The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 662 A portrait of Ansel R. Keith and family appears in this publication. ANSEL R. KEITH. For more than a third of a century Ansel R. Keith has been identified with the northwest and now makes his home a mile north of Buena, where he is busily engaged in the further development and improvement of fifty-five acres planted to orchards. He was born in Winslow, Maine, July 4, 1855, a son of Richard and Jane (Hiscock) Keith, both of whom were natives of the Pine Tree state. The family was an old one in New England. The grandfather, Sydney Keith, resided in Massachusetts, whence he removed to Maine, where he followed the occupation of farming, which also became the life work of Richard Keith. For many years the latter resided in the east but eventually crossed the continent and lived retired in Washington throughout his remaining days. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served with the Third Maine Battery of Heavy Artillery, and his life, ever honorable and upright, always commended him to the confidence and good will of those who knew him. Ansel R. Keith acquired a public school education in Maine and when twenty-one years of age went to the Black Hills of South Dakota. He afterward took up his abode in Trempealeau county, Wisconsin, becoming a successful farmer there, and while devoting his attention to the work of the fields through the summer months he also taught school in the winter seasons. The year 1885 witnessed his removal to the northwest, at which time he became a resident of Umatilla county, Oregon, where he took up government land. In 1889 he came to this state, settling at Puyallup, where he purchased a fruit ranch upon which he resided until 1905. He then came to the Yakima valley and bought ten acres of land a mile north of Buena, while his sons became owners of an equal amount. In 1909 Mr. Keith purchased additional tract of thirty-five acres, so that they now have fifty-five acres in all. It was covered with sagebrush at the time of the purchase. Today it is all in orchards -- apples, pears and peaches, and Mr. Keith has won classification with the representative orchardists of his section of the state. He has built a good home upon the ranch and everything about the place is indicative of his progressive spirit and practical methods, which have produced splendid results. He annually makes large shipments of fruit and because of the size and excellent quality of his product he finds a very ready sale on the market. On the 2d of April, 1882, Mr. Keith was married to Miss Mary Warner, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Robert and Margaret Warner, who came from Ireland to the new world and took up their abode among the pioneer settlers of Wisconsin. The father followed fanning throughout his active business career and both he and his wife have now passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Keith have two sons: George W., at home; and Mark, who is with the United States army in France. Mr. Keith and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and are people of genuine worth, their many excellent traits of character having gained for them high regard among all who know them. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.