Elias Keyes

{{Infobox officeholder

| name= Elias Keyes

| image=

| jr/sr=

| term_start=

| term_end=

| preceded=

| resting_place = Stockbridge's Maplewood Cemetery

| order1= Member of the
United States House of Representatives
from Vermont's 4th district

| term_start1= March 4, 1821

| term_end1= March 3, 1823

| predecessor1= William Strong

| successor1= Daniel Azro Ashley Buck

| office2= Member of the Vermont House of Representatives

| term2= 1793–1796
1798–1802
1818
1820
1823–1825

| birth_date= {{Birth date|1758|4|14|mf=y}}

| birth_place= Ashford, Connecticut Colony, British America

| death_date= {{Death date and age|1844|7|9|1758|4|14|mf=y}}

| death_place= Stockbridge, Vermont, U.S.

| state= Vermont

| spouse=

| children =

| profession= Politician, Judge

| religion=

| alma_mater=

| party = Democratic-Republican

}}

Elias Keyes (April 14, 1758{{spnd}}July 9, 1844) was an American politician and judge. He served one term as a U.S. Representative from Vermont from 1821 to 1823.

Biography

Keyes was born in Ashford in the Connecticut Colony. He attended the common schools and later read law.

= Revolutionary War =

Keyes enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and rose to the rank of sergeant major.{{cite book|title=Gazetteer and Business Directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84|year=1884|publisher=The Journal Office|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gazetteerandbus02chilgoog/page/n245 237]|url=https://archive.org/details/gazetteerandbus02chilgoog|quote=elias keyes Windsor County vermont.}}

In 1780 he moved to Barnard, Vermont. In 1785, he accepted an offer of 400 acres for whoever constructed the first gristmill and sawmill in Stockbridge, Vermont, and he was one of the town's first settlers.{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtgenweb/vtwindsor/Stockhistory.htm |title=About Stockbridge |publisher=Ancestry.com |accessdate=December 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911135607/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtgenweb/vtwindsor/Stockhistory.htm |archivedate=September 11, 2010 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windsor/stockbridge/index.htm|title=Stockbridge Vermont|publisher=Vermont County|accessdate=December 10, 2012|archive-date=November 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122063519/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windsor/stockbridge/index.htm|url-status=dead}}

= Political career =

Keyes served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1793 until 1796, 1798 until 1802, 1818, 1820 and 1823 until 1825.{{cite book|last=Vermont, Eliakim Persons Walton, Vermont. Conventions, Vermont. Council of Safety, Vermont. Governor, Vermont. Supreme Executive Council, Vermont. Board of War, 1779-1783|title=Records of the governor and Council of the state of Vermont|year=1876|publisher=Steam press of J. & J.M. Poland|pages=368|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLc3AQAAIAAJ&q=elias+keyes+Vermont+state+judge&pg=PA368}}

He was a member of the Governor's council from 1805 until 1813 and from 1815 until 1817.{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000160|title=Congressional Biography, Elias Keyes |publisher= Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate= December 10, 2012 }} In 1814 Keyes was a member of the Vermont state constitutional convention.{{cite book|title=Vermont: Records of the governor and Council of the state of Vermont|year=1876|publisher=J & J M Poland|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_f8UgAAAAMAAJ/page/n374 368]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_f8UgAAAAMAAJ|quote=elias keyes Vermont state judge.}} From 1803 until 1814 he served as assistant judge of the Windsor County, Vermont Court,{{cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windsor/stockbridge/index.htm|title=Stockbridge Vermont|publisher=Vermont County|accessdate=December 10, 2012|archive-date=November 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122063519/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/county/windsor/stockbridge/index.htm|url-status=dead}} and from 1815 until 1818 he served as judge of Windsor County.{{cite book|last=Vermont. General Assembly. House of Representatives|title=Journals of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont|year=1810|publisher=Vermont. General Assembly. House of Representatives|pages=30}}

Keyes was elected a Democratic-Republican to the Seventeenth United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1821 until March 3, 1823.{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/elias_keyes/406324|title = Rep. Elias Keyes| publisher= Govtrack.us|accessdate= December 10, 2012}}

= Later career =

Business reverses and debts after his term in Congress caused Keyes to move to Norfolk, New York. He later returned to Stockbridge and was able to restart his gristmill and sawmill.

= Death and burial =

He died in Stockbridge on July 9, 1844, and was interred in Stockbridge's Maplewood Cemetery.

References

External links

[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000160 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]
{{Find a Grave|7782218}}
[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/elias_keyes/406324 Govtrack.us]
[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/keyes.html The Political Graveyard]

{{US House succession box

| state=Vermont

| district=4

| before=District created

| after=Daniel Azro A. Buck

| years=March 4, 1821–March 3, 1823

}}

Category:1758 births

Category:1844 deaths

Category:People from Ashford, Connecticut

Category:Vermont state court judges

Category:Members of the Vermont House of Representatives