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George Kelley
born
about 1752 |
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Three books have been published about my family;
J Fred O'Kelly's
1966 book,
Alethea Jane Macon's
1969 book, and
Harold O'Kelley's
1985 book and they all make claim that
George O'Kelley was the second son of
Thomas O'Kelley and
Elizabeth Dean. To my knowledge no one
has found
George O'Kelley in any records how ever
there was a George Kelley who engaged with large land
transactions with Patrick Henry, he was associated with the
Yahzoo Land Company but I have found nothing to indicate he was
of our family.
Using my experience and resources I have not found any evidence
to prove these authors got it right and since they don't tell
share their evidence with us, I am not sure how much faith came
be put in their conclusions about George being the second son. In his book
Harold O'Kelley shares his efforts but
it appears he has confused
the son, George O'Kelley with George Washington O'Kelley the
second
son of Charles and Mary O'Kelley. George Washington O'Kelley
was born in Mecklenburg in 1783 during the time when George
Washington was very popular and sometime after 1805 he became an
early Baptist minister who moved into Franklin Co GA very early
and as the counties Banks and Madison were carved from portions
of Franklin he is found in the records of these counties. If
George O'Kelley the son born in 1752 was
a real person why doesn't he appear in Revolutionary War
records? The most likely reason must have been because he
died before manhood or as a young man he was not in America at the time of
the Revolutionary War. Surely if he had been
alive and in America he would have served, been drafted like his
brothers and since no record of his service has been found, I must consider that
George O'Kelley having been named after his Irish grandfather
that he may have been sent to Ireland as a child to live
with his Irish family while he was
educated and likely he was ordained as a minister in the Church of England and
once the war broke out he just never returned. To an educated young man seeking
opportunity, the rustic life of colonel America would not have
been as luring as Dublin and if he was ordained in the Church of
England the revolution would have prevented his return. It
is certainly possible that he could have been
Sir
Saint George O'Kelly who was a publisher in Dublin.
Assuming that
J Fred O'Kelly,
Alethea Jane Macon, and
Harold O'Kelley got it right and
George O'Kelley
was the second son born about 1752, where did that name
originate? The naming custom was to name the first born son after his paternal
grandfather, second born son after his maternal
grandfather, and the third son after his father.
Thomas and George
should be the names of the two grandfathers and William the third born son
the name of Elizabeth Dean's husband and
that appears to be supported by three census documents, the
1752 Lunenburg Co Virginia Tithe
Census,
1769 Lunenburg Co Virginia Tithe Census, and a later
1782 Mecklenburg Co Virginia State Head of Household government
census document that lists a William Kelly and not a Thomas
or James Kelly.
Below are the George Kellys that I have found near the time
my immigrate ancestor's father would have lived:
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- Ensign George Kelley who served under
Captain Robert Bellew in the
Jacobite War of 1688 to 1691,
Ensign George Kelley appears in the notes within
Col
Charles O'Kellys 1692 manuscript titled
"Macariae Excidium",
- Rev
George Kelly
(protestant) of Knockcroghery (St John's) Parish Co Roscommon, he graduated Trinity Dublin Ireland 1706 and was the son of Edmund Kelly.
This Rev George Kelly was a
nonjuroring protestant as was Rev John Chetwode and they believed that only the Stuarts were God
appointed to be Kings and for his part in attempting to restore a descendant
of King James I to the crown he was arrested and put in prison in the Tower
of London where he lived until his escape in 1736. He made his way to
France where he spent the rest of his life as the secretary of Prince
Charles. He died about 1750. If an O'Kelly married a descendant of
Rev John
Chetwode as author W E Mac
Clenny claimed, it would likely have been this Rev George Kelly. A
great deal of information including Rev George Kelly's daring prison escape
can be found in the "History
of the Irish brigades in the service of France, from the revolution ..."
by John Cornelius O'Callaghan. There can be no doubt that George
Kelly's activities reached all the way to Virginia Colony as found in the
online Library of Virginia state papers collections is the
published speech of George Kelly about the incident.
- George
Kelley who appears in the below Co Wicklow court record.
The earliest George Kelly that I have found in the Irish
records is found as the
Rector in the parish of Rathcooney Co Cork in 1641. This
George would have been born in the early 1600s or late 1500s.
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You can read more about Rev
George Kelly in the
booklet titled
Origins of the surname O'Kelly by Anthony Mathews. But
the story given by Anthony Mathews has problems because St Marks
was built in 1757 and
George Kelly was born in 1687 and was ordained a deacon in
1706 the year Mathews gives as the year George became the Rector
for St Marks. He wrote two books, "The Speech of Mr George
Kelly, 2nd of May, 1723 in his Defence against the Bill then
depending for inflicting Pains and Penalities Upon Him" 1723 and
later "Memoirs of the life, travels and transactions of the Rev.
