History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Benjamin F. Keables
[B. F. Keables]
BENJAMIN F. KEABLES was born in Genesee County, New York, November 30, 1828. He came to Iowa in 1850, entering the medical department of the State University which was then located at Keokuk and from which he graduated in 1852. He located at Pella where he began to practice medicine. The following year he was president of the school board and was influential in securing the building of the first brick schoolhouse in that part of the State. At the beginning of the Civil War Dr. Keables was appointed by Governor Kirkwood assistant surgeon of the Third Iowa Infantry. At the Battle of Hatchie the doctor was conspicuous for bravery and upon recommendation of his superior officers was promoted to regimental surgeon. In 1869 he was elected on the Republican ticket Representative in the House of the Thirteenth General Assembly and was a member at the extra session which adopted the Code of 1873. In 1871 he was reëlected, serving in the Fourteenth General Assembly. He was appointed a member of the Pension Examining Board under President Harrison; and is a member of the Army of the Tennessee, of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association.