Joseph Stauton Key, Sr.

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM:

http://www.pcahs.com/pcaolr/database/acdpcd-p/p92.htm#i5647

Joseph Stauton Key I1 (M)

b. 1764, d. 1829, #5651

    Joseph Stauton Key I was born in 1764 at Bedford County, VA. He was the son of John Key III and Agnes Witt. Joseph Stauton Key I married Judith Watts, daughter of Richard Watts and Elizabeth Townsend, on January 29, 1784 at Bedford County, VA. Joseph Stauton Key I was living in 1812 at Gap Creek (near the Morgan County line), Jasper County, GA. He died in 1829 at Jasper County, GA. [One source shows the year as 1826.].

He was the subject of the following sketch at Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida, page 481,:
"John C. Key, the subject of this sketch, comes of an old family. It is said that the first ancestor in this country came over with William Penn and settled in Phildelphia, and there is a family tradition that the first white male child born in the "city of brotherly love" was a Key. The Keys were numerous in Virginia and it was from there that Joseph Key, paternal grandfather of John C. Key, came. He was born in Bedford County, Virginia, and on reaching maturity moved to Georgia, settling in the year 1787 in Greene County, afterwards in 1810 moved to Jasper County and made his home on Gap Creek, where he owned a mill, and was a considerable planter in the early days. He had one daughter and seven sons. The sons were Tandy W., Joseph, Abraham, Thomas, Henry, Burwell P. and Caleb W. These became useful citizens, selecting different callings in life and locating at various points in middle Georgia. Caleb W. was a distinguished minister of the Methodist Church and father of the present Bishop Key."
Children of Joseph Stauton Key I and Judith Watts:
Tandy Watts Key+ b. September 8, 1786, d. July 7, 1840
Joseph Stauton Key II+ b. before 1793, d. July 1, 1861
Thomas J. Key+ b. June 6, 1793, d. March 5, 1857
Abraham Key b. circa 1795, d. 1825
Burrell Peebles Key+ b. August 25, 1798, d. August 30, 1872
Henry Watts Key+ b. circa 1801, d. before 1885
Joshua Key b. circa 1802, d. circa 1802
Reverend Caleb Witt Key+ b. January 9, 1803, d. January 22, 1881
Nancy Phillips Key b. March 7, 1807, d. before 1901
1. [One source has the name as Joseph C.W. Key.].

Died in 1826 or 1829

He was born in Bedford County, Virginia, and on reaching maturity moved to Georgia, settling in the year 1787 in Greene County, afterwards in 1810 moved to Jasper County and made his home on Gap Creek, where he owned a mill and was a considerable planter in the early days.

Children of John Key and Agnes Witt are:

i. William Key, born October 07, 1751 in Albemarle County, Virginia; married Rachel Hansbrough

June 15, 1775 in Amherst Co., Virginia; born 1760.

2 ii. George Key, born 1753 in Amherst Co., Virginia; died January 15, 1836 in Callaway Co., Missouri;

married Susannah "Suckey" Craighead August 22, 1785 in Bedford Co., Virginia.

iii. Joseph Staunton Key, born 1753 in Albemarle County, Virginia; died 1829 in Jasper Co., Georgia;

married Judith Watts January 29, 1784 in Bedford Co., Virginia; born in Amelia Co., Virginia; died

1829 in Jasper Co., Georgia.

iv. John Waller (Walter) Key, born May 11, 1754 in Albemarle County, Virginia; died 1827 in Franklin

Co., Georgia; married Virginia "Jennie" Wade 1773 in Bedford Co., Virginia; born in Virginia.

v. Barbary Key, born Abt. 1756 in Albemarle County, Virginia; married Joseph John French March

09, 1784 in Bedford Co., Virginia.

vi. Elizabeth Key, born 1756 in Albemarle County, Virginia; died 1843 in Georgia; married Benjamin

Watts November 18, 1784 in Bedford Co., Virginia.

vii. Judith Key, born Abt. 1758 in Albemarle County, Virginia; married Elijah Mitchell December 07,

1789 in Bedford Co., Virginia.

viii. Winney Caudel Key, born 1765 in Albemarle County, Virginia; died 1840 in Logan Co., WV;

married Thomas Burgess December 21, 1789 in Bedford Co., Virginia; born 1750 in Albemarle Co.,

VA; died 1840 in Logan Co., WV.

