Hermina Keil emigrated from Alsace-Lorraine to Louisiana as a child. She got her start as a peddler in St. Francisville, gathering enough household goods in trade to open her own secondhand shop in New Orleans in 1899, which was known as the Royal Company in the early twentieth century. Keil became an expert in American silver and furniture, and her clientele included such notables as presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Hermina Keil’s descendants now operate three antiques stores on Royal Street: Keil’s, Moss, and Royal Antiques.