Much of what follows on my mother and her siblings is from stories I remember her telling and the  memories from my half-brother Richard L. Laurin.  I have also edited things that I have found to be incorrect. 

Around 2019, I discovered a second cousin, once removed.  Geoff Lobb was born in England and has lived in Australia since he was five.  He is the great-grandson of Dorcas Lavinia Kelley, who would have been Alfred Williams oldest sister.  At that time, he was the closest Kelley relative I have found.  I learned some new info from him. 

In 2023, I made a contact with Geraldine "Gerrie" Presley McConaghy.  Her father was Joseph Presley and her grandfather was John Presley.  John was a brother to Thomas Presley, David's great grandfather.  This would make Gerrie and David second cousins, once removed and she is the closest Presley link I have found.  She has been able to add a great deal of information otherwise unknown to us on the Presley line.

In the spring of 2024, I received an email from Micheal Kelley of Palm Beach County, Florida.  He was surfing the Internet attempting to find information on his grandfather, James Martin Kelley.  Mike was quite young when James Martin passed away and he didn't really know much about him.  This website popped up.  Mike was quite surprised because he had lived his entire life thinking his grandfather was an only child.  David's mother, Emily, was a sister to James Martin.  James Martin's son Dan was Mike's father which makes David and Mike first cousin, once removed.  This makes Mike the closest Kelley relative found to date.

David and Marcia winter in Zephryhills, Florida.  We were able to meet Mike, his wife and two children that spring, the week before we returned to Northern New York.  We have plans to visit with them in coming years to get to know them better.

If anyone viewing this page knows anything about the "missing" members of our family or if you feel you might be related to us, please drop us an e-mail.  Thank you.

David J. Schryver

His life ended somewhat tragically.  He had been to see a dentist and was standing by the curb on a corner waiting for the bus.  As a  truck came around the corner, one of its doors flew open and hit him.  He was taken to the hospital and later died of his injuries.  This was apparently in September 1943.  Richard remembers that day.  It was when he and our mother Emily were living in England.  He was 8 and was coming home from the Long Fleet School that he was attending.   He saw an ambulance attending to someone who had been injured.  A couple of hours after he got home, the family was notified that Alfred had been injured and had died.  Richard feels to this day that his grandfather had been the one he saw on his way home from school.

He is buried in Poole, County Dorset, England.

Emily Elizabeth Presley was born in County Cork, Ireland on May 13, 1878.  Information recently obtained corrects a couple of things.  For some reason we thought her name was Elizabeth Mary Pressly.  Official Pension Records have caused us to edit this.  In what seems to be a tradition, if not in England, at least in the Kelley family, she went by her middle name and was familiarly called "Lizzy."

She died in 1949 and is buried in Poole, County Dorset, England.

Tom was married to a Mariah Urquhart, born on January 22, 1900 in Bonhill, Dumbartonshire, Scotland.  She died on July 5, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale.  They had two children, a daughter, Alexa Norma Kelley, born on August 18, 1927 in Scotland, and a son, also Frederick Thomas.  He was born in 1939 and died in 1998.

According to the 1940 census, they lived in Oyster Bay, Long Island.  We know they later moved to Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. In December 1955, Richard was serving in the Navy on the Cambria APA36.  He was in port at Norfolk VA.  Tom was in the Merchant Marines at that point and they met each other in Norfolk.  It is the only time in his life that Richard saw Tom.  The next summer, Richard sailed into the New York City area.  He went to dinner with Tom's wife and son.  That is the only time he ever met young Tom.  David knows that the family visited them on Long Island  in the 1950's but he was very young and doesn't remember it or even who was there when we visited.

Sometime after 1961 he moved to Hollywood Florida.  He was not yet in Florida when Emily visited there in 1961 with Richard and David.  He later moved to Fort Lauderdale.

He died on June 25, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, USA.

Before 1950, he moved to the USA, settling in the West Palm Beach area of Florida.  His wife's name was Marie and they had one son, Danny.  The first time Richard ever met Martin and Danny was in 1956.  Martin was in the Navy at that point and was stationed in Guantanamo Bay.  His duties included some kind of work at the Petty Officer's Club.  Richard was also in the Navy and sailed into port there where he saw Martin, Marie and Danny.  Danny was about 16 at that time, so he was born ca 1940.  When Richard graduated from college in 1961, he took his mother and his half-brother David to Florida for a vacation.  They visited Marie at the home in West Palm Beach but Martin was not at home at the time.  Still in the Navy, he was at sea.  Danny was grown at that point and was not there.  This is the only time David ever saw Marie.  He never met Martin or Danny.

Dan was a police officer with the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department.  He retired as a lieutenant.

Martin died on July 18, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, I recently met Mike Kelley, James Martin's grandson.  Since meeting Michael, I have learned a few things.  His grandmother Marie's name was actually Hannah but she went by Marie. 

Emily seated on what appears to be some kind of barrel ... the back of the photo says "in USA 1930"

Emily, probably in the 30's

She came to America in 1928 at the age of 20.  According to Richard, she had a boyfriend in England that her parents didn't think much of.  They shipped her to Montreal PQ where she was united with her brother Martin and she was trained to be a lady's maid.  Although she was sent to North America by her parents, she always insisted that she paid for her trip.

While in Montreal, she met Leo Laurin.  He was from Watertown NY but was in Montreal for some reason, possibly visiting family.  They were married on July 11, 1929.  She had a son, Eric William Laurin, on September 25, 1930.  He died on December 28 of that same year at the age of 0-3-3.  We do not know the exact cause of death but it is interesting to note that Eric's birth date, September 25 eventually became important to the family.  Emily's son Richard was married on this day in 1964 and her grand-daugheter Miranda was married on that day in 2010.  His death date was also significant.  It was his mother's 22nd birthday.  A second son, Richard Leo Laurin was born on July 25, 1935.  By that point, they were living in Watertown NY.  Richard currently lives in Star Lake NY.

In the summer of 1937, she and Richard went back to England.  Although several stories surround this circumstance, we now realize it was to escape a failing marriage.  They were on a six-month visa.  The war broke out, they were in the south of England and she was not able to get back to America until 1946.  She and Richard departed by ship from South Hampton, England on July 4, 1946.  By the time they arrived back in Watertown,  Emily found that her husband had remarried, even though they had not yet divorced.  It is our understanding that she told Leo that if he stayed out of Richard's and her lives, she would let him have a divorce without involving the authorities.  He was in Canada at that point and she went back to Watertown.  Their divorce was final in 1947.

She then took jobs cleaning homes and businesses to support herself and her young son.  It was while cleaning at radio station WATN in Waertown that she met Donald E. Schryver, the chief engineer at the station.  They were married on July 22, 1950.  A son, David J. Schryver was born on August 29, 1951.

Donald spent the last five or so years of his life with coronary problems and congestive heart failure.  He died of coronary failure on November 23, 1997 at the age of 85-9-10.  Emily suffered a stroke in July 1999 and was moved the next month to Richard's home in Star Lake, St. Lawrence County, about an hour's drive away.  Richard was retired at the time and David lived only about 20 miles away so it was easier to care for her there than in her home in Watertown.  She suffered a series of strokes in April 2000 and passed away on April 22, 2000 at age 91-3-25.