Genealogy - Keepers Family of Chester County Pennsylvania

Group 2.

Some members of the Keepers family moved from Maryland to Chester County, Pennsylvania, early in the Colonial period. Clara Tanner, wife of the second William Keepers, came from Chester County. Esther Foulke, his daughter-in-law, as well as Ann Hayes, wife of his grandson, came from there.

There is confusion concerning the given name of Ann Hayes' husband. A book published in 1900 'History of Grundy County, Illinois' gives his name as Samuel. Earlier records from Chester County, Pennsylvania, give his name as William. His great-granddaughter in a letter written in 1925 concerning the family history also lists his name as William. Weight of evidence convinces us that the Grundy County book is in error, however, it is possible that his full name was William Samuel Keepers.

Ann Hayes is the apparent origin of the given name 'Hayes' that has been carried down prominently in both the Guernsey County, Ohio, and the Wisconsin family branches.

John M. Keepers (wife: Mary ____ ), a son of William and Ann, settled in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, sometime prior to 1819.  The eldest son of William and Ann, Joseph Hayes Keepers (wife: Hannah Jordan) moved to Beaver County in 1828, just after William died.  Joseph Hayes Keepers is the progenitor of Group 5, Guernsey County, Ohio, and John M. Keepers' son, Lewis Mifflin Keepers, is the progenitor of Group 7, Wisconsin.

To date, John M. Keepers' grandson, John C. Keepers, civil war veteran, holds the record for the highest number of marriages: six.  Only two of the six wives are known to us at this time.