I guess it's my time, and I'm fortunate to have found the most likely connection of my Joel KELLEY via the assistance of Linda Cheek and Ed KELLEY. (See 1st generation of Ed's post below). In addition to furthering my KELLEY line research (backward in time), I hope my post will provide someone else information on the same line. Descendants of Richard Kelley Generation No. 1 1. RICHARD2 KELLEY (UNKNOWN1) was born 1736 in Union Co. S.C., and died 1800 in Union Co. S.C.. He married SUSANNAH UNKNOWN 1755 in Union Co. S.C.. Children of RICHARD KELLEY and SUSANNAH UNKNOWN are: 2. i. WILLIAM3 KELLEY, b. July 11, 1758, 96th Dist. Union Co., SC; d. December 27, 1837, Georgia. ii. JOHN KELLEY, b. 1760. iii. BEN KELLEY, b. Abt. 1762. iv. IS KELLEY, b. Abt. 1765. v. JOEL KELLEY, b. Abt. 1775, Farifield Co., SC; d. Abt. 1862, Bradley Co. TN. ** vi. HUGH KELLEY, b. Abt. 1771. vii. DELILAH KELLEY, b. Abt. 1773. viii. RICHARD KELLEY, b. Abt. 1775. In addition to working with others on furthering and verifying the ancestry of my Joel KELLEY, I am interested in determining the maiden name of my Joel's wife, Letta. Her surname has been listed as DARLTON with a (?), and, not finding this surname, speculation is that the surname is actually DALTON. In fact, "Letta" could also be a nickname, but it is the name she was known by throughout at least her married life. Joel KELLEY, above, moved his family from S. C. to McMinn County, Tennessee before 1804. Since the 1810 and 1820 Tennessee census records are lost (Union soldiers burned the Bradley County, Tennessee, courthouse during the time of the Civil War), we cannot trace with certainty the movements of Joel during this period. The nearly-complete destruction of all Bradley County records has also seriously hampered the search in the period following. The 1830 McMinn County, Tenn. census lists Joel Kelley. Also shown on this census in McMinn County were John Kelly, Jonathan Kelly, Matthew Kelly, Sr., Nathan Kelly, Richard Kelly, Squire R. Kelly, Wm. Kelly, Sr. and Wm. Kelly, Jr. Some of these named could have been Joel's sons: Matthew would have been 31 in 1830; Richard would have been 26; John would have been 22; Nathan would have been 20; Elisha 18 (who was probably living at home); Elijah would have been 10, was living at home. The 1840 Tennessee census records Joel Kelly, age 65, living in Bradley County with one male younger than he and two females. The younger male was probably Elijah, who married abount 1845. The two females probably were his wife, Letta, and his daughter Nancy, age 22, who never married. The 1850 Fed. census of Tenn. lists Joel Kelly, age 75, living in Bradley County, 12th District, with wife, Letta, age 69 and daughter, Nancy, age 31. Joel and Letta indicated they were born in S.C. Children of JOEL KELLEY and LETTA DARLTON(?) are: i. MATTHEW2 KELLEY, b. April 01, 1799. ii. RICHARD KELLEY, b. March 15, 1804, Bradley County, TN. iii. WILLIAM KELLEY, b. July 07, 1802. iv. MARY KELLEY, b. May 20, 1806. v. JOHN KELLEY, b. 1808. vi. NATHAN KELLEY, b. December 01, 1810. vii. ELISHA KELLEY, b. December 24, 1812, McMinn Co.,TN. viii. SUSAN KELLEY, b. March 01, 1814, Tennessee; m. ANDREW P. MILLER. ix. JOEL KELLEY, b. May 18, 1816. x. NANCY KELLEY, b. May 16, 1818, McMinn County, Tennessee. xi. ELIJAH KELLEY, b. November 23, 1820, McMinn County, Tennessee; d. December 23, 1875. I am a direct descendant of Elijah's line, as follows: 1 Elijah Kelley 1820 - 1875 b: Nov. 23, 1820 in McMinn Co. TN; d: Dec. 23, 1875 in Bradley Co. TN +Julia F. McSpadden 1822 - 1901 b: Feb. 16, 1822 in TN; d: Feb. 16, 1901 2 Hiram Douglas Kelley 1854 - 1928 b: Jan. 01, 1854 in Bradley Co. TN d: May 30, 1928 +Nancy Matilda Potts 1853 - 1931 b: Nov. 28, 1853 in Bradley Co. TN d: Mar 31, 1931 3 Jesse James Kelley 1887 - 1970 b: Jul 08, 1887 in Bradley Co. TN d Jun 28, 1970 Walker Co.,GA +Hester America Long 1894 - 1970 b: Aug. 28, 1894 in Bradley Co.,TN; d.Jun 26, 1970 Walker Co.,GA 4 Audrey Kelley 1922 - 1997 b: February 22, 1922 in Chattanooga Valley, Walker Co, GA d: Oct 06, 1997 Chattanooga, Hamilton Co TN +William Byrd Catlett 1916 - 1987 b: Oct 27, 1916 d: Dec 21, 1987 5 Pamela Kaye Catlett 1945 - b: Sep 08, 1945 in Chattanooga, Hamilton Co TN +John William Mullinax Best wishes for a Happy Holiday to all our KELLEY/KELLY researchers, Pam Mullinax E-Mail: pmullinax@mindspring.com