Ferrell & Mary Bensley Kelly

KELLY BENSLEY WILCOXSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 16:02:35

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Ferrell and Mary Bensley Kelly
By Phyllis Kelly

Ferrell Earl Kelly was born May 18, 1900, at Onawa, Iowa. He was the son of Joseph E and Viola E Wilcoxson Kelly. He had two brothers, Willard and Jim, and one sister Cecile McCoy. Ferrell grew up on a farm attended country school near Onawa, Iowa.

Ferrell’s father, Joseph, 1874-1946, and his mother, Viola, 1873-1934, lived north of Salix for a short time in the 1940’s. They are both buried at Whiting, Iowa.

At Merrill, Iowa, on June 28, 1928, Ferrell married Mary Estelle Bensley. Mary, the daughter of John and Bertha McIntosh Bensley, was born April 11, 1907, at Cleghorn, Iowa. Mary had three sisters, Bonnie, June, and Della, and a brother Melvin. Her father, John Bensley, 1875-1933, and her mother, Bertha McIntosh, 1884-1963, are buried at LeMars, Iowa. John was a section foreman for Illinois Central Railroad.

Ferrell worked on road construction until 1936 when he started farming near Hornick, Iowa. He then moved to a farm north of Sloan, Iowa, for a short time and to Salix in 1948. The family moved to Sioux City in 1957, later opened Kelly’s Menuette Café in 1963 on Floyd Blvd. They operated it until 1973 when Ferrell was stricken with a heart attack.

Two sons were born to this marriage. Keith Dale, born July 21, 1931, at LeMars, Iowa, married Beverly Hansel, daughter of Darrell and Mildred Hansel of Sioux City, Iowa, on September 3, 1955. They January 9, 1960; and Sean Patrick, December 24, 1968. Their three grandchildren, Angie Renee, December 3, 1978, Jamie Nicole, February 23, 1981, and Kirk Michael, June 7, 1982, are the children of Keith Michael. Keith Dale Kelly served two years in the U S Marines and has been driving of P.I.E. since 1950. The family lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

Ronald Ferrell was born December 2, 1933 at Dorchester, Nebraska; (see Ronald and Phyllis Kelly story.)

Ferrell Earl Kelly died in 1973 and is buried at Graceland Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa. His wife, Mary, lives in Sioux City.

Keith and Ronald recall hearing Ferrell tell the story of their great grandfather’s stowing away on a ship at the age of about thirteen, with just a small amount of money in his pocket, and coming to the United States form Ireland. The name was O’Kelly then and great grandfather took the ‘O’ off and it became ‘Kelly’. It is also said that Ferrell’s father, Joseph E Kelly, made at least two trips by covered wagon from West Virginia to Onawa area to farm. The second time he went to West Virginia was to get married and bring his bride, Viola, back to Iowa.