[2] The town was named after John Keating, manager and trustee of the Ceres Company, which developed land in the area and sold it to settlers.

[3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 98.2 square miles (254 km2), all land.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 3,087 people, 1,110 households, and 853 families residing in the township.

There were 1,110 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.1% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families.

19.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.