For future research; see Jonathan Keeney-190 as probable brother as noted below.
Note: Greenbrier County was formed in 1778.[1][2]All of this family's birth records prior to 1778 should NOT list Greenbrier as POB. From 1769 thru 1778 it should most likely be Botecourt. From 1738 thru 1769 it should most likely be Augusta County.
Records from the compiled 1st (1790) census include the heads of families from Greenbrier 1783-1786 {Page109}. On that list are NO Keeney names. However there are:
See Thomas Keeney...son of Thomas B. Keeney and Mary Reeves....He married Sarah Sally Moore on April 29, 1820 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Children, John, Sarah, and William.
THOMAS KEENEY/MARY REAVES FROM WV TO COCKE CO TN TO WESTERN MISSOURI
THOMAS KEENEY was born in the 1750s in Greenbrier Co VA/WV. Son of JOHN KEENEY, the founder of Keeney's Fort on Muddy Creek (near Alderson) WV. Along with his brothers Jonathan, Joseph and James, Thomas received a 200 acre grant in NC/TN for service in the colonial militia in the frontier.
Greenbrier County was not founded in 1781 and the first years were filled with frequent run-ins with the law up to about 1789. On 20 Aug 1782 a warrant for Thomas was issued for breach of the peace, costing him 150 pounds: another charge on 22 August 1783 was dismissed. On 16 Sept 1783 he was held on a charge of assault and battery, followed by another such charge (dismissed) in 1784. On 20 November 1784 a dispute between him and the Rev John Alderson (a local minister who married most of the Keeney family) was settled by mutual agreement.
Thomas and four of his brothers were listed as head of house-hold among Greenbrier families 1783-86. In 1789, the year the US Constitution went onto effect, Thomas sold furniture to Zechariah Green. Greenbrier court minutes for 17 October 1789 show him living in Sumner County TN.
Thomas served frequently on the Jefferson Co. grand jury 1792-1802. He received 67 acres for $1,000 in Greene Co TN, which was later sold to Francis Carter 1814-16. While his brother James was killed in the War of 1812, brother Jonathan was establishing himself in Indiana, brother Joseph was starting an Anderson Co TN legacy lasting to this day; Thomas made plans to follow the trail West. On 20 September 1822 he had purchased land from Gabriel Pruitt in Saline Co MO. Eventually, he is listed in Lafayette County MO in 1827 and in the 1830 census. In these early census records, Thomas was listed with a wife, five daughters and two sons. Apparently some of the daughters had died in childhood or had remained in Tennessee, since a gleaning of all these Missouri county records identified only three children in the Jackson/Cass County Missouri area.
NOTES ON FAMILY OF THOMAS & MARY:
1. JOSEPH DAVID KEENEY b. 1802 (See Keeney Update newsletter June 2003, page 4 for more)
2. NANCY KEENEY b. 1782 (See Keeney Update newsletter June 2003, page 4 for more)
3. MICHAEL KEENY b.1789 see wikitree profile Keeney-447
Above text is a slighted edited version from Keeney Update newsletter June 2003, page 4.
Also see:
Keeney Update newsletter Summer 2002 page 1-2.
Keeney Update newsletter September 2004 page 1-2 (tidbit on page 3… Moses and David may have also been Thomas’ brothers).
1840 he lived in Lee, Iowa.[3]
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