admin EGBERT KEATING. To that representative business man and citizen, Robert Keating, two provinces of enterprise have afforded the opportunities of success. In the earlier part of Mr. Keating’s long residence in Buffalo he won distinction and acquired wealth in manufactures. At the present time he devotes himself to his important banking interests.
Robert Keating is a native of Ireland. The family to which he belongs lived for generations in County Carlow, near Dublin, and later in the County of Wexford. Tradition says that the Keatings originally came to Ireland from France.
Robert Keating, the father of Robert Keating of Buffalo, was a resident of the County of Wexford, where he was well known as a land-owner and as the agent of a large estate. In 1827 he married Eleanor Langford, who, like her husband, was a member of the Church of England, and belonged to a very old Irish family.
Robert Keating, the subject of the present sketch, was born in County Wexford on the 30th of September, 1834. He was educated at public and private schools. In 1854 he came to America to visit his brother, George Keating, of Brooklyn, N. y. Mr. Keating liked this country so well that he decided to remain here. In less than a year after his arrival he came to Buffalo and entered the employ of Jewett & Root, stove manufacturers. With that firm he remained about eleven years. He rose to the positions of cashier and buyer, and in 1866 formed a partnership with Henry C. Jewett, son of S. S. Jewett, in the tannery business. The enterprise was very successful, having plants in Glean, N. Y., and in Port Allegany, Pa. With this industry Mr. Keating was connected until 1892, when the business was sold to the leather trust. Thereafter Mr. Keating retired from manufacturing, and has since devoted his time to banking, being identified with some of the most important financial institutions in Buffalo. Since 1866 he has served as a Director of the Third National Bank; is Secretary of the Standard Savings & Loan Association, and has been Vice President and trustee of the Buffalo Savings Bank since 1894.
He is a trustee of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum and for twenty-five years served as a trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital. He is a life member of the Young Men’s Association, and the Pine Arts Academy, and belongs to the Historical Society. He is President of the Board of Trustees of the Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a member of the board ever since its organization thirty-five years ago.
In 1858 Mr. Keating married Caroline W. Root, daughter of Francis H. Root. The only surviving child of the union is Robert Keating Root, who was adopted by Francis H. Root, who wished an heir to perpetuate the family name. Mrs. Keating died in 1866. In 1868 Mr. Keating married a second time, his wife being Anna J. Putnam, a daughter of the late Hon. James O. Putnam. The children of the marriage are: George P. Keating; Jeannette P. Keating, now Mrs. Roger C. Adams, and Harriett Keating.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I