I feel certain that James Kelley's parents were William Lloyd Kelley, Jr. (1822-1900) & Amy Ann Nicholson (1830-1901), both of Mississippi, who married before 1850. The family was in Wayne County, MS, in 1850. They were in Jasper County, MS, in 1860. In their household, James I. Kelley is shown as 17 years old in the July 1870 Jasper County census, which would perfectly coincide with his turning 18 in September 1870. He was born Sept. 1852. The fact that James Kelley later named his only daughter Amy Ann Hattie Bell Kelley coincides with the name of his mother, Amy Ann. By 1900, James' parents, William & Amy Kelley, were living in Covington County, MS, which is where James married Elizabeth Herrington in 1872. Covington County and Jasper County are almost adjacent to each other.

I definitely do not believe that James Ervin Kelley's parents were Thomas Kelley (1820-1880) of Tennessee & Martha Ann Anderson (1830-1910) of Pennsylvania, both of whom died in Illinois. James Ervin Kelley's parents were born in Mississippi, according to every census he completed. There is no indication that the family moved to Illinois. In addition, Thomas Kelley and Martha Ann Anderson supposedly married in 1866 in La Salle County, Illinois, but James Ervin Kelley was born in 1852. These cannot be James' parents.

James married Elizabeth Jane "Lizzie" Herrington (1847-1938) about 1872 in Covington County, MS. He and Lizzie moved to Thornton, Limestone County, Texas with their seven children in 1894. By the time of the 1900 census, they are shown living in Mount Calm in Hill County, TX. Sometime after his move to Texas, he seems to have permanently changed his name to the Kelley spelling. His siblings retained the Kelly spelling.

Seven children survived to adulthood:

• George Daulton Kelley (1872-1957)

• William Eather Kelley (1877-1948)

• Woodrow Oscar Kelley (1880-1964)

• John Irvin Kelley (1881-1935)

• Luther Benjamin Kelley (1885-1944)

• Enoch Washington Kelley (1886-1955)

• Amy Ann Hattie Bell Kelley McCaghren (1890-1977)

James Kelley owned a restaurant in Hubbard (Hill County, TX) at the time of his death at age 52. He was a Baptist.

Where were James & Elizabeth Herrington Kelley located in 1880? They were not in Covington County, MS, with James' grandfather or brothers John & Mack Kelly.