Kelley Connections

Surnames I 
continue to work 
on include: 

BARKER

BURLINGAME

CLARK

COLVIN/CALVIN

DOUGLAS(S)

DUMOND

HARBORD

KELLER

KELLEY

McKENNEY or
McKINNEY

OAKLEY

TROTT

VAIL

WINTJEN

Please look through the many surnames and let me know if any of these WONDERFUL people are also on your family tree.

To begin your journey through the family history, please start with the SURNAME list. 

ELLORA MARIE CLARK
April 17, 1882 - September 17, 1975

Ellora was born in Yates Center, a small community in the southeastern section of Kansas.   She was one of six children born to John William Clark and Axie Jane Barker Clark.  John and Axie were born in Indiana but moved to Kansas in about 1869.  Their oldest daughter, Emma Jane, stayed in Kansas while the rest of the family moved by train in 1897 to California and settled in Hanford, a small town in the San Joaquin Valley.  

She once told that the most eventful part of the trip occurred in Colorado when a snowstorm halted and damaged the train.  A wait of three days revealed a memorable courtesy, as the Clarks were befriended by a Colorado family who fed and sheltered them during the blizzard.  

In 1906 a Hanford church was the setting for an exchange of marriage vows between Ellora Clark and Walter Vail.  He died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.  

After Walt's death, Ellora supported her three daughters, Ruby, Blanche and Axie by hem stitching clothing.  She owned one of the first such machines in the Hanford area.  

Ellora remarried in 1921 to farmer John Worley and she and her daughters moved to his ranch.  Eventually the family moved back to Hanford, but John continued to commute to the Guernsey ranch until his death in 1943.

During World War II, Ellora undertook her first job.  She worked at the U.S. Air Base in Lemoore, CA in the post exchange.  

She and widower Elmer Dillon, whom she had known since both were teenagers, were married in 1946.  They lived in Fresno, CA where Elmer was employed as a butcher.  Following his retirement, they moved back to Hanford and he worked as a "fill-in" butcher until his death in 1962.

The passing of years never failed to dim the twinkle in her eyes and she was just as beautiful at 93 as she was at 16 when the picture on the left was taken.  

"Grandma" was a model for every grandmother in the world and I lovingly named my first daughter after her.  

I'm a firm believer in sharing information between researchers as much as possible.  Lately, however, I've discovered a new kind of researcher - the downloader.  One who copies the work of others and then posts it as their own.  If this description pinches your toes, please move on.  I would like to continue putting sources and notes on this site, but will take them off if I find them elsewhere published as your work!

I do have information that is posted without the source.  In my young and stupid days, I did not always print out or record the source.  I hated the recording part!   Well, now I'm having to research many people over again and am finding some of my earlier sources are no longer available!  Without a source, the information should only be considered a clue.

No one born after 1930 is listed.  If a surname appears familiar, please feel free to email me with questions; I may have more information or be able to direct you to someone who does.  I would be happy to share information.  Just send me an email and we'll go from there.  

I would take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to this body of work, without all of your input, this genealogy would not be as complete as it is. Thank you!

                              Regards,   JK