0252. Mary Jane Meader (1822 - 1905) Gender: F
Born: 1822
Died: 1905
0252. Mary Jane Meader (1822 - 1905)
Mary Jane Meader, daughter of Stephen Baggage Meader (1779-1855) [0132] and Mary Bailey ( - ), was born March 1, 1822 in Ryegate, VT and died February 16, 1905.
As her father was a tailor by trade, she was put on the shopboard at 11 years of age for a part of each day. She went to school six or eight months of each year until she was 14. She was a good sewer and could stitch a finest broadcloth, equal to a sewing machine. At the age of 15, fascinated by reports of high wages and pleasant surroundings, she went to Lowell, where she remained until her marriage.
In 1845 she met John Kelley of New Sharon, ME, and on November 2, 1845 they were married. He was born June 10, 1813 and died December 14, 1865. They lived in New York in 1846, where he was the electrician for a lightning rod company. Then from 1847 to 1851 they lived in Lowell. In 1851 they moved to Philadelphia, where he started a sash and blind factory. During the Civil War, in 1861, he lost everything but his home at 1414 Lombard Street. He started business again in 1864 but died the next year.
John Page Kelley was descended from John Kelley, who came from England to Newbury, MA in 1635 in the ship Angel Gabriel, which was wrecked off Pemaquid Point, ME. The lineage of the family can be traced to a family of this name in Devonshire, England at the time of Henry II [reigned 1154-1189]. Burke describes a coat of arms held by this family granted in 1473 to the Honorable Robert Kelley of Doncaster.
The child of Mary Meader and John Kelley was:
i. Caroline Blanchard Kelley, born August 8, 1860 in Philadelphia. She was graduated from the Girls' Normal School, receiving the Principal's Certificate; she was also graduated from the School of Design, receiving the Ledger Medal, given by George W. Childs. She designed in Wilmington, DE and won a medal for her exhibit at the World's Fair [must be the one in Chicago]. Later she designed for embroidery in Philadelphia.