Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-09-22
WHO WAS RICHARD KEENE?

WHO WAS RICHARD KEENE?
Every town has it's mystery Some
take the form of ghosts, who haunt
old houses; some are persons who
are here today and gone tomorrow,
and their whereabouts is never dis
covered, nor their fate disclosed;
some have a rational story connect
ed with them; others are but the fig
ments OF vivid imagination. Me-
Connelsville could lay claim to sew
eral mysteries; some of them could
he accounted for if the persons who
know the inside Of the story would
tell it: at least one will never be
known now as all those interested
and who knew all the circumstances,
have passed beyond this scene of ac-
tion; one was the subject of a let
ter from the writer of these articles
to the publisher of this paper-how
did Julius Kinkead get out of our
Jail just before he was tC be SEN
fenced? This one may be made
known at later date. At least two
well known persons have disappear
ed from our midst and so far as the
general public knows, nothing has
ever been heard from or about
them. In one of these cases the
writer knew, several years after
ward, where the particular individ-
ual was living; but whether he be
alive today l cannot say.
The greatest mystery In connec-
tion with our town had it's climax
more than .12S years ago, and
though efforts have been made since
10 solve this mystery, it is as great
today as it was on the 9th of Sep
tember, 1909.
l will relate the story as it has
been handed down. but supported
with certain documentary evidence,
and possibly, though not probably,
some of my readers may give me ad
ditional information. Allow me to
digress here for a minute and say
that unless you have had the actual
experience of trying to trace down
the facts of an event, even within
a few years of the date it occurred,
you can have no idea Of how hard
1T is to secure accurate data, and
even when you find someone who
really has some definite informa-
fion about the event, nine times out
of ten he will hesitate to give it to
yon, even though you promise it
will all be held strictly confidential.
And as the years increase between
the time of the event and the time
you seek the information, the prob
ability of success diminishes in a
geOmetrical ratio.
So, once and for all, I ask any
and every reader of these articles, if
you find l have made ali error in
any statement, or you have any ad-
ditional information about the mat
ter, will you please write me at
once, or see me as soon as possible.
and furnish me with whatever you
may have. AS / have stated before,
it is the sincere desire of the writer
and the publisher of these articles,
to have them as nearly correct as II
is humanity possible, and if you al
low us to issue statement that IS
incorrect or lacking in some vital
point, you are guilty of allowing us
to furnish to the public, informa
tion that may be either incorrect or
lacking in some very important de-
tail
But, now, let us get to the mys-
terry of Richard Keene.
Richard Keene was born in Mary
land in the year 1853. We do not
have the information as to where he
was born nor very much about his
family. We do know that he was
an officer in the Revolutionary army,
but do not know what rank he held
nor with what troops he was con-
nected; we know that he married
Miss Patty Raiden in the year 1879,
but of her or her family we know
no more, nor where they were mar
ried. We know that they lived for
time somewhere in the state of Vir-
ginia, and from collateral data we
have reason to believe it was in
THAI part now known as West Vir-
gInia and either along the Kanawha /
river or the Ohio river.
From there he removed to the |
Northwest territory, possibly having
some land scrip that had been issued
to the officers and soldiers of the
Revolutionary army. But here again
we lack information as to where he
settled and to where he may have
removed.
We now come to the most posi-
tive information we have been able
to find about him.
He had two maiden aunts, named
Keene, who lived, at the time Of
IueII dtdIl!Ns W llCl we're ClOS6 lO-
gether, in the state Of Maryland, at
or near Washington. D. G. Each had
made will and at her death all her
property was to go to the said Rich
ard Keene, and his heirs, forever.
When the second aunt died she
left an estate of 480 acres of land,
slaves, and considerable personal
property. In fact the estate would
be considered a very substantial one
considering the times. Richard
Keene lived somewhere in this sec
tion of Ohio, as when he received
the news of the death Of his aunt
and her having left all her property
to him, he started for Maryland TO
make a settlement of the estate. He
arrived in McConnelsville on the ev-
ening of Sept. s, 1909, and stop
ped at an inn here, to spend the
night. During the night of Septem~
Der 8th-9th, he was taken sick, or
perhaps had stayed too long in the