KELSO LETTERS

*Last updated 6/08/00*

 

Re: kelso
Date:    12/20/99 8:53:10 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:    ANNALOUM@aol.com
To:    JO1422

Joe, I went to your home page and read a little of it. I am pressed for time right now but will go back and read further later. I am pretty sure I descend from Joseph who came to U. S. and settled in Penn. If he and Hugh were brothers then we do have a common ancestor.
I have a copy of the letter from Barrington Kelso that I found somewhere in my research, but had not seen the picture. I also have a copy of Alexander Kelso's Rev. War pension. (as you see, I have accumulated a lot of misc. "stuff".)
I would be happy for you to put a link on your page. After Christmas I hope to have my home page up. (we'll see how that goes.) It will be of all my lines though, not just Kelso. But perhaps we could also link that in.

 

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Dear Joe,

I am not the best source of family history in my branch of the family, just

the best travelled!  Most of my information comes from two first cousins

once removed (my father's generation).  One is Clyde Douglas Kelso, Jr, of

Memphis TN, author of "Immigrant John Kelso of Pennsylvania and Virginia,

His Ancestors and Descendants".  The other is Don Kelso of Fairfax Virginia,

Head of the Marine Biology Dept. at George Mason U., who helped Douglas on

the book.    Although Douglas put a lot of time and effort into the book, he

admits that there is still much work to be done.  He did succeed in

explaining the source of a lot of confusing and inaccurate information with

regard to John Kelso, but he only was able to narrow the number of theories

and make some educated guesses abour which theory was most likely the truth.

 

John Kelso apparently had four sons, Charles (sometimes called Alexander),

Joseph, Hugh and John (the first born in America).  There is no known record

of any daughters of John Kelso.  Charles and Mary Blair Kelso had two sons,

Alexander from whom I think you are descended and Hugh from whom I am

descended. They also had at least two daughters named Mary and Margaret.

When Alexander and Hugh were quite young both their mother and father died

of wounds incurred during a Shawnee raid or malignant fever or both, and the

two boys went to live with their Uncle Hugh, whose house is still standing

near Rockbridge Baths Virginia.  The first time I visited the house was in

1978, at which time I also visited a lady across the road who was a Kelso

and Walker descendant and inherited some of the Hugh Kelso family's China

and furniture.   The Hugh Kelso house had no indoor plumbing at that time,

but has since been bought by a couple from Richmond for use as a weekend

get-away and they have remodeled it.  The last time I visited was winter

1991.

 

 When they were teenagers Alexander and Hugh went to the Waxhall settlement

in Northwest SC.   Their sister Mary was already there and there were other

Kelsos from Lancaster County Pennsylvania who had already been there for 20

years.  Their sister Margaret, the youngest sibling, always lived close to

her brother Hugh through two marraiges.  Her second husband did survey work

for Hugh, who was a land developer in addition to running the mill and

ferry.  I guess they all must have been pretty close since they were

orphaned at such a young age.

 

With regard to Brisbane Manor, it was sold by a John Kelso in 1671 to a

distant cousin named James Brisbane.  This John Kelso then became Collector

of Customs at the Port of Glasgow until his death in 1675.  The last

permanent resident of the house was Major General Sir Thomas Brisbane,

colonial Governor of New South Wales Australia.  The City of Brisbane is

named after him.   After he died in 1860, the property declined, and was

apparently just used as a summer retreat by some distant relatives of the

Brisbanes.   At some point in time early in this century, the slate roof was

removed to avoid taxes, and in 1939 the British Army demolished the house as

part of a demolition exercise.  Only the foundation, cellar, and some mosaic

tile floors from the foyer survive. The land is now owned by Campbells who

raise sheep on the land and live in a farmhouse that served one of the farms

of the manor.   The area is still known as the Vale of Brisbane.  Mrs.

Campbell has scrapbooks and collects anything she can get about the history

of the place.

 

We just moved into our house here in Brussels, so we are still getting

settled.  Eventually I will try to scan some of the pictures I have of the

houses and send them to you.  Don't hold your breath though, its been a busy

year where I work at the U.S. Mission to NATO and I'm still catching up!  I

will be also be spending a lot of the next few weeks away from home in

Austria and Germany.  So keep in touch, but I may not always be timely in

responding to my e-mail.

 

Sincerely,

Jess Kelso

 

 

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Subj:    Re: Kelso Kin

Date:    12/13/99 1:01:54 PM Eastern Standard Time

From:   Krklamm

To:       JO1422

 

Joe -

Thanks for your letter.  I will check out your website when I get home from work tonight.  As for the book "Kelso Kin", I obtained my copy directly from the author, Mrs. Virginia Naylor Smith, about 1985.  It was published in 1979.  It is an excellent book!!!  At that time, Mrs. Smith lived in Nashville, Tennessee.  I haven't had any further contact with her so I don't know if she is still alive or not, as she would be very elderly now.  I am almost certain you could obtain a copy from either (1) The Tennessee State Library and Archives;   (2) The Library of Congress; or (3) The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  This book is a "must" for anyone who is descended from John and Polly Kelso and/or any of their three sons.  It is really informative.  Let me know if you need more help locating the book.   Or you could post a query on the Genforum "Kelso" website asking if anyone knows where you can get a copy.   Ken Klamm

 

 

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