The Death of William Kelly (1878-1911)

The family story is that William KELLY was a big man, who didn't lose fights. The story as related to me goes that "Pa death cert
1911
Kelly, William , 74181, duryea, aug 4

Wilkes-barre record almanac
1912 WB Record Almanac, Deaths in 1911
Kelly, William, 29, duryea, aug 4."

It has taken me several years to finally track down his death.

William Kelly was born about 1878 in Luzerne county, PA. In the 1880 census he is listed living in 'Pleasant Valley' with his parents Thomas and Ann (both born in Ireland), and an older brother Thomas and a younger brother George. In the 1900 census William was still living at home at Duryea, his 50 year old mother now a widow, and younger siblings John and Frances had arrived after 1880. The three eldest boys were all coal miners.

Around 1903 (but I can't find the record), William married Mary MULLIN. According to family stories, she came from Ireland when she was 13 years old, sent away by the family for losing the goat she was responsible for looking after.

Birth records are unavailable for this period, so we look to the 1910 records. On Foot Avenue, Duryea, in side-by-side homes live Willam's widowed mother Ann and her unmarried children. In the second home lives William Kelly and his wife Mary, married for 8 years. Mary stated she immigrated to America in 1885 (not found) and in a later census stated she naturalized around 1902 (not found). William and Mary had three children in 1910: Anna (4), George (2) and Gertie (less than 1).

And sure enough, in 1920 Mary Kelley (sic) is now living on York Ave in Duryea, widowed and with and extra child born after 1910: Anna (13), George (12), Gertrude (11) and William (8). Mary worked as a servant, her employer a 'private family'.

So when did William Kelly die? Well, if William was born around 1912 it was presumably after that point. And that was my mistake. Recently PA put death indexes on-line at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/public_records/20686


From these after much searching (one must read through pdf files - no search engine):

Pa death cert
1911
Kelly, William , 74181, duryea, aug 4





This was confirmed in a transcript of the Wilkes-Barre record almanac
1912 WB Record Almanac, Deaths in 1911
Kelly, William, 29, duryea, aug 4

So William died BEFORE his son William was born. Lesson learnt. Once I had this information, Joe Bryer and the good people at the Genealogical Research Society of Northeast Pennsylvania (GRSNP - http://www.grsnp.org) looked into newspapers for that date and forwarded me a report of William's death.

Scranton Republican
August 4, 1911
DURYEA MAN DEAD AS RESULT OF BEATING
Blood-Clot on Brain Caused by Beating Results in Death
PITTSTON, Pa., Aug. 4 - William Kelly, a young man residing in Duryea, died this morning about 11 o'clock and his death adds another homicide trial to Luzerne county's list. The circumstances surrounding the death of young Kelly are similar to those of the death of Peter Sterling, who was fatally injured during a fight.
According to the story obtained by the police of Duryea, Kelly had a fight two weeks ago with John Slatisky, of Duryea, in front of Nalley's saloon on Donnelly street. The men came to blows and Slatisky is said to have hit Kelly on the head with terrific force. Shortly after the fight, Kelly went home and a doctor was summoned. It was found there was a blood clot on the brain, and a few days later paralysis set in, death following today. Kelly was about twenty-eigh years of age, and well known in the town. Slatisky has been arrested and given a hearing before Squire Gilboy, who held him for court.

So the family story was essentially intact 100 years on. The next step will be to track down the outcome of the court case.

As an afternote, Mary married a man named O'Brian/O'Brien between 1920 and 1930 and he subsequently died - so in the 1930 census  Mary Obrien was still living at 135 Foote Ave, widowed and living with two of her children. Apparently Mary opened a bar in her house to support the family, and it was in this bar that her daughter Gertrude met her future husband Frank Shanley.

EDIT: I received a second article with some follow-up, but I still don't know what the outcome of the trial was.

Scranton Republican
9 Aug 1911
DURYEA SUSPECT ASKS TO BE FREED FROM JAIL
Man Accused of Killing William Kelly Seeks Liberty
Special to the Tribune Republican
WILKES-BARRA, Pa. Aug 8 - Claiming that he is unjustly held in the Luzerne county jail, charged with the murder of William Kelly, of Duryea, George Slatky, of the same place, through his attorney, E.C. Jones, made application to the court this morning for a writ of habeus corpus. Judge Jones, before whom the petition was presented, agreed to give the man a hearing Friday at 11 o'clock.
Kelly died the last part of last week from injuries he received in a fight in Duryea. Slatky was arrested charged with the crime and, after a hearing, sent to the prison, where he was to be held to await the action of the grand jury.


FURTHER EDIT:
Searching at newspapers.com I found some information on the sentencing of Slatky, from thePittston Gazette, 2 Dec 1911, stating that Slatky was sentenced to two years jail for manslaughter. Another article from the trial indicates that Slatky worked at the bar where Kelly was assaulted.