Kelly Family Photo Gallery

These are mostly from the family of Isaac Kelly and his children.  See also photos of the William Wyse family.

Isaac Kelly's Children and Grandchildren

Here's a reminder of who we're talking about.  I have more data than this, this is a year old. Sorry it's so w-i-d-e.
The pictures we have are mainly of the families of William Harrison Kelly and of Levi Kelly.


Wanted Posters

Here's a quick overview of the faces involved, especially those I'm still trying to identify:

Susan Passmore? Late 1800's?
Susan Passmore in the 1900's? Is this really the same woman?
Unknown - may be a tintype - long dark dress looks 19th c?
Unknown - maybe __

Unknown - maybe Mary Mohney?

William Harrison Kelly
William Harrison Kelly, seated next to unknown man. Older than in picture to left?
Unknown male
Unknown male
Unknown male

Pictures of Levi Kelly and Family

These are from Janis Noonan.  The two family photos are taken on the same day - Levi was born around 1862 -  it depends how many of the people on the left are also their kids. There were 6 in all, born from 1885 to 1900, so this is at least 1885. Janis may have more info on who these are.  I assume the woman next to Levi on the right-hand picture is his wife, Catherine Emma McCreery.
 
The picture on the left is Levi Kelly and his friend, the whiskey bottle. I should think he's at least 50, putting this after 1910.  Just a guess.
The right hand picture is labeled "unknown cousins of Mae Kelly", so it could be McCreerys or Kellys.  We do not in anyway endorse the goals or methods of the organization involved! Just telling things the way they were.

Pictures of the William Kelly Family

Pictures from the William Kelly Family Bible

The Kelly family Bible apparently owned by William Harrison and Susan Passmore Kelly contains various pictures in special holders in the back. Several of the pictures are tintypes, also known as ferrotypes -- pictures printed directly on iron-based plates, despite the popular name. Robert Leggat's excellent history of photography mentions that tintypes was invented in 1853 and widely used until a better method replaced it in the 1880s. As the City Gallery site mentions, the technique continued to be popular at fairs until the 1930's, well after better methods existed. (Our tintypes are surely older than that, however, based on the people in them and the clothing styles.) Leggat notes that the process instantly became popular because it was quick and cheap, and the resulting print durable. At 10-25 cents a picture, they opened up photography to a mass audience that could not afford the formal portraits done up to then. The pictures in our family Bible are of the popular carte-de-visite size, 2 1/4" x 3 1/2". The pictures made are a mirror image, so don't be confused if scars, rings, or hair parts differ from later pictures.
Bigger This is how the Kelly family Bible looks. It was apparently owned by William Harrison Kelly and Susan Amanda Passmore Kelly, and includes several pages at the back with inserts for photos. All of the children of William and Susan are listed in the same brownish ink and handwriting, ending with Blair, born in 1895.  Presumably that was all entered when the Bible was purchased sometime between 1895 and 1904, when Phyllis' death was recorded in black ink.

To help in identifying the people in the pictures, let's review William and Susan's family: they had 9 children, starting with Rosa in 1873 (the year they married) and ending with Blair in 1895. Only three were boys, Rhuel Harry (1886), Clair (1892) and Blair. William had 12 brothers and sisters, plus 2 half-siblings. Susan was one of 8 children; they might be less represented in the photos as they lived further away in Jefferson County. We are in touch with descendants of some of those people; perhaps we can get their help in identifying pictures, or with real luck getting copies of photos (which I have found almost no one is willing to take the time to do, even if they say they will). 
Bigger The title page is dated 1880.
Bigger This marriage certificate of William and Susan is a separate sheet between the pages of the family Bible.
Bigger The first page of photo inserts.
Bigger The second page of photo inserts.
Bigger [KellyBible1] Sue McMorris identified a similar picture as being William Harrison Kelly.
Bigger [KellyBible2] This would seem to be William Kelly again, perhaps grayer. The other man may be younger - a brother or son?
Bigger [KellyBible3] Dark-haired woman with oval face and long chin, suggestive of other Kellys (Clair Sr, Edna). A daughter of William and Susan Kelly?  Petra says that according to the clothing it would be an older picture, and rather be a sister - could well be.
Bigger [KellyBible4] Woman of about 30-40 (difficult to tell much from this fuzzy copy). From her age, she could be Susan Kelly or an older daughter of William and Susan Kelly?
Bigger [KellyBible5] This bears some resemblance to the man shown with William H. Kelly in [KellyBible2] above, but the man in 2 has ears that protude more, in 5 the ears are lower. Also 5 may be a newer picture (not a tintype), and the man appears younger. (Add cutouts of both faces side by side. __)
Bigger [KellyBible6] 

