He was born in Vigo county, Indiana, on the 15th of January, 1835, his parents being Amos and Elizabeth (Jackson) Kelley, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina respectively. They were married in the former state and became pioneer settlers of Indiana, where the father died when his son George was but three years of age. The mother spent her last days in Story county in the home of her son George and there passed away in 1884. She ever remained true to the memory of her husband, never marrying again. Mr. Kelley had devoted his life to farming and was a very busy and active man until death terminated his labors.
George W. Kelley was the ninth in a family of seven sons and three daughters; Sallie Ann, now the deceased wife of George P. Yocum; Malinda, the deceased wife of William Stafford; Amos, who has also passed away; Rebecca, the deceased wife of Isaac Jones; Samuel, who served for three years in the Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and then reenlisted, after which he was granted a furlough and started home but died while on his way to Davenport, Iowa; William, deceased; John, who enlisted from Story county and served for a year and a half in the Civil war, his death occurring since his discharge, which was occasioned by disability; Abram, of Bloomington, Illinois; George W.; and Hezekiah, who died in Kansas. Of the above sons William and John were twins.
George W. Kelley with his mother and younger brother, Hezekiah, went to McLean county, Illinois, in the fall of 1850 and in the fall of 1853 they came to Story county, Iowa. It was on the 22d of September of that year that George \V. Kelley started from Illinois, accompanied by his mother and brother and by Samuel and Isaac Jones and their families, for Iowa. The Kelleys had two covered wagons drawn by horses. They crossed the Mississippi at Muscatine, traveled from there to Iowa City and thence to Marietta, which at that time was the county seat of Marshall county. Later they proceeded to Story county, which was then largely a wild, unsettled and undeveloped region. There was only one house upon the present site of Nevada and it is still standing - one of the old landmarks of the early days - occupied by T. E. Alderman. The Kelley family traveled on to what is now the eastern part of Boone county, where they arrived in October, remaining there until the 12th of December, at which time George W. Kelley took up his abode on section I or 1, Palestine township, Story county. At that time there resided in Palestine township R. Balldock, Washington Thomas, George Thomas, Robert and William Hawk and E. McKinzie. There was not a house between Grove and Madrid, a distance of fifteen miles. Mr. Kelley entered one hundred and forty acres of land from the government. In the fall of 1852 he had entered eighty acres in Marshall county but never resided thereon. He has made his home continuously in Story county since 1853 and after locating in Palestine township he at once began the task of developing and improving his land. In the fall of 1854 it became necessary for him to go to mill, and the nearest place where he could get grist ground was at Oskaloosa, about seventy-five miles away. He had to journey with an ox team and it took a week to make the round trip. Because of this he had to carrv provisions with him and camp on the prairie at night. The same fall he took a load of dressed pork to Des Moines and received a dollar and a half per hundred weight therefor. On the return trip he brought home a barrel of salt, for which he paid twelve dollars and ten cents. At that time there was only one dry-goods store and two grocery stores in Des Moines and the state capital was at Iowa City. Deer and elk were seen in Story county in large numbers and wild turkeys were very plentiful, so that it was not difficult to supply the pioneer table with meat. The first schoolhouse in Palestine township was built on section 1 in the spring of 1854, was made of rounrl logs and had a dirt floor. .A. young man by the name of G. Brown was the first teacher. Mr. Kelley aided in building the schoolhouse and has always been a friend of education and progress. He also assisted in building the first church in Palestine township about 1856, it being a house of worship for the United Brethren congregation, Rev.
Marks acting as the first pastor. The church was started with the idea of making it a United Brethren school but sufficient aid was not received and they converted the building into a church, Mr. Kclley giving twenty-five dollars and his labor toward the work. In 1854 he also helped to lay out the first road from Palestine township to Nevada. It was practically only a trail made by sticking poles in the ground to guide the wagons over the prairie through the tall grasses.
As the years passed on Mr. Kelley devoted his time and energies closely to llie development of the farm, consisting of one hundretl and twenty acres, which he converted into a rich and productive property, annually gathering good harvests therefrom. He made his home upon that place until Novemljcr 27, 1906, when he retired, taking up his abode at his present residence at No. 1302 Kellogg avenue in Ames. He sold the farm about two years ago and since removing to this city has lived retired, enjoying well earned rest, which is the merited reward of his labor.
Mr. Kelley was living in this county at the time of the Civil war and enlisted in August, 1861, as a member of Company A, Tenth Iowa Volunleer Infantry, under Captain McCauley. The command was assigned to the Army of the West and after serving for three and a half years he was honorably discharged in the fall of 1864. He was in the hospital at Camp Dennison, Ohio, for two months, yet took part in all of the engagements with his regiment, including the battles of Island No. 10. luka [?]. Corinth, Jackson, Champion's Hill, the siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, the Atlanta campaign and was also with Sherman on the march to the sea and on the campaign through the Carolinas. He was mustered out at Kingston, Georgia, and returned home with a most creditable military record, for he had manifested unfaltering loyalty on the field of battle. He not only had narrow escapes while upon the firing line but again seemed to escape with his life in almost miraculous manner during the cyclone of September, 1882, for on that occasion his buildings, stock and crops were all destroyed, leaving him nothing save the land. Undiscouraged by this condition, however, he resolutely set to work to retrieve his losses and in the course of years gained a substantial competence, now enabling him to live retired.
On the 22d of December, 1870, Mr. Kclley was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Selby, who was born in La Grange county. Indiana, September 5, 1841, and in 1868 came to Iowa with her parents, Ralph and Catharine Selby, who were natives of Ohio and spent their last days near Des Moines. Their family numbered four children and unto Mr. and Mrs. Kelley four children have been born, namely: Annetta, the wife of Frank Smith, of Dayton, Iowa; Clinton, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Harry, living in A\mes; and Frank, of Boone county, Iowa.
Mr. Kelley is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and thus keeps in close touch with his old army comrades. He has always been loyal and progressive in citizenship, displaying no greater faithfulness to his country and its welfare in times of war than he does in days of peace. He has now passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey and his has been an honorable and creditable record, his life history showing what may be accomplished by determined purpose, close application and unfaltering energy. He started out empty-handed and is today the possessor of a comfortable competence, supplying him with all of the necessities and manv of the comforts of life.
From History of Story County Iowa by W. O. Payne, 1911
