John B. Kelly

John B. Kelly, 1837-1896
Butcher and Saloon Owner
 
Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 3, Lot 2, Grave 8

(Grave marker photo courtesy of the
​Pioneers’ Cemetery Association)

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John Barnes Kelly (or Kelley) was born about 1837 in Hermon, St. Lawrence County, New York. Although he and his older brother Henry initially went to California in 1851 in hopes of finding gold, they instead made their fortune in the butchering trade.
 
J. B. married Elizabeth Ann Morrow on July 8, 1860, in Jackson, Amador County, California. They had four daughters, including a set of twins born in Sutter Creek, Amador County, California.
 
Apparently Elizabeth died in 1874 or 1875, as J. B. then married Laura E. Hoyt on December 1, 1875. They had a son and a daughter while living in California, after which they relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, and had three more daughters.
 
As a butcher, J. B. worked closely with the Balsz family of Phoenix. The Balszes operated a large ranch near Yuma as well as feedlots in Phoenix, and J. B. was one of the butchers who turned steers into steaks for local restaurants. The Kellys lived in a fine house at Center and Monroe Streets. J. B. joined the local Masonic lodge and made a foray into politics; he ran for sheriff but was narrowly defeated.
 
Men outnumbered women in 1880s Phoenix, so J. B.’s three oldest daughters were a welcome addition to the social scene. All three married local men. Harriet Lillian married J. J. Sweeney, a butcher like her father. Addie married Daniel P. Conroy, and her twin, Ada, had a career as a schoolteacher before and after her marriage.
 
J. B. died on February 24, 1896, of a stomach hemorrhage. (possibly a perforated ulcer?) He was buried with Masonic and Episcopalian rites in Phoenix’s Masons Cemetery.  
 
The Cabinet, his upscale saloon on Washington Street, he left to his widow. She sold it two months later and eventually returned to her home state of California, where she settled in Oakland. She was last recorded on the 1930 federal census, living with her youngest daughter, Laura R. Kelly.
 
© 2025 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 15 February 2025.

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