THE NEW HAMPSHIRE KELLYS.
BY HON. JOHN C. LINEHAN.
Who was the first among New Hampshire’s early settlers to bear the ancient west-of-Ireland name Kelly, is now hard to determine. Probably it was either Roger Kelly, who, with his two brothers John and William, were on the Isles of Shoals shortly after their settlement by the English, or one of the descendants of John Kelly, who came to Newbury, Mass., in 1635.
The exact year when Roger Kelly and his two brothers came to the Shoals is not given in Jenness’ history of the island, but it must have been about the date mentioned. It is written of them that “they were men of energy and substance.” All three lived on Smutty Nose Island. From the records Roger seems to have been the most prominent. A conveyance of land and buildings at the Shoals to him from Nathaniel Fryer is entered in the Province records.
Therein he is styled the fisherman. For this reason it would not be surprising to learn that he came from Galway, Ireland’s greatest fishing mart from the earliest times. Elsewhere in the same work he is alluded to as “Roger Kelly, the ancient magistrate and taverner.” A queer combination of titles from a modern standpoint, and no doubt the occasion for the underscoring of the word taverner.
The people on the Shoals in those early days led a free and easy life. Neither women nor hogs, it is said, were allowed there,—not even married women. The swine ate or spoiled the fish, and the presence of women for obvious reasons caused trouble between the men.
These hardy fishermen, whose manly virtues, despite their human failings, find a staunch advocate in Jenness, “were not very deeply moved by questions of government, or statutes, or courts.” A considerable proportion of criminal complaints against them were for resisting, assaulting, and reviling the officers of the law, and treating with contempt the awe-inspiring badge of his office.
However, this feeling of contempt for the minions of the law was not confined to the inhabitants of the rocky isles, for it is on record that Maj. William Vaughan of Portsmouth, N. H., seized the truncheon of the king’s officer who was on the point of serving a writ upon him, and beat him over the head with it. And as well, that Andrew Wiggin of Stratham, N. H., threw Lieut.-Gov. Walter Barefoote on the blazing coals in his own fireplace, and, in addition, sat on him, breaking some of his ribs, knocking out some of his teeth, and partially roasting his body.
So, for a similar reason, on the Shoals, Abraham Kelly and others were arrested for reviling a constable and attempting to assault him, and even Roger himself, the ancient magistrate and taverner, “was presented in Court for selling without due license to a party of fishermen, while playing nine-pins on Hog Island, twelve gallons of wine which they drank in one day.” An appetite for liquids like this in our day, and with our population, would surely create a famine in that line.
Still, strange as it may seem now, in those good old times, and for a century later, the great man of the town, as a rule, was the tavern-keeper, and Roger was not an exception. His name headed many weighty petitions in favor of, or protesting against, every measure respectively beneficial or injurious to his fellow-citizens of the rocky island. That he was an educated man is apparent from the positions he held, as well as the location of his name at the head of other signers on petitions.
In 1689 he was one of many petitioners to the Massachusetts General Court for the appointment of a suitable person to command the militia.
This fact is on record in the Provincial papers, and Jenness wrote that in 1690, during the King William War, the Massachusetts authorities appointed Roger Kelly “Captain of the Isles.” A company of militia under command of Captain Wiley was sent to the Shoals from Massachusetts, and this was the occasion of some trouble. The fishermen were opposed, it is said, to all manner of government rates and taxes unless the moneys received therefrom were expended on the Shoals. They, therefore, resented the billetting of the soldiers on them and even refused to pay for their subsistence, and Roger Kelly was the leader of the protestants.
There is a record in the Provincial papers of payment to Roger for services as a soldier. The date of the death of Roger Kelly cannot be given here, neither can his descendants be traced without trouble; but undoubtedly they, as well as those of his brothers, are scattered all over the United States, for as Kelly, or Kelley, the name is now one of the most common among Americans. Clarke has immortalized the name in his poem, “The Fighting Race,” and it is well to remark here that “Kelly and Burke and Shea” were here in New Hampshire long before 1700 in the persons of Roger Kelly, James O’Shea and John Burke, whose names appear in the Provincial records.
According to Coffin, the historian of Newbury, Mass., John Kelly of that town was of English as well as of Irish descent. His father, as tradition has it, was an Irishman who went from his native country to Newbury, England. While in the service of a gentleman there he was successful in defending the house from an attack by robbers. He secured the gentleman’s daughter for his wife. The immigrant, John Kelly, was the offspring of this union. He came to Newbury in 1635.
In the allotment of land to settlers he was dissatisfied with his assignment and selected his land so far away from the rest that the people of the town were fearful that he would be destroyed either by the Indians or by wild beasts, and in consequence the town voted “that if the said John Kelly or any of his family are killed by the Indians or wild beasts their blood” should be on their own heads.
