Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/211

 KEITT

KELL

appointment of surveyor-general of customs for the southern district of North America, and ac- cordingly settled in Virginia. After the acces- sion of George I. to the throne of Englantl, Keith lost his position, and returned to England, where he received from the Penns, with the king's confirmation, the position of lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, and as such he arrived in Phil- adelphia in 1717. His predecessor, Governor Gookin, had been unpopular, and the contrast between the administration of the two governors soon made Governor Keith a popular favorite. Tiie governors of the colonies were paid by the people, and Sir William received a considerable salary and a fine mansion in Philadelphia. He also kept a country house in Horsham, Pa. He issued the first paper money made for the colonj"- and established and was president of the court of chancery, which was abolished in 1735. He was successful in his dealings with the Indians and for awhile liis administration was most success- ful. Upon the death of liis father, practically bankrupt, he was incumbered with a large debt. In order to re-establish himself financially he resorted to questionable means and after the death of William Penn in 1718, he proved unfaith- ful to the proprietary interest. Patrick Gordon was appointed in his stead in 1726. He obtained a seat in the assembly as a rej^resentative from Philadelphia county in the autumn of that year and again in 1727, and used all his influence " to divide the province, embarrass the governor, and distress the i^roprietaries." In 1738 he was com- pelled to flee to England to escape his creditors. He addressed to the king a paper entitled " A short discourse on the present state of the colo- nies in North America, with respect to the interest of Great Britain," proposing a certain policy as to the produce, commerce and con- sumption of the colonies and the establishment of a secretaryship of state for the colonies. Sub- secpiently he proposed other measures, including the taxation of the colonies by .stamp duties, as to which his advice was followed after his death. At one time he projected writing colonial histo- ries. He was married to Ann, widow of Robert Diggs. He is the author of: A History of the Colony of Virginia (1738), and a volume of essays (1740). He died in great poverty in the Old Bailey, London, England. Nov. 18, 1749.

KEITT, Laurence Massillon, representative, was burn in Orangeburg, 8.C., Oct. 4, 1824. He was graduated from South Carolina college in 1843, and was admitted to the bar in 184.'). He was a representative in the state legislature in 1848 and representative from the seventh South Carolina district in the 33d, 34tli. 3.~)th, 3*5tli con- gresses, 1803-60. He resigned in December. 18G0; was a delegate to the South Carolina convention

that adopted the ordinance of secession, and was one of the deputies who met in convention at Montgomerj-, Ala., in 1861, and organized the Con federate States government and its provisional congress. He was commissioned colonel of the 20th South Carolina volunteers in 1862. and jiar- ticipated in the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, the defence of the forts in Charleston harbor, S.C., and the battles of the Wilderness, receiving a mortal woiuid at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va.. June 3, 1864. He was sent home to Richmond. Va.. where he died. June 4. 1864.

KELL, John Mcintosh, naval oflicer. was Ijorn in Darien. (ia., .Ian. 26, 1823; son of Jolm and Margery (Baillie) Kell. and grandson of John Kell, a resident of Old Sunbury. Ga.. before the Revolution. His mother was a great-grand- daughter of J. M. Mcintosh, who came to Georgia with Gen- eral Oglethorpe, and settled at New In- verne.ss, afterward Darien. He was ap- pointed to the U.S. Naval academy from Georgia in 1841, and in 1846 was on the Pacific squadron un- der Commodore Sloat, being present at Montery, Cal., when that port was occu- pied by the U.S. naval force, and at Mount Airy when the U.S. flag was hoisted over the territory. He accompanied Com- modore Perry's expedition to Japan in 1853; in 18.")4 he was master on board the U.S. frigate Mississipjn sailing around the world, and in 1855 joined as a volunteer oflficer in the naval ex- pedition sent to obtain redress again.st Lopez, the president of Paraguay, and served on the Preble. He was commissioned lieutenant in 1856. and in 1860 was stationed at the U.S. nav}- yard at Pensacola. Georgia seceded and lie tendered his resignation to the U.S. government, Jan. 23, 1861, and accepted a commission from Governor Brown to command a steamer for the defence of the coast of the state. When Admiral Senimes had fitted out the Sitmter for service, the first cruiser employed in the Confederate States navy, lie accepted the i)osition of executive officer, joined Semnies at New Orleans, La., and made an eventful cruise of six months from July, 1861, to January, 1862, in which that vessel captured seventeen U.S. merchantmen. With Semmes he was transferred to the Alabama commissioned Aug. 24, 1862, which vessel in twenty-two months' service was credited with capturing over sixty