OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 145 



A BELOVED TEUTON 



54. One of the rare souls found among the commission men 

 during the early days of the development of the commission 

 business at the Yards was Louis KEEFER. He was born July 1, 

 1844, in Mannheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and came to 

 America as a boy of fourteen. His only education was received 

 in the German schools as almost upon his arrival in Pennsyl- 

 vania, he began trading, first from a pack on his back and later 

 in livestock. His original location was in Allegheny, but in 

 1863 he proceeded to Pittsburg, and began buying stock 

 throughout eastern Ohio to ship to the Pittsburg market. In 

 1873 he came west to Chicago, and entered into partnership 

 with LEVI B. DOUD in the commission firm of DOUD & KEEFER. 

 Shipment of live cattle and sheep to England was coming intOi 

 its own at that time, an4 the young firm became one of the 

 largest exporters. Their various interests grew so that in the 

 early nineties they were buying more cattle than any single 

 packer operating on the Chicago market. MR. KEEFER became 

 a large farm owner in his later years, having one holding at 

 Oregon, 111., and another in Mason Co., 111., along the Sanga- 

 mon river. He fed cattle extensively at various distilleries, 

 particularly at Pekin and Peoria, handling as many as 10,000 

 to 12,000 head a year. He married in 1869 and was the father 

 of nine children, seven of whom are living. He was succeeded 

 in his business by his sons, EDWARD T. KEEFER and ARTHUR 

 KEEFER. MR. Louis KEEFER died Aug. 19, 1916. 



He was a kindly man of the quiet affectionate disposition that 

 loved everyone and instinctively forced everyone to love him. 