However, this did not trouble John Kelly. In time, he was looked upon as one of the most enterprising and courageous men in the settlement, and fearless to an extreme degree. He had five sons and five daughters. His descendants are numerous in New England, and especially in New Hampshire. They were thrifty, prosperous and leading citizens in the towns in which they settled.
Before the Revolution, not a few schoolmasters, natives of Ireland, were teaching the young ideas how to shoot in New Hampshire. They were well thought of in those days, and spoken of, as a rule, in the highest terms by the people with whom they came in contact.
Such men as John Sullivan, father of the general, in Dover; Edward Evans of Northfield, who was General Sullivan’s secretary, and adjutant of one of the three Continental regiments; Henry Parkinson, whose grave is in Canterbury Center cemetery; Edward Donovan of Sandwich; William Donovan of Weare; Patrick Quinlan of Concord; Richard Dowling of Stratham; Darby Kelly of Exeter and Hercules Mooney of Somersworth, were some of these schoolmasters.
Few of New Hampshire’s early settlers have left more useful descendants than Darby Kelly, whose name appears in the Province wills in 1728. The exact time of his arrival, or the section of Ireland from which he came, is unknown. Kelly is one of the most ancient names in Connaught, the western province of Ireland. It is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Ceallaigh. It would not, therefore, be surprising if he emigrated from that part of the country. In the Reminiscences of New Hampton, which were written by one of his descendants, the Hon. F. H. Kelly, ex-mayor of Worcester, Mass., it is stated that he settled in Exeter, N. H., in the early part of the 18th century, and that little is known of him except by tradition. He was reputed to have taught school before leaving home, and “is said to have been a bright, quick-witted Irishman.”
Contrary to rule, this much was said of him by the writer quoted, who had not followed the usual course in calling his ancestor a “Scotch-Irishman.” However that may have been, the record shows that he was a useful, thrifty citizen, possessed of the traits which distinguished so many of his descendants. There is another tradition that he taught school in New Hampshire. If so, the inscription, in part, on the headstone of Capt. Henry Parkinson, Stark’s quartermaster, who died in 1829, would also apply to Darby Kelly. “Hibernia begot me. Columbia nurtured me, ... I have fought, I have taught, and I have labored with my hands,” etc. For if Darby had taught, which is likely, he had also labored with his hands, and fought as well.
The Provincial papers show that when his services as a soldier were required, he shouldered his musket and fought against the common foe, the French and the Indians; so in this way we find his name enrolled as one of the company commanded by Capt. Moses Foster, on scouting duty in 1748; again, serving in Capt. Elijah Sweet’s company, Col. Peter Gilman’s regiment, in New York, 1755; again, in Capt. Elisha Winslow’s company, Col. Nathaniel Meserve’s regiment, in the Crown Point expedition, 1756; and as Sergt. Darby Kelly he is found again in Capt. Richard Emery’s company, Col. Nathaniel Meserve’s regiment, in the second Crown Point expedition, 1757. One battalion of this regiment suffered severely in the massacre at Fort William Henry. Out of 200 men engaged 80 were killed or captured. His final enlistment was in Capt. Somerbee Gilman’s company, of Col. John Hart’s regiment, in 1758. Here is a military record his descendants may well point to with pride, for it enables them to gain admission to all the patriotic Colonial War societies thus far organized.
That he was an active business man is clearly evident, for there are on the records, especially in the Province wills in the New Hampshire State House, entries of deeds of land to or from him from Dec. 11, 1728, to March 31, 1770,—one in Exeter, four in Kingston, and ten in Brentwood. His name appears on a petition from Exeter for parish privileges in 1741, and on another from Brentwood in 1742, and he is recorded as a ratepayer in that town. His name is signed to a receipt for 100 pounds, old tenor, paid to him in 1769 for services as a soldier.
He married Sarah, the daughter of Philip Huntoon of Kingston, N. H. The date and year of his marriage cannot be given here, but it was before 1729. That he had won the good will and the esteem of his wife’s father is clear from the inspection of a deed of land conveyed to him and to his wife, dated July 25, 1729, and recorded in the Province deeds, Vol. 19. It reads in part, stripped of the phraseology of the times, as follows:
“To all people to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Know ye that I, Philip Huntoon, Sr., of the town of Kingstown, in the Province of New Hampshire, in New England, husbandman, Know ye that I, the aforesaid Philip Huntoon, for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which I have and do bear toward and to my beloved daughter and son-in-law, Sarah Kelly and Darby Kelly, of ye said town of Kingstown, county and province aforesaid, and for other good causes and considerations, have given, granted made over and confirmed,” etc.
This is a loving tribute to a son-in-law. It would be of interest to know, were it possible, how he stood with his mother-in-law, but on this point the records are dumb. As a rule, the women were silent in those days. From the language of this deed it is to be taken for granted that he and his wife were residents of the town at the time the deed was made. In the sketch of the family printed in the Reminiscences of New Hampton, it is said that Samuel Kelly, the oldest son of Darby, was born in Exeter in 1733, and died in New Hampton, N. H., on June 28, 1813, aged 80 years. We will now leave Darby to his well-merited rest, and look up the records of some of his descendants.
