Person Page - 502

     John was born on 3 February 1884 at Alabama.¹ He was the son of James Daniel Kelly and Mary Isabell Hawkins. John died on 27 July 1885 at Alabama at age 1. His body was buried at Sylvan Grove Cemetery, Dale Co., Alabama.

     John was born on 11 December 1847 at Dawson, Terrell Co., Georgia.¹ He was the son of George Wiley Kelly and Harriet Smith. He married Cornelia Eleanor Kitchens, daughter of John Kitchens and Lucy A. T. (--?--), on 23 December 1868 at Terrell Co., Georgia.² John died on 8 September 1932 at Fennholloway, Taylor Co., Florida, at age 84.³ His body was buried on 9 September 1932 at New Hope Cemetery, Taylor Co., Florida.
     John's occupation: Farmer.
Biography of John Reuben Kelly:

John R. Kelly served in the Confederate Army. He enlisted in the Georgia Militia as a guard at Andersonville, Georgia, and later attached to Caper Batt., Georgia Cadets Co. D under Capt. Evers. He was discharged at surrender at Macon, Georgia. (Confederate Pension Application File # 10296, Kelly, John R. Georgia, Cornelia (Kitchens), Taylor Co. 1908, 23 pgs. Florida State Archive, Tallahassee, Florida]

     John R. Kelly and his brother Charles A. Kelly were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a Mr. David W. Oxford in Terrell County Superior Court in March of 1871. They were sentenced to 20 years in the State Pententiary. The shooting occurred while the "New Orleans Circus and Menagerie" was in Dawson, Georgia on 2 November 1870. Apparently John and Charles Kelly were involved in a dispute regarding entrance to the Circus. A number of people were arrested, but all were released except John and Charles Kelly. They were committed to the jail in Cuthbert, Georgia until there trial in March of 1871. After the trial and conviction they escaped from the jail in Cuthbert while they were waiting to be sent to the State penitentiary. On July 27, 1871, Rufus B. Bullock, Governor of Georgia issued a Proclamation offering a reward of $500 for the apprehension of John R. and Charles A. Kelly. John and Charles fled Georgia moving first to DeFuniak Springs Florida in 1871. In 1875 they moved to Spring Warrior, Taylor Co., Florida in 1875. . [This all from a series of Terrell County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings in Volume I, 1866-1875]


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     In 1887 Charles and John Kelly were pardoned by the Governor of Georgia. Below is a transcription of that pardon:

Executive Minutes - May 3, 1887      327

Pardons granted Charles A. Kelly and John R. Kelly

Executive Department

Atlanta, Ga., May 3, 1887

To the Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary:

     Whereas at sessions of the Supreme Court of Terrell County, held in March and in May 1871 Charles A. Kelly and John R. Kelly were arraigned and tried for the murder of David W. Oxford and convicted each of them of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced, each of them, to twenty years in the Penitentiary, and

     Whereas, after their conviction, the said Charles A- and John R. Kelly escaped beyond the limits of the State of Georgia and have since resided in Florida until within a few days when they have voluntarily returned to the State of Georgia and surrendered themselves to the Officers of the law and are now in your custody: and

     Whereas: petitions were filed in this office several months ago from a very large number of the most respectable citizens of Terrell County, embracing the members of the Bar, members of the Grand Jury, and all the survivors of the (illegible) juries by which the said parties were tried and officials and exofficials of every kind, asking that Executive Clemency should be extended to the said Charles A. and John R. Kelly may be pardoned; and

     Whereas, these parties were, after a rigorous prosecution, acquitted of the murder of C. T. Ames, upon the ground that whatever they did was done in self-defense and subsequently were tried for murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the homicide of David W. Oxford, one of their friends and neighbors, who was accidentally killed in the melee in which Ames was killed, but in which he the said Oxford was not engaged. And I have respectable legal authority for the opinion, that the verdict of voluntary manslaughter cannot be sustained by the law and the facts of the case. And

     Whereas, these parties, in the communities in which they have lived for the last sixteen years, have established and maintained excellent characters, reared families and have been and are now holding offices of honor and trust and have voluntarily come within the jurisdiction of the State to submit themselves to its authority and to ask that clemency may be extended them, so that the stigma of their convictions may be wiped out and they may be permitted to visit their father's house again as free men. It is

Ordered:

     That the said Charles A. and John R Kelly be and they are hereby pardoned of the offenses of which they were convicted, and that they be forthwith discharged and set at liberty.

