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Note: nd it would appear he was the spouse of Mary "Mollie" Oldfield, niece of Mary Shepard Pearce; she and her husband named their last son Eli Kelsey Pearce. Eli was 22 years, eight months and three weeks younger than his oldest brother Col. Wm. Willis Pearce; two months short of 25 years after Mary Shepard married Wm. Willis Pearce. It would seem she would have had to be 15-16 years old at marriage in January 1791 and born about 1774-5. Eli may have been the brother who reportedly accompanied Col. Pearce on his first trip west to New Orleans in 1847, and stayed there; though the source for this may have been providing circular information as to this written family history. Eli married Bridget (aka Bedelia) an Irish immigrant and lived in New Orleans, LA, in this period; their first child being born in 1849, perhaps explaining that Eli did not return with Col. Pearce to IN in 1847. Between 1854-56 he and Bridget removed to West Covington, KY across the river from Hamilton Co., OH. The common route to TX and Mexico during this period was via the Mississippi River to New Orleans, then west. One wonders if Eli learned to be a boiler worker along the river. Nothing is known of Eli's younger years. In the 1850 USFC the couple resided in Orleans Parish, LA; and 18 year-old "Mary" resided with them. Many persons on the census list near their names were born in Ireland; suggesting this was an Irish neighborhood. Perhaps he worked on vessels in New Orleans. He was listed as 35 and Bridget as 21. Eli was identified as an engineer in the 1860 USFC for Covington, KY, but his age was given as 60, rather than 45. In 1870, he, again was listed as 60, when he would have been 55; Bridget was listed as 33 and should have been listed at about 41 (she had young adult children then). Elis was listed as a boilerworker. Two of his sons were glassblowers, moving on to St. Louis, MO by 1880. Son, Walter, indicated on USFC that his father was born in NY. Son, Alfred W., indicated on USFC that his father was born in IN. Burial sites for Eli and Bridget have not been learned but likely he is buried in the Covington, KY area as he died following the 1870 USFC. It might be productive to search the records of Highland Cemetery, Ft. Mitchell, KY, for any of the parents, children or their spouses of this household. Surnames found among descendants of Eli Kelsey and Bridget Pearce are: McCourt, Oliver, Walk, Yates and Weatherhead.
Note: An Eli Kelsey was listed on the Ontario Co., NY USFC of 1810 two names after Willis Pearce, a
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