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GEORGE B. KEELER
Vol. 3, p. 1315
Book has photo

One of the principal streets in Bartlesville is Keeler Avenue. It is
only one of the many memorials testifying to the prominent position
occupied by George B. Keeler in that section in the present State of
Oklahoma for more that forty years. Mr. Keeler was one of the early
white settlers in the Cherokee Nation, and his enterprise has been
identified with all the important developments in Washington County.
He is well known as a banker, oil man and real estate developer, and
is a Cherokee by adoption and marriage.

That life is not without credit which "pulls its own weight" But it
is given to some men not only to pay their own way through the world
but to serve as a conductive force, or as it were the primary impulse
to the tide which carries along with it many men to fortune and
prosperity. A little casual inquiry in the Bartlesville community
reveals the fact that George B. Keeler has been such a character. He
has not only been one of the real builders of Bartlesville, but it is
reliably stated that he has pulled the heaviest part of the load in
any association with others in business affairs or in carrying a
public movement to success.

His life has certainly had more than the usual eventfulness, and
throughout it has been characterized by high purpose and absolute
integrity. George B. Keeler was born in Hennepin, Putnam County,
Illinois, February 7, 1850, a son of Alson and Ann (MCNAMARA) Keeler.
His father was a merchant at the interesting old Town of Hennepin on
the Illinois River, but in 1856 when George was six years old he
moved to Wisconsin, spent about ten years in that state, three or
four of whic were devoted to farming, and then moved to Belvidere,
Illinois. The mother died at Belvidere when George B. Keeler was
eighteen years old. After that his father moved out to Iowa, and
later to Los Angeles, California, where he died about thirty years
ago. With exception of the brief period spent as a farmer in
Wisconsin he was a merchant practically all his life.

George B. Keeler was the second in a family of three sons and three
daughters. His first twenty years were spent at home, and his
education came from both country and town schools. In 1871 he arrived
at the Osage agency in Indian Territory as Clerk for L. P. Chouteau,
an Indian trader. When it is recalled that in 1871 the first railroad
was being constructed across the eastern part of what is now the
State of Oklahoma, it will be seen that Mr. Keeler made his entrance
at a time which really constitutes him a pioneer. In October, 1871,
he began working for trader Lewis P. CHOUTEAU, and the latter was
killed in the following December. Mr. Keeler then settled up the
traders' estate, and was next employed by DUNLAP & FLORA, Indian
traders. For parts of two years he was on the Western plains engaged
in buying buffalo hides and robes, and was also employed on the
reservation at Osage Agency.

In 1872 Mr. Keeler married Josie GILSTRAP, a member of the Cherokee
Nation. During a portion of the year 1874 he was clerk and collector
for Jacob H. BARTLES whose name is now honored in the City of
Bartlesville. During the spring of 1875 he was employed on a farm,
and then began handling cattle on the open range and continued as a
farmer and cattle man for himself until 1884. Next came a partnership
with William H. JOHNSTONE under the name Johnstone & Keeler. He
supplied many of the qualities which enabled this firm to make its
surprising and remarkable success. It built the first store on the
present site of the City of Bartlesville. This was a general
merchandise establishment, and not only sold goods of all classes but
did an extensive business in handling cattle. The partnership was one
of twelve years' duration, at the end of which time Mr. Keeler bought
out his associate's interest and continued as an individual merchant
until 1895.

For the past fifteen years or so Mr. Keeler's enterprise has been
reflected in a number of the larger and more conspicuous institutions
of Bartlesville and surrounding territory. In 1900 the First National
Bank of Bartlesville was organized with Mr. Keeler as a director and
vice president, positions which he has held continuously for fifteen
years. His activities have been directed to the oil industry since
1893, and he has developed many paying wells and has also handled
large leases and other business transactions in connection with the
industry. At different times he has been a interested principal in
several of the well known companies operating in this district. And
is now a director in the New York Oklahoma Oil Company. He is a
director in the Union Machine Company, having been with that concern
since its organization, and owns a large amount of local real estate.

A notable monument to his enterprise is the Sutton-Keeler Building,
a six-story re-enforced concrete structure completed in the spring of
1815. It was built and is owned by Mr. Keeler, A. D. MORTON, Dr. G.
W. SUTTON, of Cleveland, Oklahoma, and Dr. F.R. Sutton, of
Bartlesville. This is one of the handsomest buildings in Northern
Oklahoma and on the main floor the finest banking room in the state
is occupied by the First National Bank. Mr. Keeler is also a director
in the Bartlesville Water Works. He was vice president of the
Bartlesville Interurban Railroad when it was built and held that
position until the property was sold to New York capitalists. These
interests and connections need no further explanations to indicate
the many ways in which Mr. Keeler has come in close tough with the
life and up-building of his home locality.

In politics he has been a lifelong republican, is a thirty-second
degree Mason and also affiliates with the Woodmen of the World and
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. By his first marriage
his children are: William, of Bartlesville; Fred, of Bartlesville;
Lillie A., wife of Vilas HINKLE, of Bartlesville; Maude, of Paola,
Kansas; Frank, of Osage County. The mother of these children died in
1893, after a marriage companionship of over twenty years.

Early in 1895 Mr. Keeler married Josie Catherine CASS. Mrs. Keeler,
whose death at her home in Bartlesville in December, 1915, was an
occasion of widespread sorrow, had made her position and her
character count for good in every relation. She was fifty-eight years
of age when she died and was a native of Missouri, but has spent most
of her life in the Indian country. Her ancestors were among the first
settlers in the old Cherokee Nation, and her maternal grandfather
owned the first library and built the first house in the 'neutral
land" of Southern Kansas. By her first marriage Mrs. Keeler had two
children, Mrs. A. D. Morton, of Bartlesville; and Bruce A. Cass, of
Los Angeles, California. Mr Keeler was a woman of strong personality,
much business ability, and her sympathy and helpfulness were
unbounded, and it was those elements of her character which made her
so much beloved and her death so widely regretted. She was a charter
member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Bartlesville, was a
member of the Woodman Circle, the Rebekahs and the Eastern Star, and
the Needlecraft and Tuesday social clubs at Bartlesville. Only a few
weeks before her death she was elected first vice president of the
Old Settlers Reunion at Dewey.

Mr. Keeler has lived in Washington County practically all the time
since 1871. Every movement in its progress and up-building he has
either witnessed or has participated in. The only whites who lived
here when he came were those who had permits from the Cherokee Nation
to reside in the territory. As one of the men who married into the
tribe previous to 1874 he was adopted as a Cherokee citizen and
received his allotment of land from the United States and the chief
of the Cherokee Nation. From his own allotment he has platted three
additions to the City of Bartlesville, and about thirty acres of this
flourishing locality are located on land which was once owned by him.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Charmaine Keith, October 8, 1998.