Summary Information
Keenan Family Papers
1862-1954
Mss 755; PH Mss 755
0.8 c.f. (1 archives box and 1 index card box) and photographs
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Harry A. Keenan (1877-1948), a prominent Stoughton, Wisconsin physician, and members of his family. Included are an obstetrical record containing medical information on births he attended (l905-l928); correspondence, diaries, and a scrapbook of his second wife, Martha Willson Keenan, concerning her life as a student perhaps at Stout Institute and as a teacher; correspondence of his son, Walter E. Keenan, concerning work as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps, his military service and imprisonment during World War II, and his tour of duty during the U.S. occupation of Japan; and miscellaneous papers of other members of the family. Also included is an unpublished biography of Dr. Keenan by Elizabeth Keenan Coombs. The photographs are pictures taken for the 1943 Look article about Keenan and his small-town medical practice.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00755 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
George Keenan (1818-1891?) and Matilda Fox Keenan, both originally from Ireland, settled in Fitchburg Township, Dane County, Wisconsin in 1843. George Keenan farmed and operated a boot and shoe store in Madison before buying an 800-acre farm in Dunn Township. He was a prominent and influential pioneer of that community, and he held several township offices. Among his six surviving children were George (1859-1915) and William (1852-1935). George earned his medical degree in 1883 and practiced in Stoughton briefly before moving to Madison in 1890. In 1893 he was appointed United States consul to Germany. He returned to Madison in 1899, remaining there until his death.
William Keenan became a friend and active political supporter of Robert M. La Follette, Sr. He married Alice Colladay, whose family also were prominent early Dunn Township residents. Their son, Harry A. Keenan (1877-1948) received his medical degree in 1903. He interned in Milwaukee and practiced briefly at Solon Springs, Wisconsin. Keenan married Pearl Netherwood (1879-1910), a certified nurse, in 1905. Her parents were C.W. Netherwood (1843-1938), and Lucy Gilbert Netherwood.
Harry A. Keenan and Pearl Keenan moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he worked as a ship's doctor on runs between Seattle and Nome, Alaska. They had two children, Elizabeth (1906-1985) and Walter (1910-1966). Pearl died from blood poisoning following the birth of her second child in 1910. Harry Keenan then returned to Edgerton, Wisconsin, where he practiced a year before moving to Stoughton. His second wife was Martha Willson (1888-1954), a graduate of Stout College and a kindergarten teacher, whom he married in 1913. Her parents were Dexter Willson and Martha (Myrtle?) Hall Eillson of Edgerton. The second Mrs. Keenan was active in Stoughton civic affairs.
Harry Keenan was a medical officer in the army during World War I. He was commissioned as a major in 1920 and a lieutenant colonel in the reserves in 1930. In addition to his medical practice, he served as alderman of Stoughton for two terms, president of the board of trustees for Lakeview Sanitarium, and president of the Dane County Medical Society. In 1943, at age 66, he was featured in a Look magazine article as an outstanding example of a doctor doing work on the home front during World War II. He died on July 7, 1948.
Walter E. Keenan served in the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1934 to 1937. During World War II he served in the army in Europe. Captured by the Germans, he spent some time in OFLAG 64, an officers' prison camp in Poland. From 1950 to 1952 he served in the occupation of Japan, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He married Bernice Emerson of Milwaukee. They had three children - Mardi, Judy, and William. Walter Keenan died at Whitefish Bay on June 19, 1966.
Elizabeth Keenan became a registered nurse before marrying Walter Coombs of Madison. She died in Edgerton on July 11, 1985, survived by two daughters, Lucy Coombs and Nancy Coombs Graham.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of fragmentary records of a prominent Wisconsin family that included many doctors and nurses. Although incomplete, they include interesting materials about several members of the family. The papers are arranged by name for the individuals about whom the documentation is most substantial, with the remaining family material grouped chronologically.
The material from Harry Keenan includes two 1898 school papers, one of which is a history of the Town of Dunn, bills for the construction of his Stoughton home, and an obstetrical record, 1905-1928. Although not consistently recorded, this ledger includes information on parentage, the mother's medical history, and circumstances of the delivery and any complications. Also included are copies of photographs documenting his practice that were taken by a Look magazine photographer in 1943 and an unpublished biography by Elizabeth Keenan Coombs.
The Walter E. Keenan files, which are the most substantial portion of the papers, contain letters to his family from Civilian Conservation Corps assignments (1934-1937) at Camp Steuben near Manistique, Michigan; Camp Point Lake near Iron River, Michigan; Camp Blue Lake near Minoqua, Wisconsin; Camp Smokie Valley near Glenview, Illinois; Camp Aledo near Aledo, Illinois; and Camp Galva near Galva, Illinois; and during service in Europe in World War II. Also included here are numerous letters to him while he was a prisoner which were returned to the family unopened, official correspondence concerning his imprisonment, several notes from him while he was a prisoner, and a folder of letters to his family from his tour of duty in post-war occupied Japan.
Materials relating to other family members include copies of notes on the 1862 death of George Colladay taken from the Civil War diaries of William Dawes, an 1864 diary containing only a few entries written by an unidentified resident of the Edgerton area, Pearl Netherwood's nursing certificate, and invitations from Governor and Mrs. La Follette and from President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Elizabeth Keenan Coombs, 1955-1975, and some portions lent for copying, 2000. Accession Number: M75-373, M2000-63
Processed by Linda Smith (Summer class student), 1988.
Contents List
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Mss 755
Box
1
Folder
1
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Coombs, E.K., “Doc Was My Father,” undated
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Fox Family genealogy, undated
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Harry A. Keenan
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Bills, house construction, 1913-1914
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Correspondence regarding Look article, 1943>
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Obstetrical record, 1905-1928
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PH Mss 755
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Photographs, circa 1943
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Mss 755
Box
1
Folder
6
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School Papers, 1898
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Martha Keenan
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Correspondence, 1909-1954
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Box
2
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Diaries, 1906, 1909, 1911
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Box
1
Folder
8-11
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Walter E. Keenan, Correspondence, 1927-1952, undated
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Pearl and Charles Netherwood, undated
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