Grayson County TXGenWeb

James L. Kelly
1872 - 1944

Maggie Kelly
1873 - 1961

True Noblewoman Laid to Rest Here Tuesday

        Mrs. Margaret Steele Kelly, known to her many friends as Mrs. Mag Kelly, passed on to the Heavenly home Monday at Ferris where she had spent her fifty-five years. Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 the First Christian Church, which the pastor, Rev. Ken Brian paid tribute to her sterling character and usefulness. Pallbearers were Robert Fielder, Byron Whitaker, Zac Emerson, Fulton Emerson, Roscoe K. Garver, and Alfred Baldwin. The remains were laid to rest in the Van Alstyne Cemetery at the side of the grave of her late husband, J.L. Kelly, who passed away in November, 1944.
        Mrs. Kelly was born in this county on July 13, 1873. Her mother died while she was an infant, and her grandmother, Mrs. Eliza McKinney Milam, a daughter of Collin McKinney, took her and reared her with seven other grandchildren. From her youth she was an active worker in the Christian Church here, and with her husband continued the staunch devotion until his death and, in her case until the debilitation of age prevented active participation.
        Praised by dozens as the best neighbor they ever had, while others tell that she did more in a quiet, easy manner than anyone they had even known. Whenever anyone was in sorrow or distress or need, intuitively she seemed to know it, and never failed to minister to them. Her home was a mecca for the children of the community, and she always had cookies, and something for them to play with. Many of them considered her a second mother or grandmother.
        Still another facet of this unusual Texan's character was collecting historical data on Texas and this section. Too, she knew the genealogy of most families for generations, and was consulted by hundreds wishing to know more of their family background.
        A great niece of Ben Milam of Alamo fame, she represented the true aristocracy - the aristocracy of character. Her life brings to mind what the Psalmist said, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." One of these saints in the person of Mag Kelly has gone to be in glory with her Savior throughout eternity where she no longer is limited by physical frailty in the praise and service of the Lord.
        Her only survivor is one son, Roy Kelly of Ennis.