The Kelly Farm (later known as the Leahy Farm) on Trudeau Road was established by James H. Kelley in 1855 with about 100 acres and 25 cows. After 1910, it was operated by his son, Judd Kelley.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Saturday, April 7, 2007
You know What…?
By Howard Riley
[…]
The Kelley Farm
The farm owned by Judd Kelley opened the first pasteurizing plant in, this area in 1925. It was located where Mrs. Ronald (Elaine Talbert) Leahy lives today on Trudeau Road.
The farm was started in 1855 with about 100 acres and 25 cows by James H. Kelley, who was born in Banner, Vt. He later sold, some acreage across the road to the VanCour family. James Kelley died July 9, 1894 at the age of 76. There was no information available about his wife, whose name was Lula Bessette Kelley.
I don't know how Mrs. Kelley kept the farm going until the son, Judd, could take over, but by 1910, when he was 25 years old, he had a thriving dairy farm. He had factory-manufactured milk wagons with the farm name printed on the sides that advertised, "Kelley Farm Dairy supplies its customers with pure milk and cream and all our bottles are thoroughly washed and sterilized before any milk or cream is put in them."
Judd and Carrie (Moody) Kelley were the grandparents of Patricia Hesseltine Finn and Ron Hesseltine. They had two daughters: Carrie Kelley Hesseltine, Pat and Ron's mother, and Jean Kelley Mace. Mrs. Kelley died giving birth to her daughter Carrie in 1913, and eight years later, Mr. Kelley married Hazel Montina of Utica. Mr. Kelley died in Saranac Lake in 1947 at age 62.
Ron told me that his father Maurice came from Chateaugay to work on the Kelley farm when he was age 28, met Carrie Kelley and married her when she was 18.
The Leahy Farm
Mr. and Mrs. Ward Leahy (grandparents of Michael and Paul Leahy) purchased the Kelley farm in 1940. The farm was then 40 acres, and they milked 50 cows by machine. There were two hired men: One worked in the barn, and the other delivered about 400 quarts of milk a day to homes, businesses and institutions around the village.
The cattle were sold in 1947, and Ward went into the meat packing business for a few years. He later owned an insurance company, and the office was in the Enterprise building, located at that time at 76 Main St.
This information was supplied by their son, the late Ronald Leahy, who also said a number of graves of the original Kelley family were located on a quarter acre on the property.
Buried on the farm
Another source from the file at the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library (where all the research on the dairy farms was done by Marjorie McLaughlin) revealed the names of the following people who are buried there: James H. Kelley, born 9/20/1818, died 7/9/1894, age 76; Polly Orrine Buck - 1875 - 83 years, 10 months; Harriet J. Willson, 1844-1919; Lucilia - 1873, died 7 months, 19 days; Matilda (is listed as wife of James, but other sources have his wife as Lula), no date of birth or death is given; and Alice, daughter of Peter and Lois Bessette, died 10/2/1889, 7 weeks, 2days.
