HARRY KELLER
Harry
Keller, editor and publisher of the Russell Union and honored
in 1913 with the presidency of the Southern Iowa Editorial
Association, a position indicative of his high standing among
his professional brethren, was born in Camp township, Polk
county, Iowa, February 29, 1884, a son of Mahlon and Susan
(Newell) Keller, the former born near Galesburg, Illinois, and
the latter in Coshocton, Ohio.
Both came to Iowa in early life, settling with their
respective families in Polk county. Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Keller had six
children: Mrs.
George Lewis of Des Moines; Mrs. Charles Wilson, of
Leavenworth, Kansas, whose husband is a soldier in the United
States regular army; Mrs. Nancy Lemon, of Milford, Nebraska;
Harry, of this review; J. F., who acts as foreman for the
Swift plant at Des Moines; and Mrs. J. D. Lynch, of
Marshalltown, Iowa.
It
was in Polk county that Harry Keller was born and reared,
entering school at the usual age and passing through
consecutive grades until he reached the high school. His youthful
experiences were those which usually come to the farm lad, for
he was reared to agricultural pursuits. When but eleven
years of age he started in the printing business, in which
connection he gradually worked his way upward, mastering the
details of the business in its various phases. In February, 1906,
he purchased the Lovilia Tribune, but the office was destroyed
by fire in December of the same year and on the 1st
of January, 1907, he purchased the Russell Union, which he has
since continued to publish.
This paper was established in July, 1897, and now has a
good circulation and a liberal advertising patronage. The office is well
equipped and the Union is an attractive, readable sheet,
devoted to local interests as well as to the discussion of
subjects of national importance. In addition to the printing plant in
Russell, Mr. Keller owns a residence in the town and
unimproved property, while his wife is the owner of a house
and a half acre of land in Russell.
It
was in Runnells, Iowa, in 1906, that Mr. Keller married Miss
Lillian McAdoo, who was born at Pella, Marion county, Iowa,
February 8, 1889, and was educated in the public schools and
in Central College of Pella.
Her father, S. C. McAdoo, was born in Tennessee and
died at Runnells, August 1, 1906. He was a second cousin of Secretary of
the Treasury McAdoo. Her
mother, Mrs. Isabelle (Sipma) McAdoo, was born in Friesland,
Holland, and is now residing in Runnells. Mr. and Mrs. Keller
have a daughter, Isabel Gretchen, born at Russell, November
14, 1911.
Mrs.
Keller is a member of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Keller
holds membership with several fraternal organizations,
including the Knights of Pythias lodge at Chariton, the Odd
Fellows lodge at Russell, the Masonic lodge at Runnells and
the Order of the Eastern Star at Lovilia. His political
support has always been given to the republican party, which
finds in him a stalwart advocate, and in 1910 and again in
1912 he attended the state convention as a delegate. He was city clerk
at Runnells in 1905 and 1906 and on the 1st of
April, 1912, he became mayor of Russell, which position he has
since acceptably filled.
He stands fearlessly as a champion of all that he
believes to be for the welfare of the community, state or
nation and he issues his paper in support of the principles in
which he believes.