Foreword (written by Merle C. Keepers
for the 1979 edition)
American Keepers Family Genealogy
I
believe that errors occur within this record, since errors abound in the
public records, and possibly in statements given us by elders. Although
we sifted and examined each bit of evidence critically we have, perforce, accepted
much data by word of mouth. Similarly, we accepted spellings, names of spouses,
dates of birth and death from relatives without verification. If anyone finds
inaccurate data in family groups or individuals, please do not hesitate
to call the error to my attention for immediate correction.
Here
is a case in point concerning the public record. There are no
Keepers names in the national archives list of Revolutionary War veterans.
However, there is listed a William and Thomas Keeper. Leaving the 's' off our
name is an error often committed by transcribing clerks preparing census
records or lists from old hand written documents. I find the name of John
Keepers in a ratable (tax base) census taken during the Revolutionary
War. Then in the 1790 census I find a John Keeper and Thomas Keeper residing at
that same address. It appears they were father and son and I am convinced that
both William and Thomas Keeper, the veterans, were members of the Keepers
family.
There
is much research yet to be accomplished. A large silent era exists between
1673 and the death of William Keepers II, husband of Clara Tanner, in 1757. We
have not been successful in establishing the relationship of William I (the
immigrant) and William II. One information source gives William II as born
circa 1710 and another as before 1707. If William I was about twenty years old
when he arrived in America in 1673 he would have been fifty-seven in
1710. On this hypothesis it seems likely that William II was a grandson and we
have lost a generation in between. Records within that time frame now
existing are indeed scanty. It is my opinion that our original
William had more than one son and William II had brothers for which we have no
data. Witness the fact that John Keepers (ratable census) is unaccounted for
as well as another John Keepers of Philadelphia listed in the 1790
census.
There
is also a great, untapped wealth of data in county seats all
across this broad country. These are tax and property records that were simply
impossible for Henry Lloyd Keepers and myself to review at source. We
hope that those who follow us in this study can achieve greater followup.
The
Keepers family is interesting in its diversity. We are, or were, Unionists,
Confederates, Easterners, Southerners, Northerners, Westerners, poor, well to
do, illiterate, highly educated, Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Whigs, Democrats
and Republicans. We engaged in occupations and professions much too numerous to
list here.
It should not be said of us that we
were melded into the American scene. Far from it. We helped create it!
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