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William
F. Keeler
Acting Paymaster
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William
F. Keeler, Acting Paymaster of the USS Monitor
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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William
Keeler was born on June 9, 1821, in Utica, New York. He was
the oldest son of a successful businessman, Roswell Keeler,
and Mary Plant. In 1846, he married Anna Dutton and moved to
La Salle, Illinois.
On
December 17, 1861, at the age of 40, Keeler obtained a naval
appointment through Congressman Owen Lovejoy. He was given the
position of Acting Assistant Paymaster and Clerk and was sent
to New York. The exact date he was assigned to the Monitor
is not known, but it is believed to have been some time in January
1862. While serving as the paymaster aboard the Monitor,
Keeler sent many letters home to his wife. These letters reveal
details of life aboard the ironclad and Keeler's opinions of
the crew. He was stationed on the Monitor until the ship
sank on December 31, 1862. He was not transferred to another
ship immediately, but spent about a month settling the Monitor's
accounts. On February 7, 1863, Keeler was stationed on the Florida,
where he remained until the end of the war.
Keeler
then moved his family from Illinois to Mayport, Florida. Taking
on the assumed title of major, Keeler worked as a customs collector,
elections inspector, and railroad paymaster until his death.
Go to Main Category:
Life on the Monitor
Go to other documents in this category:
Daily Life of a Monitor Crewman -
George Geer
Photo Identification of the
Officers of the Monitor, July 1862
Biographies of the Crew of the Monitor
Photo Identification of the
Crew of the Monitor, July 1862
Photo Identification of the Monitor,
July 1862
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