of 218 opinions issued by the Confederate office of Attorney General. They are characterized by conservative construction, deference to common law and cautious interpretations of acts of the Confederate Congress. He sustained United States acts in force at the time of the withdrawal of the Confederate states from the Federal Union, if not replaced by Confederate law, and also relied on existing United States law when Confederate law was absent. Keyes argued that the Attorney General had no authority to issue opinions concerning constitutional questions other than when advising the president when he was about to sign or veto an act of congress. His reasoning was based on the constitutionally exercised legislative power of Congress; Congress had the right to determine what actions were to be taken. The Attorney General was restricted to limit his opinions to rulings of the judicial branch respecting constitutionality and lawfulness. Furthermore, Keyes, as well as Jefferson Davis, maintained that the President was obligated to enforce legislation although deemed contrary to the Constitution by the President. If Congress overrode the President's veto, he - as well as the subordinate officers of the government - was then bound to uphold the law. The fact that the Confederate Congress had failed to create a Confederate supreme court was neither considered by Keyes, nor by Davis.

 

Considering if the Virginia law that prohibited the use of grain for making whiskey was applicable when farmers distilled whiskey for delivery to the Confederate War Department, Keyes reached the same conclusion as the United States Supreme Court did in 1819 in McCulloch v. Maryland. Congress had the implied power to supply soldiers with whiskey since that was a reasonable means of supporting the army. State law could not interfere. Keyes clearly established that intergovernmental immunity not only prevented the states from interfering with the activities of the Confederate government, but also forbade the government from thwarting state actions. For this reason the Confederacy could not tax the states and the states could not tax the Confederate government. Nevertheless, government ownership of stock in a corporation was not enough to make the corporation free from state taxation. This rule also applied when a state bank acted as a fiscal agent of a state, but not when a state bank acted in its private capacity. When the Confederate government planned to requisition slaves for government use, he advised that the government was accountable for the value of any enslaved person seized and he recommended Congress to judge each case separately, which prompted it to create a slave claims board. Keyes also ruled that only military personnel could stand trial before court-martials.

 

Keyes was never considered for the position of Attorney General. A reason might have been his integrity. He was reprimanded by Jefferson Davis for having questioned the president's authority when he had intervened in cases where the accounting officers by law were to make independent rulings.

 

Postbellum lawyer

When the war was over, Keyes returned to Montgomery and reopened his legal practice. He moved to Florence, Alabama in 1867. In 1876 he was entrusted with the task of codifying the laws of Alabama together with Judge Fern M. Wood (who fell victim to a killer before the task was finished); the project was completed within the year. Keyes suddenly died in 1879.

 

Family

Wade Keyes was the oldest son of General George Keyes (1792–1833), a planter and merchant at Mooresville, and his wife Nellie Rutledge Keyes (1799–1834) from Tennessee. He was the grandson of Captain John Wades Keyes (1752–1839) and the brother of John Washington Keyes (1825–1892) and George P. Keyes (1829–?).

 

Wade's father George Keyes was born in Washington County, Virginia. Early in life he moved to Alabama with his twin brother. He served under Andrew Jackson as captain of a volunteer company and was later elected brigadier general of militia and bore the title of general all his life. George married Wade's mother in Sullivan County, Tennessee in 1820. Wade's grandfather John Wade Keyes was born in Mystic, Massachusetts,[a] settled near Alexandria, Virginia, moved to Blountville, Tennessee and finally to Athens, Alabama.

 

Wade Keyes married Alice Wharton Whitfield of Leon County, Florida, a daughter of General George Whitfield, in 1848. They had three daughters that reached adulthood and five children who died in infancy. Wade's brother John Washington was a doctor of medicine and dentistry. During the war John served as an officer in Hilliard's Legion and later as a military surgeon; after the war he practiced dentistry. Wade's other brother George was a journalist and later register and master in the chancery court, served in Hilliard's Legion and later when disabled commanded a home guard battalion. After the war George was a newspaperman and business promoter in Sheffield, Alabama.