I found the following information at: Houston, Missouri: Our History http://train.missouri.org/~chamber/ho00005.htm EMMETT KELLY, SR., the world famous clown: Houston is the hometown of Emmett Kelly, Sr., who was known as "Weary Willie", the world-famous clown. Emmett Kelly, Sr., was born in Sedan, Kansas, on December 9, 1898. His family moved to a farm east of Houston when Kelly was six-years old. He attended school in the Ozark community, east of Houston. When he was twenty-six years old, Kelly's first professional appearance was the the "Old Settlers Reunion" in Houston. He died in his Sarasota, Florida, home and is buried in Lafayette, Indiana. In honoring Houston's famous son, the Houston Area Chamber of commerce hosts an annual Emmett Kelly Clown Festival. Emmett Kelly's son, Emmett Kelly, Jr. (who took over the stage as "Weary Willie" upon his father's retirement) and grandson Joey Kelly, come back every year to make special appearances and join the activities of the festival. The festival is always the first weekend in May. The festival's tenth anniversary was in 1997. Some of the information contained in this web site is from the booklet WELCOME TO HOUSTON, MISSOURI - VISITOR'S GUIDE & MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY --Houston Chamber of Commerce,103 N Grand, Houston, MO 65483 (U.S.A.) URL: http://train.missouri.org/~chamber Contact person: Barbara Head/Executive Director 1-417-967-2220/FAX 1-417-967-3583/ 1-888-396-0746 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The information above might help you get in touch with Emmett Kelley's son and/or his grandson, both mentioned above. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another site: Famous Missourian - http://www.house.state.mo.us/famous/kelly.htm Emmett Kelly (1898-1979) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And this one has a fairly detailed biography: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9801/emmett.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emmett Kelly's Grave http://www.findagrave.com/pictures/kellye.html Hope this helps! Paula Kelley Ward San Antonio, Texas pward@express-news.net "Genealogy is the art of confusing the dead and irritating the living.”