Samuel Kelly mentioned, married Elizabeth Bowdoin. Here, then, we find a union of three nationalities thus early in the history of the province. Kelly, Huntoon and Bowdoin, respectively, Irish, English and French,—not a bad combination, for each of the three peoples represented have cut quite a figure in the world’s history for the past three centuries. Mrs. Kelly was born in 1740, and died in 1816, outliving her husband three years. Both were buried in the family lot on Kelly Hill, New Hampton.
The family went from Brentwood, N. H., to New Hampton in 1775. Samuel Kelly was a carpenter by trade, and at this time was 42 years old. He is credited with being a man of courage, ability and energy, and at the end of a few years found himself in possession of a considerable part of what is now New Hampton, and this was entirely due to his great perseverance and hard work, aided largely by an iron constitution. He had nine children, six of whom were sons. It is said that his aim was to provide a farm for each. One of his daughters, Sally, died in Machias, Me., in 1840. Another who was married, as the first-named was, moved to Steubenville, O., Two of his sons, John and Dudley, removed to Youngstown, Pa.
Samuel Kelly planned and built the first meeting-house in town. He was a worthy son of Darby Kelly and Sarah Huntoon. He can well be credited as the leading pioneer settler of New Hampton. That his venerable father accompanied him to New Hampton in 1775 is evident from a letter written by Elder Ebenezer Fisk of Jackson, Mich., printed in the Reminiscences mentioned. For, in describing the location of the several families in the town, he wrote, “Next was Darby Kelly whose honored wife died at the advanced age of 103 years.”
Samuel Kelly, son of Samuel, and grandson of Darby Kelly, was born in Brentwood in 1759, and died in New Hampton in 1832. His widow survived him 14 years, dying in 1846, aged 84. He had seven children, four of whom were sons. Of these sons, Michael B. and Jonathan F. Kelly inherited the farm settled on and cleared by their grandfather, the first Samuel Kelly. At the present time, and for a number of years past, it has been owned by the Hon. Joseph H. Walker of Worcester, Mass., who married Hannah M. C. Kelly, youngest child of Michael B. Kelly, and the sister of the late Capt. Warren M. Kelly of Hooksett, and the late Frank H. Kelly, ex-mayor of Worcester.
A Samuel Kelly of New Hampton was on the roster of Col. Hercules Mooney’s regiment in the battle of Rhode Island under Gen. John Sullivan. Later, the name of Lieut. Samuel Kelly of New Hampton is on the roster of the same regiment, and another Samuel Kelly of Meredith was enrolled in a company raised for service at Ticonderoga in 1777.
These were undoubtedly descendants of Darby Kelly. Their residence in one instance is given as at Meredith, and in two as of New Hampton. The evidence for these facts will be found on the pages of the Revolutionary rolls. It is possible that the Lieut. Samuel Kelly may either have been the son or grandson of Darby.
Maj. Nathaniel Kelly, the third son of Samuel, second, and grandson of Darby, moved to Akron, O., before 1835. His son, bearing the same name, with his family followed later. No doubt they are the ancestors of many western Kellys.
Col. William B. Kelly, the fourth son of Samuel, and grandson of Darby, was born in Exeter in 1769. He came to New Hampshire with his father when he was six years old. He had 11 children, of whom six were sons. He was the first postmaster of New Hampton. The mails were distributed from his house before 1800. He was a member of the state Legislature, and one of the two founders of the New Hampton Academy, which was first opened in 1822. It is written of him that “he inherited the military spirit of his ancestors, and transmitted it to his posterity,” as will be seen by the prominent part taken by some of them in the Civil War. His children became widely separated, their descendants now dwelling in almost every state in the Union.
Maj.-Gen. Benjamin F. Kelly, son of Col. William S. Kelly, and great-grandson of Darby Kelly, was born in New Hampton in 1807. When a young man he moved to West Virginia, and was residing there when the first gun was fired on Sumter. It is claimed for him that he raised the first Union regiment and won the first Union victory south of Mason and Dixon’s line. He was commissioned colonel of his regiment on May 25, 1861. His first service was under General McClellan, in West Virginia, and under his direction Colonel Kelly assumed command of all the troops then in that part of the state. He won his first victory at Grafton, where he defeated a Confederate force under command of Colonel Porterfield. On this occasion, in addition to his own regiment, he had command of the Sixteenth Ohio and the Ninth Indiana regiments. The enemy was completely routed and large quantities of arms and ammunition fell into Colonel Kelly’s hands. Kelly was badly wounded. At first it was supposed mortally. For his conduct here he was congratulated by Generals Morris and McClellan. Both complimented him for his brilliant and efficient service. McClellan recommended him for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general. The request was complied with. He was also complimented for his valor and skill at Romney in October, 1861, by President Lincoln, General Scott, and Gen. E. D. Townsend, the assistant adjutant-general of the United States army. Thus were honors showered unlimited on the head of the grandson of the modest colonial Crown Point soldier, Darby Kelly, who was with Sir William Johnson at Fort William Henry a little more than a century before.
