Reverend Clinton Kelly (June 15, 1808 – June 19, 1875) was an early

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

of what became the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Kelly was born on June 15, 1808, in

Pulaski County, Kentucky Pulaski County is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,034. Its county seat is Somerset. The county was founded in December 1798 from land given by Lincoln and Green Counties and named for ...

, the son of Samuel and Nancy Kelly. In January 1827, he joined the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

and became a pastor. Kelly joined the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

after its succession from the main church. After seeing what would come of slavery and the strife surrounding it, however, he and his family, along with his brothers Albert and Thomas, traveled to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

in 1847, arriving in late 1848 (by which time Oregon had become a

U.S. territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

). They initially stayed in a cabin on

James B. Stephens James B. Stephens (November 9, 1806 – March 22, 1889) was a settler, pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon. A cooper (profession), cooper by trade, he operated one of the first ferries across the Willamette River at what was East Portland, Oregon. ...

' claim. They later settled in what is now

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

, where Kelly purchased his land claim for $50. He died on June 19, 1875, at the age of 67.

Family

In August 1827,https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G003765.pdf Part 2: Clinton Kelly Kelly married Mary Baston, and together they had five boys: Plympton, Hampton, Archon, Calmet and Benjal. Mary died on June 14, 1837. A year later Kelly married Jane Burns. Clinton and Jane had one daughter, Mary Jane, and Jane died shortly afterwards. Kelly married his third wife, Moriah Maldon Crain, on March 11, 1840. Clinton and Moriah had nine children together. Moriah died on January 30, 1863. The eldest of Clinton and Moriah's children was Sarah Margaret Kelly, who later became the wife of Captain

John W. Kern John Worth Kern (December 20, 1849 – August 17, 1917) was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate majority leader (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic Lead ...

. Among Moriah and Clinton's other children was their son Penumbra Kelly, who became a sheriff and later a

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

of the district and who also represented

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

in the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

for four terms. Another son, Dr. Richmond Kelly, was a well-known citizen of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, for whom the Richmond neighborhood was named. Penumbra married Mary E. Marquam, daughter of Judge

Philip A. Marquam Philip A. Marquam (February 28, 1823 – May 8, 1912) was a lawyer, judge, legislator, and real estate developer in the U.S. state of Oregon. Early life Philip Marquam was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 28, 1823, to Philip Winche ...

, in 1875. Three of Clinton and Moriah's children died in childhood.

Legacy

Clinton Street and Clinton Park in Portland are named after Kelly. Albert Kelly Park in Portland is named after Rev. Albert Kelly, Clinton Kelly's brother. Clinton Kelly Elementary School in Lents is named after Clinton Kelly who also made land donations to establish Clinton Kelly School on SE 26th and Powell which later became Cleveland High school. Kelly's family figures prominently in the history of the Mt. Tabor area of Portland. Kelly's son Plympton may have influenced the naming of Mt. Tabor after

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( he, הר תבור) (Har Tavor) is located in Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bible (Book of Joshua, Joshua, Book of Judges, Judges), Mount Tabor is the sit ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Kelly Butte was on a portion of Plympton Kelly's

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

References

External links

Portrait of Clinton Kelly
from ''History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Clinton 1808 births 1875 deaths Oregon pioneers Oregon clergy History of Portland, Oregon Southern Methodists 19th-century Methodist ministers 19th-century American clergy