Home - Surname List - Name Index - Sources - Email Us O'Ceallaigs (O'Kelleys) coming to America
I guess like many families there is a great desire to learn where one comes from. There have been many in the O'Kelley family who have dug through papers, libraries, books, cemeteries, and listened to family stories to arrive at the contents of the Thomas O'Kelley Website. I can take little credit because most of this came to me from the hard work of others. It seems that after all the research, not much is known of Thomas himself, if that was actually his name, such as what year he came to America, who his parents were, and if he had any brothers or sisters who might have traveled to America with him. I suspect much of the problem is we don't really know how his family spelled their name when living in Ireland if they did come from Ireland. The Gaelic Kelly surname was and continues to be almost as common in Ireland as Smith is in America so finding the Irish ancestor is truly going to be like finding a needle in the hay stack. Since I started this journey about thirteen years ago, I depended on experienced genealogists and some Irish sources. Since Gaelic was the common spoken and written language in Ireland in the early 1700s and the O'Kelley English spelling of the name doesn't appear to be in any Irish documents of that time, I concluded that our family may have unused one of the many varied Gaelic spellings which was translated to an English spelling of O'Kelley by some English speaking person either when boarding ship to come to America or after arriving in America. The Gaelic alphabet had no "K" or "Y" so we can aid ourselves when searching Irish sources by concentrating on Gaelic spellings of our surname. But in recent months I have made some discoveries that seems to turn that conclusion on its end.
My problem has always been with Irish history which tells me that at the time our ancestor came to America, ancestral Irish were Catholic and Gaelic speaking but my family seemed to be protestant and English speaking and all their given names are very English mostly the same names of many English Kings, James, Charles, John, and then there is Francis, how did an ancestral Irish lad come to have a very English name like Francis and who was he named after, the Englishman Francis Bacon maybe? None of this was making much sense especially when I considered what Conor O'Kelly of Ireland told me several years ago after he asked where did I get that unusually O'Kelley spelling of my name, that it didn't appear in Ireland. But is that actually true? Let us consider that the O' is added to the name "Kelley" to denote grandson of. If I remove it in my searches, I find a record on Virtual James Town for a James Kelley born in 1710 and from Turue, Gallaway, Ireland who traveled to Jamacia in Jan 1729 as an indentured servant. Is this just an error and James Kelley is actually James Kelly or could there be Kelley's living in Gallway and James is the name that appears in my family more than any other given name. Maybe I am putting too much emphasis on the spelling of the last name because in many of the Revolutionary War documents I am finding O'Kelley's with Kelly, Kelley, OKelly, O'Kelly and O'Kelley so maybe it just doesn't really matter. Maybe those given names are a greater clue so when I change my filter and accept any form of the last name and focus only on if the first name is a traditional Irish name or an English name I see this very differently. It opens up a lot more possibilities because there is a group of O'Kellys living in Gallaway at the time my ancestor should have come from Ireland who were very much ancestral Irish but loyal to the English monarchy almost to a fault. It didn't seem to matter that much if the King was Catholic or Protestant, they were loyal to the English Kings and the names William, Charles, John, Dennis, all appear in their family names. During the time of Queen Elizabeth she asked an ancestrial Irish man named Colla O'Kelly (another source) to drop the O', learn English, and convert to Protestantism and in return she would give him the lands and homes of of the Catholic around Galway. If our ancestor descended from Colla that could explain why at his arrival in America he had an English spelled name and bore an English given name and was Protestant. My family may have descended from ancestral Irish but from a branch of the O'Kelly family that changed sides and sided with the English. Colla O'Kelly explains the difficuties I experienced when trying to figure out how my Irish ancestors came to be English living in early America.
I am unaware of any known documents stating who Thomas' parents were, so without documentation, the telling of this story is just that. Some think Thomas may have been the son of William O'Kelly of Ireland and after becoming a young man Thomas travel to Virginia some time between 1740 and 1748 where he married Elizabeth Dean and raised his family. If that were true then ships records should document this and to day I know of no one who has. Records of the day do list a Rev. James O'Kelley who was the founder of the Christian Church in Virginia and North Carolina. James was born around 1734 (James' head stone is engraved with 1738 but it was erected 25 years after his death and at his death Rev. James O'Kelley was 92 years of age) and his grave is listed on the Internet where he is buried in the cemetery next to the O'Kelley Chapel. Once again there are no known documents that tie these two together.
