Few of New Hampshire’s early settlers have left more useful descendants than Darby Kelly, whose name appears in the Province wills in 1728. The exact time of his arrival, or the section of Ireland from which he came, is unknown. Kelly is one of the most ancient names in Connaught, the western province of Ireland. It is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Ceallaigh. It would not, therefore, be surprising if he emigrated from that part of the country. In the _Reminiscences of New Hampton_, which were written by one of his descendants, the Hon. F. H. Kelly, ex-mayor of Worcester, Mass., it is stated that he settled in Exeter, N. H., in the early part of the 18th century, and that little is known of him except by tradition. He was reputed to have taught school before leaving home, and “is said to have been a bright, quick-witted Irishman.” Contrary to rule, this much was said of him by the writer quoted, who had not followed the usual course in calling his ancestor a “Scotch-Irishman.” However that may have been, the record shows that he was a useful, thrifty citizen, possessed of the traits which distinguished so many of his descendants. There is another tradition that he taught school in New Hampshire. If so, the inscription, in part, on the headstone of Capt. Henry Parkinson, Stark’s quartermaster, who died in 1829, would also apply to Darby Kelly. “Hibernia begot me. Columbia nurtured me, ... I have fought, I have taught, and I have labored with my hands,” etc. For if Darby had taught, which is likely, he had also labored with his hands, and fought as well. The Provincial papers show that when his services as a soldier were required, he shouldered his musket and fought against the common foe, the French and the Indians; so in this way we find his name enrolled as one of the company commanded by Capt. Moses Foster, on scouting duty in 1748; again, serving in Capt. Elijah Sweet’s company, Col. Peter Gilman’s regiment, in New York, 1755; again, in Capt. Elisha Winslow’s company, Col. Nathaniel Meserve’s regiment, in the Crown Point expedition, 1756; and as Sergt. Darby Kelly he is found again in Capt. Richard Emery’s company, Col. Nathaniel Meserve’s regiment, in the second Crown Point expedition, 1757. One battalion of this regiment suffered severely in the massacre at Fort William Henry. Out of 200 men engaged 80 were killed or captured. His final enlistment was in Capt. Somerbee Gilman’s company, of Col. John Hart’s regiment, in 1758. Here is a military record his descendants may well point to with pride, for it enables them to gain admission to all the patriotic Colonial War societies thus far organized.