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Archiver > SCOCONEE > 1999-08 > 0936074388


From: "Nancy Custer" <>
Subject: [SCOCONEE] Still looking for a Dorsey/Kelley connection
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:39:48 -0700


I have reason to believe that my great-great grandfather Harvey KELLEY of
Cumberland County, TN started his life as Elisha DORSEY, son of William H.
DORSEY. A large group of DORSEYs, including William and his father John H.
DORSEY were in Macon County, NC in 1830. By 1834, they had moved to the
Walhalla area in what was then the Old Pendleton District and is now Oconee
County. William died in 1848, John in 1852. In the settlement of John's
estate, the following children are listed in addition to William (who was
dead, of course): Elisha (moved to NE Georgia), John , Jr., Catharine (had
married Hardin PERKINS and left the state), Rachel (had married Henry
MEDFORD and left the state), Elizabeth SHIELDS (deceased), David (also moved
to NE Georgia), Mary (known as Polly) and Peter. This family is represented
in the Old Pendleton Database but only the descendants of Peter are
presented in any detail.

In the 1860 census, E. H. Dorsey is living with his wife, Louisa and son
John A. close to members of this Dorsey family. By 1870 all traces of E. H.
who is Elisha H. Dorsey, son of William H. Dorsey is lost. Coincidentally,
in 1870, my great-great grandfather Harvey Kelley shows up in TN with a wife
Louisa and son John A (with a couple of other kids too). Word is that
Harvey had some sort of Civil War related problem that precipitated the name
change and move to TN.

William Dorsey had at least one other son named Anderson Dorsey who I think
married Elizabeth Jane KING in Pickens in 1858. Harvey Kelley (who may have
been Elisha Kelley) was married to Louisa J. BOUKNIGHT from Lexington
County. The Bouknight family is well documented in the Orangeburgh
District. Unfortunately, more than one source confuses the marriage of
Louisa J. Bouknight with that of her niece L. J. Bouknight in Upshur County,
Texas.

I would be interested to hear from any descendants of the siblings of
William Dorsey or any of the other people named above. I am looking for a
way to verify this Dorsey/Kelley link. Of course, high on my wish list is a
correct marriage record for Louisa J. Bouknight.

Nancy Custer

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