William, Son of Margaret

As the year 1835 began, Margaret Badger was an orphan, age not yet 15 years. She lived with her brothers and sisters in St Georges Parish, Accomack County, Virginia on the DelMarVa Peninsula, in a household headed by her eldest sister Elizabeth. This arrangement had been stable for a number of years, Elizabeth having returned home (or maybe she never left) on the death of her husband Abel Kelly in 1825, and having become the nominal head of the family on the deaths of their parents Ezekiel and Mary Dunton Badger during the 1820s. But change was coming. Brothers Ezekiel Jr and Joseph were headed to Baltimore, and Elizabeth announced plans for a February marriage to another Kelly, Isaiah. Margaret did what many young girls in unstable homes do. She got pregnant.

Her baby, a son, was born on 2 October 1835. On 30 November Margaret Badger orphan of Ezekiel came into Court and made choice of Arthur Kelley to be her Guardian and he thereupon together with Geodiah Bell and Abel R Harmon securities thereto entered into and acknowledged a bond in the penalty of Five Hundred Dollars conditioned according to law. Margaret, 15, couldn't legally marry for another three years without the consent of a parent or guardian. Her new guardian Arthur gave his consent, and the same day a marriage license was taken out by Arthur Kelly signifying his intention of marrying Margaret Badger ward of said Arthur Kelly. As of 3 December 1835 the baby had a name, William Arthur Kelly.

Margaret, Arthur and the baby remained in Accomack County for a couple of years until around 1837, when they relocated across Chesapeake Bay to Gloucester County on the Virginia mainland. They had at least two more children, a son Edward born in 1838 and a daughter Indiana in 1845. It's doubtful that Arthur lived to see Indiana. By 1845 he was no longer on the tax rolls of Gloucester County. Margaret moved her family to Baltimore, where her brothers lived. Her children were to be raised in the city, among Badgers.

In 1854, on a license taken out in Baltimore on 10 October, Margaret married Adam Calvert, a younger man from Cecil County in the northeast corner of Maryland. Indiana Kelly died at the age of 11 on 16 November 1856. The death notice says she was the eldest daughter of Adam F and Margaret Calvert, implying there were other daughters, and the 1860 census confirms that they had a baby girl born in 1856. They named her (or renamed her, her name at baptism was Amanda Marion) Indiana Calvert, beginning a family tradition of naming babies after deceased siblings, a tradition that would be well observed by William Arthur Kelly.

By 1870 Adam Calvert was back in Cecil County, married to Mary Rebecca Graham. They had two children, Mary born about 1863 and John born about 1867, with another son (Evelyn Dinsmore Calvert) on the way. There's no trace of Indiana Calvert nor, of course, Margaret Badger. In the 1900 census Adam and Mary Calvert reported that they had been married for 39 years, since 1861. From this we know that Margaret Badger died in Baltimore at the age of about 40.

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There's plenty of evidence supporting the 2 October 1835 out-of-wedlock birth of William Arthur Kelly. For starters, the 1900 census asked for the birth month and year of everyone in the country. His was given as October 1835. This is consistent with every census but one (1880) from 1850 to 1920. His reported age always ends in a 4, which is correct for a birth in October 1835. The census date was 1 June for most of his lifetime, and it was moved even earlier in the 20th century, as early as 1 January in 1920. His birthday was after the census. As for the 1880 census, it gives his age as 45. This makes him out to be even older, which does nothing to help with Margaret Badger's virtue.

He died on 7 September 1920. His death certificate is a mess. His personal information was filled out by his son Edward in blue ink - the signature matches the one on Edward's WWI draft card and most of the handwriting on the left side of the page matches the signature. Edward initially gave his father's age as 85, but the 8 is partially erased and a 7 overwritten in blue ink. The birth date is given as "Oct 2 1845", but there are signs that the 4 was once a 3. I have no idea what prompted him to lop 10 years off of his father's age! Edward also apparently didn't understand how MONTHS and DAYS fit in with his father's age, so he repeated "Oct" and "2", respectively. He gave his father's parents' names as William (sic) and Margarete (sic), both of Virginia, signed the form and handed it to the clerk.

There's more writing in black ink in a different hand, presumably the clerk's. The clerk crossed out the errant "Oct" and "2" in the age box. Then he asked Edward for the last names of his father's parents. Edward nailed the answers, but the clerk wrote down "Kelley" with the extra 'e'. As I said, this form is a mess!

But to my mind it's compelling evidence that William Arthur Kelly was born on 2 October 1835, regardless of Edward's "correction". For the record, his headstone says he was 85.