Rebecca Katherine Keeney was born on 4 July 1821 in Fayette County, Indiana, United States as the eighth child of twelve born to John Keeney, Jr. (1772-1845) and Mary Ramsey Burkhalter (1783-1872).
Siblings
All children were born in Fayette County, Indiana with the exceptions of the the last three, twins Elias & Eli and Sarah.
Mary Eleanor Keeney was born on 6 April 1806. She married Alexander Bogart (c. 1784-1873) on 22 December 1822 in Ray County, Missouri. Mary died on 26 February 1874 in Ray County, Missouri, United States.
Thomas Keeney was born in September 1808. He married Psyche Allen (c. 1814-c. 1844) on 22 June 1829 in Ray County, Missouri. Thomas died of tuberculosis on 5 December 1842 Holt, Clay, Missouri, United States. His wife died soon after that and their orphaned children were taken to Oregon with the rest of the family on the Keeney Wagon Train in 1851.
Isley Keeney was born on 15 May 1811. Isley married Elizabeth Keeney (c. 1815- ), his cousin, and had two children before he died. His brothers Jonathan and Elias took them as part of the Keeney Wagon Train to Oregon with the family. He died of tuberculosis on 6 December 1842 in Holt, Clay, Missouri, United States.
Capt. Jonathan Keeney was born on 27 April 1813. He married Mary Catherine Shoemaker (1820-1896) in July 1837 Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana. They had 10 children. Jonathan died when he was traveling to the high desert and fell from his horse on 15 August 1878 Willow Creek, Baker, Oregon, United States. The fall caused his pistol to go off and shoot him in the thigh.
James Mordecai Keeney was born on 20 August 1816. He married 1) Catherine Stewart (1824-1845) on 17 March 1840 in Ray County, Missouri and 2) Nancy Keeney (1809-1862), daughter of his paternal uncle, Thomas Keeney (1780-1846). She was his first cousin. He married 3) Miranda Ruth Michael (1839-1919), widow of John Alexander Pearl (1833-1864) on 10 January 1878 in Linn County, Oregon. He had children with all three of his wives. James died on 27 April 1885 Brownsville, Linn, Oregon, United States.
Daughter Keeney was born and died in 1817 in Fayette County, Indiana.
Abraham Keeney was born on 11 December 1818. He married Elvira A. Chesney (c. 1820- ) in 1839. His children went to Oregon with the rest of the family on the Keeney Wagon Train. Abraham died of tuberculosis before 25 May 1843 in Holt County, Indiana, United States.
Andrew Jackson Keeney, also known as Jackson or Blackjack, was born on 7 October 1819. [1] Jackson married 1) Elizabeth Mulholland (1825-1843) on 18 November 1841 in Henry County, Missouri and 2) Hannah Daniels Walden (1830-1860), widow of John Wesley Cooper (1822-1848), on 3 June 1849 in Atchison County, Missouri and 3) Amanda Jane Morse (1827-1892), widow of Alfred A. Matthews (1823-1860), on 22 December 1861 in Lane County, Oregon. He had children with all three wives. Jackson died on 4 March 1898 Goshen, Lane, Oregon, United States. He arrived in Oregon in 1857.
Elias Keeney, twin of Eli, was born on 18 December 1828 in Ray County, Missouri, United States. He married 1) Margaret Jane Hyatt (1835-1859) on 26 November 1850 in Holt County, Missouri and 2) Lucinda Catherine VanWinkle (1840-1887) in 1860 in Linn County, Oregon and 3) Matilda Lee (1839-1907), the widow of Samuel Noffsinger (1822-1870), in 1887. He had children with his first two wives. Elias died on 20 December 1910 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States. He arrived in Oregon in September 1846.
Eli Keeney, twin of Elias, was born on 18 December 1828 in Ray County, Missouri, United States. He married Elizabeth G. Pierce (1832-1904) on 24 February 1848 in Holt County, Missouri. They had eight children. Eli died on 10 November 1878 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States. He arrived in Oregon on 10 September 1851 along with Elizabeth. Their small daughter Frances Ann Keeney was the only casualty on the 2000 mile trip. She almost made it, but died in Oregon just before their final destination.
Sarah Elizabeth Keeney was born in 1830 in Ray County, Missouri, United States. She married John Franklin Williams (1822-1896) on 1 December 1844 in Holt County, Missouri. Sarah died on 6 December 1847 in Holt County, Missouri, United States.
The Keeney Wagon Train via the Oregon Trail
After her first husband died, Rebecca joined the other members of her family in 1851 on the 6 month journey that was about 2000 miles long over very rough and unforgiving terrain for the move west to Oregon. She did this with 6 children. Her youngest George, was 2, the others were Mary 3, William 7, John 10 and Martha 12.
Marriages and Family
She married twice.
James William Landingham, known as William, (1814-before Oct 1850) on 24 November 1838 in Ray County, Missouri.
Daniel Bennett Putman (1810-1887) on 20 August 1851 in Oregon.
Children of the Landingham-Keeney Marriage
Martha Jane Landingham was born on 7 December 1839 in Missouri, USA. She married John R. Wilson (1832-1903) on 25 November 1855 at West Point, Linn, Oregon. Martha died on 26 August 1917 in Forest Grove, Washington, Oregon, USA.
John Calvin Landingham born on 28 November 1841 in Missouri, USA. He married Isyphean Sophia Lemaster (1849-1919) c. 1865 in Oregon. John died on 8 January 1915 in Sheridan, Yamhill, Oregon, USA.
Frances M. Landingham was born on 30 March 1843 in Missouri, USA. She died on 27 October 1849 in Missouri, USA.
