Chapter Seven: Carroll County Kecks

Stephen Keck is referred to in all of the documents as Stephen A. Keck. But in the 1870 census we find: Anderson Keck, age 16, b. in AR.1 His actual age was probably closer to 11 than 16 in 1870, but it is a census after all. In the same census Isaac Keck is referred to as Harrison Keck, using his middle name. On this rather shaky basis I suggest that Stephen's middle name was Anderson and not Andrew. I have not seen any evidence for Andrew, except that it is a good traditional Keck family name.

Stephen Anderson married Salinda Francis Tucker on 7 March, 1886 in Madison Co. Salinda was the daughter of Robert S. Tucker and Susan Lane Stansell. Brief studies of some of Salinda's ancesters can be found in Appendix D, Appendix E, and Appendix F.

A few years after his marriage, Stephen received a BLM land grant, dated 1893. shortly thereafter, sometime before 1896, he moved, along with his brother George Alexander, to Carroll Co., where both of them appear as living in Prairie Township in the 1900 census.

Stephen Anderson and Salinda had the following children:

  1. Tollie Mayhew Keck, b. 20 December, 1886 in Huntsville, Madison Co. AR; d. June, 1974 in Porterville, CA; m. Bessie Gertrude Hall, 2 July, 1903 in Eureka Springs, AR

  2. Charles Wesley Keck, b. 17 January, 1890 in Huntsville, Madison Co. AR; m. Armelda Miller, 24 August, 1916 in Rudd, Carroll Co. AR

  3. Walter Lawrence Keck, b. 16 November, 1893 in Huntsville, Madison Co. AR; d. 17 April, 1956 in Berryville, Carroll Co. AR; m. Sallie Rea Whiteley, 24 January, 1918

  4. Henry Clay Keck (Russell Clayton Keck), b. 1 October, 1896 in Berryville, Carroll Co. AR; d. 5 July, 1972 in Boise, Ada, ID; buried in Kohler Lawn Cemetery, Nampa, Canyon Co. ID; m. Tonnie Ann Keen, 30 December, 1923 in Metalton, Carroll Co. AR

  5. Maude Bliss Keck, b. 23 December, 1900 in Berryville, Carroll Co. AR; m. (1) Arthur William Bradley, 1919; (2) Lou Murphy, and (3) Otis S. Darnell

Stephen died in Carroll County on 5 August, 1921. Salinda died just a few days later, 9 August, 1921. they were both buried in Gobbler Cemetery in Carroll County.

Stephen and Salinda's fourth son, Henry Clay Keck was my grandfather. Henry was given the name Russell Clayton at birth, and appears under that name in the 1900 census (Russell C. Keck). No one really knows why he changed his name. When he enlisted in the army during WW I he gave his name as Henry Clay Keck and was known by that name the rest of his life. I wonder if he knew that Henry was such an important and common name among the early Kecks, being the name of our common ancestor, Henrich (Henrich) Geck and many others.

While in the army he fought in France during WW I. Henry married Tonnie Ann Keen, a school teacher from Rudd on 30 December, 1923 in Rudd. For more on Tonnie and her family see Appendix G.

Henry farmed in Arkansas like his predecessors, but was unsuccessful, claiming that his land was poor farmland. My father (Ransom Clay Keck) wrote the following concerning his early life in Arkansas: "I was born on 2 Jan 1925 at Rudd, Carroll, Arkansas. My father was Henry Clay Keck. My mother was Tonnie Ann Keen. My father owned a 160 acre farm in the Ozark Mountains. 1/2 of the farm was unsatisfactory for farming. I attended school at Rudd and Gobler schools. My father was afflicted with asthma so I had to do most of the work on the farm by the time I was 12 years old. I graduated from the eight grade in 1938 and attended the Osage Junior High School, Osaga, Ark. I rode a horse the five miles to school all my freshman year except for the mornings when it was too cold. Then I would walk."2

Henry's asthma continued to worsen over the years. He was often in the hospital and finally the doctors recommended that he move to a drier climate. For that reason he and his family moved to Idaho. The choice of Idaho was not altogether arbitrary, many of Tonnie Keen's relatives had already moved to Washington and Oregon. Four of her brothers settled in Oregon and one brother settled in Washington. Tonnie's grandfather and grandmother lived in Nampa, Idaho for a time, her grandmother died there in 1902. My mother wrote this picturesque account about Henry and Tonnie's move to Idaho:

