HON. JOHN KEENAN (deceased); born March 21, 1816, in King’s Co., Ireland; with two brothers and two sisters he came to America in 1838, locating near Lima, Ind.; in 1843, four of them, John, George, Catherine and Frances I., came to Dane Co. Mr. Keenan at once bought part of the present homestead, and did good work as a pioneer of the times, clearing and breaking; 80 acres were under cultivation, and a good log house built at the time of his marriage with Flora McKee in 1850; she was born in County Down, Ireland, whence her parents, David and Jane McKee, came to the United States in 1844; and from New York City to the town of Dunn, Dane Co., in 1848, when Madison was the village capital of a new State. Mr. and Mrs. Keenan began in the log house and made a cultivated homestead of the wild prairie around them; in 1864, the pioneer house was supplanted by a large and most pleasantly located farmhouse; Mr. Keenan died Dec. 18, 1870, leaving six children —John A., Robert M., Jennie I., Charles T., Agnes and George. Mr. K. was a regular attendant of the Presbyterian Church; was a Democrat, and represented his district in the Wisconsin Legislature; was also Chairman, etc., of his town for many years; no man ever filled these positions with more modesty and ability; his widow and children now enjoy a pleasant home, and splendid 568-acre farm earned by him.

History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1880, Page 1255