George Keats
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George Keats (28 February 1797 – 24 December 1841) was a British-American businessman and civic leader in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, as it emerged from a frontier
entrepôt An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into co ...
into a mercantile centre of the old northwest. He was also the younger brother of the Romantic poet
John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
. During the years from 1821 to 1841, Keats led a philosophical society, meant to overcome Louisville's raw culture, operating a literary salon in his living room which evolved into the
Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...
and then into the board of Louisville College, the precursor to the
University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
. In 1827, Keats was elected to the Ohio Bridge Commission, laying the foundation for the river's first crossing. The state government appointed him to the board of the Bank of Kentucky in 1832. He joined the boards of ten other organisations, including the
Kentucky Historical Society The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) was originally established in 1836 as a private organization. It is an agency of the Kentucky state government that records and preserves important historical documents, buildings, and artifacts of Kentucky's ...
and the Harlan Museum, which he headed. In 1841, he was elected to the
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
.


Early life

Keats, a younger brother of
John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
, was likely born in London's
Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...
district above the Swan and Hoop inn, owned by his grandfather John Jennings and managed by his father Thomas Keats. George had two other siblings: Thomas (1799–1818), and Frances Mary "Fanny" (1803–1889) who eventually married Spanish author Valentín Llanos Gutiérrez. Another brother was lost in infancy. By 1800 the family moved to Craven Street, a mile away in Hackney. When George was six, and his brother John eight, they were sent to John Clarke's liberal school in
Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...
. After visiting the boys, their father was killed in a late-evening riding accident 15 April 1804. Ten weeks later, the boys' mother Frances Jennings Keats married William Rawlings, abandoning her children, including younger siblings Tom and Fanny, to live with her parents, retired in Edmonton. George was the future poet's closest friend and helpmate through Clarke's School in Enfield. Grandfather Jennings died 8 March 1805. Their mother Frances Rawlings returned to her mother, destitute and disease-ridden, to die of consumption before 10 March 1810. Their grandmother Alice Whalley Jennings relinquished custody to
guardians Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Uni ...
, including Richard Abbey, in July 1810 and subsequently died before 19 December 1814. Abbey removed the boys from Clarke's school, apprenticing John Keats to Thomas Hammond, an Edmonton surgeon, and taking George Keats into his tea wholesaling business on Pancras Lane off London's Poultry street. George, thirteen, lived in a dormitory above Abbey's counting house, while sister Fanny stayed in the Abbeys' suburban home in Walthamstow. In the fall of 1815 John Keats moved to London, registering at Guy's Hospital for courses in dressing, a step towards licensure as a surgeon. George and John maintained an active social life, in part revolving around John's increasing interest in poetry and his involvement with the
Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centr ...
circle. During these years George was an important helpmate and influence on the poet, acting as an agent, dealing with John's publisher, and serving as a house manager for the three siblings, including their sickly brother Tom. By the end of 1816 and into 1817, George quit Abbey's employment, John abandoned medicine for poetry, the boys left a noisy and smoky Cheapside for Hampstead, and George became engaged to Georgiana Augusta Wylie (c. 1797 – 3 April 1879).


Migration to America

George and Georgiana were married 28 May 1818 at
St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...
. He claimed a portion of his inheritance, which he deemed inadequate to start a business in London, and laid plans to acquire farmland in southern Illinois, seeking an American fortune. In June 1818 the couple departed London for Liverpool, accompanied by John Keats and his friend Charles Brown, who were setting forth on a Scottish walking tour. George and Georgiana booked passage for Philadelphia on The Telegraph. The Keatses disembarked in late August 1818, journeying by wagon to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and by
keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...
down the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
to
Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as the ...
. After traveling to nearby
Edwards County, Illinois Edwards County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,721. Its county seat is Albion. History Edwards County was named for Ninian Edwards, the governor of the Illinois Territory, and, lat ...
, to see their prospective investment in
Morris Birkbeck Morris Birkbeck (January 23, 1764 – June 4, 1825) was an English agricultural innovator, author/publicist, anti-slavery campaigner and early 19th-century pioneer in southern Illinois, in the United States. With George Flower he founded the Engl ...
's community of Wanborough, George dropped the idea and instead spent the winter in
John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...
's home in Henderson. Keats's experience may have served as a model for
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' ''
Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...
'', who also decided he was unprepared for sod-busting. He invested many of his funds in an Audubon steamboat venture, The Henderson, which failed immediately. Audubon's brother-in-law, Thomas W. Bakewell, then persuaded the Keatses to move to
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, in early 1819, to work in his sawmill there.