In a a book by W. E. MacClenny, The Life of Rev. James O'Kelly and the Early History of the Christian Church in the South, Raleigh, Va.: Edwards and Broughton Printing Company, 1910, James O'Kelley was reported to have been a good friend of Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson arranged for James O'Kelley to preach in the Halls of Congress during Jefferson's time as President. The author concludes James O'Kelley came from Ireland and his father was William O'Kelly who had two sons. One son was a minister and the other a soldier. The identify of the second son is not know but since Thomas and James are 9 years apart in age and it is reported that both settle in Mecklenberg County Virginia during the same time, it is possible they were brothers or cousins but I have read that James was actually born in America and I can find no ship records showing where a Thomas came to America during that time. Further evidence that James' father was William is related in the same book which states that James O'Kelly had two sons, John and William who was named after his grandfather O'Kelly. Ships records do show a William O'Kelly coming to America in 1657, might be a great grandfather. A copy of James' Will & Testament naming the two sons is printed in the book on pages 227 and 228.
Update - William Kelley whose father is reportedly a James Kelley and mother is reported to be Mary whose last name is unknown? Could Mary be Mary Chetwode the daughter of John Chetwode the First Baron of Oakley? Update - May 6 2010 Mary Chetwode died without child.
It should be noted that in those days sons were often named after their grandfathers, and according to my Aunt Kathleen who has been at this quest for most of her adult life normally the first born son would be named after their paternal grandfather while the second born would be name after their maternal grandfather. I am not sure what happen in James' case but it appears if William was his father then he broke tradition by naming his second born son after his father. Thomas also had a son named William but his date of birth is not known. It is believed he was not the first born with Thomas II being the older first born son.
As an experienced Criminal Investigator I believe there is a good possibility that the name Thomas may not accurate and may have come to head the family tree by a guess by one of our early ancestors who was trying to build the family tree after several generations had passed. It should be noted that there is also a competing family tree that begins with a James and Anna (Dean). The ship records (listed below) do show two brothers, John and William, arriving in Philadelphia in 1742 which would fit the time line. There is also a much older William O'Kelly that came to Virginia in 1657 and he could be the real ancestor; he could be the grandfather or great grandfather of both our Thomas and of Rev James O'Kelley. There is one think I can be certain, we can't not just accept the telling of family tradition as fact. Without documentation, family tradition is little more than fiction.
There are several things we must consider as we search for documents. Protestant Reformation began in 1517 with Martin Luther. Until Henry VIII break with the Pope (1537) over a divorce, all of Ireland and England were Roman Catholic but by the 1600s, most of England had been forcible converted to Protestantism and Ireland was still Catholic and loyal to the Pope so since England was the master of Ireland, a push to force the Irish to convert to Protestant faith began. Many laws were passed that robbed the Irish of their homes and properties giving much of the wealth of Ireland to their English Protestant Masters fueling the bad blood that led to so many to leave Ireland and go to Spain which was still Catholic or to come to America where they could start a new life. If my ancestor came to America between 1615 and 1750 then it was very likely he was a Roman Catholic Irish seeking to escape the harsh and unjust English Protestant rule or he was forced here because he was judged guilty of some crime. Since all the known O'Kelleys are Protestant today and embracers of the then much hated King James Bible (written between 1607 and 1610 and then forced by King James upon the English people) at sometime in our family history a conversion from Catholic to Protestant occurred and given the bitterness that continues today in Ireland between Catholics and Protestants, it is likely that Thomas may have been the ancestor that switch faiths and that accounts for the reason our family tradition does not extend to before him. Thomas would have been considered a traitor to Ireland and his Catholic family and both would have probably disowned the other. This bad blood over religion would have given Thomas reason to change the spelling of his last name, change his first name and even manufacture a story that he came from Ireland (probably had to flee) which is still possible or he may also have been born in America but to a Catholic family and manufactured the birth in Ireland. One has to take into account the current events of that time when they are investigating the origins of a family because what we think is probably not be what actually happened. The teller of history gets to tell it in a light that favors him. These are possibilities that must not be ignored.
