Biography of Alfred Kelley, pages 342/343/344/345.  History of DeKalb 
County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen &  Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



It is with a great degree of satisfaction to us when we advert to the 
life of one who has made the rough path of life smooth by untiring 
perseverance, attaining success in any vocation requiring definiteness 
of purpose and determined action. Such a life, whether it be one of 
calm, consecutive endeavor, or of sudden meteoric accomplishments, must 
abound both in lesson and incentive and prove a guide to the young men 
whose fortunes are still matters of the future to determine.  For a 
number of years the late Alfred Kelley directed his efforts towards the 
goal of success in Waterloo, Indiana, and by patient continuance won 
pronounced prestige.  But it is by no means an easy task to describe 
within the limits of this review a man who led an active and eminently 
useful life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor in the 
lines of business with which he was interested. But biography and 
memorial history find justification, nevertheless, in tracing and 
recording such a life history, as the public claims a certain property 
interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably 
arrives when it become advisable to give the right publicity.  It is, 
then, with a certain degree of satisfaction the chronicler essays the 
task of touching briefly upon such a record as was that of the honored 
subject of this memoir, for many years one of the leading business men 
of Waterloo and who deserved in every respect the large success he 
attained and the high esteem in which he was universally held.  Alfred 
Kelley, who during, his lifetime was familiarly known among his friends 
as “Ab,” was born at Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, on May 16, 1852, and 
died at the home of his son, Eugene Kelley, in Waterloo, Indiana, on 
June 5, 1911, in the sixtieth years of his age. He was a son of Joshua 
and Martha (McCrillis) Kelley, whose children, six in number, were a s 
follows: Charles,  who died in Waterloo, in 1912; Mrs. Florinda Marvin, 
who now resides in Iowa; Mrs. Samantha Beard, of Waterloo; Alfred, the 
immediate subject of this memoir; Cyrus and Mrs. Emma J. Fee, both of 
whom died several years ago.  Joshua Kelley was a native of 
Pennsylvania and the son of Thomas Kelley. After his removal to Ohio he 
married a Miss Durst, who died, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth.  The 
latter married and spent her entire life in Ohio, being now deceased. 
Eventually Joshua Kelley married Mrs. Martha (McCrillis) Ward, the 
widow  of Joneth Ward.  She was born in Ireland and accompanied her 
parents on their emigration to the United States. Her mother, who died 
in Wayne county, Ohio, lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and 
three years. By her first marriage Mrs. Ward became the mother of a 
daughter, Elizabeth.  About 1850 Joshua Kelley came to DeKalb county 
and entered probably about four hundred acres of land in Smithfield 
township. He was here several time afterwards, looking after the land, 
and about 1855 he moved his family here.  The land was new and to the 
clearing, cultivation and improvement of this farm he devoted himself 
closely. His place was far from schools and largely because of that 
fact he bought the Porterfield farm, near Taylor’s Corners, in Franklin 
township, where the land was improved, including an orchard, and 
situated near schools. There he established his permanent home and 
remained until his death, which occurred in 1862, by which time he had 
become quite well-to-do. He had inherited one hundred and sixty acres 
of land from his father, who had come here before his son Joshua and 
bought a farm near Hamilton. Joshua had also bought other land, 
becoming the owner of about seven hundred acres of land in DeKalb 
county and other lands in Ohio. He was survived many years by his 
widow, who passed away March, 1898.  Alfred Kelley accompanied his 
parents on their removal to Smithfield township, this county, in 1855, 
being at the time but three years old, and he was but eleven years of 
age when his father died.  He remained on the home farm until about 
1873, when, reaching his majority and inheriting one hundred and sixty 
acres of land and some ready money from his father’s estate,  he moved 
to Waterloo and for several years carried on a brokerage business, 
though at the same time he gave attention to the clearing and 
improvement of his land. About 1895 Mr. Kelley bought the Locke Hotel, 
at Waterloo, from his father-in-law, Simon J. Locke, and continued its 
operation with marked success and financial profit until 1910, when, on 
account of failing health and the heavy demands of this other business 
interest, he retired from the hotel business. During his management the 
well-established reputation of the house was ably maintained and it 
continued to be a favorite stopping place for the traveling public for 
many years. About 1899 Mr. Kelley established the Waterloo telephone 
exchange, under the Bell system, installing the first switch-board in 
his hotel, with thirty subscribers. However, giving to the telephone 
business the same careful attention and sound business management that 
characterized him in everything to which he addressed himself, the new 
business became poplar and soon grew to such an extent that it was 
necessary to secure more room for it than could be secured in the 
hotel. In 1910 Mr. Kelley erected the present exchange building, where 
there is ample room for switchboards and other necessary appliances. 
