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A brief summary of John Thomas Kneen and Family from the Isle of Man, to Illinois, to Iowa.

John T. Kneen was born on July 5, 1835 in the Isle of Man. Elizabeth Jane Craine was born in the Isle of Man on October 14, 1827. They were married on October 6, 1855 in Ballaugh, Isle of Man. My grandfather, John Thomas Kneen was born in Lezayre, Isle of Man on March 16, 1863. John and Elizabeth had 10 children some born in the Isle of Man and some were born in Illinois. John was a farm laborer in the Isle of Man.

John, Elizabeth and family left for the United States in 1868 and settled in Illinois, where they resided near Galva in Henry County Illinois and later lived in Ford County, Illinois. While in Illinois two of their daughters married.

In 1883 they moved to near Hartley in O'Brien County Iowa. There they had land north of Hartley, and sometime later they kept the land but moved into the town of Hartley.

John must have been pretty successful in Hartley. He had over 200 acres of land, plus he owned several lots in Hartley. He was also a town marshal, active in the Methodist church, and a respected member of the community. He was a town Marshall and a street commissioner in Hartley.

One of the more interesting Hartley newspaper articles I found was an article where the Foster family moved to the Schellhaus farm, which bordered the Kneen property. This Foster family could have been the Frank Foster family, after Frank died they left their property in Spring Township. This must have been when Tom Kneen first met Maude Foster.

The John T. Kneen and Elizabeth Craine Kneen Children

I have found a little about some of the children. In Elizabeth Craine's obituary it states that they had 10 children. I have names for 8 of them; a couple may have died very young.

Eliza Isabella Kneen. Born April 18, 1860 on the Isle of Man. She married Rufus H. McKane in Ford County Illinois on December 27, 1881. They later lived in Galva, Illinois and we know from the Hartley newspaper articles that she visited at least a couple of time in Hartley. John T. Kneen also went back at least one time to Galva to visit. Both her and her husband are buried in Galva Illinois.

Ann Jane Kneen. Born in Lezayre on the Isle of Man. I believe that she married Thomas Kelly and also lived in Galva, Illinois. She is also mentioned as visiting the family in Hartley. Her and her husband are both buried in Galva, Illinois.

Anna Dee Kneen. Born Dec 17, 1872. She never married and lived with her parents all of her life. She died when she was 39 years old March 16, 1901. She was a schoolteacher in the rural areas around Hartley Iowa. She was very active in the Hartley Methodist Church and is buried in the family plot just south of Hartley.

John Thomas Kneen. Born March 16, 1863 in Lezayre, Isle of Man. We know that he married Maude Foster. I believe that he was in to some land speculation and farming. Newspapers showed that he did some traveling looking at land in both Minnesota and South Dakota. He died in Austin Minnesota on August 6, 1942 and is buried in the family plot in Hartley Iowa.

Minnie Kneen. Born on August 20, 1864 in the Isle of Man. She never married and lived with her parents. She died on December 14, 1902 and is buried in the family plot in Hartley Iowa.

Sadie (Sarah) Kneen. Born on February 24, 1866 on the Isle of Man. She married Charles Smith on April 27, 1891 in Primghar, Iowa. They later lived in Mound City South Dakota which is near the North Dakota border in the central part of the state in Campbell County. They never had any children. The body was brought back to Hartley and buried in the family plot.

William Lewis Kneen. Born in Kempton, Illinois on September 20, 1870. When he was 21 he went to Mound City South Dakota. He married Edna Gosling and in 1896 they had a son, Harold J. Kneen. He purchased the shares of the Kneen farm from his brothers and sisters after John and Elizabeth's death. William died on August 6, 1950 in Hartley and is buried in the family plot in Hartley. His son, Harold married Helen McGillivary and they had one son Robert John Kneen. They lived in California. Harold died on May 27, 1939 and is also buried in the family plot in Hartley. Harold's son, Robert, died at the age of 49 in Los Angeles California. Harold's wife continued to own the Kneen farmland until her death in 1988.

Ed Kneen. Ed was probably born in Illinois. I don't have much information on him, but do know that he also had land near Mound City, South Dakota. Later I found him living in Burbank, South Dakota. I do not know if he married or not, and do not know what happened to him. I believe that Elizabeth Culver told me that he may have ended up in Colorado.

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 Copyright 2001 Terry Kneen, [email protected]

Last updated Jan.21, 2003