KELLY, Thomas

KELLY, Thomas. (King's County, Ireland, 1808--Dubuque, IA, May I5, 1867). Kelly may have hidden a fortune of GOLD in the bluffs behind ST. RAPHAEL'S CATHEDRAL. Kelly, hearing of the fortunes made in LEAD MINING, came to East Dubuque in 1832. Secretive even in those days, he would buy and load a barge with his ore and float with it to St. Louis where everything would be sold. Kelly returned to Dubuque by steamboat. (1)

It is believed Kelly shot and killed a man in New York and then escaped from an asylum to return to Dubuque in 1854. He operated a mine on the bluff behind the cathedral and made enough money to bring his relatives from Canada to Dubuque. In 1837 he built his own smelting furnace. (2)

In 1865 Kelly was judged insane; his brother, William, was named administrator of the estate. This news came as a surprise. The Dubuque Herald reported that although he was considered "odd and peculiar, it was not generally supposed that he was insane. (3) Kelly died without a will but left a note saying that if people wanted his gold they could look for it. His estate was estimated to be worth between $50,000 and $200,000. (4)

Kelly's wealth may be buried in an iron chest he had made just before his death. Three caches of gold have been found. A boy found $1,200 in gold, a man discovered $1,800, and two boys in 1900 uncovered a small iron chest with $10,000 in eagle and double eagle gold coins. (5)

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Source:

1. Dubuque Folklore. American Trust and Savings Bank. 1976

2. Ibid.

3. "The Owner of Kelly's Bluff," Dubuque Herald, December 31, 1865, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18651231&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

4. Dubuque Folklore

5. Ibid.

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Source:

Goodspeed, Weston Arthur. The History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago : Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911, p. 540