David O’Killea

Not the son of John Mac Teige O'Kellia & Anna Daly. Y DNA testing of descendants do not match.

David O'Killia was born in Ireland, and migrated from there to Massachusetts Bay Colony; an indentured servant for John Darby, and then Edward Sturgis. He later joined the Society of Friends (Quaker).

Family

From “David Kelley born 1630s and Jane Powell of Yarmouth (now Dennis) MA” (Sunday, August 28, 2011) < link >

Burt Derick wrote in Gaelic Love on Cape Cod: David, the Irishman, and Jane, the Welsh Maid, Dennis Historical Society Newsletter, Feb/March 2008, that David (O’Killea) and Jane (Powell’s) story is one of loneliness and love. The Separatists realized they needed to bring in willing workers, which was easy given the strife in Great Britain from wars, ravages of plague and religious persecution. Nearly all were young and unmarried, at the bottom of the social class.

David and Jane were poor, lonely, scared, moving to an uncertain future and they were Gaelic, sharing a common language others on the ship may not have had. They would have been immediately separated and endured a hard life, as Jane's plea in court shows. …. There was certainly a background relationship between these people that resulted in the encounter for which they were charged. The fornication charge likely means she was pregnant, rather than caught in the act. …

Despite Jane's guilt, the magistrates could not bring themselves to levy the typical punishment of public whipping and they sent her home. They also didn't charge David with seducing the girl. They leave the two to work out the problem. It's also remarkable the Clerk took time to record so many details of Jane's predicament?

After securing freedom for both of them, David did the honorable thing and married Jane and they moved to a 100 acre farm that was eventually named Kelley's Point, at the head of Bass River on the banks of what is today called Kelley’s Bay. The area is now called Mayfair in current day South Dennis, Massachusetts.

David's family lived there over 40 years, raising a family of five boys and two girls:

1. Sarah b. ca 1660, unmarried
2. Joseph b. ca 1662, mentioned in 1697, no further record
3. Jeremiah b. ca 1664, m. Sarah Chase?
4. John b. ca 1667, m. Bersua Lewis
5. David was b. ca 1670, m. Anna Bills
6. Elizabeth b ca 1672, m. Silas Sears
7. Benjamin b. ca 1675. m. 1) Mary Lombard 2) Hopestill Smith

All were mentioned in David’s will.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/O'Killia-3

The Kelley family of Cape Cod is descended from David OKillea, who settled in the area of Yarmouth (and now Dennis) in the 1650s, in the area of Kelley's Bay and Mayfair in South Dennis. [1]

"The earliest known notice of him appears in Plymouth Colony Records, 4 October 1655, when he is called "David Ogillior an Irishman.[1]

Details of David's Irish origins, his migration to North America, and his early years on Cape Cod are not known. Family historian Bob Kelley comments: "As he became a freeman of Yarmouth in 1657 ,then recorded as "Dauid Okillia, Irishman," he must have been born by 1636." [2]

David was most likely from one of the Irish Kelley/Kelly clans. Michael J. O'Brien, a major researcher for the Journal of the American Irish Historical Society, stated: "There can be no doubt that he [David] was an O'Kelly and ... it may be assumed that he came from Galway the original home of the Okelly or Kelly family in Ireland." [3]

David's exit from Ireland and migration to Massachusetts Bay was most likely caused by the English subjugation of Ireland by Cromwell in the mid-1600s. Bob Kelley documents several other Irish who settled in Massachusetts at the time and were initially indentured servants, as was David's situation. [1]

David was an indentured servant to the Sturgis family of Yarmouth. Somehow he met his future wife, Jane Powell a Welsh girl, who was an indentured servant to the William Swift family at Sandwich. Possibly they met through communication or interaction between the Sturgis and Swift families. and David as a bond servant to the Sturgis family at Yarmouth.

But the commonality of their plight could not keep them apart as David made great efforts to somehow find Jane. When their servitude was fulfilled they married and settled near the head of Bass River (now Dennis) establishing the Kelley farm.

The Kelley farm was a hub of activity contributing to the formation of the Yarmouth Friends as well as lending the family name to Kelley's Bay at Follin's Pond and Bass River. The Yarmouth Friends built their meetinghouse in 1714 on, or at the edge of the Kelley farm. The original pews of this meetinghouse are currently in the Kelley Chapel at Yarmouthport (built in 1873).

