Kelly Cemetery

Kelly / Kelley Cemetery Ironton Register January 6, 1857

On last Monday afternoon, we took a walk to Kelley’s [sometimes spelled Kelly] Cemetery, starting from the upper corner of Rodgers Block, walking with a moderately brisk step up Second Street by the best buggy route; we could have cut off some corners, climbing fences, and made the distance a little less.

To the entrance of the Cemetery, we took 3,160 steps of about 28 inches in length each, occupying 21 minutes – making the distance a little over a mile and a third—course from town about Southeast.

In the cemetery, we counted 232 graves, a large proportion of little graves.

The number of monuments to graves is less than 60, mostly white marble slabs of various styles finish, some very nice, exhibiting good taste; and some obelisk octagonal shafts, &c., that is very beautiful.  The late James M. Camp monument is of octagonal form, clouded marble (Italian), modest in size, and in most excellent taste.

The large monument in Wm. D. Kelly’s lot is about 20 feet in height, an obelisk on a rectangular base, which, together with the iron fencing, smaller monuments, and fixtures, cost, we understand, nearly $1,200.  The monument of the late James W. Means is beautiful, Italian marble, octagonal form, 15 feet high – cost about $600. 

These monuments are the workmanship of our fellow townsman, a mechanic of most excellent taste, David Harris.  Other fine monuments are in the cemetery, but we do not now call them to mind.  We recollect the inscription on one small one:  “Our little Charley.”  At some of the little graves are placed little lambs of pure white marble.

We observe inside of the present rough form a young hedge, which will, in time, if care is taken, much beautify the place.  We observe, too, that the most beautiful portion of the ground for burial, if fitted up with the taste, is year nearly unoccupied – that on the side hill, under the trees.  With winding avenues and shrubbery, it would form an attractive spot.

We ____ to obtain the number of burials in this cemetery in 1856, but no record has been kept.  This is wrong.  And we would ___ there is often a slovenly way of leaving the grave after the burial, not, perhaps, filled and rounded up as ought to be the ___, and lose lots of earth lying about where it should be cleared away to give the grass a place to grow.

Ironton Register newspaper printed the following notice on July 2, 1874 – “The J. O. Willard monument has been removed from Kelly Cemetery to Woodland.”

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WALK IN A CEMETERY

In a ramble in the woods last Sunday, we chanced to go through the Kelly Cemetery.  For nearly 20 years, it has been quite abandoned and shown, on every hand, the vestige of neglect.  Still, it is a sacred spot, and Time alone visits it with marks of desolation.

The morning was serene and sweet, and the quiet was only broken by the birds hopping among the trees and vines with many a cheerful chirp and song.  As we entered the enclosure, we observed the form of a man lying on the broad pedestal of an uncompleted shaft.

He lay there motionless, his head resting on his arm, and seemed the very embodiment of the silence and stagnation of the place, as rigid apparently, as the stone base on which he reclined, until, approaching from behind, we passed directly in front of him, when he languidly turned his head, arose, walked back through the trees of the cemetery and disappeared among the hills.

We stepped up to a little shaft nearby and read the inscription to the memory of Dr. John Pringle.  The little lot, deep with arbor ____, was enclosed with an iron fence.  What astonished us was that the well-known Doctor died at 52, when men are regarded as in their prime.

All the impressions of youthful days were that he was an old man, and memory now pictures him as a gray-bearded man riding a spry nag through the hills of this county, ministering to the sick.

Beside his lot (if we may accord the possessive to the dead) is that of Perry Scott, who now lives in Portland, Oregon.  Here his four children are buried.  These two lots occupy a little brow of the rolling cemetery and overlook a plowed field.

Nearby is the J. T. Davis lot, encircled by a chain fence, where a white shaft marks the grave of his first wife, Mary.  A white slab on the edge of the knoll marks the resting place of S. T. Richardson, who, with Henry Wilson, conducted a saddlery shop from 1854 to the close of the war.  He died in 18____ at the age of 47.

The Kelly shaft is the prominent object of the Cemetery.  It is a tall column surmounted by an eagle.  It was erected in 1855 when Mr. W. D. Kelly was 41 years old.  Mr. Kelly’s name and birth are chronicled upon it, with a blank space below for the final remarks.  That was 35 years ago.  He is yet in the toils of business, apparently good for years.

Here is the tall column of the James W. Means monument, twined to the top with ivy.  There is a strong iron fence about the tomb.  Mr. Means was a brother of Thomas W. Means.  He built the house where Geo. Willard now lives.  He was born in 1808 and died in 1855, being 47 years old.

Nearby is J. Allen Richey’s grave, the first Secretary of the Ohio Iron & Coal Co.  He died in 1855 at the age of ___ years.  How remarkable it is that these old citizens died so young.

Here is the tomb of Edward Ward, which tells us he died at ___, and yet he was a businessman of Ironton for many years.  And here is the last resting place of Hugh Crawford, who was Sheriff of the county, when the county seat was moved from Burlington to Ironton – he was only 39 years old.  This old slab tells of the death of Washington Irwin, a well-known citizen when Ironton was founded, dying at the age of 42.

Who would have thought that Joshua Hambleton, who served this county as Sheriff and Treasurer, was only 58 years old when he died?  While his age seemed to set on him serenely, his years seemed more than 58.

