De Benneville Randolph Keim (January 1, 1841 – May 24, 1914), also known as "De B. Randolph Keim", was a 19th-century journalist who became a war-time confidant of Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding general of the Union Army, during the American Civil War, and remained an advisor to Grant through his presidency. In 1870, he was appointed by Grant as a special agent charged with inspecting America's consular offices in Asia, China, Egypt, and South America.Knight, Oliver. Following the Indian Wars: The Story of the Newspaper Correspondents Among the Campaigners, pp. 69-103, p. 321. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1960.
Post-war, Keim continued to work as a journalist, reporting from the American Plains, an experience which served as background for his 1885 book, Sheridan’s Troopers on the Borders: A Winter Campaign on the Plains.De B. Randolph Keim, in "Sheridan's Views on the Indian Question", in "Washington New and Gossip." Washington, D.C.: Evening Star, May 9, 1870, p. 1.
Early life and education Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on New Year's Day, 1841 (alternate birth date: January 2),"De B. Randolph Keim", in "United States Passport Applications, June 21, 1865". Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Keim's name was shown on records during the early part of his life as "Benneville Randolph" and then, beginning sometime around the early 1860s, as "De Benneville Randolph" or "De B. Randolph" when he embarked on his career in journalism. A son of Berks County, Pennsylvania, native and merchant John High Keim (c. 1817–1858) and Cumberland County, Virginia, native Martha Elizabeth (Randolph) Keim (1818-1890),Mills, Rev. William Wirt. "Martha Elizabeth (Randolph) Keim", in The Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe, Vol. 2, pp. 626-628. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: DeB. Randolph Keim (self-published), 1896. Benneville R. Keim was christened at Reading's Christ Episcopal Church on July 26, 1841,"Benneville Randolph Keim, John H. Keim, and Elizabeth E. R. Keim", in "Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950" (FHL microfilm 974.816 R2 K2RB and database: Christ Episcopal church, Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania). Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library and FamilySearch. and was reared in the city's northwest ward with his siblings: Mary High (1842–1891), Edward Tudor (1845–1929), Virginia Randolph (1846–1896), Anna H. (born circa 1848), Peyton Randolph (1850–1905), and John Otto (1855–1941)."Keim, John H., Martha, Benneville, Mary H., Edward T., Virginia R., Anna H., and Peyton R.", in U.S. Census (Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
In 1855, Benneville Keim relocated with his family to Dubuque, Iowa, where his father had entered into a business partnership with bankers F.S. Jesup & Co. (later Redmond, Lovell & Co.). His father's health failed after the move, however, and he succumbed to his ailments in South Charles County, Missouri on October 29, 1858. He and his family continued to reside in Dubuque until 1866 when his mother made the decision to return to Pennsylvania.Mills, "Martha Elizabeth (Randolph) Keim", in The Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe, Vol. 2, p. 626-627.
During his formative years, he was educated in the schools of the communities where he resided. He then attended, but did not graduate from, Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.Knight, Following the Indian Wars: The Story of the Newspaper Correspondents Among the Campaigners, p. 69.
American Civil War
In response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteer troops to defend the nation's capital following the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate troops in mid-April 1861, Benneville Randolph Keim raised a company of men in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for enlistment. Known as the First City Zouaves (and later as the Harrisburg City Grays), his men "served with great credit for nine months as Company A, One hundred and twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers" (127th Pennsylvania Infantry)."The Harrisburg City Grays", in "The Pennsylvania National Guard". Washington, D.C.: National Republican, pp. 4-5. Keim subsequently resigned, prior to the regiment's departure for the front lines of the American Civil War, to take a position as a Civil War correspondent for the New York Herald. According to Washington's Evening Star:"De Benneville Keim, War Reporter Is Dead: Friend and Confidant of Gen. Grant, Who Regarded Him Highly: Long Occupied Prominent Place in the Washington Corps of Newspaper Correspondents". Washington, D.C.: Evening Star, May 25, 1914, p. 3.
[Keim's] dispatches were notable for their accuracy and wealth of detail. One of his reports, describing the ability of Gen. Grant in his usual original style, was a factor in bringing about Grant's selection and commander of the Union Army, it was said. A week after this dispatch was printed Gen. Grant was placed in full command of the armies. The general formed a great attachment for Mr. Keim, saying of him that he had never violated a confidence."
