March 16, 2026
Introduction: In this article – to help celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day – Melissa Davenport Berry writes about an Irish romance from Colonial America. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I serve up a love story of scandal ripe for the stage. In Old Plimoth Colony, Massachusetts, one lass, sick of servitude and scrimping, was saved by Cupid’s arrow and a sturdy Irishman, but not without a side of drama.
If you have any Kelley ancestors who came from Cape Cod, you probably descend from an infamous marriage known as “Gaelic Love on Cape Cod: David, the Irishman, and Jane, the Welsh Maid.”
This romantic tale was brought to my attention by Jennifer (Koehler) Mackall, a direct descendant, whose cousin Burt Derick authored the above “Gaelic Love” account in the Dennis Historical Society Newsletter in 2008.
Here is the dish on this 17th century budding maiden and her Irishman.
According to Plymouth court records Jane Powell, a servant in the household of Quaker merchant William Swift, found her position much too grueling to bear and longed to escape her lot.
One day while fetching water at the well Jane was smitten when she was approached by David, the strapping Irish man who was a servant in the household of Edward Sturgis.
One can only guess what transpired between the two, but Jane was soon hauled into court on 3 June 1665 “for an acte of fornication, by her own confession upon examination.”
She appeared again in court on 4 October 1665 and was acquitted of the charge. The details in this record reveal her unhappiness as well as her hope for love.
Here is a copy of the original court transcript of Jane’s order from the Plymouth Court records.
Here is a transcription of this court order:
And at this court, Jane Powell, servant to Willam Swift, of Sandwich, appeared, having been sentenced for fornication, who, being examined, saith that it was committed with one David Ogillior [Kelley], an Irish man, servant to Edward Sturgis. She saith she was lured thereto by him going for water one evening, hoping to have married him, being she was in a sad and miserable condition by hard service, wanting clothes and living discontentedly, and expressing great sorrow for her evil, she was cleared for the present; and ordered to go home again.
Despite all odds, love wins and no prig authority force could stop fate. The couple wed and prospered with their 100-acre farm love nest on the Upper Bass River, a place now called Kelley’s Bay. They were practicing Quakers and had many children, and there are thousands of Kelley descendants still living today.
According to an article entitled “Massachusetts’ Records Are Easiest to Trace,” published by the Florida Times-Union, genealogists appreciate Massachusetts’ long history of carefully keeping public records and family history:
It has been said by genealogists that it is easier to trace genealogy in Massachusetts than in any other state. The reason is because more records are available. Not only has every town in Massachusetts kept records, but most have been printed for the convenience of the researcher.
In describing how members of the Rhode Island Mayflower Society financed a project to print the entire Yarmouth Vital Records, transcribed from the original records by Robert M. and Ruth W. Sherman, this article noted one problem with early genealogy records: the great variety of spellings for surnames.
As this article reports, the family name for our subject David is spelled 14 different ways, including Kelley, O’Kelly, Okelia, and Ocely. In addition to the Ogillior version in the above Plymouth Court record, other versions I found were O’Killey and Killey. Later generations mostly used Kelley.
Kelley Descendants
Ezra Kelley (1798-1895), renowned as a craftsman, silversmith, jeweler, clockmaker, and merchant, is a descendant of David and Jane through their son Jeremiah and his wife Sarah (Chase) Kelley, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Baker) Chase.
Ezra earned recognition for his distinguished contributions in his various professions. Here is an image of one of his clock dials, furnished by Gary Sullivan – nationally recognized early American clock scholar and appraiser for PBS Antiques Roadshow.
Ezra was one of the six children born to Cyrenius Kelley, a blacksmith, and Jerusha (Baker) Kelley, and he was a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers John Howland, John Tilley, Stephen Hopkins and his daughter Constance Hopkins (who married Nicholas Snow).
Here is a portrait of Ezra’s father Cyrenius Kelley (1770-1840), son of Hattil and Hannah (Wing) Kiley.
Ezra learned his mechanical trades from his cousin Allen Kelley, a prominent clockmaker and silversmith, son of Hattil and Marcy (Allen) Kelley.
After he completed his apprenticeship with his cousin, Ezra worked for John Bailey of Hanover, and in 1823 moved to Venezuela, South America, and had a successful run at his trade. He returned to Massachusetts about 1838.
I found an advertisement for Ezra, in partnership with Stephen Howland, operating a dry goods store. In addition, Ezra tells his customers he is resuming his clock and watch manufacturing business as well as clock repair and maintenance.
Ezra married Nancy Simmons, daughter of Allen and Silence (Rice) Simmons. He was expelled from the Society of Friends because she was a Methodist.
The couple left descendants. Among them was son George S. Kelley, who became his father’s business partner and continued in the same line of work.
Below is an ad from the Morning Mercury announcing that Ezra Kelley & Son have moved their business to a new location at Tallman’s Block, 106 Union Street, New Bedford.
Ezra also taught the business to his nephew William Laban Kelley, son of Charles and Judith (Paddock) Kelley.
Here is an advertisement from 1901 for William’s business, operating 40 years and still selling watches and clocks.
Here is a photo of William’s store in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Below is a photo of William when he retired in 1913.
Ezra was also the manufacturer of “Ezra Kelley’s Watch Oil.” This venture included assistance from his son-in-law John Wing, son of Abraham and Rebecca (Tucker) Wing, who married Ezra’s daughter Joanna Roatch Kelley.
One of the surviving boxes of “Ezra Kelley’s Watch Oil” fetched $1,300 at auction in 2019.
To be continued…
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Note on the header image: an AI-generated image of David Kelley and Jane Powell, by Melissa Davenport Berry.