Dwight Whitman Keyes (1830 - 1900)

Born 29 Mar 1830 in Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Jane Strong (Huntington) Keyes — married 8 Jan 1852 in Willimantic, Windham, Connecticut

Died 31 Mar 1900 at age 70 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Biography

The bit below is also at Find A Grave, may be easier to read there.

Note: Railway Age, Volume 31, 1901

A year ago C. K. Holliday, the first president of the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe, died at Topeka, and Dwight W. Keyes, first assistant general freight agent of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul, died at Milwaukee.

Pioneer History of Milwaukee, 1876, James S. Buck

Dwight W. Keyes.

This gentleman, so well known as a prominent railroad official,

was born at Chaplin, Windham county. Conn., on the 29th day of March, 1830, where his boyhood days were spent, and from where, at the early age of sixteen, he left the paternal roof, struck out for himself and commenced the life nature seemed to have intended him for, viz., railroading. His first employment in his chosen vocation was upon the Northern New York road, where he remained until 1852, when he emigrated to the state of Ohio, and was employed upon the Hillsboro & Cincinnati and the Cincinnati & Marietta Railroads up to 1856, when, wishing to see more of the Great West, he came to Wisconsin and took a position in the department of construction upon the then La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, where he remained until the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1861, when he threw up his position and was appointed quartermaster in the First Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, under Colonel John Starkweather,

which he held until 1863, when failing health compelled him to resign and he returned to Milwaukee, and in 1865 resumed his old employment under the late Sherburn S. Merrill, in the construction of the Winona & St. Peters road, which continued until the consolidation of the Wisconsin roads under one head and the appointment of Mr. Merrill as general manager, when he removed to Kansas, where, and in Missouri, he remained until 1873, when he returned to Milwaukee and was appointed assistant general freight agent, which

responsible office he holds to-day.

Mr. Keyes belongs to that class of men who enter upon whatever duties may be assigned them with a determination to succeed, and who always do succeed. He is quick to see all the technical points in any matter connected with his department, and consequently always goes at his work understandingly. He has good executive abilities, and is just the man to hold a position where so many com-

plicated and perplexing cases arise, requiring quickness of decision

as well as tact to settle properly, as are of almost daily occurrence

in the department of transportation connected with a railroad cor-

poration. He keeps the business entrusted to him well in hand,

does everything at the proper time in a business way, and requires

the same punctuality and care of all the employees in his depart-

ment, and has become a factor in the official corps of the gigantic

corporation known as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad,

and where let us hope his pleasant face may be seen for years to come.

Personnel.

In person Mr. Keyes is in height above the average, fully six feet

or more, with a large, well-proportioned frame, and is the personifi-

cation of health. His head is large, face round and full, has a keen,

expressive eye, where a mirthful smile will often be seen lurking.

He walks with a regular military step, seldom notices any one on the

street unless an acquaintance, each of whom he will greet. To a

stranger he would be polite, nothing more. He is one of the most

dignified appearing men in the city, and would command attention

where many others, perhaps his superiors in both wealth and posi-

tion, would not, and is a universal favorite with all who know him.

In political faith he is a Democrat, and in religion a liberal. He

is also very conscientious, careful of what he says or does, tries to

live as near the Golden Rule as he can.

Like A. V. H. Carpenter, he is from that good old Puritan stock

who laid the foundation stones of this republic, and whose peculiar

traits of character are visible to-day in the life and deportment of

every true son of New England.

The writer has known Mr. Keyes for many years, during which

he has watched him very closely, and can truthfully say that,

although he is not without his faults, yet the grand old state which

gave him birth, notwithstanding she is the honored mother of many

eminent men, has never sent a nobler-hearted one to the West than

Dwight W. Keyes.

Sources

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:MGRS-41V : 7 January 2020), Entry for Dwight Whitman Keyes, 1830.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M681-NM5 : 19 December 2020), Dwight W Keyes in household of Gidding W Keyes, Windham, Windham, Connecticut, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:MDK8-BKZ : 11 January 2020), Entry for D. W. Keyes, 1852.

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:M7NM-S8V : 18 February 2021), Household of D W Keyes, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:MC4G-MDN : 15 January 2022), Household of Dwight W. Keyes, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,437.

• "Wisconsin Death Index, 1820-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJG5-CL9 : 12 December 2014), Dwight W Keyes, 31 Mar 1900; from "Wisconsin Deaths, 1820-1907," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing p. 0323, volume 25, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reel 086, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Vital Records Division, Madison.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63051335/dwight-whitmore-keyes: accessed 28 July 2022), memorial page for Lieut Dwight Whitmore Keyes (29 Mar 1830–31 Mar 1900), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63051335, citing Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA; Maintained by pkarchs (contributor 47286217).

Acknowledgment

• WikiTree profile Keyes-136 created through the import of BDM7-7-11.ged on Jul 8, 2011 by Brian McCullough. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Brian and others.