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.