The Kelly Family Bible was published in 1833. It contains four pages of handwritten genealogical data. Only some of that data is likely to have been contemporaneously recorded so it is not the best of sources for the information it records even though it may be the best we have. The publishing date of 1833 would seem to set a limit on the earliest date that handwritten contents of the Bible could have been entered. Nevertheless, there are much earlier dates noted. The earliest date recorded is that of the birth of Thomas Kelly who was reported to have been born on 09 Dec 1784. Since 1833 is only 50 years later than Thomas' birth, it is entirely possible that the Bible was a possession of the adult Thomas Kelly (b 1784).
The florid hand that records Thomas' birth appears to end with the recording of the birth of Thomas' twin sons, Gazaway and Jimmeson, in 1836. On the marriages page it ends with the 1835 marriage of William Hames and Susan Kelley. It is not entirely unreasonable to presume that these earliest entries in the Bible were made in or shortly after 1836. It is also likely that the 19th century entries were made by friends of the family who were sufficiently literate to make the entries.
In the early 1990s, the Bible was in the possession of Leo Melle Kelly Newton, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Kelly and a resident of Union County, SC.
Facsimile copies of the four pages of genealogical information are included below.
