Keck-Rachor Family               

Andrew John Keck & Sara Jane Sweeney

Andrew John KECK was born on 8 Dec 1832 in Zellhausen, Hessen, Germany.[1]  He came to the U.S. with his parents Benedict Keck and Anna Marie Rachor in 1844 at the age of 12.  They lived in Latrobe from 1844-46.  He moved with his parents and siblings to Minerton in Vinton Co, OH in 1846 and helped his father raise sheep.  On 16 Aug 1858 he bought 75 acres from his parents for $380.[2]  His father, Benedict, died three months later in Nov 1858.  In Feb 1862 he married Sarah Jane SWEENEY, daughter of John Sweeney and Mary Ann Gibson from Pine Grove, Lawrence Co. OH. He was 30 yrs. old; she was just 16.  They had twin girls, Mary and Martha, in Dec. 1862 and John in 1865.

On the 15^th Feb. 1865, with brothers Philip and Franklin, Andrew, 33 y/o, enlisted into Company D, 194 ^th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry[3] to fight for the Union in the Civil War.  His records show that he was 5 ft. 6 in. tall, of light complexion, with brown hair and gray eyes.  He had basic training at Camp Chase, MD; he served as a private, and on Jun 1865 was sent to the hospital at Summit Point, then on to Cumberland, MD US General Hospital.  From there he was discharged by order 77 on June 28, 1865.[4]  He suffered from chronic diarrhea and an abscess on the left breast, due to exposure and hardships.[5]

After the war he returned to OH and engaged in farming, but was never again a stout, able-bodied man.  He built a one and a half storey, 4 bedroom log cabin around 1866, cutting and fashioning the timber himself.  The children Frank, Joe, Edward, and Florence were born in this cabin.  In the spring of 1878 he moved his family to Neoga, IL joining his sister Margaret’s family (settled there in 1865) and his brother George’s family (settled there between 1866 and 1871).  Eleanor (1879), Elocius (1881), and William (1883) were born in Trowbridge, IL.  The children were happy to attend the “mud” Copper Creek School. 

The children grew but the family didn’t seem to prosper as other families did.  “Sarah was a woman of stout heart, strong faith, and firm resolution.  She brought up her children to be dependable, honest and to have the strong desire and willingness to work to accomplish their goals.  This contrasts with her husband, a dreamer who was always waiting for his ship to come in (but it never did).”[6]  Then tragedy struck. 

Andrew lost four of his children [Eleanor (3) 1881, Martha (20) and Elocius (1) 1882, Mary (20) 1883] and his wife, Sarah, (38) in 1884.  Sarah died of milk fever.[7] 

Around 1885 Andrew took his 6 surviving children, John (20), Frank (18), Joe (15), Edward (13), Florence (9), and William (2), and set out for the West to escape his grief.  They crossed the Mississippi at Chester, IL and reached Coffeeville, KS on the Oklahoma border where John and Frank rebelled and refused to go any further.  (Sarah’s Sweeney kin lived in nearby Pittsburg, KS; moved there in ????) The older boys worked in a coal mine there for about a year but found the work too dusty and dirty.  About 1886 Andrew realized that he could not run from his grief and they returned to IL, but not to Trowbridge. 

They settled in Decatur where John and Frank found work in Decatur Coffin Factory.  Andrew was 54 at that time (1886, the year his mother, Anna Maria, died) and was regarded as totally disabled from war injuries.  He was said to be of good character and had no bad habits.  He had applied for a pension in 1884, but did not receive it until after 1889.  He stated to the Pension Department, “I have been unable to employ doctors, and have been compelled to doctor myself during said period, as best I could, for chronic diarrhea and abscess of left breast from both of which I still suffer and grow worse daily.”[8]  He received $14 a month pension.  He lived alternately with John, Joe, Florence, and Bill. 

He died at age 65 of heart disease in Frank and Lou’s house (Charles was 1 yr.) in Decatur shortly after midnight on Dec. 26, 1897.  Frank and Lou found Christmas to be a sad time in the years after his death.  His death certificate was mistakenly recorded in Macon Co. courthouse under the name Alexander Keck.[9]  His obituary also calls him Alexander but lists his survivors correctly.[10]  He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Decatur.  His new grave marker erected decades later has the date of birth as 1834 instead of 1832 and his death as 1889 instead of 1897.

November 2004                                                                                                                          Jim Keck

(to be continued)                                                                           jkeck1@triad.rr.com   336 229-0426