Thomas J. Keen
Thomas J. Keen Family History
Thomas Jefferson Keen (1830-1879) came to Houston County with his father, Joseph C. Keen (1784-1881), his stepmother Permelia Dailey Keen (d. 1895), Thomas Rutherford Dailey, and John Banks White (1820-1893) who was married to Thomas J.’s sister Harriet Keen (1828-1889). They formed a community called Daly’s, Texas. On June 29, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. After the war, he returned to Daly’s. On December 3, 1867, he was married to Caledonia Isabella Beazley Dailey (1838-1895), widow of Milton Dickerson Dailey (1829-1863). Caledonia was the mother of four Dailey children, Thomas H., Thursa Adelaide, Charles Beazley, and Emma Catherine. She and Thomas J. Keen had six children, Frances Irene (1869-1950), Jennie Murchison (1870-1956), Silas Edwin (1872-1944), Mary Etta (1874-1958), Florence Pamela (1876-1957) and Thomas Joseph (1878-c.1960). Frances (Fannie) I. married Dr. Lewis Meriwether (1850-1918) and they had four children who grew up in the Atlantic coast area after their father’s death. Jennie married Dr. Joseph Harper Paxton (1866-1954). Dr. Paxton practiced medicine in both Houston and Anderson Counties. Their children were Edwin Stratton (1894-1979), Joe Stokes (1896-1941), Lurlene (b. 1898), Eleanor (b. 1899), and Tom Keen (1904-1969). Silas Edwin married Juliet Blythe and they had no children. Mary Etta was married twice. First she married Joe Davis. Their only child was a daughter, Joe Vauda, who married but had no children. Florence Pamela was unmarried. Thomas (Jodie) married twice, but had no children. Descendants of Thomas J. Keen who are known in this area are Eleanor who is Mrs. Jess Slaughter who lives with her daughter and son-in-law Janice and David Hurst in Wheat Ridge, Colorado; and Lurlene who is Mrs. J.C. Shotwell and lives in Elkhart. Tom Keen Paxton married Chloe Yongue and she lives in San Angelo since his death. Eleanor’s son, Jess Slaughter, Jr. lives near Big Spring, Texas.