By 1940, Henry Keck was doing so badly (he only had one good lung), the doctor told him that he should go West to a different climate -- otherwise he would not have long to live. The family was very poor, but like pioneer families of old, they left most of their possessions with family and friends, and traveled with only essentials. They drove to Idaho in their old Oldsmobile car. They first settled in a small town in Southern Idaho, but after a year there, they moved farther West to Boise valley. There Henry purchased land near the town of Nampa.... Henry and his sons built a small house on their land. After several years they replaced the outhouse with an indoor bathroom between the two bedrooms. Originally it had been a closet. One day water overflowed in the bathroom. Henry had a quick fix for the problem--he quickly made a hole in the floor for the water to drain out under the house! Henry worked many years at a Carnation milk plant on the edge of town.... Henry Clay Keck had many good years, but with only one good lung and with asthma and then emphysema, his health again was failing. Pneumonia finally took him--he barely had enough breath to talk at all--he passed away in Boise Veteran's Hospital in 1972.... He was a good-natured man and loved to tease, and greatly enjoyed "playing tricks" on people. He often said that he was born as Russell Clayton Keck, but when he joined the Army, he told them his name was Henry Clay. No one knows whether he was joking or not3--and he died as Henry Clay Keck. Apparently there was no birth certificate available; nor even required for the Army at at that time.

When I was young we would visit our grandparents in Nampa every summer, and I always thought grandpa Keck was just really cranky and grouchy by nature -- I never would have ever described him as "good-natured." Now I know that he was very ill; unfortunately I inherited his asthma, so I know how cranky that can make a person. Nevertheless, I always preferred staying at his house rather than my other grandparents in spite of his grouchiness -- his place was just more fun. For one thing it was on the outskirts of town -- my brother and I would play in the ditch water, and in the junk car he had behind his house (maybe it was the old Oldsmobile!). He had a large pasture with cows, we would run through it, trying to avoid the cow pies, and we would play with the electric fence surrounding the pasture -- we would place grass stalks on the wires to see if we would get shocked -- we almost always did! Sometimes my grandpa would let us shoot his .22 rifle in the front yard; he gave me arrowheads he had dug up in his Arkansas fields. His garage was full of wood-working tools and he used to make us wooden bowls and small cedar boxes. Even though he was a grouchy old bear, I do remember him fondly.

Henry Clay and Tonnie Ann had the following children:

  1. Ransom Clay Keck, b. 2 January, 1925 in Rudd, Carroll Co. AR; d. 9 August, 1970 in Caldwell, Canyon Co. ID; buried in Kohler Lawn Cemetery, Nampa, Canyon Co. ID; m. Helen Janette Splinter, 9 March, 1945 in Nampa, Canyon Co. ID (b. 22 November, 1924 in Nampa, Canyon Co. ID; d. 20 February, 2009 in Avondale, Maricopa Co. AZ.)

  2. Kenneth Wayne Keck, m. Jannie Ruth Cook

  3. Albert Bryce Keck, m. Barbara June Yeats

To preserve the privacy of my living relatives, I will not give any vital information. I provide some information about my father because he died in 1970 and my younger brother Merrill who died in 1995. My father left Idaho to attend college in Colorado shortly after he was married. After graduation from the University of Colorado in Boulder, he was quite transient until settling in with Boeing at Seattle. Most of my siblings were born in a different state. My father and mother had the following children:

  1. Judith Lynn Keck, b. ,d. , m. James Baggiore

  2. Terri Elaine Moore, m. (1) Park Hill Clark, (2) Lowell Dee Hamilton

  3. John Ransom Keck, m. Patricia Marie Zechmann

  4. David Bryce Keck, m. Pamela Jean Jolly

  5. Brian Edward Keck, m. (1) Suzetta Marie Sturgiss (2) Mandy Elaine Morgan (3) Melissa Ann Hutton

  6. Alan Scott Keck, m. (1) Jill Rolph, (2) Darlene Rogers (3) Shellie Phernetton

  7. Merrill Jay Keck, b. 14 April, 1964 in Burien, King, WA; d. 25 November, 1995 in Chandler, Maricopa, AZ; m. Becky sue Larsen, 18 April, 1986 in Salt Lake City, UT

  8. Lauren Blair Keck, m. Kimberley Anne Beydler
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