John Kelly's two Irish Oak chests
It was written that my immigrant ancestor, John Kelly, a First Settler of Newbury, MA in 1635, brought with him from England two chests of Irish Oak, full of goods.
One of the chests was said to have fallen to his grandson, Richard Kelly, who married twice but left no issue.
The other chest (or maybe the same one) was said to have been in the possession (ca 1885) of Hannah Worth (Kelly) Merrill, 7th generation (Johns 1, 2 and 3, Richard 4, Johns 5 and 6, wife of Simon Merrill.
Hannah Worth (Kelly) and Simon Merrill had only one child to reach maturity: Mary Abby Merrill (b. 1843; d. 1934), who married (in 1870) Rev. George Osborne Jenness (b. 1837; d. 1908).
Mary Abby (Merrill) and Rev. George Jenness are both buried in Hampstead, NH.They had two children reaching maturity: 1.) Annie Mary Jenness (b. 1875; nothing else known) and 2.) Manora Jenness (b. 1877) who married George Howard June 25, 1901 in Montclair. NJ.
I'm hoping to find evidence that at least one of John Kelly's Irish Oak chests survived and found its way to someone in the Kelly/Merrill/Jenness/Howard families. If you have any knowledge of these chests, I'd very much appreciate hearing from you.
Clifton Kelley
Flemington, MO
[email protected]