Olin Lee Kean

As printed in 1910

OLIN LEE KEAN. M. D.

The readers of this work are doubtless familiar with the name Kean, not merely because the Doctor’s name has become a household word throughout this locality, but also because his ancestors played an important part in the affairs of the same for many years, establishing reputations for honor and industry and making successes of whatever line of endeavor they turned their attention to. Dr. O. L. Kean was born on the farm where he now resides in Plain township, Wayne county, in 1857, the son of D. C. and Elizabeth (Brubaker) Kean. The former was born on the same farm on which the subject lives, and his wife was born in Ashland county, Ohio. The paternal grandparents of the subject were William and Elizabeth (Case) Kean, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter born in Plain township, Wayne county, Ohio. William Kean was one of the pioneer teachers in Plain township. Joseph and Sophia Kean were the parents of William Kean. The Kean family originally came from Scotland and settled in the New England states, later coming to Pennsylvania. In 1816 Joseph Kean brought his family from Pennsylvania to Ohio and lived one winter near where the McBride school house now stands in Wooster township. He then entered the eighty acres of land where the subject now resides. He was injured while building his log house and never did much work afterwards. William Kean cleared the place and in all accumulated two hundred acres of land, nearly all of which he cleared. Augustus Case, great-grandfather of Dr. O. L. Kean and father of Mrs. William Kean, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The maternal grandparents of Dr. O. L. Kean were George and Elizabeth (Birket) Brubaker, natives of Pennsylvania who came to Ohio about 1834 and settled on a farm in Ashland county where they spent the remainder of their lives.

D. C. Kean, father of the Doctor, made an effort to enlist as a private in the Union army, but 'was rejected on account of disability. His brother, John, was a soldier in the Civil war and died during his service. Joseph Kean died in Plain township. William Kean retired in 1862 to Shreve and there died. D. C. Kean lived on the old home place nearly all his life. He was educated in the common schools and at Wesleyan College, and taught school for twenty-eight years during the winter months, following farming in the summer time. It is probable that one-third of the time he spent in teaching was in the schools of his own district, being close enough to stay at home all the time he. was teaching. He later in life lived in Wooster. Politically he was a Republican and for twelve years served as justice of the peace and filled other local offices, among which was that of clerk of the township. The entire Kean and Brubaker families have been connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. D. C. Kean and wife were the parents of seven children, namely: W. F., V. E., O. L. (subject), Gertrude, O. J., Lura B. and Stella. All these children were sent to the University of Wooster, the entire time spent in that institution by the children totalling thirty-five years.

Dr. O. L. Kean was educated in the home schools and completed the freshman year in the University of Wooster, after which he began the study of medicine in the Wooster Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio, from which institution he was graduated in 1881. He established an office in Creston, Wayne county, Ohio, where he remained for a period of ten years, building up an excellent patronage, much of which he retained after his removal to Wooster, in which place he also remained for a period of ten years, enjoying a still greater practice. While in the practice he branches out into dentistry, being the first man to use local anaesthetic in dental work. He patented its use and he has received the praise of the medical world for this great addition to medical science. In the year 1901 he left the profession and has since resided on the old Kean farm where he carries on general farming, making a specialty of cattle breeding. He has been very successful both as a practicing physician and as a dentist and is now making money farming and stock raising.

The Doctor was married in 1883 to Tressa Peak, the daughter of an old and influential family, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children: Azella Maude is a student in the high school at Wooster; William and Benjamin.

Doctor Kean is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, also the chapter and commandery. He was one of the organizers of the National Railway Surgeons’ Association, established in 1887, and always took much interest in the work of the same. He was appointed surgeon for the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad at the age of twenty-four years, which position he held with credit and eminent satisfaction for a period of seven )ears.

The Doctor is a pleasant man to meet and at once impresses the stranger as a sincere, able and courteous gentleman, and he and his family are held in high esteem by all who know them.

As printed in History of Wayne County, Ohio (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.