Bayard T. Keller
Bayard T. Keller, of Bloomingburgh, stands among the first of his profession in ! Fayette County as an able and learned physician, and is an important figure in its political and social life. He was born in the town of Cumberland, Allegany County, Md., February 22, 1850. His father, D. T. Keller, was a native of Virginia, and soon after the birth of the son of whom we write, he returned to that State, and became one of the leading business men of Romney, Hampshire County, now a part of West Virginia, where he had a large foundry and machine shop. He married Mary J. Thistle, a native of Maryland, and a granddaughter of J. H. Bayard, an uncle of ex-Secretary of State Bayard, who was a member of Cleveland's cabinet.
Our subject is the eldest child in a family of four daughters and two sons, of whom five grew to maturity. He was a small child when his parents took up their residence in Romney, and he passed his boyhood amid its pleasant scenes until he was eighteen years old, receiving his first schooling at Romney, and completing his literary education at Alleghany Academy in his native town. At the age of nineteen, he entered the University of Maryland for the purpose of studying medicine, and was graduated from that institution in March, 1871, at the age of twenty-one, the youngest member of his class, in which he had attained high rank for excellence of scholarship.
Leaving the University with a fine equipment for the successful practice of medicine, and with every promise of a bright future in his chosen calling, our subject entered upon his professional career at Grantsville, Garrett County, Md., and was in active practice at that point some ten years. His next move was to Oakland, the county seat of that county, where he remained six years. In 1887, he came to Ohio, and has since made his home at Bloomingburgh. He has proved a valuable acquisition to its citizenship, thoroughly identifying himself with its best interests, and actively co-operating with his fellow-townsmen in all feasible schemes for its advancement. He is popular as a physician, has a fine practice, and, though he has lived here but a few years, his talents have won him due recognition from his medical brethren, who have elected him Vice-President of the Fayette County Medical Association, and he is also a member in high standing of the Ohio State Medical Association. His further social relations are with the American Legion of Honor. He has been appointed medical attendant for the Baltimore & Ohio Railway from Washington C. H. to Mt. Sterling. Ever since he was old enough to vote, the Doctor has been a power in politics wherever he has lived, and is influential in the councils of the Democratic party. He was Chairman of the Democratic Committee of Garrett County during his residence in Maryland, and since coming here he has been a member of the Fayette County Democratic Committee. He is distinguished as being the first of his party ever elected to any office in the village of Bloomingburgh as a member of its Council.
The marriage of Dr. Keller with Miss Lizzie Casteel, a native of Grantsville, Md., took place in that town, October 10, 1875. Mrs. Keller was born in June, 1854, and is a daughter of William Casteel, Commissioner of Garrett County, and one of the leading citizens. A felicitous union has brought to our subject and his wife eight children, as follows; Mary A., Alice M., Daniel C, Charles B. (deceased), Charles H., Bayard C, Nellie C. and William (deceased).
From PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF FAYETTE, PICKAWAY AND MADISON COUNTIES, OHIO - Chapman Bros. [Chicago, 1892]