The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-02-03
FoR THE CENTRAL PREsBYrERIAS.
THE xELLYs, OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

Before the sketch of James Robinson and
John Hendren, D. D., can be completed,
some things must be told of the Kellys of
Charlottesville.
Those acquainted with that village fifty
years ago will readily understand the per-
sons referred to, and viii call to mind the
noble man and excellent woman whose dwell
ing was on the southern corner of the public
square But for the mass of the people uow
living in Albemarle, as well as to the gene
rality of the readers of the Central Pres
6yterian, it is necessary to delineate the
characteristics and doings of worthy fami-
ly that was necessarily prominent in gather
ing PresbyteriaA church in Charlottesville,
in order to endeart rtheir memory, and keep
alive their exampw in the Church of God.
There is not left any descendant of the
family bearing the name of Kelly; and the
memorial of the members is il. tLa;s.charac,
ter and their works. q "
Of the early life p John Kelly, but few
facts have been preserved. He was born in
ITO, on the Bay 4 the Chesapeake, in Vir-
ginia, in that uss y neck of land between
the Potomac an 'ppahannOck rivers call
ed the Northern seek. He was reared,
lived and died in the ancient Dominion, a
noble specimen of Virginia man. Of the
antecedents of the family nothing further
has been preserved than the name, and that
his mother was descendant of the Yearbys.
His mother became a widow when he was
quite young; and with narrow means devO
ted herself to rearing her children to useful
ness. From the references he occasionally
made to his mother, the conclusion is clear
that she was an admirable woman. She left
in her sons heart reverence, an affection,
and gratitude that often moved him to
tears, as, in his advanced years, he called to
mind her watchful care and motherly discre-
tion in dealing with his boyhOOd and early
youth. She had trained him to integrity
and kindness; and he grew up cheerful,
honorable youth After he became a sub
ject of converting grace, in rejecting on his
early thoughtlessness of religion, his ex-
posures and his escapes, and the bearing of
mis- mother IN all her trials, he came to the
conclusion that the heart of her that had
guide him was purified by the love of God,
which at the time he was too thoughtless to
appreciate or discern. What is it gives a
widowed mother her wonderful power and
skill? Does God still verify in the expert
ence of our race the Prophets assertion
''leave thy fatherless children, [ viii pre-
serve them alive; and let the widows trust
in me?" Does he still entrust great actions
and great actors, in their beginnings, to
widows? The experience for generations in
Virginia is, that the chosen instrument of
God has been trained by the plastic hand of
the widow.
Mr.. Kelly was reared in section of
country productive of great men, in all de-
partments of life; planters, farmers, mer-
chants, physicians, lawyers, judges, states
men, military men, and ministers of the
Gospel. 1t was comparatively easy to store
the mind of child with examples of excel
lence in all ranks of life The tone of So
eial intercourse was elevated and refined !;
and down to the present century had some
thing of the stateliness of Colonial days.
Mr.. Kelly was personally of that order of
manhood, found some sixty or seventy years
since, in abundance in Virginia, in the
Northern Neck, along the eastern base of
the Blue Ridge, and in the Valley of the
Shenandoah tall, erect, robust, active. To
use a common expression in those days, she
stood six feet two without his shoes" and
was well proportioned and finely moulded.
Whether sitting or standing or walking, he
was digni6ed without any formality; and in
his intercourse with men, easy and social in
his manner, without any approach to levity.
His whole bearing was self-possesSed and
kind. Age with its silver locks but added
to his dignity and kindness.