Horace P. Keys ~ The Last of the Keys in Waynesville

Business Care of Horace P. Keys

This article is found in the Miami-Gazette, April 29, 1937:

KEYS FAMILY LIVED HERE LONG

~~
This the first of a series of articles
which is being written by Grace L. Smith,
dealing with life, places, and events in
the history of Waynesville.

~~

Many Years ago, about 1819, a father and mother, with their three children, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio and located in Waynesville, Ohio to make their future home. This man was the grandfather (Isaac Keys) of Horace P. Keys, the subject of this sketch. In this span of 118 years, Waynesville has continuously known the Keys family.

Horace P. Keys was born in 1852 on the lot where he now lives ~ a period of 85 years. He was the son of Judge John W. and Sarah French Keys, a native of New Jersey. Judge John Keys had a mother of rare executive ability (Sarah Keys) and when left a widow in her new home with limited means, proved herelf amply equal to the situation in which most women would have failed. This same self reliance and courage, she handed down to her son, Judge Keys and he, in turn to his son, Horace.

Mr. Keys' father (Judge John W. Keys) was a man of great influence in the community. In 1839 he was honored with the office of Mayor of Waynesville. In 1842 he became Justice of the Peace, which office he filled for 30 years. In the Fall of 1872, he was elected Probate Judge of the county. This position he held until the year 1879. Mr. (John W.) Keys was also a cabinet maker and when Horace was but 16 years of age he entered into business with his father. After the death of his father, he continued on with the business and was an active businessman in Waynesville until a few years ago.

Mr.(Horace P.) Keys obtained his education in the Waynesville schools. None of the boys are left who with him swam in the old swimmin' hole or skated on the mill-race in the winter but Mr. Keys lives so much in the past that, to him those days are most real.

His hobby was watches and clocks and one incident he particularly remembers when the old family clock refused to run, he told his father he could fix it. His father told him to let it alone but one day his father left home, he took the clock to pieces and repaired it. Fortunately the clock ran ~ and continued to run and give good time until a short while ago.

Horace P. Keys was for years a very enthusiastic worker in the Knights of Pythias lodge. Always a bachelor, Mr. Keys and his sister, Miss Addie, made their home together until a few years ago when Miss Key's death separated them.

The home was destroyed in the fire of 1900 but a new home was erected on the same lot where since his birth, Mr. Keys has lived in his quiet unassuming way.

He says he has outlived his generation but his interests are all for Waynesville. His life has been spent here and Horace P. Keys is the last of the once noted Keys family and Waynesville's oldest businessman.

John W. Keys (Aug. 28,1814 - Dec. 23, 1882), his wife Sarah B. French Keys (April 17, 1812 - Mar. 22, 1894), and his three children, Mary G. Keys Jacobs (d. Apr. 24, 1876), Adaline B. Keys (1849-1931) and Horace P. Keys (1853-1942) are all buried in Miami Cemetery, Section F.

Also see the following for more information about the Keys family:

• Judge John W. Keys
• Joseph Galloway Keys ~ Quaker Cabinet Maker, Justice of the Peace,
  and President of the Western Star Publishing Co.
• Isaac E. Keys ~ "Sign of the Black Boot" ~
  A Leather Merchant in Waynesville
• The Keys Brother that Went to California ~ Thomas J. Keys
• Boyhood Memories of Daniel R. Anderson
• WAYNESVILLE BUSINESSES & PROFESSIONS LISTED IN
  THE MIAMI VISITOR WEEKLY NEWSPAPER WITH FURTHER
  INFORMATION INCLUDED