Second Generation
william
Charles was my 4th great grandfather and there are several mysteries associated with Charles,
the first is the appearance of "Dean" given as his middle name on
the
Whiteside family DNA website, no one seems to know the source
for that claim. I am unsure how reliable the birth year
1756 might be, Alethea Jane Macon in her book
Four O’Kelley Sons and Some of their Descendants - Allied
Families presents Charles
as the fifth son in her chart, after
Benjamin but August 12, 2022
DNA results of James Thomas O'Kelley a traceable descendant of
Benjamin proves beyond doubt that
Benjamin in Macon's book is not
the brother of my grandfather Charles, he is likely a 7th or 8th
cousin.
George Welborn O'Kelley's
family bible
gives his grandfather Charles as born about 1760.
I have often pondered on the source of Charles and Francis
forenames. These are not Irish forenames, their origins are
French and my DNA match results and the fact that Charles and
Francis didn't marry Irish immigrant women, they married Crowders
who are cousins of Thomas Jefferson from founding families I have
come to suspect that those names came from French Huguenots who
settled around Manikin VA in the 1600s and it is possible that their
immigrant great, great grandparents may have been the 32 year old
Thomas and Honora Kelly who came to America
with their 5 children in 1691 at the settled with the Huguenots and
that is the source of Charles and Francis forenames. Charles and
Francis may have been 5th America born, well accepted by the
founding families allowing them to marry well. My
grandfather Charles appeared to be a
young man with considerable resources for he was 22 when he married,
owned land very near that time, and at the age of 23 he had the finances
to hire a cousin of Thomas Jefferson to serve as
substitute to serve in the Mecklenburg
Militia in his stead.
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Charles died young in Nov 1810 and he and his wife are buried just
south of Comer Ga and just inside Oglethorpe Co in the
O'Kelley Whitehead Cemetery
6. Harold
Ernest O'Kelley in his book connects Charles to the Benjamin born in 1761 in King
and Queen Co VA thus he believes Charles may have been born in
King and Queen Co Virginia but Benjamin DNA has proved that
Charles and Benjamin were 7th or 8th cousins so I doubt that
Charles was born in King and Queen Co VA and Benjamin pension
application is Harold
Ernest O'Kelley only source for King and Queen. What is known for
certain is Charles and Francis
married Crowder sisters who were likely from Prince George Co
which borders Surry and Rev James is said to have come from
Surry.
Charles O'Kelley was my 4th great grandfather.
To the left is a 27.5 Acre Mecklenburg Co VA land grant to a
Charles Kelley dated Dec 8 1800 that
Harold Ernst O'Kelley makes mention in his book. Source:
Online Catalog Library of Virginia |
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| 34.006711 -83.119172 |
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Photo above and to the left comes from Krista Whitehead, the photo
in the middle is
by Joyce Lambert, 4th Great-granddaughter of Charles and Mary |
Revolutionary War
Records for a Charles Kelly, 8th Virginia might not be valid for
Charles O'Kelley
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| Harold
Ernst O'Kelley makes the claim in his book that the
Daughters of the American Revolution set the grave stone for
Charles in 1982 and it states he
served in the
8th Virginia Regiment in 1776–1777.5
A
Harold Ernst O'Kelley may have been mistaken or mislead as a
descendant of Vic Raimey has informed me that Vic set both the
gravestone and the O'Kelley Whitehead bench in a ceremony. Our national archives have records of a Charles Kelly
who served from September 1776 to April 1777 in the 8th Virginia, 10
Company commanded by Captain William Crogrhan and this record use to
be associated with Charles O'Kelley's DAR record created by Macon
but that has changed very recently, the DAR no longer accepts
Macon's documentation and they now reference the substitution of Captain John Farrar on the
1779 Mecklenburg Co Militia for my grandfather Charles revolution
service. The
Daughters of the American Revolution Ancestor #A085952 in 2012
gave its
source for Charles's service in the 8th Virginia as Author John H Gwathmey and from his book titled HIST REG OF VA IN THE REV,
Vol 1 P. 437 and it appears this supporting documentation was
submitted with Alethea Jane Macon's
application. I have seen the brief entry in this book
and it lists Charles Kelly 8 Vir CL but it appears
it was all in error because sometime in
2013 the DAR
changed there records and Charles O'Kelley is no longer given as serving in the 8th
Virginia and I think they are correct, in my own research I came to
question how that line was drawn between Charles O'Kelley and the
Charles Kelly who appears on the roster for the 8th Virginia.
For research record only, I will continue to display the records for
Charles Kelly below. |
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I believe the truth about my 4th Great Grandfather
Charles O'Kelley appears on a Virginia State Militia roll that was
formed at Mecklenburg in 1779. What makes this record
interesting is a substitute named
John Farrar
served in the place of
 19
year old Charles. Who was my 4th Great Grandfather that a man like
Lieutenant John
Farrar would choose to serve as a substitute in his stead? Was
it because Mary was pregnant? I suspect it was because his
father was an Officer.
