Revolutionary War Captain Alexander Kelly Honored By DAR

On a spectacularly beautiful Saturday afternoon, May 21, more than 100 descendants of one of Marion County’s earliest pioneers, along with members of the Daughters of the American Revolution from across the State of Tennessee and elected officials, gathered at Pine Grove Cemetery in Jasper for a gravemarking ceremony to honor Alexander Kelly, a captain in the Virginia Militia during the American Revolution. Kelly descendants from the Sequatchie Valley were joined by other descendants who traveled from their homes as far away as Florida, New York and Texas for the impressive ceremony, which was conducted by the Judge David Campbell Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.

The weather for the occasion could not have been more perfect, with clear air, blue skies dotted with white clouds, and a refreshing breeze. Many of the descendants had never met one another, and there was joy and excitement in becoming acquainted and discovering the lines through which they were descended from their patriot ancestor. 

The program began with a welcome from Judge David Campbell Chapter Regent, Susan V. Lindsey, and an invocation by acting Chapter Chaplain Meegan Rogers Burton, followed by the assemblage joining together to sing the old hymn, Amazing Grace, which was led by guitarist, Mark Kelly Hall, an Alexander Kelly descendant. A 13-star colonial American flag graced the event, and the salute to the flag was led by Mackenzie Challen of Signal Mountain, a member of the United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was led by Judge David Campbell Chapter member and Alexander Kelly descendant, Margaret Braden Rollins, and the National Anthem, sung by the assembled crowd, was led by Meegan Burton. Judge David Campbell Chapter member, Mary Keith Hampton Bowen, a native of Jasper, made the introductions of DAR members, local elected officials, and Alexander Kelly descendants. 

Following greetings from the Tennessee Society of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, by Tennessee State Regent, Susan Rogers Thomas, also a Marion County native, a biographical salute to Captain Alexander Kelly was given by the chairman for the event, Elizabeth Rogers Kelly, whose husband, Edwin Zachariah Kelly, Jr., is a direct descendant of Captain Kelly and the facilitator of the event. In her remarks, Mrs. Kelly noted that the group had met there to honor the memory of a man none of them knew, saying: “This is an event that by all rights should have taken place many years ago – but it is fitting that we stop now to remember him – for this was a remarkable man who lived in a remarkable time, not only in the history of our country, but in the history of the world.” 

Her remarks closed with these words: “As the monument says, Alexander Kelly’s descendants are scattered throughout the Sequatchie Valley and the nation whose freedom he helped to secure. The qualities that we recognize and honor today in Alexander Kelly are qualities to value and to continue to pass down through the generations to come. When we look at Alexander Kelly’s contributions to America, we see attributes of a remarkable man – attributes that have been handed down through many of his descendants, even though most of them never knew him. He was a patriot – willing to serve his fellow citizens for the love of his country. He was willing to take a chance – willing to  move, numerous times, to seek out and develop new places for his family to live. He was committed to the betterment of himself and his fellow citizens. He helped to establish in the new nation what Abraham Lincoln called ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people.’ He helped to establish facilities for education. And he helped to establish peace and harmony with the people where he lived. I like to think that, in addition to these qualities, Alexander Kelly also had some personal attributes that I have enjoyed in many of the Alexander Kelly descendants I have known in my own life: a congenial nature, a generous spirit, a joyful heart, a ready smile, a quick wit, and a twinkle in his eye.” 

Following Mrs. Kelly’s remarks, Mark Kelly Hall entertained the group with a musical tribute to Alexander Kelly, an Irish-style ballad which he had written in honor of the patriot. Then the bronze DAR marker was dedicated in a DAR ritual led by the Chapter Regent and Chaplain, and that marker and the granite historical monument were then unveiled for the group to see. After the final salute to the colors, led by Sea Cadet Challen, the assembled company joined in singing God Bless America, the beloved American musical piece written by 19th century American immigrant Irving Berlin. The Judge David Campbell Chapter members provided refreshments following the ceremony while members of the assembly made pictures around the monument. 

Alexander Kelly was an 18th century immigrant to the American colonies whose family became residents of the Sequatchie Valley in the earliest days of its settlement as part of the state of Tennessee. He was one of the commissioners who acquired property from Betsy Pack that became Jasper, and determined that it would be the county seat town of the newly formed Marion County.

Prior to his arrival in the newly opened settlement area of present-day Marion County, Alexander Kelly had been an active participant in the establishment of settlements in several areas of east Tennessee.

The DAR marker, cast with the emblem of the Daughters of the American Revolution at the top, bears the following inscription:  Sacred to the memory of Alexander Kelly. Captain, Greenbrier Militia, Virginia, American Revolutionary War. Born in County Armagh, Ireland. Believed to have drowned in the Sequatchie River, Marion County, Tennessee. Marker placed by descendants of Alexander Kelly and the Judge David Campbell Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. May, 2016.

The large historical monument placed by descendants of Alexander Kelly rises more than six feet from the ground and is made from gray Georgia granite. It is a tablet form of monument with an arched top reminiscent of a gothic church window, inscribed at the top on both sides with a large
celtic cross to honor Alexander Kelly’s Irish heritage.

Carved into the face of the granite monument is this inscription:  
Buried in this place are descendants of Alexander Kelly Born in County Armagh, Ireland, about 1755
Drowned in the Sequatchie River, which runs near this place, sometime after 1824
Came to America as an infant and grew up in the Greenbrier area of Virginia
Revolutionary War Captain, Greenbrier Militia, Virginia, 1780-1781
Enlisted July 9, 1776
Major, Greene County Militia, State of Franklin 
Colonel, Knox County Militia, Tennessee Territory
East Tennessee Indian War Hero under John Sevier
Knox County Representative to Territorial Legislature, 1793
Commissioner to select and name Maryville as Blount County seat, 1795
Commandant of Blount County Militia
Senator in Tennessee’s 1st and 2nd General Assemblies, 1796-1799
One of two members appointed to wait upon His Excellency, John Sevier,
at his inauguration as Governor
Charter Trustee of Blount College (now the University of Tennessee)
Pioneer settler and landholder in Marion County
One of the Commissioners who established Jasper as the Marion County seat
Married to Nancy Robinson, by whom he had these children,
all pioneer settlers of the Sequatchie Valley:
John Kelly 1779-1845 (married Nancy Mayo), Marion County Clerk – Owner of Kelly’s Ferry on the
Tennessee River – Member, Tennessee General Assembly
William Kelly c.1783-1850 (married Ruth Prigmore)
Alexander Kelly c.1784-1850 (married Sally Prigmore)
Margaret “Peggy” Kelly 1789-1865 (married Ephraim Prigmore)
Annie Kelly (married Richard Stone)
Viny Kelly (married Adam Lamb)
Alexander Kelly’s descendants are scattered throughout the Sequatchie Valley and the nation whose freedom he helped to secure. 

As the monument recounts, some time after settling in Marion County, Alexander Kelly drowned in the Sequatchie River, and his remains were apparently lost. Although Alexander Kelly descendants are buried in family burial grounds and other cemeteries throughout the Sequatchie Valley, Alexander Kelly, Revolutionary War Captain and leader of early Tennessee, has had no monument to mark his life until the present day. Zach Kelly, a lifelong resident and retired attorney of Jasper, and his wife, Elizabeth, instituted the project for Kelly descendants to place the historical monument at Pine Grove Cemetery, where many Kelly descendants are buried, to honor the life of Alexander Kelly, and the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, authorized the Judge David Campbell Chapter of that organization to place a DAR marker at Pine Grove to honor Alexander Kelly’s service as a captain in America’s Revolutionary War.