Charles Keenan was a United States Army surgeon in the Indian campaigns before arriving in Texas.
Keenan served on the first board of trustees of the Andrews Female Academy.
He was a founding member of the Forest Masonic Lodge in Huntsville.
In the Third Legislature, Keenan was nominated for Speaker of the House and defeated Edward H. Tarrant, 27 votes to 16.
[2] Keenan unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 1851, and afterwards was a superintendent of the State Asylum for the Insane.