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http://genforum.com/key/messages/1239.html

I have these 2 biographies. One of John C. Key and one of Joseph S. Key. Thought this'd be a good place to put them. If anybody has anymore I'd love to see them.

      Taken from a book titled "Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida", page 481. The book can be found at the Main Library in Honolulu, HI. The biography was written abt. 1888.

"John C. Key, the subject of this sketch, comes of an old family. It is said that the first ancestor in this country came over with William Penn and settled in Phildelphia, and there is a family tradition that the first white male child born in the "city of brotherly love" was a Key. The Keys were numerous in Virginia and it was from there that Joseph Key, paternal grandfather of John C. Key, came. He was born in Bedford County, Virginia, and on reaching maturity moved to Georgia, settling in the year 1787 in Greene County, afterwards in 1810 moved to Jasper County and made his home on Gap Creek, where he owned a mill, and was a considerable planter in the early days. He had one daughter and seven sons. The sons were Tandy W., Joseph, Abraham, Thomas, Henry, Burwell P. and Caleb W. These became useful citizens, selecting different callings in life and locating at various points in middle Georgia. Caleb W. was a distinguished minister of the Methodist Church and father of the present Bishop Key.
Burwell P. Key was the father of John C. Key. He was born in Greene County, and was taken when a lad in his teens to Jasper County, where he was mainly reared and where he spent his life. He was a farmer, mechanic and mill owner, and was generally prosperous, and was greatly esteemed for his kindness of heart and benevolent disposition. He died in August, 1872. The mother of John C. Key was Temperance Brooks, daughter of Micajah Brooks, of Warren County, Georgia. He bore the distinction of having been a gallant soldier in the Revolution and an Indian fighter and pioneer and settler of Middle Georgia. He died at the great age of one hundred and two.
To Burwell P. and Temperance Key were born eleven children, namely : Amanda, Mary, John C., Thomas, Micajah, Jane Z., Judith W., Sarah, William, Caleb W. and Lafayette.
John C. Key was born in Jasper County, Georgia, February 25, 1826. He received only a common school education. He read law under Burney & Dyer, of Monticello, and was admitted in 1848. On account of a failure of health he was not permitted to begin practice until 1857. In 1859 he was elected to the State Legislature and served in that body until the opening of the war. He declined a re-election which was tendered him in 1861, and raised a company of volunteer soldiers and entered the Confederate service. His company was mustered into the Forty-fourth Georgia and ordered immediately to Virginia. He was subsequently elected major of his regiment and served through all the Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania campaigns up to the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded and compelled to retire for a time from the service, rejoining his command afterward, however, and going with it until the close in 1865.
On his return to Monticello he resumed the practice of law, and in 1867 formed a partnership with Joseph W. Preston which lasted for more then twenty years, being terminated in 1887 by Preston's appointment to an Indian agency on the Pacific coast.
In 1877 Major Key was sent by his county to the State legislature. He also represented his county in the State constitutional convention of 1877. In 1882-83 he was again sent to the legislature and during the session was active in the stock law and shaping the prohibition measures which passed into the statutes restricting the liquor traffic in Jasper County. Besides this service Major Key has been identified with the Macon and Covington Railroad from the inception, being one of the first projectors of the road in his county and aiding largely in securing capital from the north which built.
July 27, 1857, Major Key married Phoebe Allen, daughter of William Allen, of Jasper County. He has never had any children. Although in his sixty-second year he is yet active, being of a wiry, nervous temperament, and can accomplish as much, whether it involves physical or mental toil, as any young man half his age."
Taken from "The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 9" Page 537. The book can be found in Hamilton Library on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus.
