Joseph_Keeler
Joseph Keeler
Canadian politician
Joseph Keeler (May 24, 1824 – January 21, 1881) was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Northumberland East in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal-Conservative member from 1867 to 1874 and from 1879 to 1881.[1]
He was born in Cramahe Township, Upper Canada in 1814[1] and educated at Upper Canada College. Keeler was a grain and lumber merchant and also owned a wharf, warehouses and a flour mill at Colborne. He was also the owner of a schooner. He was postmaster there and also served as a major in the local militia.[2] Keeler operated a printing business which produced one of the first newspapers in the region, the Colborne Transcript. He helped establish a branch of the Bank of Toronto at Colborne and also helped promote the development of the Trent-Severn Waterway.[3]
On October 12, 1848,[4] he married Octavia Phillips.[2] Keeler died in office in Ottawa at the age of 56.[5]
His father, Joseph Abbott Keeler, was credited with being the founder of Colborne[3] and his grandfather, a United Empire Loyalist from Vermont also named Joseph Keeler, was one of the first settlers in the township.[2]