Letter from a fellow researcher

The picture of Benjamin Herndon Kelley came from her collection, as well as the Rebecca Sarah Thorpe picture. They were handed down my family line. You may eventually find these records out there, many of her records are in the public domain of Ancestry now. She wanted the family information to be shared with the family-at-large, and don't we do what our mothers tell us?

The Benjamin Herndon Family Sheet is a scan of a xerox of an actual record. In the 1970s my mother requested this record and received it from the Mormon Church. It appears to be a record used by a widow applying for a Civil War Pension, perhaps sourcing much of her information from a family bible. The "x" in front of William Grant, number nine is probably for designating the husband of the applicant. This record has demonstrated itself to be accurate for the children of BHK when compared to other records. There is some question about George's middle initial. There are two caveats on this record, which perhaps the widow needed to fill in but were not in the family bible. Benjamin Herndon was not born in Kentucky, he was born in Virginia; Rebecca Sarah Thorpe was not born in Kentucky, she was born in North Carolina. Other records bear this out. Both would be reasonable assumptions on the widow's part...

Benjamin Herndon Kelley's father was Benjamin Kelley, born 27 July 1761 in Bedford County, Colony of Virginia. Benjamin Kelley was the son of John Kelly and Ann Rush, of Virginia. Benjamin Kelley is a great ancestor, his life was full of stories! This is as far back as the written record will take us for our Kelley line. There are other opinions on Ancestry or elsewhere, and it would be great if they were true, but you will not see any documentation for anything earlier than these people. There is almost nothing for John Kelley or Ann Rush, as it is. Attached is a family group sheet for Benjamin Kelley b.1761. His second wife Nancy Roach bore him a son named Norval C. So, Benjamin Herndon's half-brother, Norval C. b. 1810 is the earliest recorded Norval of our line.

There were no less nor any more children than those shown on these family group sheets. There were many non- related lines of Kelleys/Kellys in Virginia or Kentucky etc which have sometimes been confused/conflated in some of the Ancestry trees. Oh, and I should send you elder Benjamin's will. I do not know if BHK had a will, haven't seen one. And I will send you the pages of the book that goes as deep into the family past as we know, telling of elder Benjamin's ancestry. It ain't much.

This all should get you and your mother a pretty good start. You both will be able to find a lot of records for Benjamin Herndon's siblings. That's it for now, enjoy!