David Litchard Keihle (5)
b. February 7, 1837

Son of Elizabeth Litchard (4) and James Keihle, David married Miss Mary Gilman of Dansville, NY, on July 25, 1864. Four children were born of this marriage:

1. Adelia Mary Keihle, born August 17, 1866;
2. Louise Gilman Keihle, born August 31, 1868;
3. Dr. Frederick Andrews Keihle, born August 10, 1872; and
4. Florence Keihle, born May 21, 1879.

“The following is from a sketch found in a History of Minnesota:

“ ‘Professor David Litchard Keihle spent his youth in the graded schools of Dansville, N. Y.; began to teach at sixteen years of age; attended the State Normal School at Albany, and graduated in 1856; taught three years in the Canandaigua Academy; entered the junior class of Hampton College, Clinton, New York, in 1859, and graduated in 1861, one of the “honor” members of the class. While in college, in addition to the classical course, he connected himself with the laboratory and took a special course in chemistry. He taught a graded school in Monroe, Michigan, during the year 1862; then took a full course of studies in the Union Theological Seminary; was graduated in 1865, and ordained to the Presbyterian ministry. While preparing for this work he taught in the Polytechnic and Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, in all nearly three years.

“ ‘In 1865 he came to Minnesota, organized a Presbyterian Church at Preston, Fillmore County, became its pastor and remained there ten years. During the last six of those years he was County Superintendent of Schools, driven into that work on account of poor health. By riding on horseback from school to school, and from town to town, he gradually improved, and was able to fill the requirements of the office. During five of these years that he was Superintendent he preached once a day on Sunday, simply supplying the pulpit without doing pastoral work. The last three years that he was at Preston he was one of the directors of the State Normal Schools; in 1875 was appointed by the board to take charge of the Normal School at Saint Cloud. In 1881 he resigned this position to accept the appointment of State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Minnesota. In this position he remained through six successive reappointments until 1893, when he resigned, accepting an election as Professor of Pedagogy in the University of Minnesota. In this position he remained until his resignation in 1902.

“ ‘The subject of education seems to be the one absorbing theme with him. His best thoughts, his time, his energies are devoted to the questions, “What is modern education, and how can it be made available and practical in the philosophy and theories of the day?’

“From this sketch it is evident that Professor Keihle is not only a zealous and devoted educator, but that he is a man of notable ability, and that he has by his merits won the distinction he has been favored with. When last heard from he was engaged in the composition of a work the title of which is ‘A Philosophy of the History of Education,’ which may be expected to embody his best and maturest conceptions” (from Heinrich Gernhardt and His Descendants, pp. 247-248).