The son of a sea-captain and his companion, Ed Ketchum was born aboard ship near Bermuda at N 32 10' W 64 15' according to the entry in the Ketchum family bible.
Ed was nine years old when his father died, and after a handful of years working for his fisherman-uncle and a failed attempt to run away to sea, his mother sent him to Brooklyn to live with his father's sister and attend school.
In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, NY 176th as a drummer boy, reenlisted in Company E as Sgt, made Captain in 1862, mustered out in 1866, then headed to Texas with a buddy to become a cattle driver.
Ed became Chief Clerk in the 12th Texas Legislature, married Mary Elinor Stelfox of Austin on Christmas evening, 1873, and moved to Galveston, raising his family in the house known as The Oaks/Menard House, or as he preferred, "The Old Chaparral." He became Chief of Police of Galveston, a post he held during the Great Storm of September 8, 1900, and was well known for making the best coffee on the island.
Ed's life was colorful and action-packed; he was remembered by his grandchildren as a warm and loving man who enraptured them with endless exciting stories of his lifetime of adventures.
Friend and Texas author, William W. Sterling remembered him as a "remarkable man" who "had an erect, military bearing, wore cowboy boots, was a crack shot, and would fight a circular saw.....He exerted a weighty influence over me, and all that I learned from him was good."
The son of a sea-captain and his companion, Ed Ketchum was born aboard ship near Bermuda at N 32 10' W 64 15' according to the entry in the Ketchum family bible.
Ed was nine years old when his father died, and after a handful of years working for his fisherman-uncle and a failed attempt to run away to sea, his mother sent him to Brooklyn to live with his father's sister and attend school.
In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, NY 176th as a drummer boy, reenlisted in Company E as Sgt, made Captain in 1862, mustered out in 1866, then headed to Texas with a buddy to become a cattle driver.
Ed became Chief Clerk in the 12th Texas Legislature, married Mary Elinor Stelfox of Austin on Christmas evening, 1873, and moved to Galveston, raising his family in the house known as The Oaks/Menard House, or as he preferred, "The Old Chaparral." He became Chief of Police of Galveston, a post he held during the Great Storm of September 8, 1900, and was well known for making the best coffee on the island.
Ed's life was colorful and action-packed; he was remembered by his grandchildren as a warm and loving man who enraptured them with endless exciting stories of his lifetime of adventures.
Friend and Texas author, William W. Sterling remembered him as a "remarkable man" who "had an erect, military bearing, wore cowboy boots, was a crack shot, and would fight a circular saw.....He exerted a weighty influence over me, and all that I learned from him was good."
Family Members
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Angelina Jauncey "Angie" Ketchum Budd
1833–1911
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Marinus Jauncey Ketchum
1834–1860
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Jesse Jauncey Ketchum
1836–1876
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Elizabeth Jauncey Ketchum
1838–1849
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Susan Jauncey Ketchum Guzman
1840–1911
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Alfred Jauncey Ketchum
1845–1905
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Eleanor Jane Ketchum
1846–1870
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Agnes Stewart Ketchum
1847–1847
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Agnes Louisa Ketchum Edmunds
1851–1926
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Elizabeth Evans "Elsie" Ketchum Fessenden
1874–1959
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Mabel Metcalf Ketchum Eastman
1875–1966
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Edwin Marinus Ketchum
1877–1938
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Henry Ricker Ketchum
1880–1976
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Alfred Joseph Ketchum
1882–1945
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Isabelle Eleanor Ketchum Snyder
1885–1971
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Mary Jauncey "Mamie" Ketchum Walker
1893–1976
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Alice Maud "Phyllis" Ketchum
1898–1952
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