I have updated below a post by a descendent of Dr. Thomas K O'Kelley who is a long deceased descendent of Benjamin O'Kelley that he had a family Bible opening up the possibility that Thomas and Elizabeth Dean may actually have been James and Anna Dean. I find this perfectly possible. Our youngest son is named Ryan Neil, the Neil is after my maternal grandfather and over time the telling that Ryan was named after his grandfather could result in someone recording that grandfather name as "Ryan" when his name is Cornelius thus the "Neil" as his middle name. It may be possible that Thomas was actually James Thomas O'Kelley or Thomas James O'Kelley or they were two people and brothers and somehow their families and off spring were merged into one or in one branch of the family this single ancestor came to be known only as Thomas and in the other branch he became to be known as James. The same could be true for his wife. Both Elizabeth and Anna could be how one branch of the family came to know her vs another branch. My wife is Lesa Renee' and those who know her call her "Renee'" but those who do not know her and see her name written out address her as Lesa most often with the Lisa spelling. We must consider these things as we move forward in our research of the family. We must not ignore one possibility because it doesn't fit with our known family tradition telling of the story. Lastly one has to also consider that our ancestor may have been one of the many who were transported to America by the English legal system. In The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607 - 1660 one will find page after page of judgments forcing people found guilty of minor offenses including vagrancy to Virginia. In the below table there is a link for Ales OKeley documenting such. Who knows, Ales may be our first ancestor to put a foot on America soil and Thomas or James depending on which telling you prefer might be the great grandson several times down of Ales and that grandson changed the telling of the story to conceal his ancestor arrived as a result of a criminal conviction. We must consider that it is possible that our ancestor Thomas, may have known that his ancestor had been forced to Virginia and to hid the shame he may have manufactured that he was born in Ireland as a child and came to America as a young man. Families manufacture information all the time to hide unpleasant truths. It may be possible that Thomas broke with his Roman Catholic family who were well established in America to become a Protestant and he manufacture the telling that he was born in Ireland and came to American.
While this speculation proves nothing, I must fall back to my days as a Criminal Investigator where then it was important to develop a Theory of Investigation and then set about to disprove the Theory. I talk about this speculation or family lore because some reader somewhere will have another piece of the puzzle in the exploration of the life and times of the O'Kelleys coming to America and we don't want them to disguard that inforamtion because it doesn't fit with the popular telling of our families history. Probably in some attic, or on a table at a flee market is an old family Bible with the family tree mapped and documented and people looking at it are wondering who Thomas or James O'Kelley were.
Some new links about Rev James O'Kelley (gravestone spelling)
http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/153/entry - Born in Tidewater, VA 1736 and married to Elizabeth Meeks 1759
http://www.piney.com/RmOKXVII.html
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/people/jokelley.htmlUpdate - since the creation of this website Edith R. Duncan has submitted a family tree that concludes that William O'Kelley born in Ireland was the father of Thomas O'Kelley. That website is located at http://william.okelley.org. I do not know if there is any documented authority for this conclusion as there is nothing included in the notes that could be used to confirm this claim and it may be that this is solely based upon family spoken tradition and not actually knowledge. The reader should contact Edith R. Duncan directly if they need additional information about this site. Her address and email are listed on the William O'Kelley website.
Update 4/6/2010 - There is a 2009 post on Ancestry.com by a person who is a descendent of Benjamin O'Kelley. She reports that there is a Bible of her great great Grandfather, Dr. Thomas K O'Kelley, that documents his ancestor via Benjamin O'Kelley as the fourth son of James O'Kelley and wife Anna Dean. Much of the story mirrors the family tradition of our story only the ancestor's names are different and he was born 15 years earlier than Thomas. This is important as this descendent reports there is actual documentation via an ancestor's Bible where I am unaware of any documentation for our family tradition. This Bible could be the only known document relating to a very early ancestor of an O'Kelley line. It is one thing to believe one's ancestor is someone but very much another to have an actually family tree created by a earlier ancestor.
