The village of McKeen was laid out in 1870 by Francis Jones, Volney Chapin and Fred Elmdorf on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter and the north part of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and part of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 27, township 12 and range 11 west. Booth and Dulaney established a large manufacturing establishment to work up the timber, and employed fifty hands. Chapin & Jones erected a large steam factory. They bought an extensive tract of land for the timber, and employed some hundred men or more. They made staves, sawed lumber, etc. John Foreman had a store, which he operated about two years, and then sold it to Jones & Chapin. He had a large stock of goods, valued at $20,000. The mill and factory brought many families to the village to get work in them. They ran the mill and factory about seven years, then sold it to a man named Clutter, who moved the machinery away. The place at the present time [in 1883] has three stores, one tile kin, a few shops and about one hundred inhabitants. 1 **To Be Continued**

Notes & Sources:
W. H. Perrin, History of Crawford and Clark Counties, O. L. Baskin & Co., 1883 Transcribed by L. K Ortman