Fourth Generation

78. James Stamps O'Kelley⁶⁶ was born on 26 July 1824 in Walton Co GA. He appeared in the census in 1850 in Gordon, Gordon, GA.⁶⁷ He appeared in the census in 1860 in Silaquoy, Gordon, Georgia.⁶⁸ James appeared in the census in 1860 in Gordon, Gordon, GA.⁶⁹ He appeared in the census in 1870 in Gordon, Gordon, GA.⁷⁰ He appeared in the census in 1880 in Lafayette, Crawford, Arkansas.⁷¹ James died in 1898 in Crawford, Arkansas, United States, and is buried in Love Cemetery. 

Thanks to J Fred O'Kelley there is a great deal known about James Stamps O'Kelley and Lucy Woodruff England.  J Fred tells us that soon after they married they moved to Gwinnett Co Georgia where two of their children were born, Sarah Jane the Eldest and my great grandfather, Charles William.  By the 1850s they were living in Gordon Co Ga.  My grandfather James was a farmer but during the Civil War he did the smart thing and worked in a wagon factory building wagons for the Confederacy.  At some point the factory was closed by the invading Union Army and my grandfather was reportedly permitted to return home where he shoed horses.  Those traits appeared in my father and uncles as most my uncles were carpenters and my father was an auto body repair or body and fender as most people referred to them.  At one time my father worked at Armbrusters in Ft Smith building stretch Limos so in a way he too followed the path of his great grandfather.  Unlike his father and grandfather, James never owned slaves but life was so difficult in Georgia after the war that in December 1870 my grandfather hitched two oxen named Logan and Darb to a covered wagon and brought his family to Crawford County Arkansas ariving Feb 3, 1871.  Why Arkansas, J Fred tells us that Lucy's kin had moved to Crawford Co and they helped them secure a farm but it may also have been because many of the Chastain family had moved a generation before that encouraged them.  J Fred reported that the log cabin that James and his family lived in was still standing in 1962 and while I don't know exactly where this is going to be I suspect it is going to be at Fine Springs as a log cabin still stands there today.  Since my grandparents are buried in Love Cemetery it is likely they lived very near the Chastains who lived on Georgia Ridge in Crawford County Northeast of Alma and just a mile or two from Love Cemetery.

About Age 70

Photo of Gravestone. James Stamps is my great great grandfather.

History of Fine Springs by Ethel Mae Plum

This is an amazing story about how events shape our lives.  My maternal great, great, great grandparents, Johathan and Rachael Fine moved from Washington Co to Crawford Co Arkansas sometime between 1850 and 1860 where they purchased 300 Acres that came to be known as Fine Springs. Several of their sons continued in the area and one was my grandfather Walter. Walter homesteaded 40 acres in 1869. The 1880 US Census places my great, great grandfather, James Stamps O'Kelley and family living near and maybe next to my great, great, grandfather Walter Fine and family.  At the time they could not have imagined that their great, grandchildren Conley and Azana would marry and produce myself and my three brothers. I am not certain of the exact location where my two grandfathers lived side by side but the 1880 census shows a Dyer on the other side of James Stamps and that might be the Dyer place that was located on the northwest corner of Arkansas Hwy 282 and its intersection with Peach Drive.  Sometime before 1910 my wife's great great grandfather, James A Plum moved his family to Crawford County and in 1912 they bought some of the old Fine place from my grandfather Walter's brother.  Her great, great grandfather did not remain in Arkansas but a few years then he moved back to Iowa where he is buried but her great grandfather, Ulysses Grant Plum continued to live in a house on the old Fine place.  Usyssis Grant Plum's son, Roy Lee Plum, who was my wife's grandfather lived on the land until he died and his wife was Ethel Philbrick, she was a celebrated columnist for the Press Argus for maybe a half century writing about the happenings on what she called Locus Knoll which was actually Fine Springs.   My great grandfather Charles William was a Baptist and he was pastor of the Fine Springs Baptist Church.  If you look closely in the below photograph of Fine Springs, you will see the back of his church barely visible through the trees in the top right had corner of the photo. Two of my grandfathers and grandmothers and two sets of my wife's grandparents are buried in the Love Cemetery not far from where they all lived out their lives.  My two sons have a blood link to the Fine Springs Community by three different family lines, their great, great, great O'Kelleys, their great, great, great Plums, and their great, great, great grandparents the Fines. Images of Fine Springs about 1920 Fine Springs Park Swimming Pool Another View Looking from the West Vista looking towards the west In the top right you can see the Fine Springs Baptist Church.

James Stamps O'Kelley and Lucy Woodruff England were married on 12 July 1845 in Walton, Georgia, United States,.^72,73 They^72,73 lived in Silaquoy, Gordon, Georgia in 1860 and 1870.  Lucy Woodruff England⁶⁶ was born on 17 May 1827 in Oglethorpe, Georgia, United States.^74,75  Lucy died on 8 March 1878 in Crawford, Arkansas, United States from the measles and was buried in March 1878 in Love Cemetery, Alma, Crawford Co, AR.⁷⁶   Today it is difficult to believe that little more than 100 years ago our ancestors died from what we think are simple illnesses.  Believe it or not, before WWI a broken leg could often be fatal as they had no knowledge as to how to set leg bones and put them in traction permitting them to heal.  More medical knowledge has been discovered in my brief lifetime than the rest of the entire time man has been on this earth.

Photo of Gravestone. 

James and Lucy are documented in both J Fred O'Kelly and Alethea Jane Macon books.  Living in Georgia during our Civil War James build wagons for the Confederacy.  Reportedly the family endured much after the war so they left Georgia in December 1870 and traveled by covered wagon pulled by two oxen who were named Logan and Darb.  They arrived in Crawford Co Arkansas February 3, 1871

James Stamps O'Kelley and Lucy Woodruff England had the following children. To my knowledge we have nothing to tell us this lists is correct or in the right order.

227	i.	Sarah Jane O'Kelley66 was born on 27 September 1846 in Gwinnett, Georgia, United States. She died on 1 June 1860 in Gordon, Georgia, United States.
+228	ii.	Charles William O'Kelley.   My Ancestor
+229	iii.	James Robert O'Kelley.
+230	iv.	Mary Ann Elizabeth O'Kelley.
+231	v.	Margaret Louisa O'Kelley.
232	vi.	John Francis O'Kelley66 was born on 11 May 1857 in Gordon, Georgia, United States. He died in 1870 in Gordon, Georgia, United States.
+233	vii.	Henry Benjamin O'Kelley.
234	viii.	Frances Adeline O'Kelley66 was born on 15 January 1862 in Gordon, Georgia, United States. She died in June 1870 in Gordon, Georgia, United States.
+235	ix.	Annie Louvenia O'Kelley.
236	x.	George C. O'Kelley66 was born on 8 December 1868 in Gordon, Georgia, United States. He died in 1880 in Crawford, Arkansas, United States.