I'm not sure if Jan's elderly family member is correct but my Kelly's were Catholic, and they changed from ey to y in the mid 1850's or later... My Michael Kelly was born to Thomas and Ellen Kelley in San Francisco and moved to NY. My mom remembers my Grandm. getting indignant when somone called her Irish. She wasn't Irish she said, she was an American ! Carolee cchapman@seward.net -----Original Message----- From: J L RIDLEY <lb3657@juno.com> To: KELLEY-L@rootsweb.com <KELLEY-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, October 10, 1998 4:42 PM Subject: RE: Kelley vs Kelly