My ggg-grandparents Hiram KELLY(KELLEY) and Elizabeth McGEE (daughter of Patrick S. and Mary [Speer/Spear] McGEE) were married in Burke County NC 19 Aug 1813. The 1820 Census records four KELLEY Families: Alexander; Hiram; James; and Ruben. I have been unable to determine if a relationship exist between these four families. Hiram (born ca 1787 in NC) and his family migrated to GA shortly after 1820. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Jonelle ELLIS Russell email: [email protected]

Jonelle, I read your email below with interest. I'm not certain if we have corresponded before so forgive me if I am redundant:) There is a marriage bond dated December 28, 1823 in the North Carolina Archives for William Dorsey and Patsey Kelly. I am virtually certain that these are my ggggrandparents. The bondsman for the marriage was John Dunkin and the witness was Wm F. McKee. My third great-grandparents were William and Martha Dorsey. (Patsey was and is a nickname for Martha.) William Dorsey was the son of John H. Dorsey who started out in Lincoln County, NC (probably really Rowan but the first record of him is in Lincoln County.) John Dorsey moved through Burke and Macon Counties during the early 1800's and eventually settled in Pickens County, SC. I have not yet been able to find parents for Patsey but am actively looking! William and Martha followed along with John Dorsey through Macon County to Pickens County, SC. They settled, I believe, near Salem which is quite close to the NC/SC border. It would appear that at least some of the Kelly's also moved along this route. In the 1830 Macon County census, a Reuben Kelly was living about five houses down from John Dorsey. Reuben Kelly was still living in Macon County in the 1840 census though John Dorsey had moved on to South Carolina as had all of his (known) children. In South Carolina, John Dorsey owned property that was bounded by Alfred Kell(e)y. I also seem to recall a James Kelly in an earlier land record. I took a quick look through my files and can't verify that at the moment. A number of these Dorseys and Kelleys are buried in the Neville Cemetery outside Walhalla, SC. (Land records show that both Dorseys and Kellys owned property adjacent to Alexander Neville.) I believe that Alfred Kell(e)y was in some way connected to the web of Kell(e)ys in Anderson County, SC. I have corresponded with a couple of people who have made a better study than I of the Kell(e)ys in this area. I can put you in touch with them privately if you do not hear from them as a result of your post. At the present time, I don't think we really know for sure how many Reuben and James Kell(e)ys we are actually dealing with--whether all the records for each name in North and South Carolina are for the same or more than one individual. William and Martha Dorsey had two proven sons--Anderson and Elisha as well as two or three probable sons--John H. and Andrew and perhaps another who is yet unnamed. They also had a daughter, Amanda who married Francis Calloway McCall and lived out her life in Jackson County, NC. For many years there was a family rumor that my gggrandfather Harvey Kelley of Cumberland County, TN was actually a Dorsey from near Walhalla, SC. About two years ago, we used DNA testing combined with a few bits and pieces from the public records to show that Harvey was Elisha Dorsey the son of William who changed his name and moved to Tennessee shortly before 1870. You can read the details of that project at http://www.contexo.info/DorseyDNA/HarveyKelley.htm. I am working with the hypothesis that Elisha took his mother's maiden name as his alias. In spite of many family stories that purport to explain the circumstances around this name change, we have no idea how or why it happened. We eventually have expanded our DNA project to try to sort out the descendents of Andrew Dorsey who moved into Rowan County from Maryland in the late 1760's. Current results from that project can be seen at http://www.contexo.info/DorseyDNA/Results.htm. Specifics about the western North Carolina Dorseys can be seen by clicking on the link for "Andrew Dorsey Line Analysis" near the top of the page. We have several more samples at the lab and are actively recruiting other Dorseys with western North Carolina roots. Though we would not expect a match with our Dorsey/Kelley line, we would be very interested in extending our project to include direct line Kell(e)y males who can trace their lines back to western North Carolina and north western South Carolina in the late 1700's to early 1800's. Well, I see I have wandered away from your original post about the Kelly Families in 1820 Burke County. You can see though that I have a special interest in that same group and will look forward to sharing new ideas and information as they come along. Nancy Custer > -----Original Message----- > From: Leola Russell [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 11:33 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [NCBurke] KELLY(KELLEY) Families in 1820 Burke County > > My ggg-grandparents Hiram KELLY(KELLEY) and Elizabeth McGEE (daughter of > Patrick S. and Mary [Speer/Spear] McGEE) were married in Burke County NC > 19 Aug 1813. > > The 1820 Census records four KELLEY Families: Alexander; Hiram; James; > and Ruben. > > I have been unable to determine if a relationship exist between these > four families. > > Hiram (born ca 1787 in NC) and his family migrated to GA shortly after > 1820. > > Any help will be greatly appreciated. > > Jonelle ELLIS Russell > email: [email protected] > > > ==== NCBURKE Mailing List ==== > NCBURKE-L [Co., NC] Mailing List - Sharing information on Historic Burke > Co., NC > For further info, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncburke/ > Our thanks to RootsWeb.com for hosting this list and web page >

Did your Kellys migrate to Union County GA? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leola Russell" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 2:33 PM Subject: [NCBurke] KELLY(KELLEY) Families in 1820 Burke County > My ggg-grandparents Hiram KELLY(KELLEY) and Elizabeth McGEE (daughter of > Patrick S. and Mary [Speer/Spear] McGEE) were married in Burke County NC > 19 Aug 1813. > > The 1820 Census records four KELLEY Families: Alexander; Hiram; James; > and Ruben. > > I have been unable to determine if a relationship exist between these > four families. > > Hiram (born ca 1787 in NC) and his family migrated to GA shortly after > 1820. > > Any help will be greatly appreciated. > > Jonelle ELLIS Russell > email: [email protected] > > > ==== NCBURKE Mailing List ==== > NCBURKE-L [Co., NC] Mailing List - Sharing information on Historic Burke Co., NC > For further info, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncburke/ > Our thanks to RootsWeb.com for hosting this list and web page > > >