William Thomas Landingham was born on 13 October 1844 in Indiana, USA. He married Martha Milner (1866-1947) c. 1882. William died on 22 February 1904 in Marion County, Oregon, USA.
James Landingham was born c. 1846 in Missouri, USA.
Mary Elizabeth Landingham was born on 11 March 1848 in Missouri, USA. She married 1) Christopher Ketchum (1845-before January 1878) on 28 June 1866 in Yamhill County, Oregon and 2) Thomas Jordan Jellison (1828-1910) on 1 January 1878.
George Madison Landingham born 13 June 1849 in Holt County, Missouri, USA. He married Mary Alice Buoy (1857-1904) on 4 October 1876 in Lane County, Oregon. George died on 13 April 1899 in Cloverdale, Tillamook, Oregon, USA.
Children of the Putman-Keeney Marriage
Sarah Isabel Putman born on 27 September 1852 in Amity, Yamhill, Oregon, USA. She married Levi C. Walker on 23 December 1875 in Oregon. Sarah died c. 9 November 1936 in Forest Grove, Washington, Oregon, USA.
Joseph Jackson Putman born on 4 June 1854 in Harrisburg, Linn, Oregon, USA. He married Flora L. Robison (1856-1934) on 16 March 1879 in Yamhill County, Oregon. Joseph died on 4 July 1945 in Jackson, Oregon, USA.
Robert Bennett Putman was born on 21 April 1856 in Linn County, Oregon, USA. He married Anna L. McKune on 7 March 1883 in Yamhill County, Oregon. Robert died on 17 November 1919 in Yakima, Yakima, Washington, USA.
Daniel Barnett Putman was born on 23 May 1858 in Yamhill, Yamhill, Oregon, USA. He married Catherine Lucinda Heater (1856-1929) on 1 January 1878 in Yamhill County, Oregon. Daniel died on 2 June 1929 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, USA.
Nancy Anna Putman was born on 18 October 1859 in Yamhill, Yamhill, Oregon, USA. She married Joseph J. Durant (1855- ) in c. 1882. Nancy died on 12 December 1931 in Long Branch, Pierce, Washington, USA.
Daughter Putman was born and died on 21 August 1861 in Polk County, Oregon, USA.
Frances Brown Putman was born on 24 August 1862 in Yamhill, Yamhill, Oregon, USA. She married Thomas Edgar Conner (1857-1920) on 22 October 1883 in Yamhill County, Oregon. Frances died on 14 February 1952 in Orange, Orange, California, USA.
Rebecca A. Putman was born on 1 August 1865 in Linn County, Oregon, USA. She married Elmer Henderson. Rebecca died on 10 October 1900 in Oregon, USA.
Death and Burial
Rebecca died on 23 September 1895 in Amity, Yamhill, Oregon, United States at the age of 74. She was buried in the Amity Cemetery, Amity, Yamhill, Oregon. Photo of her and of her gravestone are available. Birthdate on stone is in error. Find A Grave: Memorial #9777092
Sources
Keeney, Ralph Ray. Wagon Ruts West. Keeney, R.R., 1983. It is out of print, but the author had granted pieces of it for educational purposes. The entire article is available here.
Waibel, Mona Hyler. The Pioneer Keeney Family[1][2]
Missouri Marriages to 1850 for Rebecca Keeney and William Landingham.
1850 United States Federal Census on 12 October in District 38, Holt, Missouri. Page 84, lines 1-7. [3]
1860 United States Federal Census on 6 July in Amity, Yamhill, Oregon. [4]
1870 United States Federal Census on 20 August in Amity, Yamhill, Oregon. Page 90 & 91lines 32-40 & 1-3. [5]
1880 United States Federal Census on 8 June in Amity, Yamhill, Oregon. Page 11, lines 21-26. [6]
Early Oregonians Index for Rebecca with parents, birth and death dates and places, husbands with dates and places and cemetery.
Oregon, Biographical and Other Index Card File.
Find A Grave.
Footnotes
↑ 1822 is given on Find A Grave, but Ruts West and the Early Oregonian site give 1819.
↑ Waibel, MH: Waibel has some photos including one of his son, Captain Jonathan Keeney, grandson James Benton Keeney. Some of the information in this is not correct. She confuses relationships several times.
↑ 1850: Laningham (sic), Rebecca 26, head; Martha 11, daughter; John 8, son; Thomas 6, son; Mary 2, daughter; George 1, son; Johnathan Laningham (sic) 17, farmer.
↑ 1860: Putman, D.B. 50, farmer, head; Rebecca 36, wife; John 19, farm laborer, son; Thomas 15, son; James 13, son; Mary 12; George 11; Isabel 8; Joseph 6; Robert 4; Daniel 3; Nancy 9 months. John Putman 22 is next door.
↑ 1870: Putman, Daniel 60, farmer, head; Rebecca 48, wife; James 23, farm laborer; Isabel 17, Joseph 16; Robert 14; Daniel 12; Nancy 10; Frances 8; Rebecca 5; Landingham, William 25, farm laborer, George 21, farm laborer.
↑ Putman, Daniel B. 70, retired farmer, head; Rebecca 58, wife; Robert W. 24, harness dealer, son; Anna 20, daughter; Frances B. 17, daughter; Rebecca A. 14, daughter.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Rebecca by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Rebecca:
PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE the placement of the reference and footnote notations. 1/2 of the census data and other is lost if you do. No rule that I know of that says you have to have no space between "Sources" and References or can't have footnotes. And yes, I have read the "Help" page. Thank you.