We have no space to refer to the many well-known graves in that solemn precinct. We can only allude to the little period from the war to 1870 when Woodland was opened – to the names of Richard A. Kirker, Edward A. Thomas, Frank Shepard, Amos McKee, Edwin and Kimber, B. Davis and other soldier boys who died in their country’s service and found the quiet rest of Kelly’s cemetery.

Graves are added to this cemetery every year, and up the hillside, fresh mounds appear.  It is really a lovely spot, even in its neglect.

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Removals. Ironton Register May 24, 1900

The work of removing the bodies of the father and mother of Mrs. Jere Davidson, their two children, and Edward A. Thomas, the first husband of Mrs. Davidson, from Kelly’s cemetery to a family lot in Woodland was completed last week.  In view of the fact that the deceased were all known to the old settlers of this county, a word regarding them will be of interest.

 Hugh Crawford, the father of Mrs. Davidson, was one of the first sheriffs of Lawrence County, serving before the county seat was removed from Burlington.  He was born October 18, 1812, and died January 3, 1853, being killed by being entangled in a rope while handling a raft.

His wife, Frances Dillon Crawford, a sister of Stephen Dillon of this county, died of typhoid fever on September 14, 1854.  She was the daughter of Jesse and Rebecca Dillon.  The two children of Hugh and Frances Crawford, Gerome, and Franklin, aged 10 and 1 year, respectively, both died in 1853, one in May and the other in July.

Edward A. Thomas, whose remains rest beside those of the Crawford family, was a promising young attorney who enlisted at the opening of the war and was a sergeant major in the Second West Virginia Cavalry.  He was wounded in battle and died from the effects of his wounds on July 26, 1864.  His remains were brought to Ironton and interred in Kelly’s cemetery in January 1865.

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Kelly Cemetery Ironton Register Nov. 19, 1903

It’s to be Re-platted and Fully Restored.

An order was given last week to the surveyor to find the corners and lay out the streets and alleys of W. D. Kelly’s cemetery. All owners will be given an opportunity to take part in clearing and beautifying their burial lots.

The location always has been a good road and reflects great credit on the choice of our fathers, who appreciate its quiet, restful place, on the ___ side of a protecting hill, sheltered by native trees, and surrounded by a babbling brook which the last ran nearly all the year.

It is now proposed under the auspices of Mr. Ironton Kelly, and Mrs. Nannie Kelly and son, to carefully ____, the cemetery and mark the _____ of the owner of each lot, and offer its care to the heirs, if they will have it, and provide, if possible some …

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KELLY’S CEMETERY

Lot Owners Asked to Assist in Its Restoration

IR Dec. 17, 1903

The unusually cold weather has not delayed the survey and remarking of streets and alleys in Kelly’s cemetery. Still, Mr. Fred G. Leete has taken all the trouble and is to acquire all the facts and give exactly the locality of each line so that the names we publish are found on the records as lot owners.

This property is not subject to taxation and never charges title, so while it is recorded in the name of the deceased citizens, it still is the property of the next of kin in all coming generations.

Our only object to publishing this list is to show property owners the property they have and have them reject or renounce their claims or help a little to make a beautiful spot of the soil that covers the sacred remains of their parents.

Mr. W. D. Kelly has dedicated the streets and alleys, which are the state’s property. Every lot in the survey can be easily found, so if anyone not on record at the Court House, as published here, has a lot of claims __ they will write a postcard to Mr. Fred Leete. He will show them their place and establish their corners for them, and everyone who owns a lot can know that he has something that neither law nor adversity can take away from them.

Ironton Kelly and Mrs. Nannie Kelly are interested in this matter and intend to see that all who have buried their dead in lots conveyed to them by the honored W. D. Kelly, now deceased, will have their title respected and a privilege given them of paying ….illegible paragraphs

… The following is the list of W. D. Kelly’s cemetery as shown by the Recorder’s books:

• Grubb, David              Lot No. 212
• Howell, Thomas                      214
• Clippinger, Solomon               271
• Colvin, Wm.                            239
• Kingsbury, Charles                 231 or 281
• McClure, Samuel                    271
• Cole, Henry                             237
• Kelly, Isaiah                             235
• Wilson, Alexander                   239
• Bush, Seth R.                         296
• McElroy, Robert          236
• L ?, Dan                      235
• Smith, Bird                  [not clear on these numbers – paper is hard to read]
• Camp, Martha
• Israel, Wm. P.
• Willard, Ann M.
• Willard, George W.
• Brice, David
• Alexander, John
• Beeson, R. S.
• George, John S.
• Harris, David
• R ?, Elizabeth S.
• Means, Jno.
• Amlin, H. M.
• Voglesong, Dan W.
• Hopkins, Howell
• Urick, James B.
• Davis, David B.
• Davis, Thomas J.
• M ?, Thomas J.
• Bolles, Wm. W.
• L.? , John
• Thomas, David J.
• Richards, Samuel
• McGinty, M. by administrator
• Drew, Frederick
• Pugh, John
• Blessig, Jacob
• Davis, John J.
• Simmonds, C. M.
• Bailey, James
• Richardson, Wm.
• Zeek, Wm.

There are many more lots and many people buried on them, and anyone not knowing their burial place can very soon find out all about it by writing a postal card to Mr. Fred Leete, who will take delight in answering questions and in advising improvements.

This whole matter has crept on for years, and something definite should be done. Some arrangements were made by which a Decoration Day would come annually to the pioneers and old soldiers whose burial places have been lost sight of in a wilderness of undergrowth.

Please indicate what may be your pleasure and let us work together to do a sacred duty.   PILGRIM.