Kelly - Alfred
Source: Zach, Karen Bazzani. Montgomery Medicine Men ... Crawfordsville: MCHS, 2002
Dr. Kelly was one of the pioneer physicians in the Ladoga area. Everything read about Kelly pinpoints that he was quite an eccentric individual. Alfred Kelly was born about 1810 in Kentucky. It is not certain, but it is thought that he lost a wife when young (Nancy Dinsmore buried in Harrison Cemetery, Clark Township) which may, in part, have contributed to his odd ways. It is known that he was one of seven children and that his mother, a widow, came to Clark Township in its infancy. At an early age, he knew he wanted to be a physician and one of the early tales regarding Dr. Kelly is that he would dig up Indians' bodies to study their bones. About 1830, he began the study of medicine under Dr. Henry Rogers who lived near Parkersburg. After awhile, a Mr. Beaver sent for Dr. Kelly (in Dr. Rogers' absence) to visit his sick child. Upon Rogers' visiting the child the next day he asked Mrs. Beaver what young Kelly had said about the case. She replied, "He told me that the next time he came he would tell me if my child would get well or die."
When Rogers returned home, he told Kelly that anyone who could tell in two visits if a patient would live or die was a better doctor than he and it was time for Kelly to set-up practice on his own. Kelly rode an old gray horse, had red hair flying and in the night, he was often seen riding in his red flannel underwear. Sometime he would get up and run through the town whooping and holldering; he took great delight in shocking others.
He may have suffered a form of epilpsy as he once said, "I often have spells; look out I may kill you some day." Despite his oddities, he was an exceptional doctor. He had an outstanding memory and retained all he read. A.W. Bowen said, "Kelly was by nature a physician, wa snot tied by the teachings of the schools. He was independent and perhaps recless at times, he often succeeded whre the graduate did not." If you would to read more about Dr. Kelly, see page 322 of the AW Bowen History of Montgomery County.