Luther Riley Keefer

The son of Andrew and Catherine Brua Keefer of Littlestown, Adams County, Pa., Luther was born March 5, 1834; moved with parents first to Gettysburg at 10; Schuylkill Haven at 18, and later to Harrisburg.  He was educated in public schools, private school in Schuylkill Haven; worked as a foundry apprentice at the Colebrookdale Iron Works in Berks County; after a four-year apprenticeship, and with his brother Major John Brua Keefer, he operated an iron and brass foundry, supplying production for the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad, at Cressona, Schuylkill County.  He served as a local councilman, burgess, and school director.  His civilian occupation essential to the war effort, Luther volunteered as an enrolling officer for the U.S. Army during the Civil War.  He also served in a 60-day Emergency Militia company during the Gettysburg Campaign.  After the war, he was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Fourteenth District, PA and was a member of the Boards of Trustees of Gettysburg College and Kutztown Normal School (State College).  The Hon. Luther Riley Keefer married Anna E. Osler; he died in 1908, interred at Cressona Cemetery, Schuylkill County.