Settling in Louisville

During 1819, Keats bought into the Bakewell & Prentice sawmill, invested in a second steamboat, and learned of the 1 December 1818 death of his brother Tom to consumption. Strapped for cash, he borrowed passage back to London to claim his share of Tom's estate and to settle accounts with John. The visit with John was strained. George met John's love
Fanny Brawne Frances "Fanny" Brawne Lindon (9 August 1800 – 4 December 1865) is best known as the fiancée and muse to English Romantic poet John Keats. As Fanny Brawne, she met Keats, who was her neighbour in Hampstead, at the beginning of ...
, without forming a positive impression. His and John's financial settlement left questions that plagued George for years thereafter. He left London 28 January 1820, and five days later John hemorrhaged blood, beginning his "posthumous year." As he descended toward death, John Keats removed to Rome in search of a better climate. Broke, he was dependent on gifts and loans from friends, who thought that George should be contributing more from America. John died 23 February 1821. George ultimately settled all John's debts, but Charles Brown maligned him for twenty years, suggesting that he had deprived the poet of necessary funds. During the 1820s, the Louisville & Portland Canal was completed, and as the city developed, so did the George Keats's sawmill venture. He expanded into property development, ultimately involving over thirty-five developments along Louisville's Main and Jefferson Streets. Always working with partners, including Daniel Smith and John J. Jacob,Crutcher, Lawrence M. ''George Keats of Kentucky: A Life''
pp. 224 ff.
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 2012. Accessed 16 October 2013.
Keats culminated his building activities with the Louisville Hotel, built in 1835. He built a large home on the
Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK *Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee * Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine compan ...
' lot off Walnut Street, dubbed the "Englishman's Palace". The Keatses arrived in America as nominal Anglicans, but later joined the nascent Unitarian church, hosting its young leader
James Freeman Clarke James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author. Biography Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
for a year in their household. At the same time Keats befriended the newspaper editor,
George Dennison Prentice George Dennison Prentice (December 18, 1802 – January 22, 1870) was an American newspaper editor, writer and poet who built the ''Louisville Journal'' into a major newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Ohio River Valley, in part by the vir ...
. Although the Keats circle of London friends were liberals who abhorred
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, George rented slaves for his mill, due to the lack of available white labour. He eventually owned three household slaves. His political views shifted towards Whiggery, especially anti-Jackson. In 1841, Keats completed his assimilation into Louisville's establishment by winning election to the City Council.


Death

Keats endorsed the notes of friends, including Thomas W. Bakewell, who had committed to build a large passenger steamboat. Caught up in the Panic of 1837, Bakewell defaulted, leaving Keats to reimburse the Portland Dry Dock Co. Keats liquidated his holdings to do so, but before he could restore his finances, he succumbed to a gastrointestinal ailment, dying on Christmas Eve 1841. His extensive library included many of
John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
's best letters, as well as Audubon's Ornithology, which would fetch over $1 million in contemporary dollars. George Keats' body was buried in Louisville's
Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buria ...
.


Family

The Keatses' eight children were: After George's death, Georgiana married John Jeffrey (2 June 1817 – 15 February 1881), 20 years younger than George, in 1843, moving with him to
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and to
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
, where she died. Emma Speed me
Oscar Wilde when he lectured in Louisville in 1882
and late

Isabel Keats died, a likely suicide, in the family home months after her mother's remarriage. The descendants of Georgiana, Emma, Ella, and Alice ultimately numbered over 500.


Legacy


Reputation

James Freeman Clarke James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author. Biography Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
contributed a memorial sketch of George Keats to ''
The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...
'', edited by
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
, in 1843. He wrote, in part, "He was one of the most intellectual men I ever knew. I never saw him when his mind was inactive. It was strange to find, in those days, on the banks of the Ohio, one who had successfully devoted himself to active pursuits, and yet retained so fine a sensibility… The love of his brother, which continued through his life to be among the deepest affections of his soul, was a pledge of their reunion again in another world." Clarke and others continued to defend George's character decades later. The City of Louisville honored his accomplishments by naming a residential street Keats Avenue.


Creating John Keats's legacy

After his death, the poet's friends, including Charles Brown, Leigh Hunt and
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
, discussed publication of a "Life and Letters" of John Keats, whereas his publisher John Taylor was reluctant to part with copyrights without a participation, which the others rejected. George Keats held John's best letters, and knowledge of the family story, while Brown owned a half-interest in a final Keats effort, a play. None could agree on who should prepare the legacy, until 1841 when George released his threatened injunction against Brown, who in turn handed his materials over to
Richard Monckton Milnes Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son of ...
, who never knew the poet. After George's death, John Jeffrey transcribed the poet's letters for Milnes, and in 1848 the latter published ''The Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats''. Milnes's volumes were sufficiently thorough to make up for George's inability to publish a volume of his own.


References


External links


Keats House, Hampstead: official website

Keats-Shelley Memorial House, Rome

The Keats Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keats, George 1797 births 1841 deaths Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky English emigrants to the United States American slave owners 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery