The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 786 JOHN M. KEENE. John M. Keene is nearing the eightieth milestone on life's journey. He is an honored veteran of the Civil war and he is still interested in agricultural and horticultural pursuits in Yakima county. He was born in Livermore county, Maine, November 27, 1839, a son of Appolos and Abigail (McClench) Keene, both of whom passed away in the Pine Tree state, where they were farming people. John M. Keene acquired a public school education and was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He carried on farming in Maine until 1873, and then removed westward to Washington county, Minnesota, where he resided for almost a decade. He left that state, however, in 1882 and removed to Steele county, North Dakota, where he carried on farming for twenty-four years or until 1906, when he came to Yakima county and purchased a farm on the lower Naches. Three years later he sold that property and bought thirty acres nearby and also a twenty-acre tract adjoining. He has sixteen acres planted to orchards, while the remainder of his farm is devoted to the cultivation of cereals or is used for pasture. He has a well improved property and the careful supervision which has always been given to the cultivation and development of the place has made it a productive and valuable property. He is likewise still the owner of the North Dakota farm. In 1869 Mr. Keene was united in marriage to Miss Lena Fairbanks, a native of Maine, who passed away in 1904. On the 23d of September, 1907, Mr. Keene was again married, his second union being with Alice Lyons, who was born at Red Bud, Illinois, a daughter of Richard and Mary Welch but adopted by Thomas and Belinda Lyons, whose name she took. The children of Mr. Keens are as follows: Leslie E., who died in infancy; Edward O., who became a rancher of Benton county; Lewis. also engaged in ranching in Benton county; Rena, the wife of Manford McLaughlin, who follows ranching in Yakima county; and also a daughter of the second marriage, Ruth, who is ten years of age. Mr. Keene belongs to the Masonic lodge at Hope, North Dakota, of which he is a charter member. His Civil war record is an interesting one. He enlisted in 1862 as a member of Company C, Sixteenth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of hostilities, becoming a corporal. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg and after being incarcerated for a month was exchanged. He participated in various hotly contested engagements, including the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He has two brothers, Lyman M. and Walter F., who likewise served in the war and they, too, are still living. They are probably the only three brothers in the United States who were Civil war veterans who yet survive. In all matters of citizenship Mfr. Keene has been as true and loyal to his country and her best interests as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.