When it comes
to the improvement of beans, one of the most important seedsmen of the
twentieth century was Calvin N. Keeney. Prior to his work,
green beans as we know them and eat them today, did not exist.
Predecessors of the modern stringless beans tended to be tough and
Keeney was born in Le Roy, New York in February 6, 1849. He was
educated at Le Roy Academy and at the age of eighteen years, began
assisting his father in his business,
Nicholas Keeney was a successful farmer. During the Civil War, while
engaged in the produce business, he found that there was a good trade in
beans, peas and other commodities. Growing up on the family farm,
Calvin became interested in the varieties of beans available. He
began formally observing their behavior in the field and by means of
selection, he began experimenting to improve them.
Father and son
continued to diversify their business activities eventually expanding to
over 6,000 acres planted in peas and beans. Calvin was admitted as
partner in the business in 1870 and the firm was renamed N. B. Keeney and
Son. They grew produce but specialized in seeds, peas and beans. It
was his work with beans that earned Calvin the title of the, "father of
In 1880 he
married Charlotte, daughter of Rev. Dr. A. S. Freeman of Haverstraw, New
York and they had two children, Ruth Mary and Charlotte Freeman.
and 1911, Mr. Keeney developed nineteen varieties of snap beans. His
work gained a broader audience when W. Atlee
Burpee Seed commercially released their 'Burpee Stringless Green Pod'
in 1894. It was the first of many varieties that Keeney developed.
Some of his introductions were:
Black Wax (1900)
Rustless Golden Wax
Stringless Green Pod (Introduced by Johnson & Stokes in 1898)
Stringless White Wax
father passed away at midnight on September 6, 1905.
He was nearly 85 years old. Calvin continued to diversify and grow
his business holdings. Along with his seed and agricultural
ventures, he eventually owned quarries, warehouses, and even a lumbering
business. He additionally held officer or executive positions with
the LeRoy Canning Company, the LeRoy Plow Company, the LeRoy National Bank
and the LeRoy Salt Company.
advanced, and with no male heirs, he incorporated the business in 1923 and
in his own words, he said, "I turned it over to the boys
(employees) who have helped me build it up." In the fall of
1927, he merged with several other seed companies to form Associated Seed
Growers, Inc., (ASGROW). Calvin Keeney passed away in 1930.
Breeding," page 247, Liberty Hyde Bailey, 1895
Canner / Packer, Volume 60, Published by Triad Publishing 1925
and Biographical Record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890," page 508,
edited by F. W. Beers, 1890
- "Gardening with brains:
fifty years' experiences of a horticultural epicure," page 247, by Henry
Theophilus Finck, 1922
- Obituary of Nicholas B.
Sorting" by Elaine Belluscio, Le Roy Pennysaver & News, August 15,