Personal Life
Kelley married the former Malinda Hufford in 1832, shortly before they moved to Columbus. The Hufford family was of Swiss extraction, having originally settled in Virginia before coming to Ohio in 1831. Kelley is listed as head of household in the 1840, 1850 and 1870 U.S. censuses as residing in Columbus, and he and his family are enumerated three times in 1860 :in Columbus, the 6th ward of Cincinnati and in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky. Census records, burial records and city directories make it possible to state that Kelley had two sons, William George (1843–1867) and James H (1847–1876). He had at least one daughter, perhaps two, but records are contradictory. Martha Jane Kelley (1835–1836) is buried in Green Lawn beside her father and brothers. A Maria Kelley, aged 3, is part of the 1850 census listing, but appears in no other census listings, and is not mentioned in probate records when Kelley died.
James H. Kelley is listed in city directories as clerk to his father, or architect in his own right. The very real possibility that there are no direct descendants of Nathan B. Kelley is evidenced by the fact that his wife is mentioned as having resided with her brother Daniel Hufford for six years in his obituary dated 1891. It is unlikely that Malinda Kelley would have had to rely upon the charity of her brother if any of her own children had been able to provide for her. This is confirmed by the fact that probate records for the estate of Nathan Kelley indicate he died intestate, Malinda Kelley requested not to serve as executor, and James H. Kelley requested that duty as the only child and heir. Malinda Hufford Kelley died in 1893.
Kelley was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), a fraternal organization devoted to the welfare and betterment of its members and society at large. He was a founder of the first IOOF lodge in Columbus, the group for most of its life meeting in a building at the corner of High and State Streets that also contained a bank and Kelley's offices.
Read more about this topic: Nathan Kelley
Famous quotes related to personal life:
“The dialectic between change and continuity is a painful but deeply instructive one, in personal life as in the life of a people. To ‘see the light’ too often has meant rejecting the treasures found in darkness.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)