Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Kelly, Timothy 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com December 3, 2007, 4:26 am

Author: Past & Present, 1907

TIMOTHY KELLY. Among the pioneers of Will county none have left more lasting 
monuments to their memory than Timothy Kelly, builder and contractor. St. 
Patrick's church and other public buildings familiar to Joliet citizens are 
evidences of his life of activity and enterprise. He erected St. Patrick's 
church in 1839 and later constructed many other stone buildings that are 
landmarks of that early period. Mr. Kelly was born in Westport, County Mayo, 
Ireland, on the 17th of March, 1800, and came to Joliet in 1835. He had 
already gained an excellent knowledge of the builders trade and in the 
embryonic city he began operations as a contractor and builder. Joliet had 
advanced but a slight way on the road to its present growth and improvement. 
Large sections of the county were still unsettled and this city was but a 
little town, giving small promise of future industrial or commercial progress. 
The Catholics of the county, desiring a substantial home for church worship, 
erected St. Patrick's church in 1839, awarding the contract to Mr. Kelly, and 
he soon afterward secured contracts for the construction of many other 
important buildings and for bridge work with the Chicago, Rock Island & 
Pacific Railway Company, the Michigan Central Railway, on the line then known 
as the Cut-off, and the Illinois and Michigan canal, having completed several 
contracts for each to the satisfaction of all concerned. As superintendent of 
streets for the city of Joliet his duties were performed with an efficiency 
that was recognized by all interested. As alderman his experience and 
practical knowledge proved an element in the work accomplished by the city 
council, and he labored earnestly, indefatigably and effectively for the 
welfare of Joliet along lines of substantial progress and improvement. He 
carefully and intelligently studied and protected the needs, desires and 
possibilities of the city and over the record of his public career and his 
private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. In 1851 
Timothy Kelly was united in marriage to Miss Ann Kelly, who was born in County 
Mayo, Ireland, in the year 1834, and became a resident of Joliet in 1850. She 
still survives her husband and lives at the old home with her son, Robert T. 
The husband and father died on the 16th of May, 1874, and in his demise the 
county mourned the loss of one of its prominent and representative men. He 
lived in the county at a time when it was possible to know almost every 
citizen within its borders and his activity in business and his prominence in 
political circles made him not only one of the best known but also one of the 
most respected residents of Will county. He was among those who aided in 
laying broad and deep the foundation for the present development and progress 
of this portion of the state and his name will long be honored as one of its 
founders and promoters. Robert T. Kelly, the son of this early pioneer, was 
born in Joliet in 1856. In 1879 he was elected town clerk and in 1880 was 
chosen city clerk, holding both offices and discharging the duties of the 
joint position so efficiently that he was continued in that service by re-
election for more than a decade. Soon after retiring from the offices he 
helped to organize the Joliet National Bank, one of the most successful and 
flourishing financial institutions in the state, of which he is now cashier. 
He has studied closely the questions of finance and banking and in his present 
position has won the respect and confidence of the entire community as well as 
the patrons of the institution. He is associated with the leading benevolent 
organizations of the city and in all movements for the public good is to be 
found in the front ranks. His name is synonymous with advancement, and 
progress may well be termed the keynote of his character. He is a worthy 
successor of his father, who was one of the earliest among the pioneers of 
Will county. 

Additional Comments:
Past and Present of Will County, Illinois, by W. W. Stevens, President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907.

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