My Genealogy Hound

William Kelley was born in Barren County, Ky.; May 20, 1828, and is a son of Daniel and Rachel (Harris) Kelley, natives of Virginia. The father moved with his father, Giles Kelley, to Kentucky in an early day, and was there married. He afterward moved to Indiana, living a short time in Lawrence County, and then removing to Orange County, where he farmed until about 1850, then going to Clark County, Ind., where he died in July, 1858. His wife’s death occurred August 8, 1857. Of a family of ten, six sons and three daughters were living at last accounts. William Kelley is the eldest child, and he and his brother, John, are the only two children living in Putnam County. William Kelley arrived at his majority in Orange County, and in 1858 went to Clark County, where he engaged in coopering, having learned the trade during his youth. February 10, 1848, he was married in Orange County to Eliza Jane, daughter of Thaddeus Newgent, and a native of Orange County, Ind. In 1856 he moved west to Iowa, and located in Van Buren County in November of that year. In the spring of 1857 he went to Scotland County, Mo., where his time until 1865 was spent in the manufacture of wagons, milling and farming. In March, 1865, he located upon his present place which was but slightly improved, and for three years followed his trade. He now owns 100 acres of land, eighty-five being well improved, and upon which are comfortable buildings and a good orchard. During the war Mr. Kelley enlisted in the Home Guards, in 1861, and afterward served in the Missouri State Militia, Twenty-ninth Mounted Infantry, under Col. Purmott. He is a Republican, and was elected county clerk in 1874, and filled that position efficiently for three terms. In 1885 he was elected township clerk and assessor, and in the spring of 1887 re-elected to the same position, the duties of which he is now discharging. Mr. Kelley lost his first wife in the winter of 1871. She was the mother of the following children: Daniel, married and in Putnam County; Thaddeus, married and in Clark County, Iowa; Rachel, wife of Benjamin Bennett, of same county; Martha, wife of N. B. Abbott, of Putnam County, Mo.; John, a resident of this county, and Watson, who died in June, 1887, having just passed his twenty-seventh birthday. In the latter part of 1871 Mr. Kelley was united in marriage to Anna Keeley, a native of Ireland, and a widow. Two daughters were born to her former marriage, both of whom are deceased. Her first husband, Joseph Keeley, was an early settler of Liberty Township, where he first entered eighty acres of land upon a land warrant received from the Government by his father for his services in the Revolutionary War. He afterward exchanged the property for a place in Appanoose County, Iowa, where he died. Mr. William Kelley has always been interested in educational and religious projects, and organized the first Sunday-school of Putnam County, after the war, in what is known as Petty’s school-house. He received a premium from the Sunday-school Union, a $24.00 library and six Bibles.