Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 11, Number 5, DeMotte, Jasper County, 19 December 1940 — KEENER TOWNSHIP POPULATION STILL INCREASING [ARTICLE]

KEENER TOWNSHIP POPULATION STILL INCREASING

Keener Township, once the fourth smallest in Jasper County, is now of the most thickly populated townships. The 1940 official figures not being available for all the townships, our comparison is based on the census of 1930, At that time only Barkley township was larger, having a population of 1279, while the inhabitants of Keener numbered 1136. The unofficial population of Keener for 1940 is aproximated at 1500. (These figures exclude incorporated towns. X Illustrative of Keener’s growing popularity and importance as a rural center, is the chart of the increase in population since 1880. The 1880 census put the Keener population at 341. The 1890 at 492; 1900, 764; 1910, 711 (the only reversal); 1920, 954; and in 1930, 1136. Barkley township, the«only one to top Keener in 1930, has maintained an* approximate level since 188§. the figure at that time being 10i8 Union township is the only other one to show a steady increase, from 230 in ’BO to 1061 in 1930. Carpenter on the other hand, has shown a steady, if slow, decrease, faling from 1327 at the 1880 census to 885 at the 1930 count. The fact that this change in population in the various townships is caused by moving within the county is proven by the total of the rural population for the county as a w r hole. The 1880 total is listed as 7735, w r hile the 1930 total is 9310 The totaheounty population has increased only about 6 per cent in the period from 1880 to 1930 while Keener’s population has incresaed nearly 70 per cent in the same period.

A large crowd attended ; the supper and bazaar given by the Ladies’ Guild of the M. E. Church Saturday. There were many hand made articles to choose from and a tempting supper wa s served. Over SIOO was cleared. Ms. O. P. Rowen was brought home from the Presbyterian hospital in Chicago where she had been since Thursday for observation. It was found she had /Very badly infected tonsils, which will probably necessitate an operation in the near future. READ THE ADS AND SAVE