Abraham Kelley was born April 16, 1844 at Henry County, Indiana. He first married Mary Ann “Charity” Echelbarger who was born January 28, 1849 in Brown County, Ohio. She died in Grant County, Indiana on December 13, 1881 when she was 32 after having nine children: Caroline Marion (Carrie), Albert, Christian, Mary Ann, Oliver Henry, Luther Pleasant, Dora, Ina and Ida. Charity was buried at the Point Isabel Cemetery in Green Township. The earliest settlement in Green Township was in 1843. The first church was built by the Methodists on the Jeremiah Hammer farm. He donated the ground for church and graveyard purposes. The first church was built of logs, as time passed and a small town was begun at the cross – roads a mile east, a new church was built at that place. The cemetery has a full population and only an occasional burial is made there. Lovely tall pine trees stand in this place and old fashioned roses ramble over the graves of these early makers of a fine township. Source DAR 1940
“This cemetery is located exactly one half mile west of the intersection of State Road #13 and State Road #26, on the north side of State Road #26
I worked in this cemetery in June of 1996. I was appalled at the number of stones missing. Row after row of bases protruding out of the ground attest to the fact of the missing stones. In several places there were many stones stacked together. On the west end, near the highway, is an above ground crypt – like structure, which was full of stones. Many were in pieces and several were footstones and just miscellaneous parts of bases. I wonder if this was actually built to hold what was left of the Kelly – McClain Cemetery. They say it was destroyed by hogs. When the DAR read the cemeteries in the early 1940’s, it was mentioned that all that was found at the Kelley – McClain was one piece of a stone. Is it possible that they were moved long before the DAR read the cemeteries?
Old fashioned roses are still abundant in this cemetery, but only one fir tree still stands. Many of the stones were illegible from time and the elements. I found many stones that the DAR had not recorded in the 1940’s, but there are still 30 stones I didn’t find that they had recorded. This doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Many stones were beyond recognition. I would guess there were at least a dozen stones I couldn’t get any information from. There is also the possibility I could have missed some, as careful as I tried to be sometimes it does get difficult. There were at least two thickets that were grown up so bad, it was hard to tell if I got all the stones.
NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that the 1877 Atlas of Grant County designates the name of this cemetery as New Hope. I have no explanation for this. Their was another cemetery called New Hope/Paxton, located on 38th St. southeast of Marion. That cemetery is almost totally destroyed leaving only 3 markers left. I have no idea whether there are any connections here or not.” *Asterisk denotes a stone not found at this time.
The Kelley’s buried in the Cemetery are: Kelley, Albert son of A. & C. Kelley died Aug. 20, 1877 aged 7y.11m.27d. S/S with Oliver. Oliver son of A. & C. Kelley died Mar. 15, 1876 aged 2y.1m.17d. Charity wife of Abraham Kelley died Dec. 13, 1881 aged 32y.10m.17d. Ida M. dau of A. & C. Kelley died Aug. 19, 1879 aged 1m.7d.
In Abraham Kelley’s Civil War Pension Application he states that Charity was buried on the family farm.
At enlistment for the Civil War “his personal description was as follows: Height four feet eight inches; complexion dark; color of eyes blue; color of hair dark; that his occupation was farmer; that he was born Sept 16th 1844, at Henry County, Indiana.
Residence: Wabash County, IN. Enlist Date: 03 September 1863
118th Infantry Regiment IN 16 September 1863 01 March 1864 Infantry Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded – 0, Officers Died of Disease or Accident – 1, Enlisted Killed or Mortally Wounded -3, Enlisted Died of Disease or Accident – 86, Regimental History, One Hundred and Eighteenth Infantry IN (6 MONTHS), One Hundred and Eighteenth Infantry. — Col., George W. Jackson; Lieut.- Col., Henry C. Elliott, Maj., Henry B. Sayler.
This regiment was organized during July and Aug., 1863, principally at Wabash, but moved to Indianapolis on Aug. 31, where its organization was completed. It was mustered in Sept. 16 for six months. Leaving the state the same day, it joined the other six months regiments at Nicholasville, Kentucky., and moved with them to east Tennessee. From Cumberland Gap it proceeded via Morristown, to Greeneville, and in November accompanied the command to Clinch River, participating in the battle of Walker’s ford. Col. Jackson was placed in command of a brigade sent to the relief of the 5th in. cavalry, which had been engaged with a heavy force of the enemy 2 miles south of the river and was in desperate straits because of the exhaustion of its ammunition. The 118th, in command of Lieut.-Col. Elliott, waded the river, formed in line of battle on both sides of the road, and advanced, thus enabling the cavalry to fall back and cross the river. The regiment fell back slowly under the assaults of a brigade, repelling a charge on its right and re-crossing the river. It was engaged during the winter in the arduous duties of that campaign and suffered greatly. It moved to Maynardville Illinois Jan., 1864, thence to Cumberland Gap, Camp Nelson, then home, and was mustered out at Indianapolis about the middle of February. Its original strength was 987; gain by recruits, 30; total, 1,017. Loss by death, 81; desertion, 26; unaccounted for, 17. Source: The Union Army, Vol. 3, p. 177
Abraham then served a secone tour of duty for his brother David B.
Enlisted as a Private on 15 October 1864. Drafted in Company K, 23rd Infantry Regiment IN on 15 October 1864 Mustered out on 23 July 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky. Sources: Report of the Adjutant General of the State of IN. (IN Roster) Published in 1865-66 by Holloway. Name of Regiment Date of Organization Muster Date Regiment Type 23rd Infantry Regiment Indiana N 29 July 1861 23 July 1865 Infantry.