     Given under my hand and the seal of the Executive Department at the Capitol in Atlanta, the day and year first above written.

     By the Governor       J. B. Gordon

     James T. Nesbit(?)            Governor

     Sec. Ex. Dept. [End of Pardon]


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     The following story was told to Eleanor Kelly Jefferson by Montie Carlton - circa 1959, [From Laura Jefferson Platter]

"Circus in town - John R Kelly - Cornelia Eleanor Kitchens, wife, Baby Turner, took Cornelia's 12 or 14 year old sister Ella to the circus. Charles and Matt and baby Dixie. Charles and Matt went in. (Charles) had heavy whiskers - the man next to him looked like Charles also had heavy whiskers - Grandpa & Grandma (John R and Cornelia) ticket taker accused them of making woman in front of them drop her baby- husband pushed him down & went on in. When Grandpa walked up the circus man accused him of taking too many people in - Charles heard angry voices & left his wife & went back to see - Negro from place put gun in Charles hand & he got there in time to knock pistol up with right hand from John's stomach and shot with the left."

"(a lawyer - Will Davis) of Perry, Fla. - now deceased - became interested in the circus case and wrote up a complete transcript on it -)"

"Different friends dropped into the jail and left knives etc. with John & Charles (John said he never killed anybody. Charles may have but someone else might have too - there were other shots at the time) It was planned that they break jail because of carpet bagger jurisdiction while everybody was in church their horses were waiting for them and they went across the "line" in to Alabama first. Later they and their families went into north Fla. And settled in Wakulla County & lived there 6 years. Their mother lost her mind temporarily with grief and worry over the boys. (no letters of course) When John's by Turner approached the age that he knew his family they decided to go to South Fla and take up their family name so loaded wagons one of which was pulled by oxen and the two families went from West Fla southward. Grandma Kelly "could make your hair stand on end' telling about this trip. One such incidence was a bridge where the water had washed some of the planks away and water lapping at the boards - The horse jumped the hole in the bridge. They got to the Fenholloway River and there was a barrel stave factory there and it was Saturday night. They encamped and it being Sunday next they were there for church - They wouldn't have thought of travelling on Sunday - There was church under the barrel stave shed and they joined in naturally. Grandma said she thought she had arrived at the jumping off place sure enough - men came without shoes - without coats ("marriageable" families were non-existent) They were very friendly to the strangers tho and showed the opportunities of their section & begged them to stay so they never went farther south but stayed in Taylor County - homesteaded - Timbered land there could have been bought for 50 cents an acre. They found a shed and both families lived in it until they could build their homes which took some time."

"When John and Charles were pardoned they went to Atlanta to receive them (the pardons). John had by this time served in state legislature. The governor's name was Gordon and Charles' son was named for him - after receiving their pardons they went to Dawson and the townspeople had the band out and great rejoicing went on. They had covered wagons ready to go to Florida and move them back home. They thanked them & Grandpa said they would never know what it meant to him for them to do that but that they had made their place in Florida and would go back there and live - which they did"

"Notes from Bernice Kelly Carroll: Nelson was the black man who drove the wagon from GA to Fl for the Kelly brothers and their wives. He and Grandpa Kelly were fast friends. When he came to visit Grandpa he would be invited to sit on the front porch instead of the back steps. He died when a car ran into his buggy. The driver fled the scene. John R was so angry he had to be restrained from attacking the driver. Nelson was badly crippled and never could walk without 2 canes. He was home-schooled with the Kelly children. They had a teacher who lived with them because there wasn't a school. Mr. Kelly believed that the Negro children should learn to read too. When John R was involved in Taylor County politics he pushed for black schools." [End of Montie Carlton Story]


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     The following notes dated July, 1992 by      Cornelia Eleanor Kelly Jefferson [From Laura Jefferson Platter]

"I remember being at Grandpa and Grandma's in the summer (during sweet pea season) and one time Aunt Minnie (Kitchens) and Uncle John Slappy came. Aunt Minnie never had children. She was very tall and slender. The Kitchens were from Albany, Ga. Montie Carlton said if she made a pie Aunt Minnie would say, "That's good but Montie your crust is a wee bit too short." ...or something!. Another time a whole car full came - one of which was Aunt Emma."

