John C.
Keepers[1]
Rank: Private, Company H, 141st
Regiment, Ohio National Guard Infantry
Born/died: September 6, 1839 – April, 1917
Cause of death: congestion of the lungs
Residence at death: Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri
Served: May 2, 1864 -
September 3, 1864
Age at enlistment 25
Claim filed: August 22, 1912, #978736
Remarks:
Pursuant to a congressional
act on May 11, 1912, John filed an application for pension, notarized on August
13, 1912. He stated that he enlisted at
Athens, Ohio, and was honorably discharged at Gallipolis, Ohio. At enlistment he was 5’ 9”, light
complexion, with blue eyes and light hair.
His application, at age 72 years, 11 months, stated he had a weak heart,
stomach trouble, and a double rupture, “so that he cannot perform manual
labor.” Several places of residence
since leaving the service were: Ross County, Ohio, for seven years, then to
(illegible town or township: Altweh (?)), Ottawa, Kansas in 1871; then to Olathe,
Kansas, then Kansas City, Missouri, at1405 Campbell St.
Julia (Barnhouse) Keepers
petitioned, and probably received, half of John’s pension. Julia was the sixth wife of John C.
Keepers. Names of two of the wives are
unknown at this time. In her wife's
declaration, October 27, 1913, Julia petitioned for half her husband's
pension. He had deserted her about
November 15, 1910, after seven months of marriage. John went to live in a rooming house he owned in Kansas
City. She did not know the names of
John's previous wives, but "several" had died while married to
John. Julia was first married to
Francis M. Barnhouse, who died November 17, 1891; secondly, to Thomas Stover
from whom she was divorced in 1892.
Julia had at least two children, sons Ralph and Harry L. Barnhouse. A list of the items in the divorce action,
with summaries, takes up three pages in the pension file.
John fought the suit brought
by Julia, and he was given a divorce in 1915.
The Kansas City Post wrote, "They are old, and the old have their
fixed habits. Neither would recognize
the other's idiosyncrasies."[2] The Kansas City Star wrote, "Keepers is
almost deaf, and his attorneys have to shout the questions into his ear. Mrs. Keepers charges it is his sixth
marriage, and that he deserted her."[3]
In John’s pension file there
are two daughters mentioned: Alice A. Jenkins, age 36 on December 17, 1914, and
Mrs. Ida Remick, age unknown, the latter listed as next of kin on the death
certificate. Due to incomplete data,
the mother of these daughters is (are) unknown at this time.