Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/826

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806 KENYON KEOKUK to its mouth is 260 m., bnt the distance in a straight line between these two points is only 108m. The scenery on the banks 'is famous for its romantic beauty. For a great part of its course the river flows between perpendicu- lar limestone rocks, through which it appears to have gradually worn its way. The Ken- tucky has no large tributaries. It is navigable by means of locks and dams by steamboats 40 m. above Frankfort (62 m. from its mouth), and by flatboats 100 m. higher. Cannel and other kinds of bituminous coal, iron ore, and an ex- cellent variety of marble are found along the banks of the river. KENYON, John, an English poet, born in the island of Jamaica about 1783, died at Oowes, in the isle of Wight, Dec. 3, 1856. His father was a wealthy planter, and he graduated at Peterhouse college, Cambridge. He cultivated the acquaintance of Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth, and in 1815 visited Italy and other parts of the continent of Europe. After his return to England he married Miss Caroline Curteia, whom he addresses as " Nea " in the " Verses written in a Churchyard," and whom he survived many years. His first volume of poetry, entitled " A Rhymer's Plea for Toler- ance " (1833), was followed in 1838 by " Poems, for the most part Occasional." His last work was entitled "A Day at Tivoli, with other Verses." He used his large fortune with great generosity, and is said to have left legacies to 80 persons, many of whom were his old lit- erary friends, including B. W. Procter (Barry Cornwall) (6,000) and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Browning (10,000). KENYON, Lloyd, lord, a British jurist, born at Gredington, Flintshire, Oct. 5, 1732, died in Bath in 1802. He was the son of a Welsh squire, and after a very imperfect education at a free grammar school was articled to an attor- ney at Nantwich in Cheshire. Being disap- pointed in his expectation of becoming a part- ner in the business of his master, he went to London, entered the Middle Temple, and in 1756 was called to the bar. He attended the courts at Westminster regularly, and went the North Welsh circuit, but at the expiration of ten years was so little advanced in professional repute that he was desirous of taking orders. At this juncture Dunning, who had been his fellow student, and who was now'in the enjoy- ment of a lucrative practice, employed him, and opinions written by Kenyon, which Dun- ning never read, were signed by the latter as his own. As it gradually became known that Dunning's opinions were prepared by Kenyon, the attorneys began to employ him, and cases soon came to him in large numbers. His rise out of his chamber seclusion was probably in consequence of some useful observations which he made as amicus eurice in the presence of Lord Thurlow, then attorney general, who thereafter promoted his advancement in vari- ous ways. To this powerful friend he owed his appointment to the chief justiceship of Chester. The sneers of Kenyon's rivals at this appointment incited his patron to push his for- tunes still further. In 1782 he was made at- torney general, and two years after master of the rolls. Finally, on the retirement of Lord Mansfield, he was made by Pitt chief justice of the king's bench, with the title of Lord Ken- yon, baron of Gredington. This appointment, which he held until his death, was not popu- lar with the bar, and during his whole judicial career he was disliked for his overbearing dis- position, and his irritating and even insolent manners. On the other hand, he was in high favor with the public on account of the rigid impartiality of his decisions. He was deeply learned in the law, and successfully resisted Lord Mansfield's attempts to bring about a fusion of law and equity. He accumulated by his professional labors a fortune of 300,000. His memoirs are contained in Lord Campbell's " Lives of the Chief Justices." A new life, by his grandson, George J. Kenyon, the design of which is to free the character of Lord Kenyon from the alleged injustice of Lord Campbell, has been published (London, 1873). KENYON COLLEGE. See GAMBIEE. KEOKl K, a S. E. county of Iowa, drained by Skunk river ; area, 576 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 19,434. The surface consists partly of prairie, interspersed with groves of timber, and the soil is generally fertile. The Sigonrney branch of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pa- cific railroad terminates at the county seat. The chief productions in 1870 were 342,876 bushels of wheat, 1,297,459 of Indian corn, 236,410 of oats, 97,943 of potatoes, 91,713 Ibs. of wool, 517,665 of butter, and 35,833 tons of hay. There were 11,253 horses, 21,- 458 cattle, 27,551 sheep, and 32,225 swine, 11 carriage factories, 2 woollen factories, 3 flour mills, and 9 saw mills. Capital, Sigourney. KEOKUK, a city of Lee co., Iowa, situated in the S. E. corner of the state, at the foot of the lower or Des Moines rapids of the Missis- sippi, here crossed by a railroad and wagon bridge, and 2 m. above the mouth of the Des Moines, 205 m. above St. Louis, and 135 m. S. E. of Des Moines ; pop. in 1 850, 2,478 ; in 1 860, 8,136 ; in 1870, 12,766. It is built partly at the foot and partly on the summit of a bluff 150 ft. high, which contains excellent limestone, and has broad regular streets with many handsome houses. It is the terminus of the Des Moines Valley railroad ; and the Toledo, Wabash, and Western, the Toledo, Peoria, and Warsaw, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, the Missis- sippi Valley and Western, and the Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska railroads also centre here. The Keokuk and Kansas City and Keokuk and Mt. Pleasant railroads are in course of construc- tion. The rapids in the Mississippi, extending 12 m. with a fall of 24 ft., render Keokuk the natural head of navigation for steamers of the largest class, and furnish abundant water power. The United States is now construct- ing a canal around them. The city was made