Photos in Possession of Sue McMorris

I took pictures of the original photographs and portraits with my digital camera in 2002. Many of the originals have curled nearly into a half-cylinder, so that my images look like they were taken through a distorting wide angle lens. I hope to get quality photographic copies of these, and make better online copies from them.
Bigger Sue suggested this could be Susan Passmore and her mother, Mary Fox. I think the shape of the older woman's face also resembles the picture of Susan as a woman of 60 or 70, and could be her with one of her daughters.
Bigger This is a portrait in an oval frame of R. Harry (standing), Clair, Phyllis, and Queen Kelly. Clair was born in 1892 and could be 4 years old here, which would date the portrait around 1896, or perhaps 1895. If so, Harry would be 10 (b. 1886), Phyllis 13 (b. 1883), and Queen 7 (b. 1889).

Photos from the 1920s to 1940s? in Posession of Sue McMorris
Bigger Faye and Clair Kelly at 50(?). He would be 50 in 1942.
Bigger L to R: Clair Jr., Faye, Mary Sue, Clair, and Bill Kelly. Bill appears to be about 12(?), which would place this in 1944.
Bigger L to R: Clair Jr., Mary Sue, Clair, and Bill Kelly; same day as above.
Bigger Billy Kelly's first grade report card, from Patton, Pa.
Bigger Mary Wyse's obituary, not readable.

More Pictures of William Harrison Kelly's Family

These were in the posession of my father, William Kelly, after he borrowed them in the 80's or 90's to make copies, which he never did. Perhaps he returned them to Sue McMorris, perhaps not. I made photocopies while he had them, and scanned them in later, so the quality has suffered considerably. (I had a suspicion that Dad's project would not move quickly.) Only a few of the pictures have an inscription on them.
[LooseKellyPhotos1] Three girls in a car (or a make-believe car at a photographers?), found among Kelly family photos. I don't know enough to date the car. I think the youngest girl has a similar facial shape to Clair's and to the later pictures of Edna Kelly Townsend's. If this were Edna, it could be the eldest three Kelly girls, and if Edna were 10, this would be in about 1888.
[LooseKellyPhotos2] The man seems to be Evan Townsend, who is identified by the inscription on another picture shown below. This could be around the time Edna Kelly and Evan married in 1893.
[LooseKellyPhotos3] Evan Townsend and unidentified son. The inscription on reverse (see below) reads: Dear mother [Susan Passmore Kelly] I am comeing over tomoro to stay allnight I am going to Hastings today Mary Townsend is comeing along .. this is our boys Picture I am over at Leens(?) at M-- Creek. Good by. Edna T.
[LooseKellyPhotos3b] Reverse of above photo.
[LooseKellyPhotos4] I always speculated this was Susan Passmore because of her very strong resemblance to Clair Kelly.
[LooseKellyPhotos4b] Susan Passmore? Cropped from portrait above.

Pictures of Clair Kelly, Sr.'s Family

Clair and Blair Kelly in straw hats. Could they be around 20? Clair was 20 in 1912, Blair in 1915.
Clair still in straw hat, but older than above. Could this be the Patton train station? Patton had a hill near Lang Ave.
Clair Kelly, Sr in military uniform - he enlisted in the Marines in 1917.
Head cropped from above. Clair Kelly, Sr in doughboy uniform in World War I.

Pictures from my 1982 Trip to Cambria County

Grave of George C. and Elizabeth Passmore in __ Cemetery, __, Pa.  (Hmm, I have Mary Ann Hardsock as his wife. 2nd wife? Wrong George?)
A view of Hastings, where R.H. Kelly's memorial is in operation by a third generation of Rhuel Harry's family.
R.H. Kelly Memorials in Hastings, Pa.
William Harrison and Susan Amanda Passmore Kelly's grave in Fairview(?) Cemetery, northeast of Patton, Pa.
William Harrison and Susan Amanda Passmore Kelly's footstones.

Documents

William H. Kelly's death certificate from 1928, when he was 80 years old.
Business card for `Penn Craft Memorials', a term Clair Kelly invented to emphasize local craftmanship at the Leonard Granite Co.

19th and Early 20th Century Fashions

I surfed the web a bit for information on identifying the time period of photos based on clothing styles, techniques, backgrounds, etc.  A reasonably good book (but not as detailed as I would have liked, especially with sample photos) is Maureen Taylor's Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs - nonetheless a good resource.  The links below are some I saved for comparision with our photos.

As far as women's fashions, I see light colors in some examples of 1895 (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coffey/raising/) but not before.