"Grandpa, John R. Sr. didn't have much in the way of cash. His assets were the homeplace (40 acres) and some pine acreage with turpentine lease which provided some income. His cash had been sacrificed during the depression after WWI. He had had stock in the Perry Bank and the Mayo Bank. At that time a stockholder had to come up with cash to match stock holdings so he had the two banks to cash out. One of the inlaw heirs sued to close the estate and the land was sold to the timber company for $40 an acre. If they had waited they might have gotten more."

"They lived on his Civil War Pension. After he died, Grandma received a widow's pension of $11 a month."

"Warrior Spring is nearer the Gulf. I assume the term Warrior means the source's tributaries of the lowlands near the Gulf. Where the headwaters are (maybe I'm wrong on this). Or where a spring flows out into a river."

"Harriet Smith was a Scotchwoman. Ezekiel died young. He married Ida Cozart. There was one son Will (devil on wheels) 1 daughter"

"Charles - died young - married Aunt Matt"

"Puss - married - widowed - George Scott - 3 girls - Cuthbert GA"
     
"John R."
     
"Amanda Ann - married Harris Melton - 2 dtrs. Mae Melton and Mattie Fischer"

"James H (Uncle Boog) Herod, GA had 2 sons and 3 dtrs."


"Charles R. Kelly - Mary Penny (married 2-20-1855) his second wife
"stole him blind"according to Montie Built a fine brick house for each of her sons." [End of July 1992 Corenelia Eleanor Kelly Jefferson Notes]


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The following stories were recorded by Eleanor Kelly Jefferson: [From Laura Jefferson Plater]

"November 8, 1976"

"Eleanor Kelly Jefferson visited Turner M. Carlton, (first cousin). "

"Eleanor's father Homer was brother to Turner's mother Lillie Kelly Carlton of Columbia, South Carolina. Turner retired in either 1966 or 1967 from the Federal Land Bank, retiring as Treasurer; having been with the bank in various capacities 32 years, 11 months and 13 days."

"Several topics were covered starting with the foster children that
Grandpa Kelly (John R. ) raised. He called off three boys, 2 of them
Grandpa raised because their father died and they were orphans- Tom and Henry, the Redding boys. The other boy was an illigitimate child and his father couldn't take care of' him - Dan Towles. This being in addition to Turner, a grandson and his sister Montie. Turner's mother died when Turner was less than a year old and Grandma took him to raise. Some time later Montie came to live with them also because she had no use for her step mother Delilah Kelley Carlton; besides, she didn't like that name. Montie was 10 years older than Turner."

"One story Turner told was about a neighbor of Grandpa's named ___,     who invited Grandpa, Grandma and Turner to go home with them after church one Sunday. This was common custom in those years. There being, one buggy, the women folks rode in the buggy and the men walked. Mr. ______ told his wife on the way to church that he had buried his gold last night after midnight and after church he would show her where he had done it. Mr. _____ told Grandpa that "John, I drew my money out of' the bank last week and got it in
gold, There seemed to be some uneasiness about the bank.
When the families got to the house they went inside and Mr. ______
sat down on the couch on the left end and Turner, a lad, on the
other end of the couch. Grandpa sat in a chair near Mr. _________
He had just sat down and they were talking. Mr. _____gave a deep breath and didn't say anything, and     his head kinda dropped over to one side. Grandpa got up and lifted his feet up on the sofa and put his head down on the arm and Mr. ____ never spoke another word- He was dead. Turner witnessed it all and said     "thats the first man I ever saw die." It turned out that the gold was about $2,000, nobody knew where it was buried and many canals and holes wore dug on the place but no one knows that the gold was ever found."

"WHY GRANDPA NEVER SHAVED HIS BEARD".

"Grandpa and one brother were very close. They were in Dawson
one day and were talking about shaving. The brother said, "John, I guess I won't shave before I see you again" and Grandpa John replied
"Well Iguess I won't shave until I see you again" and they said goodbye Then the brother went across the river to go to Eufala, Alabama and on the journey his horse shied, ran away with the buggy and Uncle _______was killed.     Grandpa John never shaved. As a child I remember his white beard."

"Most or their property was homesteaded. You could homestead 40 acres. Grandpa homesteaded his 40 acres, later other members of the family homesteaded theirs. Uncle Charles also homesteaded 40 acres adjoining John's which John bought from Charles's widow after Charles died. Charles' daughter homesteaded another place which we always called the Dixie place. This was near the New Hope Church and cemetery. There were more acres in this- and file road right of way and the rail road right of' way came off' or it. Now Route 98."

