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The Potter Enterprise page 1
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF POTTER COUNTY
By Mrs. Mary Welfling
JOHN KEATING
The greater part of American history had its origin in the Old World. It may not be known gen erally to what extent events in the history of France influenced the history of Potter County.
The man most intimately connected with the early history of
JOHN KEATING
Potter County was John Keating and because of this relationship a history of the Keating family Is appropriate.
The Keatings were an Irish family, originally of English descent, Henry Keating, the first of the name in the family record, lived within the so called English Pale in the 14th Century. His descendants were summoned to Parliament as Barons of the Realm. They suffered on account of their Catholic faith during Elizabeth's reign and again at the hands of Cromwell who deprived them of their possessions.
James Keating, a second son of the line of descent, lived in the 15th century. He was Grand Prior of the Order of Malta and one of the thirteen Brothers of St. George, an English Order of Chivalry, instituted in aid of the House of York during the War of the Roses. Geoffrey Keating lived in the 16th century and was the well known historian of Ireland. He was a brother of John Keating's great-great grandfather.
Byron Geoffrey Keating was a captain in the Irish Army at the Battle of Aughrim and the siege of Limerick in 1691. After the capitulation he was banished to France with his regiment which then took the name of the "Queen's Regiment" and formed part of the celebrated Irish Brigade. He served under Catinet in Italy and in the wars of Louis XIV. He returned to Ireland and married the daughter of Thadeus Quin, the progenitor of the lord of Adare, to whose title was afterward added that of Dunraven.
His son, Valentine Keating, emigrated to France in 1766 to escape persecution due to the oppressive
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF POTTER COUNTY
By Mrs. Mary Welfllng
The Potter Enterprise page 1
BY hamilton1948 • 02 Dec 2018
(Continued from Page 1)
laws of England against the Catholics. Upon his arrival at St. Germain letters patent of nobility were granted him by Louis XV In recognition of his rank in Ireland.
John Keating, a son of Valentine Keating, was born at Adare, near Limerick, Ireland, September 20, 1760, the tenth In the line of descent. He was one of six brothers, four of whom, including himself, entered the French service and were officers in the Regiment Walsh Serrant of the Irish Brigade.
The battalion to which John and two of his brothers belonged was sent to Martinique in the West Indies in 1780 where all were In active service. Thomas Keating, a brother of John Keating, rose to the rank of Major General and commanded and army corps in Belgium under the French Republic. He and his brother, William, were awarded the Cross of St. Louis for meritorious service. During the French Revolution Thomas was imprisoned by Robespierre and died from its effects.
In 1792 upon the recommendation of King Louis XVI, Thomas Keating was admitted, in company with other French officers, to the Order of Cincinnati, presumably on account of his participation in the campaign in America. The Order of Cincinnati is an Order composed of officers who fought under General Washington in the American Revolution and their descendants. John Keating was in temporary command of a French regiment sent to San Domingo to quell the negro uprising there under Toussant L'Ouverture. The French Revolution was now In progress, having begun on July 14th, 1789, when the Bastile was stormed by the revolutionists and its prisoners liberated. There was little prospect that the House of Bourbon would be restored to the rule of France.
Since John Keating belonged to the nobility, against whom the French populace directed their vengeance, he resigned his commission and came to America. He arrived In Philadelphia, then the nation's capital, with $280 in cash and two letters of Introduction. One was from the civil government of San Domingo to the French Consel at Philadelphia, the other from General Rochambeau, then the military governor of San Domingo, to General George Washington, President of the United States.
During this tragic period in the history of France many French noblemen and prominent citizens fled to America. Among them was Viscount Louis de Noallles, a member of an old military family. He had rendered military service to the cause of the colonists in the American Revolution. His mother had been lady-ln-waiting to Marie Antoinette and the Marquis de La fayette was his brother-in-law. Being forced to flee from France after the execution of Louis XVI (Janu ary 21, 1793), he came to America and began laying plans for the establishment of a colony of refuge for his persecuted countrymen.
The site selected by de Noallles' scouts in the fall of 1793 was on the Susquehanna River, at a spot called the "ox bow," sixty miles above Wilkes Barre. The settlement here was appropriately called Aslyum which, perhaps because of the French pronunciation, has developed into the more popular name of Azilum. The site may be located on the Susquehanna Trail, 109, between Towanda. and Wyalusing, near the "twin "cuts."
In this enterprise de Noaillats was assisted by Robert Morris, the financier of the American Revolution. He directed de Noaille to Matthias Hollenback who, ten years previous had established trading posts at Wilkes Barren and Teago (Athens) and was now widening the bridal path to Niagara Falls which every Frenchman felt he must visit and describe. Hollenback also assisted the colonists in obtaining titles from Connecticut claimants for the partly cleared land on the "ox bow", cashed their notes, and forwarded supplies. De Noaille contributed from his personal resources to finance the new colony and solicited new subscribers while engaged in business in Philadelphia.
Associated in this project was Antoine Omer Talon, also an exile. He was not a nobleman, but was a polished gentleman who had won fame as a Judge. He was also governor of the great Paris prison the Chatelet, from which position he resigned to organize a secret service to protect the royal family when the mob seized the Tuieries, Talon's written offer to get the King out of Paris and perhaps out of France was discovered behind a secret panel and he was forced Into hiding. He escaped from France by being secreted in a wine cask by LaPorte, another prominent Frenchman, and rolled aboard an Eaglish vessel In the harbor of Marseilles.
Talon became a manager and host of the new colony at a salary of three thousand dollars per year. He did not abandon his plans for the royal family and hoped to bring Marie Antoinette and her two sons to this Aslyum In the New World.
In the summer of 1794 five members of the de Noailles family died by the guillotine. They were his father, mother, wife, and her mother and grandmother. This news, together with that of the execution of Marie Antoinette on October 16. 1793 diminished his interest in Aslyum and cut off his personal funds, although he remained a share holder and manager until his death. The titles to the land on which the colony was founded were vested In his name and he was to have been president of the company.
DeNoaille became a partner of William Bingham and resided in Philadelphia near the Bingham mansion. He never returned to France but remained a naturalized United States citizen until his death on January 5, 1804, at Havannah, where as brigadier general he received a mortal wound while repelling Napoleon's attempt to re-establish a Frencn occupation.
Spud Growers
Allegany County to Hold Potato Show in Wellsville.
...
Deeds Recorded
Jan 20 - F. J. Bosek to R. E. Bosek. Galeton.
Jan 20 - A. W. McCoy to Hulda Cederwall. Austin.
Jan 20 - Hulda Cederwall to J. H. Jeffers, Austin.
Jan 20 - Ned Ball to Sylvia Sam- boria. Hebron.
Jan 20 - G. L. Madison to G. W. Madison, Pike.
Jan 20 - Henry Gross to L. J. Sykora, Galeton.
Jan 20 - F. Lampman to J. W. Mahaley, Tr., Hector.
Jan 20 - J. W. Mahaley, Tr., to F. Lampman, Hector.
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The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania
06 Feb 1947, Thu • Page 8
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF POTTER COUNTY
By Mrs. Mary Welfllng
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hamilton1948 Member Photo
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hamilton1948 • 02 Dec 2018
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The Potter Enterprise, Coudersport, Pennsylvania
06 Feb 1947, Thu • Page 1
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