Butte County
Biographies
THOMAS J. KELLY
THOMAS J. KELLY.—A truly prominent man in his day and one who was as favorably known for his enterprise, industry and integrity as he was widely acquainted and well connected, was Thomas J. Kelly, a resident of Butte County from 1871 until his death, which occurred the day after Christmas, 1915. He was born at Buffalo, N. Y., and there attended the public school; and in Buffalo he learned the boilermaker’s trade. At the beginning of the seventies, Mr. Kelly came west to California and engaged as a miner in the Cherokee Mine, where his services as an expert machinist were soon appreciated. In 1880, he located at Oroville, and for four years was with the Letter Box Mine, after which he returned to Cherokee, where he continued mining another four years. In 1888, he relocated in Oroville and entered the employ of Brock and Tabor as a plumber, continuing with their successors. Five years later Mr. Kelly started in the plumbing business for himself, opening an establishment on Myers Street, and afterward removing to Montgomery and then to Huntoon Street, where he built up a large trade. On December 26, 1915, he passed away, in his fifty-ninth year.
Very sociable by nature and enjoying the society of others, Mr. Kelly was a prominent Mason, holding membership in the Lodge, Chapter and Commandery at Oroville, and in Islam Temple, of San Francisco. He also belonged to the Eastern Star; to the Odd Fellows’ Encampment, and the Rebekahs. When he died he was buried with due Masonic honors.
At Cherokee, Butte County, on November 9, 1879, Mr. Kelly was married to Miss Awary Belle Covert, a native of Atchison County, Mo., who was the daughter of Henry and Susan (Crenshaw) Covert, who were born in Indiana and Kentucky respectively. In 1865, Mr. Covert brought his family across the plains with ox teams, following the Oregon trail to Oregon, where he remained three years; after which he drove south to California, and located a ranch on Clear Creek, near Paradise. There he engaged in farming until he retired. In 1913, at the age of seventy-seven, he passed away at Oroville, the father of five children, all of whom are still living, namely: Awary Belle, who is Mrs. Kelley; Mrs. Etta Cole, William H., Nancy, and Emma, all of Oroville. The eldest of these, Awary Belle, was educated at the public schools, and since the death of her husband she has continued the business with the aid of her son-in-law, F. M. Savage, who is both her partner and manager. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kelley, namely: Vesta and Zella, now Mrs. F. M. Savage, both residents of Oroville. Mrs. Kelly is a Republican by political preference, and is a member of the Amapola Chapter, No. 119, O. E. S., and of Oroville Rebekah Lodge, No. 841
Transcribed
by Sharon Walford Yost.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1167-1168, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Sharon
Walford Yost.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies