Freeman's Rag
  • Home
  • Short Stories
  • Historical Ruminations
  • The Cranky Man Philosophizes
  • About

Historical Ruminations

Savannah’s and Savannahians contributions to our country are often overlooked by us. Robin Williams, a professor and chair of the Architectural History Department at SCAD, says although Savannah is small it punches out of its weight class. He compared it to a welter weight who can punch and fight in the heavy weight division. The posts in this section will look at some of the ways that this is true.
Picture
Here is Michael Freeman's new book on Savannah. It tells a story not often told of the Creeks and the Native American Creeks who lived in Savannah during its founding. You might  even  say Tomochichi and Mary Musgrove were co-founders of Georgia. 

Man of Iron: William Kehoe

8/1/2017

0 Comments

 
PictureKehoe Iron Works Building

​It might come as a surprise to some but Savannah has a metal making history. Chatham Steel has a long history in steel and was/is the mainstay of one of Savannah’s celebrated families: the Tennabaums (not related to the Royal Tennabaums). But it is the Irish iron maker William Kehoe I want to talk about today.

Kehoe was born and raised in Wexford Ireland on Aug. 21, 1842, Ireland. Wexford was known for its part in the United Irish Rebellion of 1798. It was home to Esmonde Kyan a famed leader of this rebellion. He was baptized in a Catholic church where Father John Murphy worked a key martyr of the 1798 rebellion. The stories and the hopes of that rebellion were surely taught to young William.

At the age of ten he immigrated to America. It was 1842 when his family settled in the Old Fort District of Savannah an Irish district. William became an apprentice in an iron foundry. He would eventually buy the foundry, which was at that time, located east of Broughton Street. He became one of Savannah’s great business man. It was said of the Kehoe Iron Foundry it was “the largest and best equipped plant south of Newport News [Virginia]……”

His business interest and leadership in Savannah were enormous. He was one of the organizers and founders of the Chatham Savings and Loan Company and its president at the time of his death. You could say he put Tybee Island on the map. He was an originator of the Tybee Railroad, in fact he held the first bond of the Tybee railroad. He served as president of the Tybee Beach Company and the famous resort ‘Hotel Tybee’ Company. He also serve as a member of the town council of Tybee for 25 years. In Savannah he served as the director of the National Bank of Savannah and as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Chatham County from 1893-1898.

Yet he never forgot where he came from in Ireland. He was a supporter of the Irish cause from afar. In 1916, he helped established the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia. The group produced propaganda to counter the call, by the Ku Klux Klan and others, for a boycott of Catholic businesses when an anti-Irish sentiment had crept into Savannah’s body politic. Kehoe also was responsible for what had become known as the Irish Green on Bay Street in honor of a United Irish hero: the Protestant Robert Emmet. Today it still is known as Emmet Park.

On Independence Day of 1881 he organized an event in honor of John Howard Parnell brother of the man leading the pro-tenant Irish National Land League, which had several Savannah branches. Kehoe gave the name Francis Parnell Kehoe to one of his sons. He also served on the Irish committee to establish the Sgt. Jasper Monument in 1888 here in Savannah. It is believed the Irish of Savannah were keen to have a monument here in Savannah celebrating an Irish revolutionary hero to encourage folks back home to continue to fight for their freedom.

His empire left two important architectural monuments in Savannah. The first was his home completed in 1892. It was designed by  Andrew Dewitt Bruyn one of Savannah’s greatest architects. It is called the Kehoe house today. It was built for his wife and ten children.  It is one of Savannah’s mansions on Columbia Square. Alabama and New York Jets football star, Joe Namath owned the property for a brief time before selling it in 1990. The property now is a historic bed and breakfast inn named The William Kehoe House. It is considered one of Savannah’s best bed and breakfast inns.

The other architectural gem is found in the Trustees Garden area. It is the Kehoe Iron Works Building. Savannah entrepreneur Charles Morris is restoring the large comples of Kehoe’s Iron Works complex, repurposing it to be used for arts-and-culture happenings, conventions, and more.  
 
Kehoe would die on Dec. 29, 1929. He was one of many Irish who came to Savannah and helped build this city. 

 

 
 

 
 


Picture
William Kehoe House
Picture
Tybee Hotel (demolished)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Short Stories
  • Historical Ruminations
  • The Cranky Man Philosophizes
  • About