Benjamin R Kelley

Benjamin Kelley was a frontiersman and a pioneer of Kentucky. He was a Revolutionary Patriot, a Baptist preacher and a teacher.

"Benjamin Kelley was born in Bedford County, Virginia, not far from 1763. At about the age of fifteen, he came to Kentucky and sheltered himself from Indian fury with the first settlers at Boonesboro. In January 1778, while with a party of twenty seven, headed by Daniel Boone, engaged in making salt at Blue Lick, he with the whole party, was taken prisoner by the Indians. He fell into the hands of the tribe in which the notorious renegade, Simon Girty, was the Chief. An old squaw adopted him as her son and he remained with them about six years. At the expiration of this time, aided by his foster mother and an old Indian, he made his escape and returned to his parents in Virginia. Here, he married the daughter of David Jarrell and afterwards emigrated with his father-in-law to Kentucky."

Reference:

• Kelley, Benjamin. FamilySearch.org - Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940. http://bit.ly/Z1sfjH. Date accessed: 09 Feb 2013.
• Kelley, Benjamin and Nancy Roach. FamilySearch.org - Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940. http://bit.ly/Z1rUxA. Date accessed: 09 Feb 2013.
• Kelley, Carter Jerrell. "A Life Sketch of Benjamin Kelley and Descendants". Ancestry.com. Pages 5, 6-7. Date accessed: 09 Feb 2013.
• Kelley, Rev Benjamin. FinAGrave.com. http://bit.ly/UBwRf8. Date accessed: 09 Feb 2013.