I spent the weekend working on my Kelly folder. I got alot of documents input and organized.
As I was flipping through city directory pages I noticed this entry in the 1893 San Francisco City Directory:
Kelly, Michael J, horseshoer, r Five Mile House
It caught my eye because my relative, Mary (Kelly) Meincke and her husband, Frederick Meincke, owned the Five Mile House on Silver Ave and Mission Road. Could there be a connection?
This opens up all sorts of lines of inquiry. I do have a Michael Kelly in my tree. He was Mary’s brother. But, my Michael committed suicide in July of 1881. That eliminates him.
I know that Mary’s Father, Martin Kelly, had Kelly relatives in San Francisco. His brother, John Kelly, also owned boardinghouses and saloons in the 1870s and 1880s. I’ve found John with his wife, Harriet, in the census. As yet, I haven’t found any children for them.
Is it possible that Martin had another brother living in San Francisco right under my gaze? John Kelly escaped my noticed for several years, so it’s possible.
Is this my relative’s Five Mile House that is mentioned? There were two in the San Francisco area. The Meincke’s owned one. The other was on San Bruno Road in a different part of town. It’s very possible that this Michael Kelly lived at the other Five Mile House.
There were numerous Micheal Kelly’s who passed through San Francisco. Not all of them were related to my family. In the 1893 directory, their are seven “Michael J. Kelly’s” listed. That doesn’t count the other Michael Kelly’s with other middle initials or no middle initial at all.
Martin Kelly’s obituary is of no help. It doesn’t even list all of his living children.
I need to do more research to see if I can find who who this guy was. At this point, I don’t want to make assumptions that just because he lived at the Five Mile House he belongs to me.
Time will tell if he connects or if the universe is playing another joke on me.