Click Here for an Ancestral Report on Mary Ellen Keech
By
M. Bruce McAdam Jr.
Mary Ellen Keech, my
great-grandmother, was the wife of James Watson McAdam, my great-grandfather.
She was born in Enterprise, Ontario, on December 8, 1869 and married
Watson on April 20, 1890. Her parents were Henry R. Keech and Mary U. McMullen.
While we celebrate our McAdam heritage, it should not be forgotten that,
in our branch of the family, we are as much Keech as we are McAdam.
The Keech family is extensive with many members in the United States and Canada. It is believe, but not yet confirmed, that our Keech family descended from a George Keech who arrived in Rhode Island about 1670. Our story begins when a particular Keech family moved from Connecticut to New York in the latter part of the 1700’s.
There were at least three brothers (Israel, George and James) and one sister (Martha) in this family who settled in the now non-existent Tryon County, New York, which at that time was a huge area encompassing much of the Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks. We are descended from James Keech, who was born in 1763 in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
George and James Keech were Revolutionary War veterans. They both served in Fisher’s 3rd Regiment of Tryon County, New York State Militia. After the war both settled in what became Oneida County, New York. The husband of their sister Martha, Jonathan Spencer, also served in Fisher’s 3rd Regiment and they settled in Oneida County also. Many descendants of Jonathan Spencer are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
James Keech’s story does not stop here. James had at least eight children with John being our ancestor, the grandfather of Mary Ellen Keech. John Keech, who was born about 1794, most likely in Oneida County, was a member of the New York Militia and stationed in Sacketts Harbor, New York, during the War of 1812. His brothers--Henry and Albert--were believed to have been stationed at Sacketts Harbor also. Even more amazing is that their father James Keech, by then in his 50s, served in the militia again during the War of 1812 and was stationed at Sacketts Harbor with his sons. All were likely to have served under the command of General Jacob Brown.
While not certain, it is believed that a younger brother of John, Andrew Keech, ended up living in Brownville, New York, in the 1820s before eventually living in Depauville, New York, near Clayton. This information about these Keech brothers has great meaning to my brothers, my sister and myself as we grew up in Brownville and went to General Brown High School.
After the 1812 war, the brothers John, Henry and Albert Keech returned to Oneida County, New York, where they married, started families and farmed. Due likely to opportunities for their own land, however, these three brothers moved with their families to Lennox & Addington County, Ontario, Canada around 1830. Other Keech cousins joined them in Canada. Their father, James, remained in Oneida county until he died sometime after 1832.
John Keech, and his wife Julia Crouch, had seven children. The fifth child, Henry R. Keech (Mary Ellen’s father), was born in 1839. Henry married Mary McMullen and had at least three children; Angeline (b. 1863), Thomas Wesley (b. 1864), and Mary Ellen (b. 1869). Mary Ellen may have had more brothers and sisters. But you can see that our James Wesley McAdam shared the middle name of his uncle, Thomas Wesley Keech; and James Wesley’s sister, Angeline, shared the same first name as her aunt and Mary Ellen’s sister, Angeline Keech.
For a detailed report on the ancestors of Mary Ellen Keech, please click on the following link.
Ancestral Report on Mary Ellen Keech