BIOGRAPHY - DANIEL KEWLEY
Daniel Kewley is a retired farmer who yet has good income property in the farm upon which he resided for so many years, giving his time and energies to its cultivation and development. He was born on the Isle of Man, December 7, 1865, his parents being Daniel and Ellen (Clay) Kewley, who were also natives of that isle. The father was a miner in the old country and ere his emigration to the new world as a permanent resident, he made two or three trips to the United States and also one to Australia. After taking up his abode in this country his life was given to farming and though he started out empty-handed, he accumulated a fine estate and was for a long period numbered among the substantial residents of Ford county. He had two hundred and twenty acres of rich and valuable laud in the home place and a tract of four hundred and sixty acres elsewhere in the county. While on a trip to California for his health in 1903, he passed away at the age of sixty-eight years. In his political views he was ever a stalwart republican and in religious faith was a Methodist. Since his death his widow has continued to make her home in California. In their family were four children: Daniel, of this review; James, who is cashier in the bank at Onarga, Illinois; Anna, the wife of F. W. Willet, a jeweler of Watsonville, California; and Lena May, who is living with her mother on the Pacific coast.
Daniel Kewley was only about a year and a half old when brought by his parents to Illinois, the family home being established in ]Mona township. Ford county. In 1874 they removed to Brenton township. Daniel Kewley residing there and in Pella township from that time to the present. He was reared to the occupation of farming, early receiving practical training in the best methods of tilling the soil and converting the fields into a productive tract of land, bringing forth rich harvests. As he started out in life for himself his previous experience well qualified him for the work which he undertook, and as the yeai*s passed he prospered, transforming his farm into one of the valuable properties of the county. He continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits until December, 1906, when he removed to Piper City, where he erected and now o('cui)ies a beautiful and commodious residence, modern in every respect, it being one of the best homes of Piper City. Mr. Kewley is now giving his supervision to his real-estate interests, and to the enjoyment of such pleasures of life as were denied him when his farming interests made heavy claims upon his time and energies. His excellent farm property comprises three hundred and twenty acres of land situated on sections 15 and 16, Brenton township. It is well improved with substantial buildings, and everything about the place indicates his careful supervision and the practical methods which he brought to bear in carrying on his farm work. He also operated his father's farm — a tract of five hundred and forty acres — and was very successful in his labors as an agriculturist. What he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, and in all things was eminently practical. Besides his property in this state, he owns a half section of land in South Dakota.
In 1888 Mr. Kewley was united in marriage to Miss Cora A. Munson, a native of this county, and a daughter of Charles and Iowa (Jennings) Munson. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kewley have been born two children, Bertha and Helen. The family is prominent socially, the members of the household occupying an enviable position in the social circles in which they move, while the hospitality of the best homes of this part of Ford county is freely accorded them. Mr. Kewley is a republican with independent tendencies, usually, however, voting for the men and measures of the party. He has served as school director and has recently been elected assessor. His religious faith connects him with the Presbyterian church. Never heedlessly passing by the opportunities of the business world, he has through the utilization of the advantages that have come to him, steadily advanced from a humble position to one of affluence.
Extracted 16 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 475-477.
