______    Family History   ______

 

 

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     The Keys-Lewis-Keyes family has a storied past with subject connections as far back as 17th century Spain, Italy, Germany, eastern Africa and eastern Europe. We also have connections to Canada, the Caribbean, Jamaica, and Veracruz, Mexico.

 

     The connection to this distant ancestry is with Fidelise Donato, wife of Frank Key, married in Opelousas, St Landry Parish, Louisiana on January 9, 1869. Fidelise is a granddaughter of Martin Donato, a well respected businessman, land owner, and entrepreneur who lived in Opelousas. Frank and Fidelise had nineteen children all of whom farmed lands in St Landry Parish and adjacent parishes.

 

     Frank’s younger brother Adolph, born in 1849, married Celina Hillman and had seven children. Adolph died in 1919 in Houston, Texas. Before moving to Texas, both families lived in southeast Louisiana and worked the cotton and sugarcane fields as slaves before the end of the civil war...then as sharecroppers during the reconstruction period.

 

     Note the different phonetic spelling of the family name which has changed throughout the centuries from Key to Keys to Keyes. Many of the family still spell their name as "Keys", while many others have adopted "Keyes" as the way to spell their name. There are many "Key" ancestors in the tree of whom we are attempting to contact and establish a heritage connection. 

 

     Our connection to the Lewis family is through Mary Parker Lewis, a local midwife, who married Adolphe Key, son of Frank and Fidelise, in January 1891. Mary and Adolphe had nine children (eight boys, one girl). The oldest child was a son named Frank and the youngest is another son named Essiah. The only daughter was named Emily. Others include my grandfather Abraham and great uncles Bailey, Joseph, Calton, Clinton, and Clemmon.