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| The Isles of Shoals straddling New Hampshire and Maine |
My ancestor Roger Kelly’s story is similar to the story of John
FROST posted on June 11th.
Not much about him is known except for court records and deeds. Both men lived on the Isles of Shoals, where
there is a dearth of vital records, but plenty of court records because most of
the inhabitants crossed the law because of physical altercations, drunkenness or
other petty crimes. It was known as a lawless place, and because of this Roger
Kelly was often in the records because he was not only the local constable, but
he was also a judge, and he found himself on both sides of the law.
Diane Rapaport wrote about Roger Kelly. She is a lawyer, and a genealogist, and Roger
Kelly’s story must have fascinated her.
Much of what I know about Roger, my 10th great grandfather,
came from Diane Rapaport’s article on him in the New England Ancestors journal, and from the book Pioneer Irish in New England (see below
for both sources). There is no proof
that Roger Kelly was from Ireland, but he is generally thought to be of Irish
origins. It would be nice to have at least one Irish ancestor in my family
tree, but so far the closest I can prove is two Scots Irish ancestors.
Some books and articles claim that Roger Kelly came from
Ireland with two brothers. There is no
proof of this although William Kelly lived at Great Island (New Castle, New
Hampshire) and Charles lived at Kittery, Maine, both places close by to the
Isles of Shoals. Roger Kelly’s first
record in the New World was a civil suit naming him as the mate of the Hope in the West Indies. He served 15 weeks in a prison in Boston in
1664 for this suit for damages.
Next,
Roger shows up in the Isles of Shoals with his wife, Mary, as a tavern owner on
Smuttynose Island, with frequent lawsuits.
So he moved to Hog Island (now Appledore Island in Maine) to be out of
the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire court (yes, the Isles of Shoals are in
both New Hampshire and Maine). In 1666 he was in court for selling wine
without a license. He was a land owner
and made constable in 1667, and later selectman. He became the representative for the islands
at the Massachusetts General Court. Because
of his influence on Smuttynose Island he was made Justice of the Peace. He was
both litigant and defendant on several occasions.
Being a magistrate on the Isles of Shoals made Roger Kelly
an unpopular figure. He suffered a lot of verbal abuse, and even
physical attacks by the islanders who preferred to live freely in a state of drunkenness
and disorder. In his old age he
suffered from blindness, as described by his son Charles in a 1698 deed
transferring land in Kittery from Roger.
His daughter, Sarah Kelly, my 9th
great grandmother, married John Frost of Star Island. His grandson, John Frost, Jr. was in the court
records in 1705 for a disagreement with Roger Kelly over a church bell.
Some KELLY resources:
“Off shore Antics:
The Case of the Smuttynose Sailor Who Became Judge”, by Diane Rapaport, New England Ancestors, 2004, Volume 5.3, pages 48 -49.
Pioneer Irish in New England, by Michael O’Brien, New York, New
York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1937.
Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Charles
Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby and Walter Goodwin Davis, 1939, page 396.
Also see Suffolk County, Massachusetts Court Records, New Hampshire Court Records, York County, Maine deeds.
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My KELLY genealogy:
Generation 1: Roger
Kelly, born about 1629, origins unknown; married Mary Unknown, six children.
Generation 2: Sarah
Kelly married about 1674 to John Frost.
He was the son of John Frost and Rose Unknown, and died 7 April 1677 in
York County, Maine. Four children.
Generation 3: Ithamar
Frost m. Unknown
Generation 4: Sarah Frost m. John Mace
Generation 5: Ithamar Mace m. Rachel Berry
Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke
Generation 7: Richard
Locke m. Margaret Welch
Generation 8: Abigail
M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder
Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson
Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen
Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda
Hitchings (my grandparents)
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ KELLY of the Isles of Shoals", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 2, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-kelly-of-isles-of.html: accessed [access date]).
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