By RHONDA DUNN, for The Democrat
It was suggested we write a story about a woman in Indiana history. We thought it would be very fitting for us to write about someone born and raised in Brown County.
The lady we choose to write about is Miss Eudora Kelley.
Eudora Kelley was born in Nashville at the family cabin on Kelley Hill on July 6, 1888. Her place of birth, which had been in the family for 150 years, contained several hundred acres.
Her father, Samuel Kelley, gave land for the west entrance to Brown County State Park. Her father was a blacksmith, a farmer and a mail carrier. He had been very active in politics of the county, becoming a deputy sheriff, and at another time, the county assessor.
Her mother, Lydia Percifield-Kelley, died in 1893, leaving three young children: Eudora, 5, Richard, 7, and Harry, 9.
Eudora attended Nashville schools and went into Nashville High School. Before finishing her studies she was asked to leave to teach in the one-room schoolhouses in Brown County. She taught seventh and eighth grades at Helmsburg and Nashville. She became interested in farm education and taught her students how to test seed corn by the approved Purdue University plan by 1906. When the first extension agent came to Brown County in 1921, she got a job on the extension staff.
Eudora and her father lived at the old Kelley Hill cabin for many years. They moved into Nashville for a while on Jefferson Street. Later, they decided to move back to the home place back on Kelley Hill. The old cabin had no plumbing until 1976. All they had was a well with a bucket and hand crank for drawing water; later, they added a cistern. They carried water from the town pump in Nashville for drinking water.
Later on in her teaching career, Eudora taught home economics, art and music. When she went to Helmsburg, she became a member of the Helmsburg Band in 1923, playing a saxophone. She was very active in the Nashville Christian Church and directed music for them for a number of years.
In 1930, Eudora Kelley went to Indianapolis to teach at Ben Davis High School until her retirement, having been a teacher for 40 years. She finally received her teaching degree in 1936 from Central Normal College in Danville.
Always interested in young people and civic work, Eudora was in the Red Cross during WWII. She was county salvage chairman and was active in War Bond drives.
Eudora Kelley’s political views were Democratic and she was a firm believer of the two-party system — government by the people. She encouraged young people to choose a party and she helped mold policies in Brown County. Eudora was a member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club. During her political career, she served as vice chair of the Democratic Party of the 9th District, was a member of the Democratic State Committee for 18 years, and attended three national conventions as an alternate.
On Jan. 15, 1949, Eudora Kelley took the oath of office for a four-year term as reporter of the Supreme and Appellate Court in the state of Indiana (1949-52). At that time, she was the only woman from Brown County to be elected to a state office.
Eudora invited then-Governor Henry Schricker to their cabin back in Brown County for dinner and cocktails. She had to buy ingredients and teach herself how to make a Manhattan. The dinner party was a success.
Eudora Kelley never married, but left several proud nieces and nephews.
She died Aug. 8, 1973, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Nashville.
— Brown County Historical Society