Later, General Kelly was assigned to the command of the department at Harper’s Ferry and Cumberland. On the organization of the Department of West Virginia, in 1863, he was assigned to that command. His services from the beginning to the end of the war are too well known to repeat them here. During the invasion of Pennsylvania, in 1862, his conduct brought to him the thanks of General Wright, and for his successful defence of Cumberland, Md., in 1864, he received from the president the rank of major-general by brevet, and from the people of Cumberland, their heartfelt thanks for the skill and courage displayed by him and his officers, and the bravery exhibited by his soldiers in their successful resistance to the capture of the city. General Kelly had six children, four of whom were sons, all of whom served in the United States army.
Capt. Warren Michael Kelly was the son of Michael B. Kelly, the nephew of Gen. B. F. Kelly, and the great-great-grandson of Darby Kelly. He was born in New Hampton in 1821. He was residing in Manchester when the Civil War broke out. In August, 1862, he raised a company which was attached to the Tenth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, commanded by the late Gen. Michael T. Donohoe. He remained in the service until the close of the war. He was wounded once. His first fight was at Fredericksburg, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, on Dec. 13, 1862. It is claimed for him that he commanded the first organized body of white troops that entered Richmond, after the surrender of Lee. Captain Kelly was as modest as he was brave. He was 41 years old when he went to the front with his regiment in 1862, but none in his command rendered more efficient service during the three years following.
There was no opportunity for promotion in his regiment, as there was no change in the colonel or the lieutenant-colonel from 1862 to 1865, neither of them being killed, neither did they resign, for both Gen. M. T. Donohoe and General Coughlin were among the bravest of the brave. Captain Kelly, as the ranking captain, had command of his regiment on several occasions during the first quarter of 1865, and was in command of the skirmish line when the Union troops entered Richmond on April 3d of the same year. It is quite a coincidence, and worthy of mention, that Captain Kelly should serve in a regiment whose field officers and a large proportion of the rank and file were composed of men of the same nationality as his great-great-grandfather, Darby Kelly.
Of the sons of Gen. B. F. Kelly, John G., the eldest, was colonel of the Seventh Virginia Infantry. William B. was a captain on his father’s staff. Frank was a quartermaster in the United States army and died in Texas in 1870. Wright Kelly, a captain of cavalry, was wounded and died from the effects of his wounds in 1869.
Hon. Frank H. Kelly was a brother of Capt. Warren M. Kelly. He was born in New Hampton, Sept. 9, 1827. He was a physician, studying and practising in various places until 1851, when he located in Worcester, Mass. He followed his profession actively 32 years. He joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1875. He was the first president of the board of trustees of the City Hospital in 1870, serving in that capacity 13 years. As a member of the school board, of the common council, of the board of aldermen, he served his adopted city long and faithfully.
He wrote the Reminiscences of New Hampton, from which a goodly portion of this paper, or rather the material for it, has been culled. Therein he styled his great-great-grandfather, Darby Kelly, “a bright, quick-witted Irishman.” Here we will leave the emigrant Darby Kelly and his American descendants. It is said that regardless of the number born in New Hampton, none of the name resides there. They are scattered all over the country, but wherever located, it will be found that they are keeping up the record made by their New Hampshire fathers. The Kelly blood runs in the veins of some of the best people within and without the state of New Hampshire, and in at least one instance it returned across the Atlantic by the marriage of one of Darby’s descendants to M. Clemenceau, the celebrated Parisian writer and statesman. But few of Darby’s descendants are here mentioned. They are too numerous. But judging from the record of those given, the emigration of Darby to New Hampshire was quite an accession to the people of the province and state.
Referring again to John Kelly who came to Newbury, Mass., in 1635, many of his descendants must have come to New Hampshire. Among them undoubtedly was Abial Kelly of Methuen, Mass., originally, whose name occurs several times in the Provincial papers in connection with the settlement of the boundary line between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, in 1745. It also occurs in the Province wills, 1728, 1740, and 1743.
Capt. Richard Kelly, another descendant of the Newbury immigrant, was an officer in the Sixth Regiment of militia, in 1744. The same name appears on a petition from Londonderry, N. H., for the release of Stephen Holland, the Tory, in 1777. The names of Hugh Kelly and Peter Kelly are on the same petition. Richard Kelly, Jr., evidently the son of Captain Kelly, served in the company commanded by Captain Nesmith in Canada in 1776.
