Biography

John Christian Keener (1819-1906) was a minister and bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Wesleyan University. In 1843, he joined the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1848, he transferred to the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Keener joined the Centenary College of Louisiana board of trustees in 1850 and was president of the board from 1866 to 1906. During the Civil War, he served as superintendent of the Confederate States Army Chaplains west of the Mississippi River. From 1866 to 1870, he was editor of the New Orleans Christian Advocate newspaper. In 1870, he was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is the author of the books Post Oak Circuit (1857), Studies of Bible Truths (1899), and The Garden of Eden and the Flood (1900).

In 1842, Keener married Mary Anna Spencer (1821-1903), daughter of Richard (1796-1868) and Anna Baker Spencer (1800-1853). The Keeners had eight children, which included Mary Keener Wilkinson (1843-1894), Rebecca Keener (1844-1845), Emma Holcombe Keener (1846-1896), Christian Keener (1847-1897), John Ormand Keener (1854-1898), and Samuel Spencer Keener (1857-1912).

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