David Clarke Kelly

DAVID CLARKE KELLY. - Worthy of especial note in a work of this character is David Clarke Kelly, the leading druggist of Bonner Springs and a citizen of much prominence and influence. He was born in 1873, in Johnson county, Kansas, of pioneer ancestry. His father, William Kelly, a native of Ireland, immigrated to America when twenty-one years of age, taking up his residence in Canada, where he secured work as a brick mason. He subsequently met and married Anna Lundy, who was also born in Ireland, and in 1859, accompanied by his young wife, came to Kansas in search of cheap land. Taking up a homestead claim in Johnson county, he immediately took upon himself the duties of a faithful citizen, and during the border troubles was an active participant. Devoting himself to the improvement of his land, he cleared a good farm, to the size of which he has since added by purchase, being now the owner of four hundred acres of rich and valuable land, which he now rents. Since his retirement from agricultural pursuits he has lived in Olathe, Kansas. He has ever been a supporter of the principles of the Republican party, his first ballot having been cast for John C. Fremont. In his religious views he is a sound Scotch Presbyterian.

Mrs. William Kelly died in 1908, leaving nine children, as follows: Mary, wife of J. G. Rudy, of Craik, province of Saskatchewan, Canada; Isabel, wife of A. W. Pettit, of Tonkawa, Oklahoma; Alexander, a retired farmer of Olathe, Kansas; William J., a retired farmer of the same place; Mrs. Sadie J. Scudder, living in Olathe, with her father; Kittie, wife of E. Smith, of Billings, Oklahoma, where he is engaged in the drug business; Samuel J., a druggist in Olathe, Kansas, married Emma Barnes, of that city; Tom H., a druggist in Kansas City, Missouri; and David Clarke, the special subject of this personal review.

Brought up on the home farm in Johnson county, David Clarke Kelly laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools, where he had a good record for scholarship. He afterwards continued his studies at the Olathe Normal University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1901, and in 1907 was graduated from the University of Kansas. Thus equipped, Mr. Kelly established himself as a druggist in Bonner Springs, where he has now a large and well-stocked mercantile establishment, handling all articles to be found in a first-class drug store. He has a large and remunerative trade, and is popular not only as a druggist but as a man and a citizen. He is a Republican in politics, and for seven years has served as city clerk. He is a member of the Christian church, and belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree.

Mr. Kelly married, in June, 1898, Miss Ada Norris, of Olathe, Kansas. She was educated in the public schools at Olathe and at the State Normal at Emporia, Kansas.