This modern brick building, completed early in 1911, stand as a 
monument to his progressive spirit and faith in the community where he 
lived. Politically, Mr. Kelley was an active supporter of the 
Democratic party, in whose councils he was a frequent figure, being 
chairman of the county central committee for a time.  As a partial 
reward for this fidelity to this party and his earnest labors in its 
behalf he was appointed postmaster of Waterloo under President 
Cleveland, discharging the duties of the position with credit to 
himself and to the entire satisfaction of the department and the 
patrons of the office.  He also served in an official capacity in the 
municipality for several terms.  Fraternally, Mr. Kelley was an 
appreciative member of the Knights of Pythias, and in his religious 
views he was always in accord with the creed of the Presbyterian 
church, of which he became a member before his death. On January 1, 
1877, Alfred Kelley was united in marriage with Ada Locke, who was born 
in Toledo, Ohio, the eldest daughter of Simon J. and Wattie (McCormick) 
Locke. In May, 1866, her family removed to Waterloo, where her father 
engaged in the restaurant business, which he continued here for nearly 
twenty years, and during that period he enjoyed a large patronage, 
especially during the earlier years, when all the trains on the Lake  
Shore railroad stopped at Waterloo, many of Mr. Locke’s patrons being 
railroad men. When the restaurant was first opened, Mrs. Kelley, then a 
girl of fourteen years,  waited on tables and her uniform courtesy, 
cheerful disposition and constant efforts to please the patrons of the 
restaurant made a lasting impression on the railroad men, who gave 
substantial evidence of their regard for her and their appreciation of 
her courtesies by presenting her with a beautiful gold watch and chain, 
valued at one hundred and seventy-five dollars. Inside the case were 
engraved the words, “Presented to Miss Ada Locke by the Employes of the 
Air-Line Division of L. S. & M. S. R. R. June 20, 1872.” After Mr. 
Locke had run this restaurant for about twenty years, he bought the 
Lent Hotel, renamed it the Locke Hotel, and ran it until 1895, when he 
sold it to Alfred Kelley. He moved to Bryan, Ohio, where he engaged in 
the hotel business, but about six months later, while back in Waterloo 
on a visit to Mrs. Kelley, he was taken suddenly ill and died.  His 
wife retained her residence at Bryan until her death, which occurred in 
December 1906, and the hotel business there in now continued by her 
daughter, Miss Cora B. Locke. Besides Mrs. Kelly and Cora B., there 
were five other children, as follows: Adelbert, familiarly known as 
“Del,” runs the Bliss Hotel at Bluffton, Indiana; Hattie is the wife of 
W. P. Nolton,  of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Rev. Richard Earl Locke is 
a pastor of the Presbyterian church at Rutherford, New Jersey; Effie is 
the wife of O. E. Siegfried, of Toledo. Gracie died about 1874, at the 
age of two years. To Alfred and Ada Kelley were born three children, 
namely: Blanche E., the wife of Andrew Maselle, who is engaged in the 
automobile business in San Francisco; Eugene, who is represented by a 
personal sketch elsewhere in this work;  Bessie is the wife of R. J. 
Nisbet, manager of a surgical instrument house in Chicago, they have 
two children, Richard Kelley Nisbet and Ada Blanche Nisbet. Mrs. Kelley 
still resides in the old home in Waterloo. She is an earnest member of 
the Presbyterian church, taking a deep interest in its various 
activities, and is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and 
the Pythian Sisters. She is a lady of many gracious qualities of head 
and heart, moved in the best social circles of the community, and is 
well like by all who knew her.  Personally, Mr. Kelley was a man of 
more than ordinary caliber and during the period of his residence in 
Waterloo he was a prominent factor in the growth and development of the 
community. He was a progressive man in the broadest sense of the term; 
realizing the wants of the people, he tried to supply the demands of 
the vicinity honored by his citizenship. He was a consistent man in all 
he ever undertook, and his career in all the relations of life was 
utterly without pretense.  In business matters he was alert and 
sagacious and during his later years his real estate transactions 
reached large proportions. Of strong domestic tastes, he was very 
generous in his treatment of his family, to the members of which he 
made many substantial gifts, one gift being the Telephone  Exchange 
building to his wife as a Christmas present, while at Christmas time 
his usual gift to each of this children was one hundred dollars or 
something equally substantial. When Mr. Kelley realized that his end 
was approaching he made a verbal statement as to the manner in which he 
desired his property to be distributed among his wife and children. He 
was a good husband and father, faithful and loving; a good citizen and 
companionable, he was fond of a joke, and in his home he was uniformly  
kind and cheerful, the brightness of his own life driving away all 
clouds from the home.  Physically, a large man, with strong and 
pleasing features, he possessed to a notable degree those qualities 
which beget friendship, and there was probably no another man in the 
community who was held in higher esteem by all, regardless of politics 
or professions. 

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctl.net