William Henry KELLEY (22 Jan 1867-10 Dec 1945) +
Mary Ida NORRIS (15 Sep 1871-29 Jun 1938)

Lillie Gertrude (12 Dec 1888-28 Oct 1958) — m. Claude Vernon Norris on 18 Dec 1904

Virgil Pascal (22 Jan 1891-27 Jan 1927) — m. Bassima D. “Bama” Thompkins on 9 Nov 1911

Flora (27 Sep 1892-2 Sep 1958) — m. James Arthur Maxwell on 27 Mar 1910

Eathel (22 Aug 1894-1957) — m. Gracie Porter on 26 Apr 1914

Lola Mae (24 Aug 1901-20 Jul 1974) — m. Thomas Perry Dent on 28 Jun 1924

Walter (1 Mar 1903-21 Jun 1980) — m. Margie L. Hill on 4 Jan 1925

William Cleo “Cleo” (1 Feb 1905-18 Apr 1981) — m. Emma Depriest on 18 Jul 1927; divorced, 194x

William was born in Missouri, son of Lewis Kelley of (probably) Missouri and Mary Vermilla Watson of (probably) Indiana, and was named for his father’s older brother. The 1870 census showed the family and 3-year-old William in Union Township, Webster County, Missouri. They moved to Sharp County, Arkansas between 1871 and 1875. William’s mother died in 1875, and his father remarried.

Mary was born in Arkansas to Mary Elizabeth Sanders Johnson and her second husband, former Confederate soldier John Norris. I’ve found no records proving that this couple’s daughter Mary Norris was the same one who married William, but William’s and Mary’s grand-daughter Myrtle Norris Clark remembered and recorded that connection, and it fits with the census evidence.

In the 1880 census, William H. Kelley (13) was with his father, stepmother, and siblings in Richwoods Township, Sharp County, the area of Ash Flat. Mary (7) was living with her family in Strawberry Township, which lies roughly between Smithville and Poughkeepsie in Sharp County.

William Kelley and Mary I. Norris married on 26 Jan 1888 in Smithville. The license gave their ages as 21 and 16, which is right as far as I can tell, and said they were residents of Smithville. The couple are mentioned on page 71 of “Abstracts from the Sharp County Record Newspaper, Published in Evening Shade, Arkansas, 1885-1888”, but I haven’t seen it. They lived for a time in Poughkeepsie, where some of their children were born.

In 1900, William H. (33) & Mary I. (28) Kelley were living in Lebanon Township, Sharp County with children Lillie G. (Dec 1888), Virgil (Jan 1891), Flora (Aug 1894), and “Ethel” (Aug 1894). William was listed as born in Missouri, to parents also from Missouri. William’s 14-year-old half-brother Marvin Kelley was living with them, which suggests William’s father and stepmother had died. Mary said her father and mother were born in Arkansas and Tennessee respectively, although in later censuses she said Arkansas for both of them.

In the 1910 census the family was in Strawberry Township, with children Virgil P. (19), “Ethel” (15), Lola M. (8), Walter (6), and Cleo (5). Daughter Flora was newly married and staying with her husband’s sister’s family (Dixon) in Strawberry Township. Mary’s widower father John Norris was living in the same area of the township, two census pages away, with Mary’s older sister Eliza and Eliza’s son.

The 1920 census listed William (52) and Ida (48) still in Strawberry Township, with children Lola (17), Walter (15), and Cleo (13). Sons Virgil and Eathel and their wives were living nearby. In 1924, Lola married Thomas Perry Dent, 22, of Lawrence County. In 1927, Virgil died, age just 36.

I can’t find William & Mary in 1930. They weren’t in their old neighborhood, or living near Eathel, Walter, Flora, or Lillie, or even near William’s brother Joseph in Lebanon. Maybe they were near Cleo, whom I also can’t find.

There’s a family recollection that William Kelley was a judge. The 1910, 1920, and 1940 census records listed him as a farmer.

Mary died in 1938 in Ravenden. Her obituary was published on 3 Jul 1938. In 1940, William, a widower, was living with son Walter and his family in Ravenden, Thacker Township, Lawrence County. He died in 1945.

William & Mary Kelley are buried in Hope Cemetery, Imboden, Lawrence County, Arkansas. The photo of the stone appears to show year of birth as 1872 for Mary, but I think that’s a year off.

William and Ida Kelley with six of their seven children
William and Ida Kelley with six of their seven children

Children

Lillie Gertrude Kelley (1888-1958)

Gertrude has her own entry in the family tree.

Virgil Pascal Kelley (1891-1927)

Virgil married Bassima D. “Bama” Thompkins (1890-11 Jun 1947) of Reed Township, Sharp County on 9 Nov 1911. (In the 1910 census, Bama had been living with her married older sister Dora Porter in Strawberry Township.) He registered for the draft on 5 Jun 1917, and served in WWI. By 1920, he and Bama were living in Strawberry Township, Sharp County, near his parents. They adopted a son whose mother, Myrtle Wright Brightwell, died during childbirth:

Eldean Pete (12 Nov 1920-????)

