Henry Keyes (January 3, 1810 – September 24, 1870) was a prominent politician and railroad executive from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives and

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

. He was also the Democratic nominee for governor three times (1856, 1857, 1858). In addition, Keyes served as president of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

Early life

Keyes was born in

Vershire, Vermont Vershire is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States, created under Vermont Charter of August 3, 1781. The population was 672 at the 2020 census. The name Vershire is a portmanteau of Vermont and New Hampshire. History The town and a v ...

on January 3, 1810, the son of Thomas and Margaretta (McArthur) Keyes. He was raised and educated in Vershire, and moved to Newbury at age 15 to work at the Reed & Gould store. In 1831, he left Reed & Gould to go into business with his brother Freeman. The brothers operated the F. and H. Keyes Store, which became the largest general store in the Connecticut River Valley.

Business and farming career

In addition to the store, Keyes was active in several other business ventures. In 1843, he was an original incorporator of the

Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. Keyes served as a director and succeeded

Erastus Fairbanks Erastus Fairbanks (October 28, 1792November 20, 1864) was an American manufacturer, Whig politician, a founder of the Republican Party, and the 21st and 26th governor of Vermont. Biography Fairbanks was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, to Ph ...

as president in 1854. Under Keyes's leadership, the railway completed a connection to the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

in 1870. Keyes's other business interests included ownership stakes in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's United States Hotel as well as mines, steamboats and stagecoaches. Keyes was also a large shareholder in the

. He was appointed the company's president in February 1869. He also owned and operated a farm that included land on both sides of the Connecticut River in Newbury and in

Haverhill, New Hampshire Haverhill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,585 at the 2020 census. Haverhill includes the villages of Woodsville, Pike, and North Haverhill, the historic town center at Haverhill Corner, and the dis ...

, where he raised

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

cattle and

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

sheep. Keyes also served as president of the Vermont State Agricultural Society. From 1853 to 1855, Keyes served as a trustee of Norwich University.

Political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Keys represented

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

in the

from 1847 to 1849. From 1855 to 1856, Keyes was Newbury's member of the Vermont House of Representatives. In 1856, Keyes was the Democratic nominee for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee

Ryland Fletcher Ryland Fletcher (February 18, 1799 – December 19, 1885) was an American farmer, politician, the 20th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1854 to 1856, and then was the 24th governor of Vermont from October 10, 1856, to October 10, 1858. Ear ...

. He ran again in 1857 and lost again to Fletcher, and was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee in 1858, losing to

Hiland Hall Hiland Hall (July 20, 1795 – December 18, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician who served as 25th governor of Vermont and a United States representative. Biography Hall was born in Bennington, Vermont. He attended the common schools, s ...

. Keyes was the chairman of the Vermont delegation to the

1860 Democratic National Convention The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The first convention, held from April 23 t ...

. The delegates met in Charleston, South Carolina in April and were unable to agree on a presidential nominee. The convention reconvened in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in June and nominated

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

Death

In mid-September 1870, Keyes became ill. He died in Newbury on September 24. Keyes was buried at Oxbow Cemetery in Newbury.

Family

In May 1838, Keyes married Sarah A. Pierce of Stanstead, Quebec. They had no children and she died in 1853. In May 1856, Keyes married Emma F. Pierce, a sister of his first wife. They were the parents of five children—Henry, Martha, Ezra, George, and Charles. Keyes's son,

Henry W. Keyes Henry Wilder Keyes (; May 23, 1863June 19, 1938) was an American Republican politician from Haverhill, New Hampshire. He served as the 56th governor of New Hampshire from 1917 to 1919 and as a United States Senator. Early life Keyes was born in ...

(1863–1938), became

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Verm ...

in 1917. In 1918, he was elected to the U.S. senator in 1919.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Henry 1810 births 1870 deaths People from Vershire, Vermont People from Newbury, Vermont Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Democratic Party Vermont state senators Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents 19th-century American politicians Burials in Vermont 19th-century American businesspeople