William Kehoe (August 21, 1842 – December 29, 1929) was an Irish businessman who emigrated to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He became a successful

iron founder An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foun ...

Life and career

Kehoe was born on August 21, 1842, in

Wexford, County Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

, Ireland, to Daniel Kehoe and Johanna Rath. He was one of seven children, including another son, Patrick, who was born in 1830. His family emigrated to the United States in 1851, arriving in Savannah, Georgia, on February 28, and settling in the Old Fort neighborhood, an Irish enclave in the city. His father died, at the age of 51 or 52, shortly after their arrival, during a

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Kehoe made bullets in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...

, for the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. After returning to Savannah, he learned the trade of an iron molder. He began working for Savannah Machine and Boiler Works. On November 26, 1868, seven months after the death of his mother, he married Savannah native Anne Flood, with whom he had ten children. A daughter, Annie, died in infancy in 1876. He named son Francis Parnell Kehoe after pro-tenant Irish National Land League leader John Howard Parnell. By 1873, a foundry now known as Phoenix Iron Works had been built at today's 660 East Broughton Street, in the Trustees' Garden, in Savannah. It was owned by James Monahan, who had left Savannah Machine and Boiler Works to start out on his own. He brought Kehoe and John Rourke with him. Four years later, Monahan sold the foundry to Thomas Mulligan and set up a new location, a few hundred feet away, called Phoenix Architectural Works. Kehoe was a foreman there by 1877. In 1879, Kehoe and Ellen Monahan, widow of James, were made co-owners of the business. Kehoe bought Monahan's share of the business the following year and renamed it Kehoe Iron Works. Around a decade later, the property was purchased by the Savannah Gas Company, and Kehoe moved to a new building on the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

. He passed the iron works business to his sons Simon and William. Kehoe was listed as its chairman in 1912. Over the next fifty years, Kehoe grew one of the best-equipped marine engineering stores on the South Atlantic coast. He was also a founder of the Chatham Savings and Loan Company, and was its president at the time of his death. He was also a director of the National Bank of Savannah and Savannah Electric and Power Company, a founder of the

Tybee Railroad The Tybee Railroad was a US railroad that operated from 1887 to 1933. At its peak the railroad carried a quarter million people a year. The railroad was instrumental in the development of Tybee Island, Georgia Tybee Island is a city and a barrie ...

and was a member of the

Tybee Island Tybee Island is a city and a barrier island located in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah, United States. Though the name "Tybee Island" is used for both the island and the city, geographically they are not identica ...

's town council for 25 years. He was on the Board of Commissioners of Chatham County between 1893 and 1898. Among his many benevolent and religious affiliations, he was a member of the

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and ta ...

. In 1885, Kehoe had built a home at 130 Habersham Street in Savannah's

Columbia Square CBS Columbia Square (also called Columbia Studio) was the home of CBS's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. Located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, the building housed the CBS Radio Network's West Coast facili ...

. Seven years later, after both his business and family expanded, he built another home, known as the

Kehoe House Kehoe House is a historic building in the American city of Savannah, Georgia. It is located in the northwestern civic block of Columbia Square and was built in 1892.Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011)
– KehoeHouse.com The latter property is now a 15-room inn, and is one of three "Historic Inns of Savannah," the other two being The Gastonian, at 220 East Gaston Street, and the Eliza Thompson House Bed and Breakfast, at 5 West Jones Street. The inn is owned by Savannah's HLC Hotels, Inc., which also owns the city's

Olde Harbour Inn Olde is the surname of: * Barney Olde (1882–1932), Australian politician * Erika Olde, Canadian film producer, financier and billionaire heiress * Hans Olde (1855–1917), German painter and art school administrator * Margareth Olde (born 2000), ...

, the Eliza Thompson House, the East Bay Inn and The Gastonian.Our Properties
- HLC Hotels Kehoe sold the family home after the death of his wife in 1920 and moved to East 36th Street.

Death

Kehoe died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on December 29, 1929, in Savannah. He was 87. He was one of the city's oldest residents at the time of his death,The Bulletin of The Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia, January 4, 1930 and was survived by seven of his children. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, of which he was a member. He is interred in Savannah's Catholic Cemetery, on Wheaton Street, with almost all of his family. (It is not known where infant Annie was buried, and Kehoe's son, Daniel, was interred in Savannah's

Greenwich Cemetery Greenwich Cemetery (also known as Shooters Hill Cemetery) is a cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. It is situated on the southwestern slopes of Shooter's Hill, on the western side of the A205 South Circular, Well Ha ...

upon his death in 1954.)

References

External links

William Kehoe of Savannah Dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kehoe, William 1842 births 1925 deaths Irish businesspeople People from Wexford, County Wexford People from Savannah, Georgia Irish emigrants to the United States