He arrived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1871 with forty dollars and started a small coal yard.

From that beginning evolved an empire spanning several states, that included coal, timber, sawmills, railroads, and even the building of towns.

After school he worked a year as a deputy clerk and court recorder and then the American Civil War began.

He joined the Confederate Army as a private in the 8th Division, under command of Brigadier general James S. Rains, in Lt. Col John Bowman's 2nd Infantry regiment of the Missouri State Guards.

Richard had four siblings, brothers William and Robert eventually owned Keith Furniture and Carpet, in Kansas City, James became a doctor living in Oakland, California, and a sister, Virginia Lee.

[3] Richard Keith married Anna Boarman in 1871 and they had three children, Charles S. that took over the businesses, Dr. Robert L., and Mrs. C.W.

Richard H. Keith formed a partnership with George A. Madill, a director of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway ("Frisco"), and John Scullin of the Frisco, forming the Choctaw Construction Company on June 11, 1901, and passing control of the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway to the new company.

It is not sure when but Keith, was renamed Neame, and was a large sawmill located on U.S. Highway 171 almost midway between Rosepine and Pickering, Louisiana.

The Neame cemetery, with turn-of-the-century grave markers, sits in the middle of a large open field, clustered among a circle of trees over-grown and crumbling.

Keith began purchasing timber land (120,000 acres) around the Ratcliff, Texas to harvest lumber.