Lucy Hortense Paul Keegan

KEEGAN, LUCY HORTENCE PAUL (1861 ~ 1941). Lucy Hortense Paul Keegan, Confederate Widow, was born on August 27, 1861, in St. Joseph's Island, Aransas County, Texas to Captain Philip C. Paul of New York and Elizabeth Pointer of Ireland.

She grew up in Aransas County where her father owned a tavern, served on the grand jury for a few years, and was a stockfarmer. She had six known siblings: Mary, Laura, Florence, Phillip, Simon, Jerome and Leonora, all who were born in Texas.

When Keegan was 37, she married Daniel Keegan, a Fifer Musician for Company F of the 6th Louisiana Infantry, on April 21, 1890, in San Antonio, Bexar County. He was from Orleans Parish, Louisiana and was married to an Elizabeth Meighan and had three daughters. His first wife died in 1857, four years after giving birth to their third daughter. He apparently stayed in Orleans Parish before coming to Texas during the 1870s. He had partnered his own business with Peter McCann in Orleans Parish and then in Bexar County, where he owned his own saloon.

He apparently moved back to Louisiana, for he died in Orleans Parish on April 8, 1904, and there is no record of him and Lucy Keegan living together during their marriage of 14 years. There is no indication, either, of what she took on as an occupation after her husband's death and it is not known if she stayed in Orleans Parish or moved back to Texas immediately. However, by 1920, she was living in Bexar County, Texas and owned a goat ranch. By 1930, she took on the profession of her father and became a stockfarmer, this time in Bandera County.

Shortly thereafter, on August 5, 1932, unable to do the hard labor required to run a ranch, she entered the Confederate Women's Home in Travis County, Austin, Texas. Because her marriage to Daniel Keegan produced no children, she left all of her belongings to her niece, Mrs. C.O. Harper in San Antonio, Texas. She died on March 23, 1941, in the home at the age of 79 years and was interred at the Texas State Cemetery the next day.

Sources: Death Certificate, Confederate Home Roster, CSMR of Daniel Keegan, Booth's Index to Louisiana Confederate Soldiers, Confederate Widow Application 49682, 1851 New Orleans City Directory, 1861 New Orleans City Directory, 1904 Orleans Parish Death Index, www.rootsweb.com/~txrefugi/sallons_gambling_houses.htm, 1848 and 1850 Orleans Parish Birth Index, Orleans Parish Death Index Reel 1, 1877-1878 Bexar County City Directory, Aransas County, TX Cemeteries-Lamar County, Federal US Census Records various years, Jury List Fall 1868, Spring 1851, September 1865, and Spring 1865.