A Richard Kelly was a grantee and one of the first settlers of Contoocook, now Boscawen, in 1748. As Boscawen’s first settlers were from Newbury, Mass., it is reasonable to think he was also a descendant of John Kelly. A Richard Kelly was at Winter Hill, near Boston, Mass., in 1775, in the company of Capt. Jacob Webster, which was one of the companies raised at the request of General Sullivan to take the place of Connecticut troops, during the siege of Boston, who had refused to serve after their term had expired.
This interesting episode of New Hampshire history cannot be repeated too often. On Dec. 1, 1775, Sullivan sent up word by express of the defection of the Connecticut men, and made an urgent request for volunteers to take their places. In response to this, 31 companies, numbering 2,058 men, were enlisted for six weeks, and marched to Winter Hill. New Hampshire had at this time, in addition, three full regiments in the field, thus making the total number of New Hampshire men at the siege of Boston in 1775 over five thousand. This is evidence of the character of the men of the old Granite State in those stirring times.
Capt. Richard Kelly was authorized by Gov. Benning Wentworth to call the first town meeting in Salem, N. H., in May, 1750.
William Kelly was a taxpayer in Newcastle, N. H., in 1727. Doubtless he was a descendant of Roger or John Kelly mentioned.
A William Kelly appears on a petition in 1737. Another was one of the company commanded by Captain Eastman on scouting duty in Penacook, now Concord, N. H., in 1747.
Still another William Kelly served at Crown Point, in 1755, in Captain Goff’s company, and another was one of the grantees in the town of Salem, N. H., in 1750; a William Kelly was also on the alarm list of the town of Warner, N. H., in 1741. William P. Kelly was in Northwood, and another William Kelly in Salisbury, respectively, in 1735 and 1813.
A William Kelly was enrolled in Captain Page’s company, Senter’s regiment, in 1777. Sergt. William Kelly was in Captain Libby’s company, Col. Stephen Evans’ regiment, at Saratoga in 1777. Corp. William Kelly served in the battle of Rhode Island in the regiment of Colonel Hercules Mooney in 1779. He was from Epping, N. H.
Rev. William Kelly was the first settled minister in Warner, Feb. 6, 1772. He was born in Newbury, Mass., 1744, and was undoubtedly a descendant of John Kelly who landed there a little over a century before. His pastorate closed in 1801. He made the opening prayer at the first town meeting held in Warner.
Hon. John Kelly was his son. He was born in Warner. He was an attorney, editor and author. He was the first Warner man to take a degree from Dartmouth. His permanent home was in Exeter, N. H. He was register of probate for Rockingham County.
Abner B. Kelly was his brother. He was Warner’s town clerk in 1820. He was representative to the state Legislature, postmaster of Warner for six years, state treasurer of New Hampshire for six years, a clerk in one of the departments at Washington, D. C., a director of the Concord Mechanics Bank of Concord, and of the company incorporated for the manufacture of silk. He is credited as being a fine penman. “His handwriting was faultless.”
William Kelly, “an Irish tailor,” was in Barnstead, N. H., in 1814. The historian of that town wrote that he was the first Irishman in Barnstead. Regardless of that statement, however, Thomas, John and Stephen Pendergast were among its first settlers. This name is not quite as Irish as Murphy, but comes very near it. It came from France to Ireland in 1170.
George W. Kelly, a brother of Rev. William Kelly, was deputy sheriff in Warner in 1808. Caleb Kelly came to Warner from Newbury, the nursery of the Kellys. Kelly Hill takes its name from him. His family removed to Wisconsin. J. R. B. Kelly is recorded as a graduate of Francestown Academy, and Frank H. Kelly was one of the directors of the Francestown Soapstone Company.
Dudley Kelly was serving at West Point in 1789. He was from Brentwood.
Zachariah Kelly was also at West Point in 1781, and an entry in the records reads, that he had received a ration of half a pint of rum and a pound of sugar with the other members of his company.
Israel W. Kelly of Boscawen was a lieutenant in Captain Green’s company in 1797, when there seemed to be a prospect of a war with France.
In December, 1776, James Kelly was paid for services in apprehending Daniel Meserve and others for counterfeiting Provincial bills.
Another James Kelly appeared on a petition in 1732 for the laying out of a new town along Lake Winnepesaukee. The names of John and James Kelly appear on the roll of ratepayers in the parish of Cocheco in 1753. Another James Kelly appears on a petition from Northwood in connection with some town dispute. James Kelly served in Captain Drew’s company in the expedition to Canada in 1776 and 1777, and a man of the same name from Exeter enlisted for three years in the Fourth regiment of militia.
A James Kelly was one of the proprietors of Wakefield in 1749, and another James Kelly was one of the grantees of Peterborough in 1750. Still another of the same name was engaged in the defence of Piscataqua Harbor in 1791. James Kelly was a British prisoner of war in 1781, who, with others, was consigned for safe keeping to New Hampshire.