While the mother meeting in Sandwich was growing and building its second meetinghouse of 1709, a new nucleus of Friends was forming about eighteen miles southeast in the "Mayfair" area of Yarmouth around the upper Bass River, in what is now South Dennis. This had been the farm of the Quaker Kelley Family, settled by David O’Killea (d. 1696), a freeman of Yarmouth in 1657, who married about 1670 a Welsh Quaker maid Jane Powell (d. 1711). In March 1709 Yarmouth Friends requested status as a Preparative Meeting, which was granted to Falmouth the following year, but not to Yarmouth nearly for a century, apparently because of Sandwich discontent with attendance at meetings. Nevertheless, a meetinghouse was built in Yarmouth in 1714, the first outside of Sandwich, This was located above the present Quaker Beach on the east side of Mayfair Rd. opposite Follin’s Bay Rd. on the height on the point east of Follin's Pond and north of Kelley’s Bay. Until 1977 the site was marked by a sign reading "On this site stood the first Quaker Meeting House 1714." But now one finds only seven crumbling gravestones of the Kelley family, dated 1809-1870. The building itself was sold in 1809 to Lot Sears who dismantled it, barged it down Bass River to a site about a mile below the present bridge in South Yarmouth, and built into the house occupied by the Waterman family in 1915. To this old meetinghouse came families from Harwich over a road that was long known as Quaker Path.

The family appears in Cape Cod records under several phonetic spellings. The files agree David and Jane were married in Yarmouth, but not when. The children's birth order seems to be inferred from the will.[4]

A list of men taking the oath of fidelity in Yarmouth "David O'Kelly, Irishman" 1657. A rate charged for King Philip's War £ 2:6:9, in 1676; A list of townsmen of Yarmouth, 1679; A list of townsmen of Yarmouth, February 3, 1692/93.[4]

Land grant (10-12 acres + 2 acres swamp) dated February 28, 1689/90.[4]

The Kelley family of Cape Cod is descended from David O'Killea, who established a homestead at Kelly's Bay in South Dennis, Massachusetts, during the second half of the seventeenth century. The origin of David's paternal ancestry has been speculated as being of the O'Kelly family of Galway, Ireland.[4]

Details regarding David's voyage from Ireland to the colonies are not known, however the English subjugation of Ireland had taken place between 1641-1654 and many Irishmen had been captured in the process and sent to the colonies to be indentured servants.[4]

The earliest known record of David in the colonies appears in Plymouth Colony Records, October 4, 1655 when he is called "David Ogillior an Irishman". In that record David was implicated in charges of fornication with his future wife Jane Powell, of Sandwich, a Welsh servant of one William Swift. David is shown as the servant of Edward Sturgis.[4]

Disputed origins

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/O'Killia-1

Regarding father of David O'Killia. Note that John's son was named Donogh which is normally anglicized to Denis. The Irish version of David would normally be Daithi.

The family appears in Cape Cod records under several phonetic spellings. A claim on Rootsweb is that David's parents were Teige O'Killia and Ann Daly, and that he was born in Gallagh, Ireland. The files agree David and Jane were married in Yarmouth, but not when. The children's birth order seems to be inferred from the will. He was born in 1619 according to a marriage record (index?): [1]

If their son David O'Killia was a war orphan, then at least one of these parents was presumably still alive in 1649 (when the war began). If so, them dying at sea in 1640 wouldn't make sense (much less being en route to America).

23 October 2023 (UTC). Y-DNA evidence at FTDNA does not support John Mac Teige being the father of David O'Killia (abt.1640-1697). Self Identified descendants of David O'Killia all are grouped in the Kelley surname project in group x29. They do not match Walter Lionel O'Kelly (1921-2017) Count Walter is a documented descendant of John MacTeigh's grandfather Conchobhar nag Cearhbach (O'Killia) O'Kelly (abt.1540-abt.1612)

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Will

Added by Elwin C. Nickerson Copy of Will of My Great Grandfather David O'Killia: citations Noted Below.

The Mayflower Descendant, Volume XXXII, Abstracts of Barnstable County, Mass., Probate: The Will of David Okillia, Sr.

   On 10 February, 1696/7, “David Ocillia of yarmouth” made his will,

   and signed it by a mark. Bequests were as follows:

   To “my Son Jeremiah Okillia” 2 shillings.

   To “my Son Joseph Ocillia” 2 shillings.

   To “my Son David Okillia” 2 shillings.

   To “my Grand Child John Okillia” 2 shillings

   To “my Daughter Elisabeth Okillia my little chest and my great Iron kittle after my wifes Decease”

   To “my Daughter Sarah Okillia my Box and my too lesser Iron kittils affter my wifs Decease”

   To “my Son Benjamin Okillia my gun and my sourd and my Great Chest”

   To “my loving wife Jane and to my Son Benjamin Okillia my hors and my two oxen & my cow and heifer and all my Sheep and Swine equally between them”

   To “my loving wife Jane my Bed and Beding and Bedstead and Curtins and all the moveables that are not above mentioned”

   To “my son Benjamin Okillia my now Dwelling house and all my lands and meadows…After my wifs decease or after her marriage if that my wife marry againe, all plow Irons chains and all Iron Tools that are left”

   “My loving wife Jane Okillia to be my Sole Executrix”

   “I the Sd David Okillia Senr” signed the will 10 February, 1696/7. The witnesses were Thomas Folland, William Baker, Sr. (by mark), and Isaac Perse, by a mark.

