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June 29, 2026, site is new, check back for frequent updates
An Unmatched Dynasty of American Protection
Nathaniel (Pieters) Peterson Hennion
Born before 8 Jul 1636 in Leiden, Holland, Netherlands
Died 1688 after age 51 in Manhattan, New York, New York
Nathaniel was from Leiden in the Netherlands. His father, Pierre de Hennion, was a wool weaver from France. He was baptised on 8 July 1636 in Leiden, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.
His family's American roots date back to 1662, when his 9th Gr, Grandfather, Nathaniel Peterson Hennion, arrived in the New World. He travelled with the Dutch West Indies Company to Fort Orange, now Albany, N.Y., where he traded guns for beaver pelts with the Mohawk Indians.
Over the next three and a half centuries, successive generations of the Hennion and Keeffe families would serve their communities and country through military service, law enforcement, and public service.
His sixth Gr. Grandfather Jonas Hennion mustered in the American Revolution in 1781. He helped to manufacture cannonballs in the Pompton Ironworks and during the Revolution served as a quartermaster, who facilitated transport of cannonballs to New Windsor in Orange County, N.Y., along a route known as the Cannonball Trail
Another ancestor Captain John D. Hennion, Sr., fought as a Patriot in the American Revolution under Outwater’s Troops at the Battle of Millstone. He later received his captain’s commission directly from New Jersey Governor William Livingston.
One of Jonas Hennion's cousins, Cornelius Hennion, took part in ratifying the U.S. Constitution for Bergen County in 1787. Another Revolutionary War-era Hennion cousin was Peter Hennion, who served under commander John Paul Jones. Hennion said one of his third great-grandfather's cousins, Henry Hennion, told King George "to shove it" during his support of the Declaration of Independence when he served as a Morris County freeholder
More than a hundred years after the Hennion family first arrived in New Amsterdam, Shawn’s ancestor Captain John D. Hennion, Sr., fought as a Patriot in the American Revolution under Outwater’s Troops at the Battle of Millstone. He later received his captain’s commission directly from New Jersey Governor William Livingston.
That legacy came full circle generations later when Shawn graduated from Langley High School at Constitution Hall, the historic home of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C. Both his mother and grandmother were members of the DAR, creating a meaningful connection between his family’s Revolutionary War heritage and one of the defining milestones of his own life.
Shawn's fifth Gr. Grandfather Samuel Hennion, was one of Jonas Hennion's 10 offspring. Samuel Hennion served during the War of 1812
Shawn’s 3rd great-grandfather, Lieutenant Michael (O)’Keeffe first enlisted in the US Army when he was only 14 years old. Michael was one of the first American’s across the border into Mexico, at the onset of the Mexican-American War. He became a POW and at only 15 years old refused to crack under enemy torture, as immortalized in the historical account "Two Soldier Boys of the Mexican War".
Once again in 1861 Michael stepped-up and enlisted in the US Army to answer President Lincoln’s urgent call for 75,000 volunteers. Michael fought through the entirety of the Civil War with the 1st New Jersey Cavalry, credited with fighting in at least 97 documented engagements, and at every major battle throughout the war including: Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Custer's raid and was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered, and mustered out as a Lieutenant. He mustered out of Service in Vienna, VA.
After serving in two wars,, Michael’s call to service was not over. Michael joined the Paterson, NJ police department and shortly after would be promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Michael walked a beat until he was 75 years old, and after dedicating 39.5 years of service to Paterson, he would finally retire at 77 with a spotless record and a reputation as a "Christian gentleman of unimpeachable character."
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Grandfather George Keeffe, chemical engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project
Grandfather Richard Kellner who served in World War II
Service in Vietnam
Service in Desert storm
Passaic County Sheriff's Office
Washington, DC Police Department
United States Capital Police
(Ongoing Genealogical Research: Actively tracing family lineage and historical records to verify, document, and, where necessary, disprove proposed ancestral connections. (see below)
Probable Relation to George Bunker
The owner and man "Bunker Hill" was named after.
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War.[5] The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved. It was the original objective of both the colonial and British troops, though the majority of combat took place on the adjacent hill, which became known as Breed's Hill.
Possible Relation to Célestin Hennion
Célestin Hennion (8 September 1862 – 14 March 1915) was a French police officer who rose to head the Prefecture of Police (French: Préfecture de Police). He was responsible for the reorganization of the Préfecture and the introduction of The Tiger Brigades, ancestor of the French judicial police.
He is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern policing.
Shawn’s 3rd great-uncle, Maurice O’Keeffe, patrolled Manhattan’s turbulent lower wards in the early 1830’s and 1840s, helping transition New York into its first professional, full-time police force.
In the mid 1840's Maurice was appointed as a Deputy United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York to enforce federal law in a pre-Civil War nation.
Both of Maurice’s sons also served in the US Army throughout the Civil War.