James Kelly was one of the soldiers who were indebted to the sutler for supplies in 1761. This kind of a creditor was not infrequent in 1861, a hundred years later. He served in Captain Gerrish’s company.
James Kelly was one of the grantees of Holderness, N. H., in 1751. Among those who were with him were John Cavanaugh, John McElroy, William Curry, Hercules Mooney, Bryan McSweeney and Michael Dwyer.
John Kelly was one of the selectmen of Dover, N. H., who aided in taking the census in October, 1775. He served in the state Legislature four years, and from the records seemed to have been an active, public-spirited citizen. John Kelly was a ratepayer in Plaistow and Atkinson in 1786.
A John Kelly in Salem appears on a petition for the formation of one or more counties in 1769. Samuel Kelly was one of his associates. John Kelly renders an account of individual losses which he met at Ticonderoga. John Kelly of Dover, in 1782, furnished an affidavit in relation to the identity of a soldier. John Kelly of Deerfield was a recruit for the Continental army in 1780. John Kelly was one of the selectmen of Salem in 1775.
John E. Kelly was one of Warner’s selectmen in 1801. John Kelly of North Hampton was one of Captain Parsons’ company, Colonel Runnells’ regiment, at Charleston, in 1781.
John Kelly of New York was granted 69,100 acres of land in Lamoiville, Vt., in 1787. In 1791 he was given 30,000 acres more. In both cases the grants were made by the legislature of Vermont. This John Kelly must have been one of the “Royal Order of Patroons.” Kellyburg, Kellyvale, and Kelly Grant marked his progress in the Green Mountain state. John Kelly, a native of Plaistow, graduated from Amherst College in 1825. He lived in Chester in 1833. The history of the town speaks of him in the highest terms.
Ezekiel Kelly, a native of Newbury, Mass., was in Chester, N. H., in 1784. Col. Israel W. Kelly resided there in 1810, and Ephraim Kelly was one of the selectmen in 1825.
Rev. John Kelly of Hampstead was of the sixth generation of John Kelly of Newbury, Mass., who came over in 1635. He had five sons and seven daughters. He died in Hampstead in 1848. Three of his sons were college graduates. He wrote a history of Hampstead. He was pastor of the church in that town from 1792 to his death in 1848, fifty-six years.
The ways of the Kellys were not always smooth, for Brewster’s Rambles Around Portsmouth says, that in July, 1686, John Kelly and his family were ordered to give security or leave town, a survival of the custom in vogue in Boston and probably introduced to New Hampshire when the Province came under the control of Massachusetts Bay.
John Kelly was a Revolutionary soldier and died in Raymond. A John Kelly was one of Windham’s first settlers, and a type of the late historian Morrison’s so-called “pure-blooded Scotch Irishman.”
John Kelly was a member of the governor’s council in 1846. John Kelly was register of probate for Hillsborough County, N. H., 1831 to 1837. John Kelly was register of deeds in Rockingham County from 1832 to 1837.
Joseph Kelly was one of the selectmen of Sunbudy in 1757. Joseph Kelly was a prisoner in Amherst jail in 1774. The occasion for it was an assault he made on John Holman. It seems clear that the cause of the trouble was political, for the Provincial papers contain several petitions from some of the towns of Hillsborough County asking for his release. He was a Nottingham man, and from the records seemed to be in hot water a good part of the time. He raised a company in June, 1775, but his men refused to allow Major Hobart to muster them into the service. His troubles extended to 1787.
Col. Moses Kelly, on the authority of Dearborn, historian of Salisbury, was born in Newbury, Mass. He was living in Goffstown, N. H., before the outbreak of the Revolution. He represented that town in the Fourth Provincial Congress held in May, 1775, and again in the Fifth Provincial Congress in December, 1775.
He represented Goffstown and Derryfield in the Legislature of 1776. Although not serving in the Continental army, he was, from the State records, one of the most active men in the state. It is written of him that he owned mills in Goffstown at the place now known as Kelly’s Falls upon the Piscataquog River. He was a zealous patriot, and kept a public house upon the Mast road. Many of the forays against the Tories of that neighborhood were concocted at Colonel Kelly’s.
He was appointed major of the Ninth regiment of militia on Dec. 21, 1775, and promoted to colonel of the same regiment in 1779. New Hampshire possessed an efficient force of militia during the Revolution and from its ranks were drafted men for three Continental regiments as occasion required. Some of these militia regiments distinguished themselves at Bennington, under Stark, and at Rhode Island, under Sullivan.
It is doubtful if any one man had more to do with affairs at home than Colonel Kelly, and his special forte was in furnishing recruits for the veteran regiments at the front. In the reorganization of the state militia under General Sullivan, in 1784, he was reappointed colonel of his old command, the Ninth New Hampshire.
