Bio: KELLY, Thomas H., IRE., then Caddo Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Mike Miller Date: 1999-2000 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Kelly, Thomas Henry . From sturdy Irish stock came the late Thomas Henry Kelly of Shreveport. He was born in Rosecrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, Nov. 23, 1832, and died at Shreveport, La., Nov. 24, 1895. His father was a farmer by occupation and lived and died in Ireland. His mother died when he was 12 years old, and at the request of an uncle, then living in America near New York City, the boy was sent by his father to the United States to live with his uncle with whom he remained until he was 18 years of age. He acquired a common school education and while in the home of his uncle he observed the steamboats and steamships on the water front and formed a desire to engage in navigation. Leaving the home of his uncle to engage in the battle of life for himself, Mr. Kelly went to St. Louis, Mo., and there secured a position on a Mississippi river steamboat and for several years thereafter was engaged in steamboating on the Mississippi between the cities of St. Louis and New Orleans. In the latter city Mr. Kelly was married, Feb. 1, 1858, to Margaret Eagan, who was born in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, a daughter of Martin Eagan, who died when his daughter was 11 years old. Very soon after her father's death she came to America with her mother and located in New Orleans, where she grew to womanhood and became the wife of Mr. Kelly. The young couple located in Shreveport, La., in 1859, and 2 years later, when the Civil war came on, Mr. Kelly cast his lot with the Confederacy by enlisting in the 5th La. cavalry, and served with gallantry from the beginning to the close of the war, and in after years was awarded the Confederate Cross by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. After the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Kelly returned to his home in Shreveport, and in earnest took up the civil pursuits of life. For a time he and a Mr. Hope were engaged in the manufacture of artificial gas. Mr. Kelly became a man of diversified business interests, such as planting, the cotton commission business, the building of levees and other construction work as a contractor. He succeeded admirably in his business undertakings and rose from a poor man to one of wealth and affluence. He had great faith in the future of Shreveport and believed it would become the great commercial and industrial center to which it has already attained. His business foresight enabled him to acquire much of what is now the most valuable real estate in this city. This same foresight in all of his business relations enabled him to amass a fortune, and his estate at the time of his death was estimated at a half million dollars. He was public spirited and took a commendable interest in public affairs, generously contributing to the growth and development of Shreveport, in which city he resided for 36 years and where he was universally respected by a wide circle of acquaintances. Attention is called to an incident in his life which illustrates an admirable trait of his character. In 1873, during the yellow fever scourge, Mr. Kelly's sympathy was aroused in behalf of the afflicted, and he volunteered his services as a nurse, braving all personal danger that he might render succor to his suffering fellowmen. He escaped the ravages of the disease, however, and when the epidemic had subsided he returned to his family and business cares. Mr. Kelly was an ardent communicant of the Roman Catholic church and generously contributed of his means, time and influence to the church and its varied interests. He was member of the Catholic Knights of America, but beyond this organization sustained no fraternal relations. Mr. Kelly's domestic relations were his greatest interest, and he was an exemplary husband and father. He was fortunate in securing in matrimony the hand of a noble and true woman. She survived him nearly 10 years, dying in 1904, and after his death carried on much of his unfinished work in business, social and church life. They lived happily together for a period of 37 years of devotion to each other, closed by his death when he had just passed the 63rd milestone in the life of a successful man. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were born the following children: William A. and Frank M., proprietors of the Shreveport Livery & Transfer Co.; John Paul and Joseph G., proprietors of Kelly's Livery & Transfer stable, of Shreveport; Charles W., who died at the age of thirty-two years; Thomas, Jr., who died at the age of thirty years; Annie Margaret, now the wife of Andrew D. Keeney, a prominent attorney-at-law of Shreveport; Mary L., the wife of J. J. McNeel, of Shreveport, and Helen M., the wife of Thomas P. Fitzgerald, also residing in Shreveport. Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form, volume 3, pp. 773-774. Edited by Alc‚e Fortier, Lit. D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.