Where is Charlie Kee? | Home

 

One individual that I have been searching for information on is Charlie Kee. The little bit that I do know is from my grandmother Annabelle Darr. Her mother Anna Belle Keys was very secretive and did not talk about her father as Annabelle was growing up. She was so secretive that before she died she cut lines and pages out of her journals that she didn't want anyone to read. My grandmother grew up thinking that Charlie was of Indian descent. It was not until after her mother died that her father Raymond Marion Smith declared to his children that thier grandfather was actually Chinese.

What I do know is that Charlie Kee lived in Missouri in the 1880's. He was Chinese and either owned or worked at a Kee's laundry. At the time he was married to Louisa Luvisa Bryan and they had four children. Their children were Anna Belle (my great grandmother), Julia Ethel, Charlie, and Rolla. At some point the two were separated and Louisa moved to Illinois. My grandmother was raised thinking that Charlie deserted the family. I am no longer so sure. She also changed the way that Keys was spelled. Grandma said in one of her mother's school books she found Anna Belle Kee Keys written inside the cover. She told me that she heard the change was so that it sounded more American. In the 1900 Census, Louisa's last name was Kee. In 1910, it was Keys.

I am hoping that by working on the Bryan side, that it will lead me to Charlie. I have a letter from Juliet Smith that talkes briefly about Charlie and Richard McKinney. One thing that I have learned is that in the 1880's Louisa Luvisa had a sister living in Mexico, Mo. Her name was Anna L. Bryan and she married a R.S. McKinney. I have found information that shows R.S. McKinney living in Mexico, MO. I could not find Louisa and Charlie in the census however. The reason I thought they would have been there was my grandmother told me that once when she was younger she went through Mexico, MO on a bus and she said that she saw a Kee's Laundry. My hypothesis is that Louisa went to visit her sister Anna and her husband in the early 1880's and that is when she met Charlie. Their first child was not born until 1885, and the 1890 census was destroyed so that is why this has been a difficult task.

If anyone has any mention of Charlie, Charles, Chas Kee, Key, Keys, or Keyes in any record or letter or an unknown chinaman in any picture in your collection, please let me know. :) Even the smallest, seemingly insignificant fact could make a huge difference.