Like Sullivan, he was continually in the service of the state in one capacity or another. As late as 1807, he read the Declaration of Independence from the top of a large boulder in Amherst, N. H. His son, bearing the same name, was coroner of Hillsborough County in 1789. Another son, Hon. Israel Kelly, removed to Salisbury, in 1803. In 1843 he removed to East Concord, where he made his home until his death in 1857.
He was the sheriff of Hillsborough County, a judge of the Court of Sessions, and United States marshal under President Taylor. His wife was a sister of Grace Fletcher, who was the wife of Daniel Webster. Her mother and grandmother, bore the time-honored name of Bridget, denoting an affinity of some sort with the natives of the Emerald Isle.
Joshua Kelly was one of the proprietors of Conway, N. H., and on its list of rate payers in 1773. He was one of the active men of the town, and had seen military service. Samuel Kelly was one of the coroners of Strafford County in 1776. One of the same name was a member of the House of Representatives in 1776. It appears again on a petition from Madbury in 1786. Lieut. Samuel Kelly was one of the special force raised by Sullivan in December, 1775. A Samuel Kelly served in Captain Barron’s company from Pembroke in 1776, and a Samuel Kelly was in Captain Moore’s company in Stark’s regiment in the same year.
Samuel Kelly of New Hampton, undoubtedly one of Darby’s descendants, served in Col. Hercules Mooney’s regiment in Rhode Island in 1779.
Another Samuel Kelly of Meredith, saw service at Ticonderoga. Rev. Samuel Kelly, according to Bouton’s History of Concord, N. H., was the first settled pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church in Concord. He was chaplain of the state prison in 1730. The name of Samuel Kelly of Brentwood is mentioned four times in the Provincial deeds, and once again in Derryfield in 1768. He was undoubtedly the oldest son of Darby Kelly and one of the first settlers of New Hampton.
Daniel Kelly was in Sanbornton, N. H., in 1748, and another Daniel Kelly was recorded as a deserter from a British vessel in Boston Harbor in 1770. He probably found the change from the forecastle of a ship to the picturesque hills of New Hampshire desirable.
Daniel Kelly was ordered to appear before the Committee of Safety at Exeter to account for being concerned in the destruction of powder at Brentwood, May 20, 1799. Daniel Kelly was one of two grantees of a bridge, called Bridgewater and New Hampton bridge, at New Hampton in 1784.
Daniel Kelly was a soldier in Captain Light’s company at Louisburg in 1745. Daniel Kelly of Hawke and Sandown was interested in some scheme relating to the currency in 1786. The Province deeds contain the name of Daniel Kelly three times from 1720 to 1731, from Hampton; five times, from 1737 to 1740, from Kingston, and once each from the towns of Epping and Newton, and twice from the town of Nottingham, from 1752 to 1764.
Edward Kelly of Sanbornton was one of the signers of the test oath in 1775 and his name and that of his son Edward appears on a petition for a ferry in 1781, and Edward Kelly was one of the men who enlisted under Sullivan’s call in November, 1775. He served in the company of Captain Copp. An Edward Kelly recruited from the militia regiment of Colonel Webster in 1780 for the Continental army.
The name Edward Kelly is written in two deeds dated 1761 and 1765, both at Brentwood.
David and Ebenezer Kelly were two signers for the incorporation of a new town in Strafford County in 1788. David Kelly was a private in Captain Tilton’s company, Colonel Poore’s regiment, June 12, 1775. Later, he was promoted to sergeant-major and second lieutenant.
David H. Kelly of Warner was a soldier in Capt. Jonathan Bean’s company in 1812. Jacob Kelly and Micajah Kelly were in Gilmanton in 1789. Jacob Kelly and Israel Kelly were two of the grantees of Newport, N. H., in 1753.
Nehemiah Kelly served in Captain Calfe’s company, Colonel Bartlett’s regiment, in 1776–1777. He was also under Sullivan in Rhode Island.
Philip Kelly was a soldier in Colonel Blanchard’s regiment, at Crown Point, in 1755.
Robert Kelly’s name was on a petition for the appointment of Captain Folsom to be lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth regiment in 1775.
Jonathan Kelly of Epping was a soldier in Captain Moore’s company, Poore’s regiment, in 1775, and served in an expedition to Canada in 1776. He re-enlisted in 1777 in the First New Hampshire of the Continental line for three years, or during the war. This man had a splendid record, serving from Bunker Hill to Yorktown. He is recorded as re-enlisting in 1781 for three more years. His grave, wherever it may be, should be decorated Memorial Day.
A Jonathan Kelly appears in the list of soldiers living in Northfield, N. H., in 1785.
Abial Kelly, by the establishment of the boundary line, in 1745, was transferred to Methuen, Mass. His name often appears in the Province deeds. Josiah Kelly served in Colonel Gilman’s regiment in 1776. Dr. Benjamin Kelly, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was a resident of Gilmanton in 1801. Stephen Kelly was a ratepayer in Cocheco parish in 1741. Ebenezer Kelly was a petitioner for a classification of towns for representatives in 1798. He lived in Bridgewater.
