SONS OF DEWITT COLONY
TEXAS Osman Pshaw McKeehan Parents: Charles Houston & Nancy Wright McKeehan Born 25 Feb 1880, AndersonCo, TX
Living September 2003 Zena Corrine McKeehan The oldest children of the 12 children of O.P. and Mattie McKeehan's children who had families are known as the "The Dirty Dozen" who with their families have kept the family tradition alive through interaction and reunion.
O. P. McKeehan Family Tales
"If you're here, Uncle Charlie, give us a sign." Charles Houston McKeehan (1853-1930) was the father of O.P. McKeehan (O.P.'s grandparents were Charles Coffner and Sarah Maria Sylar McKeehan of Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas). O.P.'s first cousins, W.C. and Marjorie McKeehan (children of J.W. McKeehan), kept in touch over the years with Mattie Garrison McKeehan (O.P.'s widow) and her son J.B. McKeehan. On the basis of Mattie's recollections, they located the Altman Cemetery in rural ErathCo, TX where she informed them she thought that her father in-law, Charles Houston McKeehan, was buried. The cemetery is not easy to find today and then much more difficult. At that time it was unknown whether the burial site was marked or not. At that date, the cemetery was overgrown with Johnson grass and other bushes, after trekking through the tick- and chigger-infested site looking at every marker, most of which were unreadable fieldstones, dusk was approaching to cause W.C. and Marge to abandon their mission. Just before leaving Marge went to the middle of the cemetery and sadly cried out "Uncle Charlie, we can't find you, we are leaving, if you are out there, speak up now or give us a sign." To this day Marge (who was 88 in 2000) contends that if someone would take her out there, she could have located the exact place where Uncle Charlie lay sleeping in an unmarked site. She says just as she called out, a strong force caused her to gaze at a site between the entrance gate and a tree in the center of the cemetery, there she contended lay Uncle Charlie. In this oft told story, W.C. McKeehan adds what a pity that someone had not answered from the darkness, "Here I am, Marge." He would have liked to seen the look on sister Marge's face. In 1997, McKeehan descendants placed a permanent marker for Charles Houston and his wife Nancy Melvina Wright in the cemetery near the place that Aunt Marge contended that Uncle Charlie lay sleeping. Nancy (Nellie) Wright is believed to be buried in the Mesquite Cemetery in DallasCo, but to date a marker cannot be located. Gourmet Chefs, Refrigeration and Transportation Tycoons. At their Ranger home, oldest son Audrey Duval McKeehan reluctantly informed his Dad, O.P., nearing his 21st birthday that this was the last year the family could count on him to pick cotton with them, he needed to make his own way. Around that time he went to Houston to seek his fortune which began with selling newspapers on a downtown street corner. Like his father, A. D. was at one time a cook by trade, at least when he met his wife, Olga Faye Barker in 1930. Like many McKeehans he was often referred to as "Mac." He was called Curly for short when he was young, an irony since he did not have all that much hair. Oldest sons Audrey Duval (A.D.) and Chester Charles McKeehan were at one time in what Uncle Jack called the "Refrigeration and Transport" business in Houston, they delivered ice in the days before electric refrigerators. They allowed younger brother Jack to tag along once in while and loved to test just how large a block the young barebacked fellow could carry on his back. At one time later, Jack picked up the profession and while delivering ice to her home, met his future wife, Edna. Hoboing and a Mysterious Train Wreck. Melvin Marvin McKeehan was presumably killed in a train wreck between Ranger and Cisco in his teens. According to Uncle Tom, mother Mattie Garrison McKeehan always believed that her son survived the wreck in spring 1923, even left a light on at night for him in case he returned. Legend says they found only some personal belongings, a shoe and some tools, but not his body. Melvin was apparently a wanderer in his youth like many McKeehans and was "hoboing" the train. In the early 1940's Uncle Tom was in the service at San Antonio’s Randolph field and was sent to the infirmary where a sargent told him upon learning his name that a M. M. McKeehan had been in his section and was released just the day before. He was from Boise, Idaho. It is said that some attempts at that time and over the years were made to track that lead down through the Red Cross without success. Like many McKeehans, James B. and Chester Charles were real spirited rounders in the depression years, traveling together, riding the rails and hoboing before they settled down and turned to serving others. J.B. was a charmer that could get a meal out of the stingiest household in those days. Hoboes Chester, J.B. and a friend were once detained in East Texas, probably for vagrancy, they broke from the railroad bulls or officers, hopped a nearby fence and the friend who was lame got his long black coat hung up going over the fence. Bullets were flying like in a scene out of a wild west movie, but loyal friends Chester and J.B. did not abandon their friend, returned to tear him loose leaving coat torn to schreds on the fence. Double Cousins. Hettie Garrison, the wife of Claude Duval McKeehan, brother of O.P. McKeehan, was the sister of Mattie Laverne Garrison, wife of O.P. McKeehan. Like many McKeehans, Claude Duval McKeehan served the public as a law enforcement officer in Dallas. As a young man, James Bell McKeehan, was able to visit his McKeehan relatives in Dallas and took quite a fancy to his attractive and colorful double cousin, Juanita McKeehan (daughter of Claude and Hattie McKeehan). The couple were known to "really cut the rug" at local dances