Dailey Amorn O’Kelley

Now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a bit more research into my family tree. Tonight I researched my great-uncle, Dailey Amorn O’Kelley. Now my O’Kelley side of the family spells their name a couple of different ways: O’Kelley and O’Kelly. Each spelling pops up occasionally, but the accepted spelling appears to be O’Kelley. Here’s a bit of history that I’ve been able to find so far on Dailey Amorn O’Kelley (facts are true to the best of my ability – I may update this at a future date as I find more accurate records.):

Dailey Amorn O’Kelley was born March 3, 1895 to Edward D. O’Kelley and Nancy Hardin in Haleyville, Alabama which is in Winston County. He had four siblings: Alfred Willis, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Herman. The highest grade he completed was the 8th grade.   At the age of 22, he registered for the WWI draft on June 5, 1917. World War I would continue on until November 11, 1918. He was single at the time of his draft registration. He was tall and of medium build, with light brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was a sawyer (he sawed logs) at a sawmill owned (or managed) by Hall & Ford near Jacinto Precinct in Mississippi. I did a quick Google search and didn’t come across Hall & Ford so I’ll research that at some other point. He had no children at the time.

1920 Census: (almost three years later)He was a boarder with the Braddock family in Beat 5, Tippah, Mississippi on Braddock Road. He was still single at this point and the census indicates he was able to read and write (which was evident from the 1917 draft card). At this point, he was an engineer at a lumber mill (OA-on account), but it’s unclear if it’s the same sawmill he worked at before. He would later marry Rosa Lee Braddock who was one of the daughters in the home he was boarding at and who was 20 at the time of the 1920 census. They married June 12, 1920.

1930 Census: Lindsey Braddock (Dailey’s father-in-law), Sallie (Dailey’s mother-in-law), and Fannie (Dailey’s sister-in-law who is now 18) were the only ones living in the house. So far, I’ve been unable to locate where Dailey and Rosa were living at this time. BUT, in 1935 they apparently were back in Lindsey’s home and by the…

1940 Census: Dailey is listed as Daily Okelly and his father-in-law is listed as Lenzie. So now there are only three people in the home: Dailey, his wife Rosa, and Lindsey. I’m assuming Sallie has now passed away as Lindsey is now 66. Dailey’s listed as a farmer as well as working at the sawmill.

This is all I’ve been able to find on Dailey so far. There doesn’t appear to have been any children. I have a note (probably from my aunt) that says Rosa could play the piano by ear.

I’ll be researching more family members this summer and adding their information as I come across it. If you come across my blog and are doing research on any of the same family members, drop me a line and we can share notes! I don’t have my own family tree website right now – time just doesn’t allow it, but I always love hearing from other “cousins”.