Ephraim Kelly was a soldier in Stark’s regiment at Bunker Hill, where he was wounded.
Holbridge Kelly was on the roll of Colonel Walton’s men for scouting duty, in 1710. This name occurs eight times in the Province deeds, as of Stratham, Nottingham and Bow.
Timothy Kelly was one of Captain McConnell’s company, Colonel Hazen’s regiment, in 1778. As the most of the soldiers in this regiment were of Irish or French-Canadian parentage, and recruited in Canada, this Timothy Kelly may have been of Irish birth. Another Timothy Kelly was in Candia in 1770, and still another was in Boscawen in 1812. His daughter, who was the wife of Nicholas M. Noyes of the same town, is the authority for stating that her father was a native of the County Waterford, Ireland. His parents were well-to-do. He was involved in the movement for Irish independence in 1798, which resulted in the murder by the British of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and the execution of Robert Emmet.
For his safety, his parents sent him to this country. He landed in Newbury, Mass., and from thence he moved to Boscawen, marrying his wife as stated, and he remained there until the time of his death. Through him his daughter, Mrs. Noyes, was well acquainted with the history of Ireland, as well as with the events that resulted in the sad tragedy of the execution of young Emmet.
He had three sons, John M., Roland B., and Andrew J. Kelly. The latter was a soldier with an exceptionally fine record. He enlisted for three years in the New Hampshire battalion of Berdan’s sharpshooters on Aug. 8, 1861. He re-enlisted for three years more on Jan. 2, 1864, remaining until he was mustered out at the close of the war, June 28, 1865. At this date, June, 1905, he resides in Hopkinton, N. H., a living type of one of the trio of “Kelly and Burke and Shea.”
Hon. Timothy Kaley was born in Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland, in 1817. He came to this country when quite young. He arrived in New England by way of Canada, a frequent route taken in these early days by Irish emigrants, and a sad way it proved to be for thousands whose remains lie along the banks of the St. Lawrence, from its mouth to Kingston, who died from ship fever. Mr. Kaley was in business for a time in Canton, Mass. In 1860 he came to Milford, N. H., where he remained until the time of his death. In this town he established himself as of the firm Morse, Kaley & Co., for the manufacture of knitting cotton. The product of his mill became known all over the country. It is written of him that “from the time he became a citizen of Milford until the day of his decease, he ranked among the most enterprising and progressive citizens of the town.” He was a public-spirited man, taking an active part in the affairs of the community as well as in those connected with his adopted state and nation. He was elected to the state senate in 1881 and 1882, but died before his term of office expired. He was a good speaker, a ready debater, and was gifted with a very retentive memory.
In 1879 or thereabouts, while in Richmond, Va., on an excursion with the New Hampshire Club, he declaimed the celebrated speech of Patrick Henry from the same pew in the historic St. John’s Church in which it was given originally by the fiery Virginian whose inspiring words “Give me liberty or give me death” have been repeated in every schoolhouse in New England.
His son, the Hon. Frank E. Kaley, is the worthy heir of an honored sire. He is the treasurer of the firm established by his father, director of Souhegan National Bank, president of the Milford Building and Loan Association, a trustee of the Milford Savings Bank, vice-president of the Milford Tanning Co., and a member of the Board of Water Commissioners. He was elected a member of the Executive Council of Governor Bachelder for the years 1903 and 1904, but what is better than all these positions of honor, is that few men in New Hampshire are esteemed more highly at home or abroad, and what is still better, it is all deserved.
The name Kaley is without question derived from the same Gaelic root, Ceallaigh, more commonly known as Kelly, but occasionally written Kaley and Kiley. The experience of the father and son is a remarkable illustration of the vigor of the old Gaelic blood, for with equal opportunities the men in whose veins it runs, let them be Irish or Highland Scotch, take no second place in the varied walks of life. The birthplace of Timothy Kaley was not a great distance from that of the ancestors of the Sullivans of New Hampshire, who also came from the south of Ireland.
Dr. Nathaniel Kelly was an eminent physician in the town of Plaistow, N. H., where he was born in 1800. He represented his town in the state Legislature. Dr. Langley Kelly was another distinguished physician residing in Weare, N. H., in 1878.
In placing the foregoing names before the reader, one cannot help being surprised at the number of men bearing a distinctive Irish name appearing in either the Town, Provincial or State records of New Hampshire. Even in our day but comparatively few men have their names printed in the public records. It is safe, therefore, to say that the greater part of these men had done something to specially merit them a place in the records.
Again, a good idea can be formed of the number of men bearing distinctively Irish names, as the number of persons bearing this one name figured in New Hampshire affairs, or a greater part of them, before 1800, an unusually large proportion of them having seen service in the Provincial wars or in the war for independence. Assuredly, a most fitting conclusion to this article will be Mr. Joseph I. C. Clarke’s poem: