Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Kelly, P. J. 1841 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 24, 2006, 11:51 pm

Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

P. J. KELLY.

    P. J. Kelly, who is engaged in the real estate and insurance business at
Hobart and is also notary public, is a type of the representative business man
whose life contains no exciting chapter or incidents, but whose record shows the
force of consecutive endeavors supplemented by laudable ambition and guided by
sound and reliable judgment. He was born in New York city March 4, 1841, and
when but four years of age was taken to England by his parents, where he
remained until 1864. He then returned to his native land, locating in Chicago,
where he engaged in the grocery business at the corner of Randolph and State
streets. In 1871 he suffered severe losses in the great fire which swept over
the city. He had nothing left but a horse and wagon. He remained in Chicago,
however, for about a year or until he had managed to earn a little money, when
he again engaged in business as a partner of James Casey under the firm style of
Kelly & Casey, at the corner of State and Fourteenth streets. There he remained
until he came to Hobart, Indiana, where he was engaged in teaching school for
four years, and was also justice of the peace and filled that position for eight
years. He was also a railroad postal agent for eight years, running between New
York and Buffalo, and during that time he maintained his residence in Hobart. He
was known as one of the "short stops" of the postal service. He made the trip
between New York and Buffalo three times a week, distributing the mail from the
former city west to Buffalo. The mail was distributed on the cars, a regular
postoffice being maintained on the mail train. His continuance in that position
was from 1881 until 1889, and he never missed a day's service during all that
time and many times he substituted for others. Formerly he conducted a newspaper
in Hobart for two and a half years, this being the first Republican journal of
the town. When he left the mail service he was elected justice of the peace of
Hobart and filled the office for eight years, at the end of which time he
declined a renomination. He is now notary public and is also engaged in the real
estate and insurance business. He is doing well in both branches and has handled
many important real estate transfers since beginning in this line.

    In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr. Kelly and Miss Mary E. Wilbur, a native
of Compton, Rhode Island. They were married in Chicago, and traveled life's
journey happily together for more than a third of a century, when in December,
1901, Mrs. Kelly was called to her final rest. In the following July Mr. Kelly
was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Butts, the widow
of Frank Butts, who was formerly a prominent contractor and builder of Lake
county, Indiana. Mr. Kelly owns his own residence, which is one of the
attractive homes of Hobart. He is numbered among the representative citizens of
Lake county, and is a stanch Republican, while socially he is connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been grand master, district deputy and
chief patriarch of the grand encampment. For thirty-two years he has maintained
his residence in Hobart, and throughout this period he has been noted for his
reliability in every relation of life in which he has been found, whether in the
government service or conducting private business affairs.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
Genealogy and Biography
OF
LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA,
WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 
1834—1904

A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and
the Founding of a Nation.

REV. T. H. BALL
OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO   NEW YORK
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1904


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