in the Dallas neighborhood. According to Uncle Jack, J.B. was an extremely handsome young man, tall and stout, sharp dresser and an overall "real cool guy" of the period. Chester and J.B. were also in the National Guard back in the late 20’s when they were called out to quell racial disturbances surrounding a rape of a white women by a black soldier from Camp Washington. Murder in the Family. In the 1950's, the family was shocked when a potential murder struck close to home and was a relative. Uncle Lon (Luther Leon, O.P. McKeehan's brother) was found dead on the porch of a house on the way to his home from a frequently visited club. This incident in 1954 brought the family together, several of whom were in law enforcement, but no progress toward solution of the crime ever occurred. Speculation was that he was probably attacked for money and liquor and left to die by someone who knew him or had followed him home from the club. A recent story (2005) surfaced that Uncle Lon was long known since a kid out in ErathCo to have a special taste for small wild birds like blackbirds and dove. But when Uncle Lon being around always correlated with the disappearance of his niece and nephews pet pigeons, it became apparent that the taste extended to domestic relatives of the wild birds instead and sure enough he was once caught red handed in the kitchen cooking up, yes, prime pigeon stew. McKeehan Coincidence in Arkansas. In the 1950's, Uncle Jack was traveling through Arkansas between Hot Springs and Fordyce. At a gas station, a lady noticed the McKeehan name and said she was a McKeehan before marriage. Across the road was the homestead and the lady's mother scrubbing down a barn or shed floor. She took them in to the house to chat and on the mantle was a picture of the wedding of a daughter and to Jack's surprise standing with the couple was his brother Rev. James Bell McKeehan who performed the wedding in Houston. Turns out the newly wed was Shirley Irene McKeehan Edds (Captain Cay McKeehan line). She and her fiance decided to tie the knot down in Houston and avoid the elaborate ceremony planned for them back home in Arkansas. Perusing the yellow pages for the McKeehan name in Houston, there was Rev. James B. McKeehan, who was ready and willing to unite the pair in holy matrimony. It was the picture from the event that was in that farm house across from the gas station where Jack gassed up (Malvern, AR). (Shirley says the Rev. James was amused by all this McKeehan name loyalty and their runaway story, didn't even chide them for not telling their parents---Could this have been because the Reverend was actually in sympathy remembering the adventurous days of his youth with brother Chester Charles before he dedicated himself to the work of the Lord and marrying people like Shirley?). Indian Blood. Like many McKeehan lines, the legend that Native American blood flows in their veins runs in the O.P. McKeehan family. Uncle Jack and others say they remember a picture of his grandpa's wife where she looked like the textbook picture of Pocahontas. Several children and grandchildren of O.P. have heard that they are descendants of an "Indian princess" and at least 1/8 Cherokee.Uncle Jack's Last Ride. On a wet Houston day in 1996, Jack Lindy McKeehan, was buried with veterans honors with his favorite railroad engineer’s cap and his service medals. Rev. J. B. McKeehan's son Richard described him as an unpretentious McKeehan, hating hypocrisy and politics. He told how Jack's middle name Lindy was given to him by his mother after Charles Lindbergh. His nephew, Robert, noted that his [Robert's] body was not made by Jack, but everything else he was was made by Uncle Jack. He related that Jack taught him the rules of life by analogies to poker games---look 'em in the eye, know when to hold, when to fold, look for marked cards and stacked decks. Jack always pointed out that born the 7th son and 11th child of O.P. and Mattie McKeehan, he was destined to be a gambler and a rounder. Everyone was sure that Jack and Edna were playing dominoes wherever they were. Uncle Jack was a railroad man like nephew Big Sid Stakes, a few days before his death, Big Sid had agreed to Jack's request to get permission for the old railroader, Uncle Jack, to take one last run with him up in the engine room before Big Sid retired. On 24 May 2002, Railroadman Sidney Eugene (Big Sid) Stakes (1936-2002) took his last big ride at his home in Houston, telling his railroad and many other stories right up to the day of his death, one favorite was the fear in the eyes of those young engineer trainees that they would become airborne as they lost sight of the tracks up in the engine room coming up on an especially sharp curve in FayetteCo. SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS |
[Photo: O.P.
McKeehan family home in Ranger, EastlandCo, TX ca. 1985]. According to daughter
Corinne, the O.P. McKeehan family moved to Houston from Ranger August 1935 where grown
children were living (Audrey Duval, Chester, Freeda, John Bell, Marie and Paul). The
other 6 children moved with them with their belongings in the back of a borrowed
truck. Mother Mattie had packed up fried chicken and other food for the long
trip, Corinne, like all the children, who was not happy about leaving their Ranger home,
threw chicken bones along the road to Houston so that they could find their way
back. Son Paul McKeehan came to Ranger with the truck borrowed from his employer and
drove the family to Houston. O.P. began working as a cook, a skill which he learned
in the oil fields of west central Texas. On arriving in Houston, the family first
stayed with son and wife, A.D. and Olga Faye McKeehan on Byrnes St. in the Heights.
With eight kids and four adults, it was crowded, but they accommodated somehow
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