"Grandpa raised George Scott who was a nephew but Turner didn't know in what way. this kinship was."

"George Kelly was a farmer in Dawson, Ga or in the county.
He had sons, Charles, Boog, Zeke, John and     the son who was killed
in the buggy accident, and a daughter Emma who married a McLendon."

"John R. went into service when a lad about 15 or 16. He was a guard
at Andersonville. When the war was over he and the other troops there left and started walking home. He spoke at times of having been captured and escaping but we have no other knowledge. He married Grandma, Cornelia Kitchens when he was 21 and she was almost 18. (Grandma had 2 sisters- Minnie and Ella. Minnie married John W. Slappey of Sylvester, Ga. and Ella married a Johnson. of the area.) Cornelia said that when she was married there was over a week of "gathering". All the relatives came and there was cake of every description and I'm sure lots of visiting and fellowship."

"The next that we know of was John and his brother Charles leaving Georgia as fugitives from Justice, crossing the state line and staying at Defuniak Springs, Florida under the name of Martin. It seems according to the way Turner remembers the story that the families went to a traveling carnival. A local man had been accused of trying to sneak in without paying, and being angered he had pasted the circus attendant. The attendant went off and got a gun and came back and the Kelly boys were standing there with their families. John had a young baby on his arm and Charles was right behind him. The attendant mistook John for the man he was angry with and leveled his gun to shoot him. Charles was left handed. He knocked the gun up with his right hand and put his gun in his gut and shot it with his left hand. Killing him. They had to take their families and leave because the government was at that time still in the hands of the "carpet baggers" and they know there would be no mercy."

"After some time at Defuniak Springs, they decided to move on. They went to the Fenholloway and decided to homestead there because that was the nearest county in that direction in which they could homestead and also it was out of the clay.They had left clay in Georgia and found clay in West Florida and they wanted to get out of it. If they had had money, there was land to be bought there for $5 an acre with virgin standing timber on It."

"There were 2 railroads going through Fenholloway- one the Florida railroad owned by old man Drew. His son Frank Drew worked for the Federal Land Bank in Columbia, S.C. dying there in about 1972. Mr. Drew fought the ICC because he was an intrastate RR and did not believe the Federal Govt. had any jurisdiction over his RR - His train ran from Perry to Mayo and he pulled freight and passenger cars together."

"After many years in Florida John and Charles went back to Georgia and "gave themselves up". John was declared free but Charles was charged with manslaughter. John did not think that was right so he went to Atlanta and talked to the Governor about it and the Governor granted a full and complete pardon. The neighbors and relatives
in Georgia had a band out for them and wagons and teams ready to
go to Florida to get their families and bring them back but the
men said "no, they would stay there in florida where they had
made a home for themselves". John had already been to the state
legislature as a representative by this time and had held county offices."

"John went to one civil war meeting in Mobile, Alabama about 1914."

"There was an old negro crippled, who lived near Spring Warrior,
by the name of Nelson Johnson. Turner said he would ask Nelson
when he would seehim "how old are you, Nelson?" Nelson, "Laws, youasks me that ever time you see me and I keep telling ____, his wife, 'I goin ast Ms. Peacock how old I is cause she got it down in her Bible the day I was bawn' ". Then one time he asked him and he said "Now, Ms Peacock done died and I dout enybody else at de house knows
where she had dose things put down". However Turner estimated Nelson was born about 1840. He came to Florida with the Peacocks- had been a slave. He plowed,crippled tho he was, grew vegetables
and the accounts the Carlton Kelly store show him purchasing
supplies and paying for themwith produce, deer hides and labor."