Virgil died in 1927. His widow and son Eldean were living with his brother Eathel in 1930. The 1940 census found Bama and Eldean in Cave City, Sharp County, but misrecorded Bama as male. Eldean, a carpenter, registered for the WWII draft as a resident of Cave City. Bama died in 1947. An Eldean Kelley from Arkansas of about the right age appeared in the 1950 census for St. Louis, Missouri, and died there on 23 Jun 1997 – might have been him.

Flora Kelley (1892-1958)

Flora married James Arthur Maxwell (24 May 1888-24 Jan 1945) on 27 Mar 1910. They lived at first with James’s married sister in Strawberry Township, Sharp County. They later settled in Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas. They had two children:

Mary Jewell (21 May 1911-22 Mar 1978) — m. Harnie F. Francis on 14 Nov 1925

William Ulysses (15 Jul 1915-11 Oct 1948) — m. Pauline Matlock on 14 May 1938

Their daughter Jewell married in 1925 at age 14, claiming to be 15. Their son Ulysses died in California, age just 33. He had at least one child, a son named William born in Arkansas about 1940.

In the 1950 census, Flora, widowed, was living in Arkadelphia, Clark County with supposedly widowed daughter Jewell (although findagrave.com shows Jewell’s husband lived until 1985), grand-daughter Helen Ruth Francis, and two other people, and working as a laundress. Jewell was working as a seamstress in a garment factory. Flora died in 1958 and is buried with James in Rose Hill Cemetery, Arkadelphia. Jewell died in Denton, Texas in 1978.

Eathel Kelley (1894-1957)

Eathel married Gracie Porter (1896-1982) on 26 Apr 1914. (Ten years later, Gracie’s younger brother Olen married Eathel’s cousin Velo Kelley.) Children were:

Lorene Marie (21 Mar 1916-22 Feb 1991) — m. Clarence Everett Ellison on 10 Jul 1935

Ruby (~1918-????)

Francine (~1927-????) — poss. m. Walter Virgil Smart in 194x

Bobby Gene (11 Sep 1934-23 Nov 1986) — m. Shirley Ann Foley on 12 Jun 1959

William B. (~1938-????)

Eathel registered for the WWI draft in 1917 from South Sitka, Arkansas. His description says he was of medium height and stout build, with dark brown hair and eyes. The family were living in Strawberry Township, Sharp County in 1920; in Thacker Township, Lawrence County in 1930; and in Dent Township, Lawrence County in 1940 with the three youngest still at home. Eathel registered for the WWII draft in 1942 from Ravenden Township, Lawrence County, with mailing address on Route 1 in Imboden. In the 1950 census, Eathel and Gracie still had Bobby and William at home. Eathel died in 1957, and Gracie in 1982. They’re buried in Lebanon Cemetery, Nelsonville, Sharp County.

Lola Mae Kelley (1901-1974)

Lola Mae married Thomas Perry Dent (20 Dec 1901-9 May 1960) on 28 Jun 1924. They had two children I know of:

Perry Gene “Gene” (29 Dec 1925-21 Jan 2001) — m. Sue Deaver on 17 Feb 1945

Clyde Ralph (12 Dec 1940-16 Feb 2014) — m. Betty Shaw about 1970

In the late 1920s, the family moved to Akron, Ohio, where the 1930 census found them. By 1940, they were back in Arkansas, living in North Little Rock. Thomas died in 1960. Lola died in 1974 and is buried with Thomas in the Arkansas Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Little Rock. Their son Gene, an Army Air Corps and US Air Force veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, is buried in Little Rock National Cemetery.

Walter Kelley (1903-1980)

Walter was born in Poughkeepsie, Sharp County. He married Margie L. Hill (9 Jan 1903-20 Oct 1984) on 4 Jan 1925. They were in Spring River Township, Randolph County in 1930, and Ravenden, Lawrence County in 1940. They had two children:

Vivian Inez (8 Nov 1926-7 Jun 2015) — m. Earmin Wesley Baldridge

John H. (~1928-????)

In 1940, Walter’s father William was living with them. When Walter registered for the WWII draft, he was working for the US Postal Service. He and Margie were still in Ravenden for the 1950 census, with son John still at home. Walter died in 1980 and is buried at Hope Cemetery, Imboden.

William Cleo Kelley (1905-1981)

Cleo married Emma Depriest (1 Jul 1909-30 Sep 1993) on 18 Jul 1927. Their children:

William Cleo, Jr. (14 May 1928-15 Apr 2019) — m. M. Madlynne ???

Charles Edward (1930-????)

Billy Gene (1937-????)

Jim B. (~1941-????)

In the 1940 census they were living in Thacker Township, Lawrence County. Cleo and Cleo Jr. both registered for the WWII draft from Ravenden, Lawrence County.

Cleo and Emma divorced in the 1940s; the 1950 census showed her with her mother and her sons Charles, Billy, and Jimmy in Imboden. Cleo died in 1981, and is buried in Hope Cemetery, Imboden. Emma died in 1993 in Hereford, Deaf Smith County, Texas, out in the Panhandle.

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