Kelsey's grave has been lost. A record from Book 1, Page 16, Frank's Funeral Home of Mt Carroll, IL, (now owned by Law-Jones Funeral Homes, Inc, Savanna, IL), shows that "Kelsy" Kenyon was buried in this cemetery. However, no stone can be found, nor is there a cemetery record of the burial place within the cemetery.

The photo to the upper left is believed to be Kelsey Kenyon. It hung in the study of his great-grandson for many decades, along with other ancestor photos. The name "Kelsey Kenyon" was penciled on the back. It is also likely Kelsey because other same-era male ancestors are accounted for.

Kelsey was born in Hague, New York, and was the son of David and Mary (Rogers) Kenyon. He married Lucy Balcom who was the daughter of Uriah and Patience (Waste) Balcom. Both Kelsey and Lucy were descended from the same Mayflower passenger, George Soule, though through completely different genealogy paths.

In the 1830s the Kenyons, Balcoms, Baileys and other families from Hague began migrating westward. Altogether eight adult children (and their families) of Uriah and Patience (Waste) Balcom left for Illinois. Five adult sons (and their families) of David and Mary Kenyon left for Illinois. In addition Joshua Bailey and his second wife also went to Illinois, and so the children of Lydia (Kenyon) Bailey went west. Joshua Bailey and Kelsey's brother Daniel arrived first in Illinois in 1838. Hiram Balcom also went in the early years though was killed in 1843 when the "powder works" blew up. Pennewell Kenyon arrived in 1843.

Kelsey traveled to Illinois in 1844. The family lore is that he went by covered wagon from New York with the Baileys and Balcoms. However, it is likely his family went part of the distance by canal, which was the common mode of travel in that era. They settled in Argo. This became a tight-knit community of families who were predominately related by birth or marriage.

Kelsey and Lucy had six children prior to 1844, though two had died in New York as infants. These were the first sons named Hiram and William, and whose graves are likely lost. In 1846, Kelsey's oldest child, Eliza died at the age of 18. In 1851 a daughter, Hester, was born that lived just one day, and a year later a son, Holden, was born and died the same day of his birth. Kelsey's wife Lucy died February 7, 1853. Then in 1857 Kelsey's 18-year-old son William died, possibly in a tragic mill accident.

The 1850 census shows Kelsey and Lucy's family living together and still intact, and Illinois land records show that in 1850 and 1852 Kelsey bought two large tracts of land. The 1860 census shows a starkly different picture. Kelsey was no longer living on his own claim, but was living in the home of his married son Freeman Kenyon. Of course, his older children were either married or off working on other farms, but even Kelsey's minor children were no longer living with him but with other families.

Given all of this, it must have been utterly bleak for Kelsey to send three sons to war in 1861. Delancy, age 29, left in May, and in August 20-year-old Hiram and 17-year-old Elliott were due to leave.

About a week before they left, Kelsey remarried to Clarissa (Bassett) Kenyon. She had briefly been married to his brother Daniel, and before that had been the widow of Seymour Tomlinson. Clarissa died in 1880.

The 1880 census shows that Kelsey was living with his married daughter Hannah (Kenyon) Carpenter. Kelsey lived with Hannah for the remainder of his life, and died peacefully in his sleep in 1892.