Michael John O'Keeffe
(1819-1869)

 

Family Links

Spouses/Children:
1. Margaret O'Shea

Michael John O'Keeffe 2 3 4

  • Born: 1819, County Cork, IRELAND 3 5 6
  • Marriage (1): Margaret O'Shea in 1842 in County Cork, IRELAND 1 2
  • Died: 1869, Kansas City, KS at age 50 5 7

bullet   Other names for Michael were Michael John Keeffe and Michael John O'keefe.5 7

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bullet  General Notes:


Source: Notes from John L. and LaVonne (Shipe) Drugan Family History, 1979, as told to Carl Keefe by his father, William John Keefe:

Michael John O'Keeffe came to America in 1840 and settled in Pennsylvania. He left Pennsylvania and moved to Kemptville, Ontario, Canada. He came back to the U.S., alone, to work during the time of the Civil War and died of a fever, leaving a wife and 4 children (one was Elizabeth Jane O'Keeffe who married Patrick Drugan, Jr.) William John O'Keeffe (Carl Keefe's father), was "given" to a French family in Canada. Later, the French family moved to the U.S., taking William with them and settling in French Town across from Trempealeau County, Wisconsin.

(UPDATE - Michael John Keeffe was shown with his family on the 1851 Canadian Census in West Kemptville, Ontario but is missing on the 1855 Canadian Census in the same location. Therefore it would appear that he moved to the United States sometime between 1851 and 1855 which was quite a few years before the Civil War. This is a slight variance on the story as told years later by his son, William John Keeffe through Carl Keeffe who had said that Michael did not come to the US until the time of the Civil War.)
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The name O'Keeffe was changed to "Keeffe" when the postmaster in Trempealeau had trouble distinguishing one O'Keeffe family from another.

(UPDATE - Canadian census records from as early as 1848, 1851 and 1855 show the use of the spelling "Keeffe" so the story about the change in spelling because of the postmaster's difficulties in Trempealeau would seem to be more family lore than fact.)
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The O'Keeffe-Drugan connection may have stemmed from the fact that both families lived at one time in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.)
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bullet  Noted events in his life were:

• He has alternate birth date of 1824 and a birth location of County Cork, IRELAND.

2

• He appeared on the 1848 Census of Lower Canada in Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville, Ontario, CANADA on 1848.

1848 Ontario, Canada Census
Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
LAC # M-5909
Head of Household: Keef, Michael
Record No. 1649
Lot No. 27
Concession No.: 3
Occupation: Joiner
Total people in household: 3
.

• He appeared on the 1851 Canada West Census in West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville, Ontario, Canada on 1851. 4

1851 Ontario, Canada
Page 55, Line 9 Sub-District 103
West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville County, Ontario (Canada West)
M. Keeffe..27..Roman Catholic..IRE..Carpenter

(Living with wife and 2 children.)

NOTE - If his birth date was in 1819, then his age should have been about 32 instead of 27.
.

• He has alternate death information of 1862 and Nebraska.


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Michael married Margaret O'Shea, daughter of Edmund O'Shea and O'conner, in 1842 in County Cork, IRELAND.2 3 (Margaret O'Shea was born on 2 July 1827 in Watergrasshill, County Cork, IRELAND,2 8 9 died on 8 January 1912 in Trempealeau, WI 2 3 and was buried after 8 January 1912 in Old Catholic Cemetery, Trempealeau, WI.)

bullet  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1848 Census of Lower Canada in Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville, Ontario, CANADA on 1848.

1848 Ontario, Canada Census
Oxford (Oxford-on-the-Rideau), Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
LAC # M-5909
Head of Household: Keef, Michael
Record No. 1649
Lot No. 27
Concession No.: 3
Occupation: Joiner
Total people in household: 3
.

• They appeared on the 1851 Canada West Census in West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville, Ontario, Canada on 1851. 4

1851 Canada West Census
Page 55, Line 9 Sub-District 103
West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville County, Ontario (Canada West), Canada
M. Keeffe..27..Roman Catholic..IRE..Carpenter
Margaret Keeffe..24..Roman Catholic..IRE
Mary Keeffe..4..Roman Catholic..CAN
Edmond Keeffe..1..Roman Catholic..CAN

(Note: Lived next to a grist mill)
.

• They appeared on the 1861 Canada West Census in Kemptville, Ontario, CANADA on 1861. 10

1861 Canada West Census
Page 5, Line 47, District 1
Kemptville, Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Frame House, 1-1/2 Stories, Single Family Home
Margaret Keeffe..33..IRE..Catholic..Married..Widowed
Mary Keeffe..13..CAN..Catholic
Edmund Keeffe..10..CAN..Catholic
Elizabeth Keeffe..7..CAN..Catholic

Margaret was listed was a widow but Michael O'Keeffe did not die until 1869.
.


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Sources


1 Drugan Family Records; A collection of family history papers and research originally done by John Drugan during the 1960s and 1970s of the Drugan family in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota. Supplemental and updated information provided by William Drugan with more recent additions by Robert Westphal, Jr.

2 Matthew Bowen to Brian Lightfoot, e-mail, May 24, 2009, "O'Keefe Family PDF"; privately held by Lightfoot, [(E-ADDRESS) & MAILING ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Ceres, California.

3 Drugan Family Records.

4 "1851 Canada West Census," database and images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 Apr 2016); Page 55, Line 9 Sub-District 103, West Kemptville, Oxford Township, Grenville County, Ontario (Canada West).

5 Matthew William Bowen, "Bowen, Allerton, Kuhns, Keefe and related families." (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mwbowen7).

6 Personal knowledge of Brian L. Lightfoot, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]; Includes all genealogy research papers done by Iris Geraldine Sharer during the 1960s and 1970s which incorported family history documents relating to the Lightfoot and Arnsberger families. Also includes all previous research done by Jack Drugan and siblings during the 1960s.

7 Personal knowledge of Brian L. Lightfoot, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].

8 1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, p. 13, dwelling 109, family 107, Margaret Keefe (O'Shea); index and images, FamilySearch.org (accessed 14 Sep 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 1737.

9 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, enumeration district (ED) 137, sheet 2A, dwelling 26, family 27, Barney Carroll McGraw and Margaret O'Shea; index and images, FamilySearch.org (accessed 12 May 2013); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1819.

10 1861 Canada West Census, Kemptville, Grenville County, Ontario, p. 5, Margaret O'Shea; RG 31; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.


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