Heirs of Mary A Kelly

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Amanuensis Monday, hosted by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.

Mary A. Kelly was my great-great-grandmother. Her husband, Michael Kelly, died sometime between 1870 and 1880. Below is one of many legal notices that appeared in the Jefferson County Journal regarding her estate. I'll share my thoughts of who's who below.

Jefferson County Journal, Adams, NY, June 10, 1902, page 10, col 2


The People Of The State of New York – To Phillip Kelley, George Kelley, James Kelley, Robert McDonald, Charles McDonald, Phillip M Kelley, Albert B Kelly, William D Kelly, Mary E Kelly, Hazel M Kelly, Henry Overton, LG Fish, EJ Seeber, DE Taylor, FG Moore, Alfred Goss, LJ Bullock, The Citizens National Bank, WL Pratt, TP Saunders, WR Brown, VH Legg, Loren Ripley, FJ Garvin, LA Safford, GF Maloney, HH Norton, and Charles Cobb, consisting all of the heirs at law, next of kin, legatees, devisees, creditors and occupants of the real estate of Mary A Kelley, late of the town of Adams, in the county of Jefferson deceased and to all other creditors and persons interested in any manner whatever in the estate of the deceased, send greeting.

You and each of you are hereby cited and required personally to be and appear before our Surrogate of the county of Jefferson, at his office in the city of Watertown, in said County, on the 16th day of June, 1902, at 10 o’clock in the forenoon of that day, then and there to show cause, if any you have, why the real estate of said deceased should not be mortgaged, leased or sold for the payments of the debts of said deceased and why an order by said Surrogate, authorizing, empowering and directing Daniel Fish administrator of the estate of Mary A Kelley, deceased, to mortgage, lease or sell, so much of the real estate of said deceased as shall be necessary to pay the debts and funeral expenses of said deceased.

And that if any of the persons interested be under the age of twenty-one years, they are required to appear by their guardian, if they have one, or if they have none that they appear and apply for one to be appointed, or in the event of their neglect or failure to do so, a guardian will be appointed by the Surrogate to represent and act for them in the proceeding.

In testimony whereof, we have caused the seal of office of said Surrogate to be affixed:
[L. S.] Witness Charles L Adams, Surrogate of said county at the city of Watertown, the -0th day of April, A. D. 1902

C L Adams, Surrogate

A F & T F Saunders
Attorneys for Administrator
Adams, Jeff. Co. N. Y.

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On the 1900 census Mary is said to have had seven children, only three of whom were still living. Between the 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses I have her children as:

1.  John Kelly b. abt. 1853 Canada, d. 1896 Adams, NY
2. Ann Kelly b 1854 Adams, NY. She is found on the 1855 state census but not with the family on any subsequent census so it is assumed she died between 1855 and 1860.
3. James C Kelly b. 1856 Adams, NY, d 1936 Canada.
4. Phillip Kelly b. abt 1858 Adams, NY, d. abt 1918 Watertown, NY
5. Mary A. Kelly b 1860 Adams, NY. I do not know what happened to her after the 1880 census when she was listed as a servent in the home of Fayette Stanley, Adams, NY.
6. William Kelly b abt. 1862 Adams, NY, d. 1896 Adams, NY.
7. George H Kelly b. 1864 Adams, NY. He is found on the 1900 census of Adams, NY and I have not traced him further.

I believe her heirs listed in the legal notice are as follows, with the remaining named persons being creditors:

Phillip Kelley - son
George Kelley - son
James Kelley - son
Robert McDonald - ?
Charles McDonald - ?
Phillip M Kelly - grandson, son of William
Albert H Kelley - Bert Henry, grandson, son of William
William D. Kelley - William Dwight, Sr, son of William
Mary E Kelley - Mamie, daughter of William
Hazel M Kelley - daughter of William

So it appears that her son John (1853-1895) died without issue.

Robert and Charles McDonald must be grandchildren. Since it seems that Mary only had one daughter that lived to adulthood, they must be the children of her daughter Mary b abt 1860. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts so far to locate Robert and Charles in census records or in other newspaper articles from Adams, NY.

Last week I shared the obituary of Florence A Kelly of Adams, NY and remain uncertain if or how she might be related. It is interesting to note that her parents were John E. and Catherine McDonald Kelly.

Clue or Coincidence?