Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-12-10


Annie Harris. and the two pledged
their VOWS of eternal vengeance.
There was more than that She said
she would 90 with Kim aud deal the
blows of death as he did. On horse
back they went TO an humble preach
er's house, and, without alighting, had
him make them man and wife. She
threw away her woman's dress and
donned male attire. She put on a
belt besides and two revolvers, and
her long hair she tucked up under her
hat. See looked as much ike asoldier
as many a young boy that went out
with Quantrell. tei ttlo l}-l
The whole land was full Of Federal
soldiers, and John McKeene and his
guerrilla wife had to share the dangers
and privations Of all their kind. Their
home was the saddle, their shelter the
woods. They were together in more
than one ambush attack, and together
Jaw more than one of the hated enc
my bite the dust. When the winter
came and the leaves left the trees,
they rode away to the South, and
waited there until the leaves we're
again as big as the ears Of the SOUR
rels, when they returned to their
constant battle-ground. On a June
morning, 1863, as they, with a half.
dozen others, were riding along over
the prairie near where now stands the
little town Of Lees Summit, they
were met by a detachment of the
Seventh Missouri State militia.
There was a desperate encounter, in
which John McKeene was shot dead
and Annie McKeene was shot through
the shoulder. The others of the guer-
rillas escaged. When the Federals
came up to where McKeene and his
wife were lying, one of the soldiers
levelled his revolver at the head of the
woman in disguise, but before the
trigger was pulled she threw off her
hat, snatched her long hair down, and
sat up before him with the face of a
woman. The revolver was put up and
the mystery solved. She told them all
she had lived for was gone, but that
she was not ready to die herself. She
begged them to give her companion
the best burial they could, and said
she wanted to go to Kansas City.
There was a tone of voice and style of
e%arnestness about what she said that
touched the hearts of the rough sol
diers, and they buried John MeKeene
out on the broad prairie but there
was not a stone nor a piece of wood
within a half dozen miles of the place.
and nothing was left to mark the
place of the grave. But it was such
. burial as many a poor man did not
have in those days.
Annie McKeene was taken to Kan
sas City, where she recovered, under
the blessed care of some Sisters of
She went to Memphis. Tenn.
and there joined the Catholic church.
and resolved to devote her life to the
care of the sick and the distressed.
She became a Sister Of Mercy, went to
the front of the army, and during the
remainder ofthe wal was unremitting
in her work of love and mercy. After
the coming of peace she went to New
Orleans, and became attached to the
convent of the Sisters of Mercy. In
devotion to her mission there was not
one who surpassed her in earnestness.
She was always ready to bear the
heaviest burden, and manifested the
fortitude in a good work that she had
in a reckless guerrilla warfare as the
wife of John McKeene.
She bore the secret of her life well. |
1t was a memory that had grown
sacred by her expiation, and around it
was the sweet incense of a thousand
prayers that had gone up out of a soul
of tears. When the late epidemic
came on she was among the foremost
to go to the bedside of the stricken
and the dying. She watched by day
and by night-as faithful a nurse as
ever saw the spark of life 60 out. Not
only with her hands did she aid the
suffering, but in word as well did she
give strength to many a poor heart.
Thus she labored and thus she fulfilled
the sacred vow of her life till the
Father of Mercy claimed the Sister of
Mercy as His own. Annie McKeene.
of 1863, was the sister Celeste whose
death is announced in the notice at
the head of this article.
But that wild tale she brooked not to un.
fold,
And sealed now each lip that could have