To quickly recap, my ancestors, John Kelley Jr., and John Kelley Sr., were both in Fairfield District, South Carolina in 1820. However, there was also a pair of John Kellys in the neighboring county of Kershaw. They were also known as John Kelly Jr. and John Kelly Sr.
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| Kershaw County, South Carolina 1820 |
On this census, John Kelly Jr. was in the 16 - 25 year age range. He is too young to be my John Kelley Jr., and his household is missing a young daughter. The John Kelly Sr. listed below him was in the 26 - 44 year age range. He is much too young to be a Revolutionary War veteran as was my John Kelley Sr. Both of these John Kellys can be ruled as being my John Kelly Jr. and Sr.
The presence of so many John Kellys causes confusion at the point when my John Kelley Jr. moved from Fairfield County to Kershaw County, which is where he was located by 1830. It especially makes early land deeds difficult to attribute to him.
By the 1830, Kershaw County, South Carolina census, the other pair of John Kellys seem to be gone, so I may be able to attribute land deeds after that date to my John Kelley Jr.
On the 1830 Kershaw County census, John Kelly was a single man aged 40 - 50, which fits with a man born about 1786. John Kelly's daughter was no longer in his household. So where did she go?
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| Kershaw County, South Carolina 1830 |
She was evidently married to William Thomas by this time. His household can also be found in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1830.
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| Kershaw County, South Carolina 1830 |
In William Thomas's household is a wife aged 20 - 29 and a daughter aged 1 - 4. William Thomas himself was in the 30 - 40 age range. This seems like a very good fit for John Kelley Jr.'s daughter and son-in-law. Missing from this household is the daughter who was on the 1820 census. She may have married and is unaccounted for. Or she may have been deceased. The young daughter on this census is also unaccounted for. She does not seem to be one of the surviving Thomas children named in the partition of John Kelley's estate in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1862.
Of interest is the elder Thomas Thomas listed on this census. William B. Thomas of Pickens County, Alabama is thought to be the son of a Thomas Thomas.
Because the 1830 census was put in alphabetical order, it is impossible to know the proximity of these people to each other.
Back in Fairfield County, South Carolina, the 1830 census was not put into alphabetical order, so it is possible to see the evolution of the old neighborhood.
John Kelley Sr. has aged another decade, and the wife in his household is as much as 20 years his junior.
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| Fairfield County, South Carolina 1830 |
On the previous page, it is possible to see that John Kelley Sr's. son Littleton Kelley now has his own household.
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| Fairfield County, South Carolina 1830 |
The 1840 Kershaw County, South Carolina census is in alphabetical order, so it is possible to see who is living near John Kelley Jr.
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| Kershaw County, South Carolina 1840 |
On this census, John Kelley is in the 50 - 60 year age range even though he is known as a Jr. That is because his father John Kelley Sr. is still living. John Kelley has a wife in the 20 - 30 year age range. She was my great-great-great-grandmother Nancy Missouri Owens, born in 1819, so she was 21 years old when this census was taken. The boy under five years old is their son William Kelley, born in 1840.
Sarah Ciples, living near John Kelley Jr., rang a bell. I had seen the Ciples name in conjunction with a newspaper clipping that mentioned a John Kelly Jr.:
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| Camden Gazette 14 June 1821 |
This seems to indicate that John Kelley Jr was living in Kershaw County as early as 1821. What cinches the connection for me is this reference to a piece of land, which appeared in The Southeastern Reporter.
James L. Kilgore was deceased around 1850, and this is part of a dispute over this his estate. The Sarah Ciples and John McDowell referenced were in close proximity to John Kelley Jr. on the 1840 census. Of note is the reference to Richard Owens, whose land also bordered James L. Kilgore's. Richard Owens was the father of Nancy Missouri Owens and was the father-in-law of John Kelley Jr. An added clue is that Kilgore's land was bounded by White Oak creek.
A search for a map turned up this 1854 version of the area of Kershaw County, South Carolina where John Kelley Jr. lived.
The dark river on the left is the Wateree. The creek headed north from just above the "K" is White Oak creek. Living along that creek can be seen the households of Ciples, McDowell, and Kelly.
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