Individual Details

Laban Kelley was born August 6, 1797 in North Carolina. The date of his birth was inscribed on the headstone of his grave at Waresville Cemetery, Uvalde, Texas and verified by several census records. No other record of his birth has been found.
He served in the Tennessee Militia during the Seminole Wars in 1818, enlisting at Vernon, Hickman Country, Tennessee, and being discharged at Columbia, Maury Co., TN.
By 1830, Laban is listed in the U.S. Census as head of family in Perry County, TN. This census enumerates persons only by sex and age. It appears that he is residing with a wife of 20-30 years of age and eight boys and three girls, all between the ages of 1-20.
Laban would have been about 33 years old at this time. Either he got a really early start on a family, or these are not all his children.
By 1837 Laban has moved to Tishomongo County, Mississippi. He is listed in the Mississippi 1837 State Census. In 1841 he purchased 159.72 acres at Pontotoc Mississippi. In 1843 he purchased 159.95 acres adjacent to the original purchase from William Cooper Grisham. The 1840 U.S. Census for Northern District, Tishomingo County, Mississippi, lists Laban Kelly between the age of 40-50, a female between the ages 30-40, six males between the ages 1-30 and 2 females age 5-10.
By 1850 Laban, age 55, had moved to Des Arc Township, White County, Arkansas. His real estate was valued at $1,200. He is listed as a farmer living with his wife Terza (sometimes spelled Tirzah or Turza), three of their children: Henery, Nancy and Joseph (all born in Tennessee), and two younger children, John and Caroline, born in Arkansas. Living next door was Laban's son, E. Kelley (Elijah Leek Kelley), age 29, with his first wife, Minerva, and their infant daughter, Mary.
When west Texas began to be developed, Laban decided go west with his two sons, Laban Christopher and Joseph Alexander, and his son-in-law, Jasper Wish, husband of Nancy Teresa. They went to Kaufman County and left their families there while they moved on to Waresville in the fall of 1852.
The 1860 census has five related families living in Bandera City, Bandera County, Texas. Laban is a farmer living with his wife and two youngest children: Jackson, 19, and Caroline, 16. Next door is Elijah Leek Kelley with his second wife, Elizabeth, with her step-daughter Mary, 10, and four younger children: Henry, 7, Martha A., 5, George, 4, and James Franklin, 2. Also next door are the families of his daughter Nancy and her husband, Jasper Wish, and four children, as well as Laban's son Laban Christopher with his wife, Nancy, and their three children, and son Joseph with his wife Nancy.
In 1870 Laban and Tirzah are living in Sabinal, Uvalde County, Texas, with their son Elijah Leek and his wife and her eight children. Mary is not at home any more, but there are four more children: John, Sarah, Amanda, Minerva, all born in Texas.

Birth	6 Aug 1797	North Carolina
Marriage	1818	Perry County, Tennessee - Terzah Christian
Census (family)	1 Nov 1850	Des Arc, White County, Arkansas - Terzah Christian
Census (family)	24 Jun 1860	Bandera County, Texas - Terzah Christian
Census (family)	5 Nov 1870	Sabinal, Uvalde County, Texas - Terzah Christian
Death	28 Jul 1875	Uvalde County, Texas
Burial		Waresville Cemetery, Utopia, Uvalde County, Texas

Spouse	Terzah Christian (1803 - 1879)
Child	Jesse George Kelley (1819 - 1880)
Child	Elijah Leek Kelley (1821 - 1899)
Child	Laban Christopher Kelley (1825 - 1888)
Child	Henery Kelley (1827 - )
Child	Nancy Teresa Kelley (1834 - 1893)
Child	Joseph Alexander Kelley (1836 - 1922)
Child	John Jackson Kelley (1841 - 1906)
Child	Caroline Elizabeth Kelley (1844 - 1928)

Father	Elijah William Kelley (1755 - 1802)
Mother	Margaret Riley Garrett (1755 - 1795)

Notes