CasaRuth inquired for connections to Emmett Kelly, Don Kelly replied with the copy of an email exchange with me. Some of the Georgia Kelly cousins attended the 2004 Kelly/Ellis Reunion in Madison County. The next Reunion will be held the 4th Saturday of June 2006 in Madison County. My GGG-Grandfather Hiram Kelly was born 1787 census data consistently indicates in North Carolina. He married Elizabeth McGee 19 Aug 1813 in Burke County, North Carolina. The Kelly family moved to Habersham County Georgia before 1830 and on to Cherokee County before 1840. Elizabeth apparently died before 1845, because the 16 Jul 1845 marriage of Hiram Kelly and Malinda Anderson is recorded in the Lumpkin County Georga records. Hiram, Malinda, their three daughters; Elmina, Eliza Jane "Louiza", and Malinda, and Hiram and Elizabeth's youngest son Jesse were recorded in the 1850 Census of Forsyth County, GA. The other children of Hiram and Elizabeth were married and living in Cherokee or other nearby GA counties. Hiram Kelly's family is mentioned in two editions of Goodspeed's History of Northwest Arkansas. Bureau of Land Management records indicate Hiram settled in Madison County before 1860. Hiram, Joseph, and J. R. Kelly are recorded in the 1860 census of Arkansas. Hiram's daughter Sarah and her husband Joshua C Ellis were in Washington County. I so not have any information connecting Emmett Kelly with the Hiram Kelly family. The brief search below places Emmett Kelly in Missouri and suggest more information might be found in the 1920 & 1930 Census for Kansas. Google Search "genealogy Emmett Kelly" > www.joeykelly.com/     " EMMETT KELLY first visited the circus as a young boy in his home town of Sedan, Kansas.  He held various jobs growing up in rural Missouri, including working for a dog and pony show.  It was in 1920, when working for a silent film company in Kansas City that he first drew the cartoon character "Weary Willie." Emmett brought "Weary Willie, to life in the form of "chalk talks;" he would illustrate Willie in short skits which he had written.      With his artistic skills, he found work as a circus wagon and sign painter and saved enough money to buy his first trapeze and became an aerialist.  He worked with a number of circus companies before meeting and marrying Eva Moore.  Together they perfected the famed "Aerial Kellys" double trapeze act while performing occasionally as a whiteface clown for extra money.      Up to that time, almost all of the clowns in American circuses wore whiteface makeup only.  He tried performing as "Weary Willie" as often as he could, but most head clowns did not approve, saying that audiences would react unfavorably to his tattered clothing and unkempt appearance.  The character of "Willie" was put aside and he continued to work on the trapeze with his wife until the birth of EmmettKelly Jr., the first of his two sons. " Hope this is helpful. Jonelle ELLIS Russell email: [email protected]