Riverside County
Biographies
LOYAL CLAIRE KELLEY
Formerly district attorney for Riverside county, Loyal C. Kelley has engaged in private practice in
the city of Riverside since his retirement from the office in 1925 and is intrusted with the legal interests of a number of
corporations, while he is also a bibliophile. He was born on a farm in Wyandot county, Ohio, February 20, 1885, a son of Albert
Polk and Helena (Richards) Kelley. The father, who was also a native of the
Buckeye state, served from the beginning until the close of the Civil war with
Company C, Seventy-second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Afterward
he was engaged in manufacturing in Carey, Wyandot county,
until 1890, when he removed to California. To Mr. and Mrs.
Albert P. Kelley were born seven children, of whom four survive.
When a lad of six and a half years Loyal C. Kelley came
with the family to Corona, Riverside county, where he
attended the grammar and high schools, and his advanced studies were pursued in
the University of Southern California which awarded him the degree of LL. B.
in 1911. Admitted to the bar in the same year, he began his legal career in
Corona but in 1912 located in Riverside, which city has since been the scene of
his professional activities. In 1913 he became deputy district attorney under
Lyman Evans, and in 1914 was appointed deputy city attorney, acting in
that capacity until 1917. Elected district attorney in November, 1918, for a
term of four years, he assumed the duties of the office on the 6th
of January, 1919, and proved a vigorous, able and fearless public prosecutor.
Since 1925 he has given his attention to corporation work and litigation
involving water rights and has a highly specialized knowledge of those branches
of jurisprudence. He is now associated with Hayden L. Hews in the
firm of Kelley & Hews, maintaining offices in the Citizens National Bank
building of Riverside, and the extent and importance of their practice denotes
the confidence reposed in their legal acumen and advice.
On November 28, 1912, Mr. Kelley was married to Miss Neva
A. Campbell, a native of Riverside and a daughter of
Albert P. Campbell, a pioneer of Riverside county.
The father was city engineer of Riverside for sixteen years, highway
commissioner of Riverside county from 1913 to 1918,
and afterward became engineer for the Fresno county highway commission. Mr. and
Mrs. Kelley have a son and a daughter: Claire Elizabeth, who was born
June 11, 1918; and Campbell, born September 10, 1921. Both
are grammar school pupils.
Mr. Kelley is a member of Evergreen Lodge, No. 259, F. & A. M.,
and along social lines has connection with the Exchange Club. In public office
as well as in private practice he has followed a course which reflects credit
upon his profession and is a member of the Riverside County Bar Association and
the California State Bar Association. A discriminating reader, he has
accumulated a valuable collection of books and spends many enjoyable and
profitable hours in his library.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
05 May 2012.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
375-376, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis.
1933.
© 2012 Marie Hassard.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE BIOGRAPHIES