Catharine Elizabeth Kelley (1853 - 1868)

Born 15 Sep 1853 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Died 20 Sep 1868 at age 15 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Catharine was born on December 15, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of John and Eliza Josephine Kelley.^[1] (Note: Her records of admission to the Boston Female Asylum give her year of birth as 1853, and her age at the time of her death - 15 years - also indicate an 1853 year old birth.)

She was admitted to the Boston Female Asylum, a home for girls in need, with her younger sister Alice in September of 1863, after her mother had been abandoned by their father.^[2] In December of 1865, Catharine's mother reported that her husband had returned and was "earning good wages as a mechanic". Catharine was therefore able to return to her parents at the age of 12.

She died at the age of 15, in 1868.^[3]

After her death, her mother wrote to the Asylum to express her gratitude, which earned a note in the board meeting records for the month of September 1868: "It was reported that Katharine Kelley, who had been taken by her mother one or two years ago, had lately died. She expressed much affection for Mrs. Bartlett and gratitude for the care taken of her at the Asylum."^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXC9-1RZ : 11 March 2018), Catharine Elizabeth Kelley, 15 Dec 1851, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
2. ↑ Register of Children admitted to Boston Female Asylum 1800-1864, transcribed by Ann S. Lainhart, University of Massachusetts, 2013, accessed 21 October 2018
3. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7YK-RN5 : 9 March 2018), Katie E. Kelley, 20 Sep 1868
4. ↑ Boston Female Asylum, Board of Managers: Proceedings and Annual Reports, 1867-1877, Archives,org