In my search for KELL information I have found other KELL families and in order for us to
converse on this in a organized manner the following is the "system" I am using. I have
identified each major family group and given them a number and a name. For our purposes
I do not need to go into each of them in a lot of detail but basically they are all based
on who was in the census of 1790. A few of the lines predate that time frame and few others
start after that. But as a rule the ROOT ANCESTOR's were in the 1790 Census as head of
households. These listings are temporary categories until I can combine or add these
families together. I already know that some are related but I keep them separate at the
moment to aid in my record keeping.
1) James KELL b 1760 of Pendleton, SC , Revolutionary Veteran, Scotch-Irish ? descent,
settled in GA, definitely related to # 2 below, listed in each others pension files, probably
related to 3,4,5,6,7,8 and maybe 11,12. I call this James of Georgia, part of the Georgia
KELL's even though he is originally part of the North Carolina KELL's but to keep track of
him I list him separately.
2) Robert KELL b 1754 of Burke Co., NC, Revolutionary Veteran, Scotch-Irish ? descent,
settled in GA, definitely related to # 1 above, listed in each others pension files, probably
related to 3,4,5,6,7,8 and maybe 11,12 . I call this line Robert of Georgia , part of the
Georgia KELL's even though he is also part of the North Carolina KELL's like # 1 above.
3) John KELL b ? of Surry Co., NC, Scotch-Irish ? descent, settled in NC ?, definitely
related to 4 and probably 1,2,5,6,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line John of Surry,
part of the North Carolina KELL's
4) John KELL Jr. b ? of Surry Co., NC, Scotch-Irish ? descent , settled in NC ?, definitely
related to 3 and probably 1,2,5,6,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line John Junior of
Surry, part of the North Carolina KELL's.
5) Thomas KELL b ? of Burke Co., NC, Scotch-Irish ? descent, settled in NC ? then TN ?,
definitely related to 2,6,7 and probably 1,3,4,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line
Thomas of Burke, part of the Tennessee KELL's. Even though both # 5 and # 6 below are
actually part of the North Carolina KELL's I list them as Tennessee KELL's as one of them
was the progenitor of the large group of KELL's that settled in Tennessee. The other KELL's
seemed to stay in North Carolina namely the Johns of Surry and the William of Burke.
6) Thomas KELL Jr. b ? of Burke Co., NC, Scotch-Irish ? descent, settled in NC ? then TN ?,
definitely related to 2,5,7 and probably 1,3,4,6,8 and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line
Thomas Junior of Burke, part of the Tennessee KELL's.
7) William KELL b ? of Burke Co., NC, Scotch-Irish ? descent, settled in NC ? then TN ?,
definitely related to 2,5,6 and probably 1,3,4,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line
William of Burke, part of the North Carolina KELL's.
8) John KELL b ? of Pendleton, SC. Scotch-Irish ? descent ,settled in SC ?, definitely
related to 1 and probably related to 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line
John of Pendleton.
9) John KELL b ? of Chester, SC, Scotch descent, settled in SC and then IL, possibly
related to 10,13 maybe 11, and 12. I call this line GASTON - KELL's as their traditions,
history, travels, and religion is so intimately intertwined with the GASTON line. Wherever
you find GASTON's your will find KELL's in this line. The majority of the KELL's in South
Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Texas, and Kentucky are all GASTON - KELL's. This line
is so family oriented that it is not uncommon to find the descendants of three distinct
immigrants who came over 25 or 50 years apart living next to each other on a family farm.
This line traveled heavily as I have records of them traveling from Chester, SC, to
Gaston, AL, by way of TN in the 1830s and they amazingly did this twice a year.
(see John, James, Matthew,...... the "Gaston Kell's" -- line of jmkell)
10) John KELL b ? of Savannah, GA, Scotch descent, settled in GA. possibly related to 9,13
maybe 11, and 12. I call this line MAC - KELL's as they were heavily intermarried with the
Mackintosh of General George Oglethorpe's original colonists of Georgia. This families most
famous son was even named after him ( Mackintosh ). He was John Mackintosh Kell who made a
name for himself as an officer on the Confederate Raider C.S.S. Alabama.
11) John KELL b ? of York Co, PA, Scotch-Irish ? descent, settled in PA, probably related
to 12 and possibly related to 1,2,5,6,7,and 8. I call this line John of York, part of the
Pennsylvania KELL's.
12) Samuel KELL b ? of Chester Co.,PA, Revolutionary Veteran, Scotch-Irish descent, settled
in PA, probably related to 11 and possibly 1,2,5,6,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this
line Samuel of Chester, part of the Pennsylvania KELL's.
13) Thomas KELL b ? of MD, Revolutionary Veteran, Welsh ? descent, settled in MD, possibly
related to 1,2,5,6,7,8,and maybe 11, and 12. I call this line Thomas the Sailor or the
Maryland KELL's. (See Capt Thomas Kell)
14) Jacob KELLS b ? of Columbia Co., NY, German ? descent, settled in NY, probably related
to 15, and possibly 17. I call this line Jacob of New York, part of the New York KELL's.
15) Johannis KELLS b ? of Columbia Co., NY, German ? descent settled in NY, probably
related to 14 and possibly 17. I also call this line Johannis of New York, part of
the New York KELL's.
16) KELLS, of Stuebenville, OH, probably English ?, came into to the US
in the 1850s. I call these the Ohio KELLS. They are found in the area of OHIO and the
Great Lakes.
17) GERMAN KELL's of Philadelphia, PA, definitely German, seem to parallel Scotch-Irish
KELL's. I call them the German KELL's.
18) CANADA KELLS of Ontario, possibly French or English or maybe even German. They
seem to be rather common. The name could be KELLS or KELL , might be related to 16 but
the Canada KELLS came over at different times. I call these the Canadian KELLS.
19) Other KELLs added as we go! These will grow as they are found. I may be adding a
GERMAN line to this soon as they are not related to any of the others listed above. There
are also French, Irish, Prussian, and English KELLs that do not fit any of the categories
listed above which will eventually be added when enough data is collected.
Mark P. Kedzierski