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Quite a bit of contradictory information on Michael and on his parents--some examples below. MUCH more work to be done here.
See Keeney Update newsletters:
June 2003, page 4.[1] Michael --son of Thomas & Mary Reaves.....m. Nancy Wiley...Thomas could be Keeney-924.
February 2006, page 1.[2] Peter Francis Michael Keeney son of John Jonathan Keeney Sr. m. Nancy Wiley See Peter Francis Michael Keeney-596 for follow-up. UPDATE May 2017: This has been effectively ruled-out as far as I am concerned.
Both of the census records found place Michael's age in the category of birth between 1790 and 1799. The cemetery record notes; age 60 @ 1849 death. Updates note 1789 & Feb 2, 1789. Family sheet notes Feb 19, 1789. I'm leaving it as 'uncertain' and 1789 above until I have something more substantial to document actual birth date. In this time frame, we can only say that Michael may have been born in what was to BECOME Cocke County Tennessee. This area was actually part of NORTH CAROLINA. North Carolina ceded this western area to the Federal Government in 1790 and Tennessee was not a state until 1796. Cocke County was not formed until 1797. See [Tennessee Formation Map] and [North Carolina Formation Map] for much more clarity.
The profile of Peter Francis Michael Keeney-596 has an un-sourced reference for marriage as 19 February 1810 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. This would make 'our' Nancy about 12 years old; so, this date doesn't seem reliable to me. Their eldest known child, Jacob, has an 1818 birth year. Marriage could be estimated at 1816-1817--Nancy would be in her late teens and this seems more likely.
The 1850 census seems to substantiate the burial record linked below.
See photo. I can't be 100% positive that this is 'our' Michael' Keeney (as of May 2017, I am near certain that this is correct). However, considering the associated surnames (Fox & Wiley) that show up on that single sheet, I think the odds are very good it is. The Wiley families nearby are likely Nancy's kin (possibly her mother & siblings). The Fox family appears to have moved west into Missouri at or about the same time that the Keeney family did.
The photo shows 6 sons born before 1830--all likely born in Tennessee. I've tagged the names of the known sons to the census page but it appears there was an additional (unknown as of May 2017) son. This son is listed on the family sheet as WILLIAM born between John & Thomas 1821-1823. Note that the Feb 2006 issue linked above says that Peter Francis Michael Keeney & Nancy Elizabeth Ann Wiley had NINE children--we have EIGHT currently listed. See the family sheet photo which notes that there were 8 sons/1 daughter. Even though they have different parents for Michael, they both have the same number of children. As of May 2017, I have not been able to locate any information for this 8th son/William. The rest of the children (older & younger) moved with their parents to Jackson County, Missouri. I have not been able to find another male Keeney of the appropriate age range connected to this family. If he did exist, I have to assume he did not survive to the 1840 Census.
That same family sheet and other sites give what I believe to be an incorrect timeline for the family's moves:
IF they were in Missouri by 1827--the 1830 census is absolutely incorrect. The biography page photo gives a timeline which is much more consistent with the 1830 census.
UPDATE Dec 2016: After much more investigation into the Keeney/Fox/Wiley families, I'm becoming more convinced that the 1830 census is correctly associated with 'our' groups and that they all moved (most likely together) from Cocke County TN into the same general counties in Missouri at the same time--that time is AFTER the June 1830 was taken!
UPDATE May 2017:After tracking Michael and Nancy's descendants, I'm convinced that the information noted in such places/sites as in the "BURIAL" linked below are incorrect. The division is pretty clear: Fountain was born in 1829 in Tennessee/the family was enumerated in Tennessee in 1830/David was born about 1832 in Missouri. This part of the Keeney family did NOT leave Tennessee for Missouri in 1827 with possibly Michael's parents and some of his siblings.
Note: there is also a Michael Keeney in Bear Creek Township, Montgomery, Missouri born 1800-1810 that has been ruled out as 'ours' but may be connected to the family further back--not researched as of May 2017.
See photo. Michael is reunited with his brother David and sister Nancy (Massey)--both of whom appear to have left Tennessee prior to 1830. They are all now in Jackson County and enumerated side by side. There is some confusion here with the number of sons listed for both Michael's and Nancy's family; Michael's =not enough/Nancy's=more than previously known.
More work will have to be done to better understand the two older women listed with the families. Suppositions are noted on the sheet.
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Categories: Jackson County, Missouri