Joseph B. Keeler

Joseph Brigham Keeler (September 8, 1855 – December 21, 1935) was a teacher and administrator at Brigham Young Academy (BYA) and then Brigham Young University (BYU). He was for a time a counselor to George H. Brimhall when the school had a presidency similar to other LDS Church Presidencies (see for example First Presidency with a president and two counselors.

Keeler was born in Salt Lake City, to the stonemason Daniel Keeler. The elder Keeler had been born in New Jersey and worked as a stonemason in New York City and Philadelphia. After he came to Nauvoo in 1840 he was a stone Mason for the Nauvoo Temple.

When Joseph was two his family moved to Provo to avoid the anticipated destruction of Salt Lake by Johnston's Army. When a peace was negotiated most people returned north but the Keelers remained in Provo. Joseph initially followed the building trade as did his father. He assisted in building the Old Provo Tabernacle and in 1874-1875 was sent as a missionary to assist in building the St. George Temple. In 1873-1874 Keeler had been a student at the Timpanogos Branch of the University of Deseret (headed by William Dusenberry and Warren Dusenberry).

Keeler was one of the original students at the BYA when it opened in 1875. He graduated from BYA in 1880 and then became editor of the Provo Enquirer. He held this position for less than a year and then served for two years as a missionary in the Southern States Mission of the LDS Church.

In 1883 Keeler married Martha Alice Fairbanks. They eventually became the parents of ten children. Martha like her husband was active in the LDS Church and was involved in the writing of the First Relief Society Manual.

Prior to joining the BYA faculty in 1884 Keeler was County Recorder for Utah County and city assessor for Provo. Keeler was scheduled to begin work at BYA the day after the Lewis Building (which he had been one of the builders of) burned to the ground. Keeler later went to Poughkeepsie, New York where he received a Master of Accounts degree from Eastman Business College.

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