Update 4/6/2010 - A very good friend named Bo Roop brought me copies of pages from the Passenger and Immigration Lists and there are some very interesting records. Bo is a WWII Marine Veteran and he has worked many years with cemeteries and genealogy. What is interesting about these records is they show that the OKelley family came to America very early. James Town was founding in 1607 and the Mayflower came to America bringing the Pilgrims in 1620. The first OKeley's arrived in America in 1618. It may be possible that our Thomas decended from one of these early arrivals but again given that the name Kelly was so common in Ireland, there could be no link between any of these and my family. More work needs to be done and it needs to be done from the view that all things are possible. If one puts blinders on and only seek to follow the family traditions, they may missing a discovery.
Name Date Arrived Place of Arrival Source Page Additional Ales OKeley 1618 Virginia 1219.4 p10 Amos OKeley 1618 Virginia 3315 P4 Richard OKeley 1628 Virginia 1219.4, 3315 p33, p83 Robert Okeley 1642 Virginia 6220 p134 John Okelly 1653 Virginia 6220 p347 Rich Okell 1654 Virginia 6220 p299 Richard Okell 1654 Virginia 9143 p75 William O'Kelly 1657 Virginia 6220 p364 Tho Okelly 1658 Virginia 6220 p385 Wm Okely 1664 Virginia 6220 p516 Sisly Okely 1666 Virginia 6220 p551 Thomas & Ann OKeley 1671 Maryland P164 GIBB, CARSON. A Supplement to The Early Settlers of Maryland. Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives, 1997. 248p. James OKeley 1672 Virginia 6221 p119 Jam O'Keley 1673 Virginia 6221 p126 Margaret Okely 1678 Maryland 8510 p341 Cornelius OKely 1682 Virginia 6221 p233 Jon OKelly 1683 Virginia 6221 p254 John Okely 1742 New York 932 p37 John and William O'Kely 1742 Philadelphia 7267 p334 brothers John Okely 1749 Philadelphia 7767 p382 William O'Kely 1754 New York 3660 p303 Thomas O'Kelley 1806 America 8195 p36 1850 Census Record
Massachusetts O'Kelley Family - A possibility that I am unaware of it it has been researched.
Website Information - Source http://www.genealogyofnewengland.com/f_55.htm#131
CROWELL, Elizabeth
b. AUG 1692 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
Parents:Father: CROWELL, ThomasFamily:
Mother: JONES, Elizabeth
Marriage: FEB 1713/14 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
Spouse: O'KELLY, John
b. 13 OCT 1692 Yarmouth, Mass.
d. 10 MAR 1776 Yarmouth, Mass.
Parents:Father: O'KELLY, JohnChildren:
Mother: LEWIS, Bathsheba
O'KELLY, David
O'KELLY, John
b. 28 APR 1719 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
O'KELLY, Jonathan
b. 9 MAY 1721 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
d. New York
O'KELLY, Timothy
b. JUL 1723 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
O'KELLY, Thomas
b. 13 MAY 1725 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
O'KELLY, Elizabeth
b. 25 MAR 1727 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
d. BEF OCT 1731
O'KELLY, Reuben
b. 10 MAR 1728/29 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
O'KELLY, Elizabeth
b. 19 OCT 1731 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
O'KELLY, Ebenezer
b. 19 FEB 1733/34 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Mass.
Family tradition has it that our Ancestor Thomas O'Kelley was born in 1725 in Ireland and came to America. To date, no records have been found to document his arrival. This Thomas O'Kelly was actually born in America which could be one explanation for why no ship documentation can be found. Another interesting detail is the above website has no descendents for Thomas O'Kelly. There can be many reasons for this but one likely reason could be that Thomas broke with his family and moved to Virginia and created a new family tradition. The above does provide some hope that more information may be out there to aid in this hunt.
Rick O'Kelley
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