Later life After the war, Keim continued to report to the Herald from the American Plains; however, his affiliation with that publication ended sometime prior to 1877, according to The Cincinnati Daily Star."Mr. De B. Randolph Keim", in "Personal." Cincinnati, OHio: The Cincinnati Daily Star, July 26, 1877, p. 2. When applying for his U.S. Passport on June 21, 1865, he was described as being a 24-year-old man who was 5'7 tall with brown hair and an oval face with broad forehead, brown eyes, straight nose, small mouth, and fair complexion."De B. Randolph Keim", in "United States Passport Applications" (1865), U.S. National Archives. Compiling documents related to his experiences from his Plains reporting days in preparation for the release of his 1885 book, Sheridan’s Troopers on the Borders: A Winter Campaign on the Plains, he entered into the editorial phase of the publication process in the spring of 1870.De B. Randolph Keim, in "Sheridan's Views on the Indian Question", in "Washington New and Gossip", Evening Star (May 9, 1870).
That process was interrupted during the summer of 1870, however, when he was appointed to an investigatory post by President Ulysses S. Grant, and directed to inspect and report back regarding operations at United States consulates in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. In notifying him of that appointment, via a letter from the Executive Mansion on July 19, 1870, Grant wrote, "you are hereby appointed to examine into the accounts of Consular officers of the United States and into all matters connected with the business of their said offices", adding that Keim would be compensated "at the rate of five thousand dollars ($5,000), per annum and actual necessary expenses". Grant then subsequently extended Keim's assignment three times."DeB. Randolph Keim, Agent of the United States, &c.: The Official Story of an Appointment", in The Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe, Vol. 2, pp. 692-693. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: DeB. Randolph Keim (self-published), 1896.
According to historian Charles Stuart Kennedy, "[t]he best overall view of the U.S. consular service after almost one hundred years was provided by De Benneville Randolph Keim." His objective was "to look at the accounts of consular officers and to find out how their affairs were conducted abroad." Engaged in the assignment from August 1870 through December 1872, Keim traveled a total of 47,685 miles while "visiting posts in Japan, China, the Malay Peninsula, Java, India, and Egypt, and on the east and west coasts of Latin America, including the Isthmus of Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil".Kennedy, Charles Stuart." Of his experiences, said Keim:The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776-1924. Washington, D.C.: New Academia Publishing, LLC, 2015. .
At some ports I have found gentlemen worthy of the name of consul of the United States struggling under a miserable pittance from the Government, and yet now have the respect of those around them by their personal demeanor. At other ports I have found men unworthy of the commission they held, living in elegance out of the moneys of the Government, or worse still, living upon the benefits of a humane law, which properly applied would lessen the sufferings of the American sailor.... Almost every consulate had some defects in its history, owing to the incompetency, low habits and vulgarity of some of its officers, during the endless round of evils incident to official rotation. Abuses had been committed in the collection of fees; in the exercise of judicial powers; in the adjustment of business affairs of American citizens; in the settlement, where permitted, of the estates of intestate American citizens dying abroad; in selling the American flag; in "running out" ships; in discharging seamen; in affording relief or medical attendance to destitute or sick American seamen; in establishing American settlements abroad; in issuing illegal passports; in countenancing shipping masters; in taxing Chinese immigrants.
Arriving first at a consular office in Japan, Keim determined that the consul there was "utterly inacapable", was "ignorant of the law", and had charged visitors illegally "for advice given on judicial and consular matters." In China, he discovered that Consul General George F. Seward had enriched himself by keeping the fees from his sale of "licenses to bars and boardinghouses in the American part of Shanghai", diverting the seamen's funds at his disposal to speculative ventures, and "selling the privilege of flying the American flag to Chinese owners of junks, granting them certain immunities and advantages in the river and coastal trade." Keim did, however, have praise for at least one consul general—Charles W. LeGendre—for the appropriate and economical operation of the consular jail in his assigned territory (Amoy). Twice wounded—severely—during the Civil War while serving at the commanding officer of the 51st New York Infantry, LeGendre also distinguished himself post-war, in his capacity as consul general, by successfully persuading tribal leaders in Formosa to protect shipwrecked American seamen. As his inspection tour progressed, Keim noted that the records management and seamen's support services in Java and India were among the few that were being handled appropriately, and that staff at other offices were sincerely trying to "[clean] up the messes left behind by less scrupulous predecessors [and] run straightforward operations with balanced and accurate books", according to Kennedy.Kennedy, The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776-1924.
During this assignment, Keim reportedly also came into possession of a copy of a decree from the government of China concerning the Tientsin Massacre. The translated document was published by the New York Herald on June 18, 1871.