"Key, Joseph Staunton, Methodist Episcopal bishop, was born at La Grange, Troup co., Ga., July 18, 1829, son of Caleb W. Key. According to history, a certain Sir Martin Key, chief of the grooms of Edward VI., was married to Catherine, sister of the ill fated Lady Jane Grey, and from them, it is believed, that the American Keys are descended. A Martin Key appeared in Virginia before 1645, and obtained grants of land in the eastern part of the colony. A hundred years later, a third Martin Key, a tobacco planter was living in Albemarle county, and still later entertained Bishop Asbury as a guest. It is probable that Joseph Key, grandfather of the bishop, was the son of this Martin Key, of Albemarle. He removed from Virginia to Green county, Georgia, in the early days of the nineteenth century, taking with him his son Caleb W., born on the Staunton river. At the time of his son's birth, Caleb W. Key was a prosperous brick mason, carrying on a trade that was highly respectable, A man of real gifts, good attainments, and delightful manners, he seemed fitted for some higher calling, and this he finally found in the ministry, becoming connected with the Georgia conference as an itinerant preacher. Joseph Staunton Key, improved his advantages at an early age, and entered Emory College where in his senior year(1847) he was converted, at a revival. On Jan. 15, 1849, he entered the Georgia conference and was sent as a missionary to the negroes; also to assist the pastor of the church of whites in the university town of Athens. He reminedin active pastoral work until elected bishop, and during much of that part of his life, was in charge of city churches, with no experience as an itinerant. He was a member of the first general conference after the civil war (1866); was one of the leaders of the forward movement, as it was regarded, made at that conference; and introduced the provision, now in the Discipline, in which regular church conferences were to be called. He was made presiding elder, in which capacity he earned a great reputation, having in his various districts nearly 7000 members and under his care twenty preachers. Such training prepared him for an office for which his tallents well fitted him, and in May. 1886, at Richmond he was advanced to the highest office in the church. Three years later he was removed to Texas, making his home in Sherman. In 1892 he visited China and Japan and made frequent visits to Mexico. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Georgia State University in 1869. Bishop Key was married first in 1851, to Susie Snider, and again in 1892 to Mrs. Lucy Kidd. A daughter and two sons, both of whom entered the ministry, were born to him; Rev. Howard Key, D. D., is the only one living."
Taken from "The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 9" Page 537. The book can be found in Hamilton Library on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus.
"Key, Joseph Staunton, Methodist Episcopal bishop, was born at La Grange, Troup co., Ga., July 18, 1829, son of Caleb W. Key. According to history, a certain Sir Martin Key, chief of the grooms of Edward VI., was married to Catherine, sister of the ill fated Lady Jane Grey, and from them, it is believed, that the American Keys are descended. A Martin Key appeared in Virginia before 1645, and obtained grants of land in the eastern part of the colony. A hundred years later, a third Martin Key, a tobacco planter was living in Albemarle county, and still later entertained Bishop Asbury as a guest. It is probable that Joseph Key, grandfather of the bishop, was the son of this Martin Key, of Albemarle. He removed from Virginia to Green county, Georgia, in the early days of the nineteenth century, taking with him his son Caleb W., born on the Staunton river. At the time of his son's birth, Caleb W. Key was a prosperous brick mason, carrying on a trade that was highly respectable, A man of real gifts, good attainments, and delightful manners, he seemed fitted for some higher calling, and this he finally found in the ministry, becoming connected with the Georgia conference as an itinerant preacher. Joseph Staunton Key, improved his advantages at an early age, and entered Emory College where in his senior year(1847) he was converted, at a revival. On Jan. 15, 1849, he entered the Georgia conference and was sent as a missionary to the negroes; also to assist the pastor of the church of whites in the university town of Athens. He reminedin active pastoral work until elected bishop, and during much of that part of his life, was in charge of city churches, with no experience as an itinerant. He was a member of the first general conference after the civil war (1866); was one of the leaders of the forward movement, as it was regarded, made at that conference; and introduced the provision, now in the Discipline, in which regular church conferences were to be called. He was made presiding elder, in which capacity he earned a great reputation, having in his various districts nearly 7000 members and under his care twenty preachers. Such training prepared him for an office for which his tallents well fitted him, and in May. 1886, at Richmond he was advanced to the highest office in the church. Three years later he was removed to Texas, making his home in Sherman. In 1892 he visited China and Japan and made frequent visits to Mexico. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Georgia State University in 1869. Bishop Key was married first in 1851, to Susie Snider, and again in 1892 to Mrs. Lucy Kidd. A daughter and two sons, both of whom entered the ministry, were born to him; Rev. Howard Key, D. D., is the only one living."

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