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Profiles of William Kelso, Sr. and ChildrenProfiles by Fred KelsoFor the associated page about the Logan family, please click "Kelso Family Slaves in Erie County, Pennsylvania."WILLIAM KELSO, SR. - appears to have owned land and slaves in both Paxton Twp., Dauphin County, and across the Susquehanna in East Pennsboro Twp., Cumberland County. The same applies to his son, William Kelso, Jr. [see separate sketch]. William Sr. was born in 1737 to Joseph and Margaret (maiden name not known) Kelso in Dauphin (then Lancaster) County. From the Paxton Twp. Tax Lists, he is shown as owning land there as early as 1756 (his father had owned land in the township as early as 1744). In 1756 William is listed as having one servant. May 23, 1757, William Sr. married Jean Simpson at the Paxtang Presbyterian Church. His children were William Jr., Sarah, Thomas, Martha, John, Jean, Joseph, and Rebecca.
The 1769 Tax Records for Cumberland Co. show William Sr. taxed for 1 negro, livestock, 150 acres warranted, and 40 acres clear. 1770 shows him taxed on 1 ferry, 1 negro, livestock, 200 acres warranted, and 40 acres clear. In 1770 William Sr.'s Dauphin Co. land was listed as being rented by David Jones - evidently Kelso had given up actively farming this land to take up the ferry trade, but he definitely remained a prominent landowner in Dauphin Co.
In 1779 his Dauphin County property is shown to be 200 acres, with livestock that he owned. In 1782, the same property includes two servants. Perhaps at this point he had a farm manager for the property. The servants must have been slaves belonging to William Sr., because in his book "Scots Breed and Susquehanna," Hubertis Cummings lists Kelso as one of more than sixty east shore landowners to hold slaves in 1776. Robert Grant Crist, in his monograph "Manor on the Market," indicates that William Sr. was one of four men owning land in the Manor of Lowther (Cumberland County area that included the ferry tract) to be taxed for owning slaves. William Kelso is recorded as having served in both the American Revolution and the Indian Wars. On March 21, 1785, William Kelso received a land warrant on 300 acres in Upper Paxtang Township, Dauphin County. This may have been either William Sr. or his son, William Jr. The tract name was "Brannock Hill." As Dauphin County had just been formed out of Lancaster County, this may have been a formalization on property already held by Kelso. William Kelso Sr. died November 26, 1788, aged 51 years, and was buried in the cemetery of the Paxtang Presbyterian Church. Three of his sons are known to have owned slaves: Dr. Joseph, General John, and William, Jr. [see separate sketches for each]. WILLIAM KELSO, JR. - was born in 1758 to William and Jean (Simpson) Kelso. William Kelso, Sr. appears to have owned land and slaves in both Paxton Twp., Dauphin County, and across the Susquehanna in East Pennsboro Twp., Cumberland County.
On March 21, 1785, William Kelso received a land warrant on 300 acres in Upper Paxtang Township, Dauphin County. This may have been either William Jr. or his father. The tract name was "Brannock Hill." As Dauphin County had just been formed out of Lancaster County, this may have been a formalization on property already held by Kelso. When William Sr. died, in 1788, William Jr. took title to the ferry tract, after buying out his siblings. He also received the ferry right and the tavern license. On November 8, 1792, William married Elizabeth "Betsey" Chambers, daughter of Col. William Chambers of near Carlisle. The ceremony was performed at the Carlisle Presbyterian Church. Their three children were William, Eleanor, and John Joseph. In October of 1789, William Jr. reported to the authorities in Cumberland County that his slave, "Negro Will," had escaped. In the 1790 Census for the eastern portion of Cumberland County, William Jr. is listed as having two slaves. It was William Jr. who formalized the right to the ferry tract by paying the Penns for a deed in 1790.
William Jrs' son, William, is listed in the 1820 Census for East Pennsboro Twp., Cumberland Co. with one free male colored person, aged 26-45. This may have been an emancipated slave who stayed on to work for the family. William III was born in 1795, and died May 10, 1825 at Kelso's Ferry, of Tuberculosis. DOCTOR JOSEPH KELSO - was born circa 1773 to William and Jean (Simpson) Kelso. His father owned land and slaves in both East Pennsboro Twp., Cumberland Co. and Paxton Twp., Dauphin Co.; he also owned the west side of the ferry franchise across the Susquehanna at Harrisburg [see sketch of William Kelso, Sr.]. Joseph studied medicine with the elder Dr. Simonton and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced medicine in Harrisburg. On November 25, 1806, Dr. Kelso married Elizabeth, daughter of Major Andrew Galbraith of East Pennsboro, at the Major's residence. They had several children who died in infancy, as well as a son, Charles W., and a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who married Isaac Cruse of Baltimore. Joseph bought land in Harrisburg on April 8, 1812, and land in Middle Paxtang Twp. on April 30, 1814. He died without a will on August 10, 1817, and is buried at Paxtang Presbyterian Church Cemetery. His widow died on April 8, 1818, before his estate was settled.
In Elizabeth's will, dated April 2, 1818, we find the following: GENERAL JOHN KELSO - was born circa 1764 to William and Jean (Simpson) Kelso. His father owned land and slaves in both East Pennsboro Twp., Cumberland Co. and Paxton Twp., Dauphin Co; he also owned the west side of the ferry franchise across the Susquehanna at Harrisburg [see sketch of William Kelso, Sr.]. John married Sarah Willis Carson of Dauphin County. They had five sons and two daughters: Edwin J., Henry D., Albert J., William C., Melvin M., Caroline (m. Hon. Elijah Barrett of Erie), and Adaline (m. Rev. James H. Whallon). In 1797 John went to Erie County in the company of many of his Harrisburg area neighbors; he settled in Fairview, twelve miles west of the town of Erie. The Harrisburg & Presque Isle Co. had purchased land there just 11 years earlier - either John's father or his brother William was one of the original ten shareholders of the company. According to historian William Henry Egle, when John left for Erie, he took with him a female slave too old to be emancipated, and who was hence a slave for life. She was the only slave to have ever lived or died in Erie County. She left descendants in the area. (Editor's note: We know that in reality there were many slaves in Erie County. Researcher Karen James has supplied this web site with some good information on one of the slave families associated with the Kelsos, the Logan family. For a synopsis of the Logan family, see the page "Kelso Family Slaves in Erie County, Pennsylvania.") In 1800 John moved closer to town and purchased land. In 1802 he moved into Erie proper. From 1801 to 1802 he served as prothonotary for the county, resigning to serve as commissioner of land sales and lots in Erie. He was again prothonotary from 1809 to 1819. John served as a Brigadier General in the War of 1812. He defended the city of Erie and the Erie shipyards of Admiral Perry against the British. John's own woodlots provided timber to build Perry's fleet. General Kelso died and was buried in Erie in 1819.
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