John Farrar was born in 1728 so he was near the age of James
O'Kelley and a James Kelley received pay for his Militia so I wonder
if John and Charles father might have been close friends. Lt
Farrar was a man of substance, he sold beef to the colonies to
support the war. At his young age did Charles have the resources to hire someone
of Lt Farrar stature to serve his duty for him or was something else
the primary factor? John Farrar
was born about 1758 so they were very near the same age but John was the second cousin of Thomas Jefferson.
John Farrar's grandmother was
Judith Jefferson the aunt of Thomas Jefferson. The Militia was commanded by
Captain Reuban Vaughn, the service was for six months and they
joined General Lincoln in South Carolina and were in the
Battle of Stone Ferry. You
can see the full roster including my grandfather's name on that
roster and while he is listed as a double "e" Kelley, he
only made a mark so the spelling results from the training of the
person who has written his name. Also on the
Roster are two Crowders who in 1779 were likely related to Mary
Crowder the wife of Charles.
 Another interesting detail about
John Farrar,
according to a Mecklenburg Co marriage record his son also named
John Farrar married Ann
Baskerville 24 December 1794 and her father
William Baskervill appears as the
second on the marriage record of
Francis Kelley and Delilah Crowder so it would seem there was
more than just an casual friendship between the Farrars and the
O'Kelleys. Judith Jefferson wasn't the only of her family
to live and die in Mecklenburg, one will find the grave of her
brother,
Field Jefferson, also in a Mecklenburg Cemetery. Peter Jefferson
the father of Thomas Jefferson also appears in the Lunenburg Co Road
records so the Jeffersons conducted business in the portion of
Lunenburg Co that became Mecklenburg Co.
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~ Charles O'Kelley ~
Private ~ Virginia DAR Patriot Index:
Born c1756 in VA
Died before
November 1810 in GA
Married Mary Crowder Marker at O'Kelly/Whitehead
Cemetery: GPS 34.006711 -83.119172
Charles O'Kelley
8 Va Regt
Rev.
War
1756 - 1810 source
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaogleth/patriots.htm
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There may be a blood relationship between
the descendants of Charles O'Kelley and John Farrar as some make the claim
that Charles O'Kelley's mother-in-law was Mary Branch (Crowder) who was the
great, great, granddaughter of Christopher and Mary (Addie) Branch and they
were also the great great grandparents of President Thomas Jefferson and
great great grandparents of John Farrar who appears as the substitute for
Charles O'Kelley. The Crowders and the Branchs settled along the James
River in Virginia about 1620 and lived near each other. If Mary Branch
was the wife of George Crowder as some claim, then the descendants of
Charles and Mary (Crowder) O'Kelley will be maternal cousins to
President Thomas Jefferson.
Georgia Archives lists Charles O'Kelley as receiving land in the
Headright system.
DOC 4113: 1783 - 1909, O'Hearn, Josiah - Orvis, James
- C 169989: O'Kelley, Charles
Charles O'Kelley and Mary Polly Crowder
were said to have married about 1778 in Mecklenburg Co, VA but because the
English ministers who held the authority to marry left America, I suspect
they likely were common law wed explaining why no record has ever been
found. They lived in Oglethorpe Co, GA in 1798–1809 and we know from his
estate documents that Charles was a wealthy slave owner.
Four early hand
written estate papers confirm that in 1811 the heirs of my 4th
great grandfather Charles O'Kelley were spelling "O'Kelley" in the full
modern form of our name which is a confirmation that my elders claims that we
always spelled our name as "O'Kelley" seems to be based in fact.
These papers also indicate that at the time of his death, Charles
O'Kelley was a wealthy man.
Mary "Polly" Crowder was born on 25 December
1757 in the portion of Lunenburg Co that became Mecklenburg Co, VA in 1764. She appeared in the census on 7 August 1820 in
Oglethorpe Co, GA.8 She
died on 12 November 1842. I am certain that Polly is the
nickname she used because Polly was a common nickname for someone named
Mary. To name a child Mary Polly would be the same as naming her Mary
Mary. The Crowder name is of English origins meaning one who plays the
fiddle but it is very unlikely an English Crowder would have permitted his
daughters to marry the lowly Irish so it is far more likely that Mary's
family were of the Crowders who settled in eastern Ireland sometime after
the 1600s then came to America with the Scots Irish many generations later.
The Crowder's have an early
history in America. Mary Crowder's line can be traced back
five generations to Hugh Crowder who came from Surry England in 1619 and
established a small plantation in Virginia Colony. Mary's father
was George -> Bartholomew C -> Bartholomew O -> Henry -> Hugh.
George Crowder was born in
Bristol Parish Prince George Co VA which is likely where the
O'Kellys and Deans also lived.
Charles O'Kelley and Mary "Polly" Crowder had the following children.
To my knowledge we have nothing to tell us this lists is correct or in the
right order. We do not have a Thomas in this family but do have a
William which could be and indicator that Charles's father may have been
William and not Thomas or James.
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