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Wills & Probate |
Ben F. McKey
Ben F. McKey, the editor
of the Pioneer, at Lebanon, Boone county, Indiana,
was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, December 5, 1857,
and springs from an old family of Scotch-Irish extraction.
His great-grandfather, Benjamin McKey, was born in Ireland
in 1775, and married Polly Potter in eastern Tennessee. Here
his grandfather, Benjamin McKey, was born June 18, 1807. He
married Catharine, daughter of John Coon, in east Tennessee,
and died at Crawfordsville, Indiana, July 27, 1839.
Jefferson C. McKey, father of the subject of this sketch,
was a native of east Tennessee, born near Knoxville, and was
quite young when he came to Indiana and located in
Montgomery county, where he followed farming and also his
vocation as carpenter and builder. In 1856 he married, in
that county, Miss Sarah A. Sering, daughter of George A. and
Nancy Sering, the former of whom came from a family of
prominent farmers in Union county, but later became a
citizen of Boone county, where he passed the last years of
his life. Jefferson C. McKey is now a citizen of Boone, and
resides in Lebanon.
Ben F. McKey, in 1865,
came to Boone county with his father, who settled on a farm
near what is now the town of Advance. He attended the
district schools of the county and worked on the farm until
March, 1870, when the family moved to Lebanon where Ben. F.
attended the public schools for three years, and in 1873
entered the Pioneer office as an apprentice under Ben
A. Smith. He then went to Covington, Indiana, with Mr. Smith
and for two years worked on the People's Friend. In
1876, he returned to Lebanon, worked for some time on the
Democrat, a newspaper venture which found an early
grave, and then went with Mr. Smith to Laurel, Franklin
county, where he worked on the Review for a year. He
next came back to Lebanon and here attended the public
school under Prof. John W. Kise.
Mr. McKey then went to
work on the Patriot for John A. Abbott, until January
1, 1879, when he became foreman of the Lebanon Pioneer,
afterward, under Dr. T. H. Harrison, took the management of
the paper, became a local writer, and soon had thrust upon
him the entire responsibility of the establishment. In 1889
he leased the office from Dr. Harrison for a year and at the
end of that time purchased the plant and has since been
editor and proprietor. Mr. McKey began at the bottom of the
ladder; by thorough ability, foresight and good management
he has placed the Pioneer in its present prosperous
condition. He has recently sold an interest in the
Pioneer to his son, Claude D. McKey, and his son-in-law,
Norman O. Edwards.
The marriage of Mr. McKey
took place March 31, 1880, to Miss Jennie Dyson, of Lebanon,
who died April 28, 1902. On July 12, 1904, he married Miss
Fronia B. Shaw. Mr. McKey is a member of the Centenary
Methodist Episcopal church, and has for over thirty years or
more held an official position in that church. Fraternally
he is a Knight of Pythias, Red Man, Odd Fellow and a Mason.
Submitted by: Amy K.
Davis
Source: "History of
Boone County, Indiana," by Hon. L. M. Crist, 1914
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