Aaron Keller
Aaron Keller
b. 7 Apr 1823;
Rush, Columbia, PA
d. 31 May 1895;
Sweet Valley, Ross, PA
Bronson Cemetery
Aaron Keller was my great-great grandfather
His Childhood
As far as anyone's been able to figure, Aaron was born in Rohrsburg, in Orange Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. Jacob Keller is thought to be his father, and Mary Carrick his mother. The difficulty in proving this comes with the fact that censuses before 1850 didn't include the names of family members, only "numbers" of age groups. If this was his family Aaron was the 5th son and the 8th of 11 children!
Growing up and leaving home
As a young man he learned the trade of shoemaking, living with his family. When about 25 years old he married Elizabeth Richart. Elizabeth, born May 3, 1825 was probably raised in Columbia County, in Briar Creek Township or near Bendertown in Fishing Creek Township, possibly both. Soon after their marriage they lived in Huntington Township, Luzerne County. Their first two children, William Haydon (b. December 9, 1849) and George (b. July 12, 1851), were born there. Aaron worked at his trade and apparently did well enough that he took on an apprentice.
In March, 1854 Aaron bought 12 acres in Ross Township, Luzerne County, PA, near Sweet Valley. Since 12 acres is a small area to support a family, Aaron probably continued working as a shoemaker. Less than 2 months after this deed was recorded, a third child, his first daughter Margaret Ellen, was born on 12 May 1854. Aaron purchased an adjacent 80 acre plot in March 1856. Now his land holdings totalled 92 acres, and preparing this land for farming was a huge undertaking. William was 6 years old and should have begun his schooling, but instead he was put to work helping his Dad open up for farming and providing income from the sale of logs to the numerous sawmills in Ross Township. This clearing took several years and William never did attend school.
The Family Grows
During this time, Elizabeth had three more sons: Joseph Vincent (b. 8 November 1856); Charles Wilson (b. 29 December 1858) and Justin Fuller (b. 18 April 1861). The family now had 6 healthy youngsters, the oldest not yet 12. George and Margaret Ellen were attending school, but William received no formal education. With the family growing, strong sons to help him, Aaron was ready for a more challenging piece of property. In February 1862 those 92 acres near Sweet Valley was deeded to Freeman Kindred.
Moving Along
Aaron then purchased 427 acres of uncleared land at the base of North Mountain in Mooretown, Ross Township, Luzerne County, Pa.; the deed was recorded on March 21, 1863. A town map issued in 1866 shows the location of both of Aaron’s homesteads in Ross Township. On March 17, 1863, a seventh child, their sixth son, Ira E. was born. A new home and a barn were built from the timber cut on their new property. The back-breaking toil of clearing an even larger acreage of land began, with the help of his 5 older sons.
See more on Aaron's land purchases.
