| Cousin
Maud is recognized as the first woman to practice law in the state of
Alabama, an expert genealogist, and archivist of her day until she
died in 1973.
I only visited her once in my lifetime. I was just a child
accompanying my father and don't recall much about her or the visit.
Cousin Caroline was Maud's grandniece and has shared much from
Maud's research. Many researchers from several of Maud's lines will
ever be grateful for her thorough documentation. If you visit the Samford University Library Special Collections Department in Birmingham, Alabama where Maud's "Bledsoe-Kelly" Collection is kept, be aware that there are inconsistancies. Like any researcher, Maud learned as she was researching. She acknowledges the fact that she "made mistakes" in her earlier research which she corrected later. Also, like any good researcher, she retained copies of her research. Therefore, when reading some of her discoveries and research notes, be aware that those of the later dates are the most accurate. Her sources will bear this out. Here are some publicly available links referring to Cousin Maud: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1106 http://www.awhf.org/kelly.html http://www.alabar.org/media/news/07162009_recognize-outstanding-contributions.cfm http://library.samford.edu/about/sc/treasure/2007/kelly.html Some Books by Miss Kelly for sale on Amazon.com A Book ABOUT Miss Kelly for sale on Amazon.com Bledsoe- Kelly Collection (SC 829 & SC 2739) at Samford, scroll to bottom 7 Microfilms of the Kelly Collection at FamilySearch.org (surnames listed under "Subjects") Maud Kelly's DAR Member Number is 72759. This LINK will take you to a DAR page for her research. |