The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1895-02-14
DEATH OF A HERO.
The HOratius of the Civil War
Dies in Obscurity.
A Story OF Heroism Worthy the
Pen of a Bard---The Hero
Dies in Bristol.


James Keelan, the hero, who held
the bridge at Strawberry Plains, single
handed and alone, against squad OF
Union soldiers, died in poverty and
ooscurity at his humble home in West
Bristol, Monday morning His death
was due to capillary bronchitis, cou.
pied with old age and the injuries
which he received IN the desperate
struggle which made him a hero of
the highest type.
The deceased was OF Irish descent.
His funeral will take place some time
today. ]. G. Bondurart and others
were soliciting money Monday in or
der to give the aged hero decent
burial. Three sons, all married, sur
vive him.
John Keelan, though an obscure
citizen, whose name has been unsung,
was indeed hero, and one in whom
bravery and fidelity to duty were equal
to that displayed by Horatius, the
brave Roman, whose deed has been
immortalized.
1t was in the second year of the
civil war when Gen. Samuel P. Carter
and his army OF federals entered East
Tennessee. To make their march
effective they adopted the plan of de-
stroying the railroad bridges along
their line OF march, and had burned
several bridges before they came to
lifelong bridge over the Holston River,
at Strawberry Plains. Anticipating
the destruction Of this bridge, Keelan
and force of twenty-five men were
stationed there to defend the bridge
against any effort to destroy 1t.
One night they were attacked by a
squad of Gen. Carter's men, and a
fight ensued in which every defender
of the bridge except Keelan was quick
ly routed. Though left alone, Keelap
was not daunted, but stood his ground
aud fought desperately against all odds
until victory was his. In the hot fight
which he waged single handed two or
three OF the squad met death, when
the remainder, losing courage, turned
and fed, leaving Keelsn the victor
It was a desperate and, dangerous
struggle, and in it Keelan had one OF
his hands cut off aud was so seriously
stabbed about the body that he sank
to the ground, and when later some OF
mis- friends came upon the scene they
found him lying in apparently dying
condition. In fact Keelan thought
himself he was dying, and remarked
to his friends; "They have killed me,
but saved the bridget"
It was this hero about whom some
one wrote in the Emory and Henry
Clarion, in May, 1884, under the i'm
preston that Keelan was dead and
his name lost.
Among other words OF praise, this
writer said:
But our hero is unknown. No mar
BILE monument bears his noble name
No historian has given his deed Of
heroism to the world. No great Ma.
caulay has sung in glowing periods Of
this newer and grandeI Horatius. Hie
name is forgotten; his noble deed i:
unsung; his body quietly mouldert
back to dust, and the passing years
heap oblivion on his name and fame
But think that great deeds have O
life apart from human knowledge oI
them, and they live on torever-for
ever making the world better, making
the moral atmosphere purer. The
flower that blooms unseen in the des
ert lends perfume to the air, Earth''
diamonds can not Sll be. found, bu
they are diamonds still, as pure, al
bright, as glorious, in the dross Of
earth as in a crown. And noble deed
the flowers and diamonds OF oul
moral life-though unseen and undis
coyerable inluse thsir beauty anC
grandeur into our general life, anC
quietly and unobtrusively make the
world better.
There is kind ofpathos hangs abou
the thought of unknown heroism
We hear of noble deeds that have no
had their mead OF praise, and pit!
THAR doers that they have not received
their reward. We deal out fame ant
glory to a hero in strict proportion tt
the deeds he does, and feel that W
have done our duty, and the hero ha
received his pay. This hero's life ha
been one ofpracticsl, real nay, sordid
struggle--a nero mediocre he was
no spark Of genius fred his nobl
brain, no high ambition urged him o.
to fame-wearily and slowly he tro
the way of life, ploddins along un
known. But when the occasion came