But tragedy struck again. His mother fell ill, and on 7 Apr 1862, she died. William buried her in the Presbyterian Cemetery in the village of North Augusta. Her gravestone is still legible. William returned to Buffalo to resume his duties leaving his baby daughter in his sister's care. But his life was not to settle down. On 14 Dec 1862, Mary Florence Keays died at ten days less than one year of age. William returned from Buffalo and buried his baby next to his mother. Mary's gravestone is also still legible.

Having lost his entire family and his mother by the end of 1862, William was at loose ends with virtually no roots. On 1 June 1863, he joined the U.S. Union Army's 16th N.Y. Cavalry in the midst of the U.S. Civil War. (enlistment record) He had absolutely no military experience nor any formal training, but he was a natural leader of men and he was well educated.  He was immediately made a Lieutenant and an Acting Captain. This was a recipe for disaster.

His Regiment was posted to the Washington area in a guard-duty role. On Oct. 2, 1863, 1^st Lieutenant, and acting Captain, William Keays was in command of his Company bivouacked with an infantry company at an outpost at Lewinsville, Va. During the night his camp was attacked by Confederate soldiers. There were 20 men of the Union Army killed, wounded or captured. Four of those captured men died in the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia before the war was over. (record)

A report by the Adjutant General dated Oct. 3, 1863, stated that William had organized his sentries so close to his  camp that there was insufficient time for them to warn of the attack. He was found responsible for the fiasco and the Adj. General recommended court martial or dismissal (report 139kb). William was dismissed from the Army on Oct. 13, 1863.(dismissal notice)

Very shortly after receiving news of the dismissal, William's commanding officer, Major Hazard, recommended he be reinstated (letter). On Dec. 31, 1863 William was reinstated as 1^st Lieutenant and acting Captain of his Company "B" 16^th New York Cavalry unit (reinstatement notice).

Although William was not involved, one company of the 16^th under the command of Captain Doherty chased down John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. One member of his company, Boston Corbett (photo), shot Booth to death through the wall of a burning barn.

The officers of the 16th purchased a set of presentation pistols to give to Capt. Doherty. William Keays was a key speaker at the presentation. The Washington Daily National Intelligencer of 20 July 1865 printed William's speech (Speech in Word doc - bold text).

On 23 Jun 1865 the remnants of the 16^th were folded into the 3^rd N.Y. Provisional Cavalry and William was formally promoted to Captain. With the war winding down, the 3^rd Provisional was mustered out on 21 Sep 1865.

After the end of the U.S. Civil War, William returned to Canada, this time to Sarnia, Ont. Because the railroads ran through Sarnia, it had become the town that William had hoped Goderich would become. He was very active in Sarnia:

In 1869, William married Emily DiRenzie Horton (photo) of London, Ont. Emily's father, William Horton, Barrister, (photo of a painting) had been involved in developing financing for the Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway in the 1850's. William had come to know him and his family before he left Goderich for Buffalo in 1861.

By 1875, the railroads between Toronto, Buffalo, Sarnia and Windsor had gradually been merged into a single railroad named The Grand Trunk Railway. William was an agent for this railroad in Sarnia, Ont. In July 1878 he tried unsuccessfully to move to Toronto and gain an appointment as the "Official Assignee" for the County of York (letters pg 1  pg2  pg3). In August 1978 he was appointed Deputy Maritime Marshall for the County of Lambton (acceptance letter). In 1881 William was offered a position as an agent for the Grand Trunk in Buffalo, N.Y. William sold his house in Sarnia (photo) and began moving his family to Buffalo, N.Y.

In the 1881 census, William appears in Clifton Town (Niagara Falls), Ont. with his new family consisting of:
         - wife Emily DiRenzi (nee Horton). b. 1847,
         - daughter Emma b. 1872, (this was actually Daisy Emma Keays) photo
         - son Reginald Horton b. 1874, and
         - son William Jeremiah Jr. b. 1880.

By 1882 the family was settled in Eden N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, and William held several positions including that of railroad agent and cruise ship captain. Within a few years, however, misfortune struck again. This time, to William himself.