   On 19 July, 1697 the three witnesses made oath to the will, “the two former according to the coustom and the latter William Baker as he was in the presence of God”, and the will was probated, and administration granted to Jane Okillia, the widow, on 28 July, 1697.

   On 16 July, 1697, the inventory was taken by Thomas Folland and Benjamin Mathews.

   The real estate was: “house lands and meadows” £1696, 2, 10. Will, proved 1697, 7, 19. Ex., wife Jane.

   Witnesses, Thomas Holland, Wm. Baker, Hoar Perse.

   To son Jeremiah, 2 shillings,

   and like amount to sons Joseph and David, and grandson John.

   To daughter Elizabeth, a little chest and great iron kettle, after wife’s decease.

   To daughter Sarah, a box and 2 lesser iron kettles, after decease of wife.

   To son Benjamin, gun, sword and great chest.

   To wife Jane and son Benjamin, horse, 2 oxen, cow, heifer, sheep and swine, equally between them. To wife Jane, bed, bedding and all movables not above mentioned.

   To son Benjamin the dwelling house, lands and meadows, after wife’s decease or marriage.

Inventory, 97, 6s. 3d. House, meadows and other lands 40. 2 oxen, 3 cows, and 1 horse 21. 3 sheep, 1 lamb and a half, 18s. 6d. Swine, gun, sword, powder, bullets, looms, spit, pewter and earthen ware, etc.40.

   “Benjamin Okillia Son of David Okillia….deceased” made oath to the inventory, 19 July, 1697.

Modern day map of the area

References

1. Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Feb 29 2020, 22:25:33 UTC
2. WikiTree contributors, "David O'Killia (abt.1640-1697)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/O'Killia-3 : accessed 06 April 2024). cites
   1. NEHGR p. 131.
   2. NEHGR p. 131, quoting Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth... Vol. 8, p. 186.
   3. NEHGR p. 132, from Michael J. Obrien, Irish Settlers in America I:438-9.
   4. David O'Killia - The Early Years (FamilySearch.org) "Memories"
   5. Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, Record for David O'Killea
   6. Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, Record for Sarah O'killey
   7. Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, Record for David O'Killia
   8. Source: Schofld1.ftw, 10/1993 from M.L.Alexander of Canton, MI, Date of Import: 30 Mar 2000
   9. Geni.com profile "About Jane O'Killia" citing Plymouth Colony Records Vol. 3:82, 91
   10. Tracy Crocker's page on David O'Killea citing Eunice Kelley Randall, David O'Killia the Immigrant of Old Yarmouth, MA.]
   11. NEHGR: Kelley, R. Dudley. “David OKillia of Yarmouth, Massachusetts and some of his descendants.” New England Historical and Genealogical Register volume 151 (1997).See also:
   12. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mabarnst/hbch10.pdf
   13. https://www.dennishistoricalsociety.org/sites/default/files/2019-07...
   14. American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI), U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
   15. Cape Cod Quakers [1]
   16. Mead Hall, The [2]
   17. Miner Descent Web page [3]
   18. Randall, Eunice Kelley. “David O'Killia, the immigrant, of Old Yarmouth, Massachusetts, with his descendants and allied families, 1652-1962.” [Dartmouth? Mass.]: E.K. Randall, [1962?]
   19. Yates Publishing , U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
3. Randall, Eunice Kelley. (1962) David O'Killia, the Immigrant, of Old Yarmouth, Massachusetts, with His Descendants and Allied Families, 1652-1962. < GoogleBooks >
4. “David Kelley born 1630s and Jane Powell of Yarmouth (now Dennis) MA” (Sunday, August 28, 2011) < link >
5. “The Love Story of David O'Kelley and Jane Powell.” < link >
6. “Gaelic Love on Cape Cod: David, the Irishman, and Jane, the Welsh Maid.” (Sunday, October 16, 2016) < link >
7. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/O'Killia-1 comments: “23 October 2023 (UTC) Y-DNA evidence at FTDNA does not support John Mac Teige being the father of David O'Killia (abt.1640-1697). Self Identified descendants of David O'Killia all are grouped in the Kelley surname project in group x29. They do not match Walter Lionel O'Kelly (1921-2017) Count Walter is a documented descendant of John MacTeigh's grandfather Conchobhar nag Cearhbach (O'Killia) O'Kelly (abt.1540-abt.1612)”
8. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/kelley?iframe=yresults R1b Group 14: [confirmed L21+ DF49+ DF23+ Z2961+ Ui Mhaine (Ireland R-BY3446) William Boy O'Kelly's 7th grandson (The Count)
9. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/kelley?iframe=yresults (page 2) R1b Group X29 (L21+) David O'Kellia Ireland R-M269
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15104137/david-o'killia (has errors)