G. Kelly from his birth to his escape out of the Tower in 1736".
George reportedly died in 1750. Rev George Kelly may have
been an ancestor of
Daniel Kelly of Cargins which is ten miles southeast of
Frenchpark as it was said that the
Kellys of Cargins were early devout protestants
1 but the Mucklon O'Kellys
lived closer to Rev George Kelly, they had both Church of
England Ministers and
a large number of this family served as officers in the
British Military which could account for how William Denis
O'Kelly obtained a commission in our Revolutionary War and the
Mucklon O'Kellys are in the records as naming a son George and
among the 34 George or Geo Kellys found in the
Applotment Tithes 9 appear in Taghboy Parish and that is
where we find
George Kelly living at Mucklon in 1828 who appears in Sir
Bernard Burks book, "A
Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of
Ireland" and this makes it certain that George Kelly of
Mucklon is not our George O'Kelley but DNA, the protestant
religion, and given name of George which only appears in the
Mucklon family pedigree makes it likely that I may descend from
the Mucklon Kellys or their close cousins.
It is claimed that after
George
Kelly escaped the tower of
London in 1736 he made his way to France where in 1744 he became
the
secretary to
Prince Charles Edward Stuart and he traveled
with Charles to Scotland where the Jacobites put up one final
attempt to restore the Stuarts to the English crown. They
were defeated and I find it of interest that William Kelly my
ancestor seems to have come to America about 1746 and there is a
ship record for a William Kelly coming to Virginia. Perhaps another interesting detail is William Kelly
and Elizabeth Dean named their fourth son Charles in 1756 a name
that until about that time wasn't widely in use among the Kellys.
If was my Irish grandfather Rev
George
Kelly and he was the secretary to Prince King Charles then
it is certainly possible that my grandfather Charles born in
1756 was named after
Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Certainly adds an
interesting story to the O'Kelly ancestors but that story may
not have a single bit of truth to it, it may all just be
coincident.
There is a more likely probability that seems supported by my
DNA which indicates that the family of my immigrant 5th great
grandfather lived in and around KillyCooley in the Parish of
Donagh co Monaghan Ireland and George O'Kelley born about 1752
could be the
George Kelly who is found living at Carneyhome in the
Clones Parish along the Co Fermanagh and Monaghan border in
1832. Many of the ancestors of my closest DNA matches can
be found in an around KillyCooley providing cause to believe
that my ancestors were the O'Kellys who lived around that area
for centuries.
Comment - I have found nothing
that includes or excludes the below Kelleys with our
family. I provide this documentation to aid
other family researchers. Rick O'Kelley
Court Record
The Lunacy of a Blacksmith Commission of Lunacy: Mr.
Hack, and Mr. Bracken of the Royal Council sat today in
the Nisi Prius Court for the purpose of inquiring into
the state of mind of Mr. Aaron Kelley, a blacksmith
residing in the county of Wicklow, Ireland. Parentage of
Mr. Kelley was Patrick Kelley and Rachel Wineas of
Kildare, Ireland. The petitioners were
Mr. George Kelley and
Mr. Thomas Kelley, brothers of the alleged lunatic,
whose property is estimated at 120 pounds a years,
arising out of a farm which he holds in the county of
Wicklow, a quantity of stock, values at 100 pounds, and
a small sum of money in the hands of his solicitor. Mr.
Stone and Mr. Eharck appeared on behalf of the
petitioners. Mr. McKenn attended on the part of the
alleged lunatic, and his sister, Anne. It was stated the
brothers wanted to have Aaron taken away for his wife’s
safety. The hearing was begun and many witnesses were
called. Rev. Father O’Malley stated that Kelley came to
him and said he wished to consult him with reference to
a vision which he had from God, who communicated to him
that there was no more sin in the world; he said that
the difference between the Almighty and the devil was to
be made up, and that he wished to inform the Emperor and
him of it. He further believed that all Medical people
would kill you on sight. He further stated that his
family including his wife and children tried in vain to
poison him repeatedly. He stated the fire in his
blacksmith shop was started by ghosts. He believed he
was a wealthy landowner with many servants. After many
other testimonies the Judge said for the family’s safety
Aaron Kelley would be institutionalized for the rest of
his natural life. As for the money his brothers declared
he had it was to go to his wife and his living children.
At the end of the trial Aaron was removed to Dr.
Dolster’s Asylum in Wicklow, Ireland. The closing date
of the hearing in Wicklow was the 3rd month and the 8th
day of the year of our Lord 1762. Aaron Kelley lived
until aged 74 in the year 1776. It was stated he never
saw family members again. Author: Longford Meade of
Medical Instructions
1See
page 23 of "The
recollections of Skeffington Gibbon, from 1796 to the
present year, 1829; : being an epitome of the lives and
characters of the nobility and gentry of Roscommon; the
genealogy of those who are descended from the kings of
Connaught; and a memoir of the late Madame O'Conor Don.
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