Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-31
HON. 4. n. KELLEY
70 BE MINISTER 70 ITALY

~ DC A19sto~ 49, :. ~
H,s SsmsastIsu STAT 70 me senate ~ she
rrsss~sss ys.s<rdsy- Sketch er H's L'fs
sud sesstcs&
The highly-gratifying news reached
here yesterday that the Hon A. M.
Kelley, City Attorney, had been noml-
mated BY the President TO be Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary TO Italy. Mr.. Kelley is capable
and deserving. lie has long been a
header in the Conservative Democratic
party IN Virginia. and was for several
wears, in q most trying time, the chair
man Of the State Executive Committee.
As such he performed, with little help
and IN the face Of fearful discourage
ments, o most astonishing amount of
work. He has not only been most
valuable committeeman, but as pub
lie speaker and writer of party papers
he has done valiant service. Mr.. kci-
lev is one Of the best speakers in Vir-
GINA. The words I" come trippingly
from his tongue There is charm
in his oratory that captiyates at once.
His sentences are polished and point
ed his wit abundant and fresh, and
his power as an advocate very strong.
Altogether he is a great orator. More
than that, he is thoroughly deserving,
and Richmond and Virginia ought to-,
and will, feel proud Of him in the high
station to which he is called.
Mr.. Kelley was born in Paterson,
n. j., and is about fifty years of age.
His parents came to Petersburg, Va,
when he was small child, and he lived
in our sister city until 1867. when he
moved to Richmond, where he has re-
sided since. lie founded the Petersburg
Ners, which was suppressed by Secre-
tary Stanton in June, 1865, and Mr..
Kelley incarcerated in Castle Thunder.
He was discharged from that prison on
the I'd Of July, and on the morning of
the 4th issued the first number of the
Petersburg hder. He subsequently
founded the Norfolk ViTginiaR, both
Of which papers are prosperously con-
tinued to the present. He was for a
while the editor of the Enquirer
Examiner, and has been q constant
contributor to the political press Of the
State, editing with great acceptance and
ability the campaign paper-the True
Dem0crat.-in several canyasses in Nir-
ginia.
nf. Kelley was Douglas Democrat,
and voted and spoke against secession.
His army comrades relate that his was
the only vote cast against the ordinance
in his battalion. He was severely
wounded at Malvern Hill, and en- the
9th of June, 1864, was captured and
confined in Federal prison until No
venber Of that year, when he was ex-
changed.
lie was elected to the Assembly from
Petersburg in 1867. and on the recon-
struotion of the State was i'll 1869
chosen a delegate from this city, which
he had made his home. Here he was
the author of the enabling act, which
restored municipal government to the
Virginia cities. AtGeneral Lees death
he was chosen by the Assembly TO
represent the State as pall-bearer at
the funeral.
After the mayoralty contest in 1870
Mr.. Kelley received the Democratic
nomination for Mayor and was elected,
resigning his place in the Assembly to
accept the office. lie remained Mayor
until 1876, when he was chosen TO his
present office Of City Attorney.
Mr.. Kelley has been all his life an
ardent party worker. Almost cOntin-
uously member of the State Executive
Committee from 1869, and for many
years its chairman, he found time to
edit campaign papers and speak through
out the State meanwhile. His success
in procuring the recognition Of the May
ticket in the Hancock election at the
hands Of the National Democratic Com
mittee drew the party line in the State
and insured the splendid Democratic
triumph Of 1880. His services in the
October 1854 campaign in West Vir-
ginia and Ohio were deemed so valuable
that the National Committee invited
him to stump New York in the national
election, and presented him handsome
letter of compliment for his work.
Mr.. Kelly has been for, we believe,
ten years president of the Irish Catholic
Benevolent Union of the United States,
is member Of the Executive Committee
of the Virginia Historical Society, and
the Southern Historical Society, and OF
several literary and other associations,