[p. 902] whose valuable farm of ninety-five and one-half acres is located in Little Beaver Township, in Lawrence County, near the Ohio State line was born on the old home farm in Darlington Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1862. His parents were Daniel Adams and Mary E. (Marshall) McKean.
The grandfather, Johnston McKean, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and from there came to Lawrence County at a very early day. He married Margaret Adams, who was born near the site of the farm now owned by William A. McKean. They both died at the home of their son, Daniel Adams, in Beaver County. They had the following children: Daniel A., George, John, Mary, Lucinda, all deceased, and Margaret, Nancy and Levina, surviving.
Daniel Adams was born April 4, 1828, and died in February, 1904. He acquired the old home farm and purchased an adjoining one and at the time of death owned 265 acres all of which remains in the family. Daniel A. McKean married Mary E. Marshall, who was born and reared in Little Beaver Township. She still resides in Darlington Township, Beaver County. The following children were born to Daniel A. McKean and wife: Johnston M., William Adams, Elizabeth A., Robert H., Clara E., John W. and Charles A.. Of the above family Robert H. and John W. are deceased. Clara E. is the wife of G. O. Young.
The boyhood of William Adams McKean was pleasantly spent on the old home farm in Darlington Township, where he attended the district schools and took part in the usual social life of the neighborhood. He assisted his father on the home farm until 1899, when the latter purchased the present farm from the Sproatt estate, and then he came to Little Beaver Township and took charge of it. The place had been neglected by former tenants and Mr. McKean found a large amount of hard work awaiting him before he could get the farm into satisfactory condition. He has carried on general farming here ever since and through good management and much improving has made his land productive and the property exceedingly valuable.
Mr. McKean was married in 1892, in Little Beaver Township, to Bella Watt, who is a daughter of Samuel Watt. In politics he is a stanch Republican, has frequently been called upon to fill office, and is serving his second term as constable and has been assessor and tax collector. Mr. McKean has other interests in this section and is a stockholder in the Enon Valley Telephone Company.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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