SERVICE.– Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 20-November 3. Shadow Church and Westbrook, near Fairburn, October 1-3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Ball’s Ferry and Georgia Central Railroad Bridge, Oconee River, November 23-25. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Pocotaligo, S.C., January 14. Salkehatchie Swamp February 2-5. Rivers Bridge February 3. South Edisto River February 9. Orangeburg February 12-13. Columbia February 16-17. Fayetteville, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett’s House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Virginia., April 29-May 19. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville June, and duty there till July 23. Mustered out July 23, 1865. Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 68 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 143 Enlisted men by disease. Total 217. Its original strength was 1,050; gain by recruits, 477; reenlistments, 277; unassigned recruits, 36; total, 1,840. Loss by death, 154, desertion, 99; unaccounted for, 273.
Handwritten prension application with Abraham Kelley’s signature
United States of America. State of Missouri. County of Buchanan
Abraham Kelley being duly sworn upon his oath states that he is the identical Abraham Kelley, who enlisted as a private in Captain G.W. Fluhart’s Company C, 118 Regiment of IN Vol; was enrolled on the 1st day of August, 1863, to serve 6 months, and was discharged on the 1st day of March 1864, at Indianapolis by reason of expiration of term of service; and whose application for pension is No 1145.116; He further states that he did not serve in the military or naval service of the United States prior to August 1, 1863; that subsequent to March 1, 1864, to-wit, he enlisted as a private in Captain James F. Stuckey Company K 23rd Regiment IN Infty Volunteers on the 15th day of October 1864, to serve one year or during the war, and was discharged from the Service of the United States on the 21st day of July 1865, at Louisville Kentucky by reason of Gen Order No 26, Hqtrs Army. That the above is the only times and terms of enlistment that he ever served in the military or naval service of the United States. /s/ /s/ Abraham Kelley
Kelleys from Grant County, Indiana that served in the Civil War., Kelley, Abraham, of Franklin Twp; Priv., Co K, 23rd Reg. Substitute., Kelley, Daniel B.; Co A, 42nd Reg.; Missouri 7-21-65. Buried Thrailkill Cem., Grant County, Indiana., Kelley, Jonathan; Priv., Co B, 8th (3mo) Reg; Missouri 8-6-61. Drafted for 2nd tour as Unassigned Recruit IN 32nd Reg. on 5-20-64., Kelley, Samuel S.; Priv., Co B, 8th (3mo) Reg; Missouri 8-6-61; recruited as Priv., Co F, 34th Reg. Died at New Orleans on 10-24-63, Kelley, William M.; Priv., Co B, 8th (3mo) Reg.; Missouri 8-6-61; recruited as Priv., Co F, 34th Reg. Died at Benton Barracks, Missouri. 4-9-63
Abraham then moved to Andrew County, Missouri after the war. He may have been following his cousins who also moved there. “Abe Kelley is a farmer living a mile east of Savannah. He is a brother of Judge Henry S. Kelley, of St. Joseph. ….”
He met and married Anna Bouman and they had another daughter Jennie Washborn. In 19901 he won a land lottery for land in Oklahoma. He must have sold his poisiton because he then moved to San Diego, California where he live until December 21, 1921
From the Savannah Reporter 2 Aug. 1901. Give Away Big Farms. The lucky Ones in the Big Land Lottery in Oklahoma. Lawton District. No. 615 Abe Kelley, Savannah. Ten residents of Andrew county and one recent resident had drawn prizes in the Oklahoma land drawing up to Wednesday evening, all of whom will get good farms, as the numbers run from 615 to 1367, and all the numbers below 4,000 are said to be good for first class “quarters”. The above are the homesteads drawn up to Wednesday evening, by parties from this county. ….It is stated in some of the newspapers that if those whose names are drawn from the wheel do not care to prove up for their hundred and sixty acres, their claims are worth from $4,000 to $6,000 each. while the Government gives the lands ostensibly to settlers, many who win will dispose of their claims by going through the form of relinquishing them to other parties, or allowing whoever buys the land to jump their claims and prove up on them. An offer of $5,000 was made on the s streets of El Reno before the opening for any claim in either district of the first five hundred drawn. In contradiction of the above, however, a dispatch from Washington says that Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock is very indignant over the statements that the persons who drew the first choices in the El REno and Lawton districts of the Indian lands recently thrown open for settlement were preparing to sell their claims to the highest bidder and that the officers of the general land office would not be able to enforce the provision of the homestead law against such transfers. Secretary Hitchcock said that on previous occasions when lands were thrown open for settlement it may have been possible that such transfers were made, owing to a lack of proper registration facilities. The introduction of the new system of allotment and the care that has been exercised on this occasion in keeping the records would prevent effectually any such land juggling by speculators. He pointed out that the terms of the homestead law five years must elapse between taking out of a title by a settler and the perfection of the title and payment of the final fee. During the interval the settler must live upon and improve his property, and any transfer of his rights before the expiration of the five-year limit would invalidate the title to his claim. It would be absolutely impossible, Mr. Hitchcock says, for land speculators and boomers to evade the law in a single instance at the present opening, owing to the detailed accuracy of the methods of registration and allotment.
In the 1920 census he lists his Father as being from Ireland and his Mother as being from Scotland. He and Anna live in the 293 Enumeration District which is San Diego City; Precinct 49 Bounded by: Balboa Park, 16th, Broadway, 14th. His son Luther lives 7 houses away.
Abraham had lived in San Diego 15 years at the time of his death