USGenWeb Project- Montgomery County Indiana

Montgomery County, Indiana USGenWeb Project

James H. KELLEY

1881 Montgomery County In History of H. W. Beckwith, p 404 (Chicago: HH Hill)

James H. KELLEY, merchant, New Ross, is a son of William and Nancy (BROWN) Kelley, both natives of Perry County, Kentucky. They both came with their parents to Clarke township, this County, in 1829, and here lived for years. After William's mother died his father went to Illinois, where he died. Nancy's father died in Clarke township, and her mother in Iowa. William and Nancy were married soon after coming, and settled on a forty-acre farm adjoining his father's. They lived there three years and moved two miles west and settled on 120 acres on the north bank of Raccoon creek, about three and one half miles northeast of Ladoga. There Wm. Kelley died March 3, 1853. During life he was a democrat, yet bitterly opposed to slavery. For four years he was justice of the peace. He belonged to the Lutheran church. His wife, in 1859, married James EVANS, who died, and she now lives in New Ross. She is a member of the Presbyterian church. In the family were five boys and four girls.

James H. Kelley was born June 21,1838, in this township. He was raised on the farm till twenty years of age, and received a limited education. He clerked in Dongola, Illinois, one year. At the first call Mr. Ke1ley enlisted in Co. E, 11th Ind., for three months. September 26, 1861, he reenlisted, this time in Co. E, 41st Ind., 2d Cav., as corporal. He was soon made first sergeant. He was in the engagements of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Knoxville, and at Fair Garden, Tennessee, he was wounded, receiving a fractured jaw. He was carried to Knoxville hospital, then Chattanooga and Memphis, and from there he came home. In July, 1864, he returned to the ranks, and served to the close of the war.

ing home, he engaged in the fruit tree business as traveling agent. On October 16, 1866, he was married to Susan E. INLOW, daughter of Abraham and Susan Inlow. She was born February 20, 1838, in Clarke township. They had four children: Oscar E., William J., Mollie S. and Adie M. She was a member of the Christian church, and died February 25, 1869. Mr. Kelley, leaving the tree trade, farmed until 1871, when he removed to New Ross, and sold goods for Inlow and Hulett till March 23, 1873. Then, in connection with Wm. B. Emmert, he engaged in the hardware trade, in which he continued till the spring of 1879, when he became a member of the firm of Turner, Kelley & Co. Their store is widely known as the grange store, and they carry a stock of about $8,000, with yearly sales of from $12,000 to $15,000. Mr. Kelley has always been a strong republican. August 10, 1879, he was married to Mary J. BRUCE, daughter of Peter and Esther MORRIS. She was born August 11, 1843. Mr. Kelley is a member of the Christian church. Mrs. Kelley is a Baptist. His father, Peter Morris, was for years a resident of Ladoga, where he merchandised and controlled the woolen mills. He is now a merchant, and proprietor of the woolen mills at Lebanon. In 1880 he was a member of the Lebanon council. He was married in 1839, in Monroe County, Ohio. His wife, Esther, was born May 17,1819, in Harper County, Maryland. She died October 5, 1878, at Lebanon, where they had resided for twelve years. In 1839 she united with the Baptist church, in Monroe County, Ohio.

Kelley, James H. (1838-1906) Born near Ladoga, Montgomery County, Ind., June 21, 1838. Served in the Union Army during the Civil War; member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1887. Disciples of Christ. Died in Whitestown, Boone County, Ind., August 4, 1906. Burial location unknown.(The Political Graveyard)

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