"On a previous visit Turner told us that when he was a boy there was
a negro boy who was charged with following Turner around to keep him out of trouble. This went on when Turner went to school. He was accompanied to school and the boy was waiting for him when he got out in the afternoons. Turner said he never suspected that this negro
boy didn't go to school just like he did- he went in one side of the
building and assumed that the negro boy went to a school too.
Later he realised such was not the case. Anyhow, this boy would
go to Grandma or Grandpa and say in a     plaintive voice "You bettah
do something about dat boy- he gwine to git in trouble" You bettah
do somepin bout dat boy'' - On a visit to Florida from Columbia
years later possibly in the 1950's, Turner went to where this negro lived. He stopped the car and called out the man's name and in a minute the man came out and Turner was greeted with a bear hug that he said he thought his ribs were going to he crushed. When Turner called out to him and he came to the door, he shouted "Lord Gawd Ders dat boy""

"Warrior means water way- it is Indian.
The Warriors were high water creeks. There was first Warrior, Spring Warrior and 3 altogether." [End of Eleanor Kelly Jefferson stories recorded in 1976]

      John R. Kelly came with his family to Florida in 1871 and settled in Taylor County in 1875 where he resided until his death in 1932. He was a very prominent and loved citizen of Taylor County. He was a successful business man, farmer, served two terms in the State Legislator 1885 and 1895, County Superintendent of Schools 1891-1895, County Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1915, County Commissioner from District 2 and Chairman of the Board of of County Commissioners. He was a stockholder and officer in the First National Bank in Perry as well as a leader in the Methodist church. He was widely known by all as "Uncle John Kelly". He is buried next to his wife in New Hope Cemetery in Taylor County.

     John was born on 14 October 1909 at Mayo, Lafayette Co., Florida.^1,2 He was the son of James Homer Kelly and Birdie Love Swords. He married Christine Cato, , on 28 July 1934 at Alachua Co., Florida. John died on 9 February 1988 at Gainesville, Alachua Co., Florida, at age 78. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Gainesville, Alachua Co., Florida.

     John was born on 18 April 1808 at Clarke Co., Georgia. He married Rebecca Ann Whitten Smith, daughter of Alexander Smith, on 19 April 1832 at Jasper Co., Georgia.¹ John died on 6 June 1887 at Jasper Co., Georgia, at age 79. His body was buried at Kelly Family Cem. - Liberty Church, Jasper Co., Georgia.

     John was born circa 1842 at Jasper Co., Georgia.¹ He was the son of Ezekiel B. Kelly and Elizabeth Smith. He married Virginia Killebrew, , on 5 January 1870 at Dale Co., Alabama.²
     
Biography of John Rutherford Kelly:

John R. Kelly had siblings: Matthew W. Kelly, George W. Kelly, born in Dothan, AL; and Charles Henry Kelly, born in Florala, AL. Apparently there was a community in Jasper County, GA called "Kelly". It was the home area of the Kelly's who apparently were farmers. About 1860 many of the Kellys moved to Dale County, AL, Columbia, Midland City, and Newton communities in Alabama. John R. Kelly had a wholesale grocery business in Columbus, GA using horses and wagons to deliver groceries over several counties. He then acquired steamers that plied the Chattahochee and Apalachicola rivers. His brother Matthew W. Kelly worked for him as a bookkeeper. Matthew was very frugal and bought into the business becoming a partner. He eventually bought out John R. Kelly, who moved to Montgomery and opened a cotton brokerage business.

John R. Kelly moved to Montgomery about 1900. He died during World War I. [From Patricia Strickland who obtained this information from Clyde Norwood]

     John was born circa 1931 at Taylor Co., Florida. He was the son of George Bunyan Kelly and Vera V. Sadler. John died circa 1931 at Taylor Co., Florida. His body was buried at Spring Warrior Church Cemetery., Taylor Co., Florida.¹

     John was born on 4 February 1874 at Dale Co., Alabama.¹ He was the son of John Rutherford Kelly and Virginia Killebrew.

     John was born on 24 May 1875 at Taylor Co., Florida.¹ He was the son of John Reuben Kelly and Cornelia Eleanor Kitchens. He married L. E. Chishin, , on 29 January 1899 at Taylor Co., Florida.² John died on 26 January 1938 at Taylor Co., Florida, at age 62.³ His body was buried in January 1938 at New Hope Cemetery, Taylor Co., Florida.

     Joseph was born on 1 October 1907 at Taylor Co., Florida. He was the son of George B. Kelly and Hattie Lufair King. He married Pearl McCall, daughter of Edward Franklin McCall and Loney Mae Bodiford.¹ Joseph died on 15 April 1967 at age 59. His body was buried at Spring Warrior Church Cemetery., Taylor Co., Florida.²

     Julius was born in 1907.¹ He was the son of James Luther Kelly and Katie Blackman. He married Elizabeth Peterman, .¹