From time to time I'm going to put some historical entries on the EFB with my memories and some research. I have been amazed at the information available on-line and in the local history books written in the 1970s and 1980s. I've compiled some good references in a separate blog. Enjoy.
The Kelligar Family in Auburn
The W.H. Kelligar Family is important in our Ely family history for several reasons. They were charter members of St. Joseph's Church along with the Kerns Family, the Engles Family, and 6 others. Josephine (Jose) Kelligar was born in Auburn in 1886, so she was a little younger than Laura Kerns and lifelong friends. Jose was Grandpa Gene's godmother and Uncle Lee Kerns his godfather. She worked as a bookkeeper at the Auburn State Bank with a very young Grandma Marjorie before she was married. They became good very good friends, too. So it was very logical for Jose to be Margene's godmother in 1939. Throughout the years, the Kelligar family considered all the Ely children very special.
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| From "A History of Nemaha County" 1987. Jose is at the 1 o'clock position. Papa and Nell in the center then clockwise, Jose, Susie, Mama, Pat, Agnes (rather pretty!), Ruth, Lee, and Griffin. Pat was born in 1900, so the phot0 is probably about 1908. |
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| Jose and Susie about 1905. |
Judge Kelligar was a respected lawyer and practiced in Auburn along with his son, Lee, for many years. All the children graduated from St. Joseph's Parochial School and then Auburn High School. Nell and Susie were the homemakers doing all the cooking and sewing for the family. They also maintained the altars at the church with fresh linens and flowers. Jose was the businesswoman and a leader in the community and in the family. No doubt about it, Jose was in charge of everything! She served as Postmaster in Auburn for a few years. I remember visiting her in her office a time or two. Ruth was an elementary teacher in Omaha with a soft voice and kind manner. Agnes worked in the office at the Power and Light Company. She was also the organist for the 11 AM Mass for years. She only knew three chords, so she used them with all hymns, regardless of the written key or melody. Poor Agnes was always out-voted by the others. Everyone knew her place in the family pecking order.
The family dynamics of the Kelligars were very unusual and interesting. They lived in the family house until about 1980. Only Lee married. Griffin who was hearing-impaired worked and lived in St. Louis. Ruth, the teacher, worked in Omaha. All the others lived together in their big house. They talked fast and loud with no pauses between topics but Jose always had the last word! Mother (Marjorie Ely) could keep up with them but many other people simply had no chance. I remember going with Mother to "visit the Keliigars" which meant a long boring time for a child. And I really mean LONG and BORING. I recall having to sit on a little red chair and listen forever. Sometimes their little black bulldog was a minor source of entertainment, but mostly I just had to sit and be bored. In the summer, though, we were allowed to go outside and enjoy their quaint swing east of the house in the shade.
I always wanted to explore their house, but of course, that wasn't possible. Margene stayed with them when Daddy was sick in 1948 or 1949, so she was able to go upstairs. Maybe she can tell us more about the nooks and crannies of this large interesting house.
explored it much. We didn't go to the Kelligars to eat, just to listen to them talk. Their huge kitchen was on the southwest part of the house (with a second set of steps leading upstairs, maybe.) They had an old fashioned refrigerator (perhaps like the photo) and a huge table. I assume they had assigned places to eat there too. I'm hoping Margene can remember more details about the inside of the house.As a charter family at St. Joseph's Church, the Kelligars had their marked pew (3rd from the altar on the left side). Back in the 1890s, Mama Kelligar led the family in from the center aisle and Papa Kelligar sat at the other end with the 8 children in assigned positions in the whole pew. As people died, they left empty spots but kept their assigned positions. As I remember them, Jose left room for deceased Papa and took her place near the center aisle. Susie left room for deceased Mama and Nell and took her place on the left side with Ruth and sometimes Agnes. Griffin was squeezed in on holidays when he rode the Eagle (train) up from St. Louis. Lee (the one who married) sat with his wife about 5 pews back on the left side. Pat was unpredictable, sometimes he sat in the very back pew of the church but sometimes between his sisters in front. As the youngest he always had plenty of sisters to tell him what to do!
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| Margene Ely with her godparents, Dick Ely and Jose Kelligar |
As I mentioned before, Jose was Margene's godmother. Here she is with Dick Ely, Margene's godfather, on the day of her First Communion in 1946. Although we laugh about the Kelligars a lot, it is with a sense of love. They were totally devoted to their church, their family and the community.
Over the years, the Kelligars gave us many wonderful gifts carefully chosen. Ruth (the teacher) picked out award-winning and age appropriate books for us at Christmas. They were always neatly inscribed with "To Karen from the W. H. Kelligar Family." When they were down to just two living (Ruth and Agnes), they decided to sell their house and move to Omaha near their priest nephew, who had become Msgn. Bill Kelligar. They gave the Elys a beautiful cut-glass vase which almost matches one from the Kerns family. Marge and I have these two pieces now. We aren't sure which one is from which family. But does it matter?
Now a more modern story:
In 1997 for Grandma Marge's 80th birthday in Auburn, we all gathered and had a fantastic time with a home-cooked dinner in her condo and a rousing game of Family Jeopardy, hosted by Michael. Anne needs to record the answers (and questions) for the EFB (hint, hint). We played in teams of three. Joe's team with Frank and Maria was tied with Margene's team of Aunt Mary Alice and Matt so everything was on the line. The Final Jeopardy category was
"Ancient Family History"
and the answer:
Uncle Lee Kerns, the lifelong bachelor, once dated this Kelligar girl
Competitive Joe was eager to win it all but he was stumped. Quickly, Mary Alice buzzed in with the correct response "Who was Jose?" And Joe lost! ha ha ha ha
REFERENCES:
"Auburn and Southeastern Nebraska" Small Towns Institute, Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1979 (96 pages paperback) Karen has two copies.
"A History of Nemaha County" written by the people of Nemaha Country 1987
Blue Hardback. Karen has one copy.
Auburn, Now and Then, a photgraphic essay by Kevin A. Casey 2007
both WH and Lee Kelligar are in the Nebraskana apparently written in the 1920s.
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/Nebraskana/pages/nbka0153.htm
