Thomas Kelso was born in Clonis, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, August 28, 1784. He died July 26, 1878 at his home on East Baltimore St. in Baltimore, Maryland.

Life

The parents of Thomas Kelso died when he was a child. He had two older brothers and a sister. Mr. Kelso came to the United States at age seven in 1791, arriving August 2 with his older brother John. The Kelso boys' oldest brother George was already in the U.S. working as a school teacher, and was known to be in the Baltimore vicinity. By chance, the three brothers were reunited while [John and Thomas?] were visiting the school George taught in. With $100 from George, the three began a successful butchering business. In 1807 he married Miss Ellen Cross, daughter of John and Jane Cross, well known and highly respected citizens of Cecil County, Maryland.

His daughter, Mrs. Jane Guiteau, widow of Rev. S. Guiteau, never recovered from her father's death and died suddenly in December 1878.

Public life

During his career, he was a director in the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad was the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania southwest to Baltimore, Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

 for 37 years, president of the Baltimore Equitable Fire Insurance Company, vice president and director in the First National Bank of Baltimore, principal Director and principal stockholder in the Baltimore Steam Packet Company

Baltimore Steam Packet Company

The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, which was also known as the , was an American steamship line from 1840 to 1962, providing overnight steamboat service on the Chesapeake Bay, primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia...

 and the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad Company, president of the Preachers' Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

, and member of the board of directors of the Baltimore President of the Board of Directors of the Male Free School and Colored Institute, which became Morgan State University

Morgan State University

Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...

. Thomas Kelso was a contemporary and associate of Enoch Pratt

Enoch Pratt

Enoch Pratt was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland, a Unitarian, and a philanthropist.-Biography:...

. They served together on the board of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad company. Politically, he was a member of the Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 City Common Council for several terms, when there was no salary attached to the position. His philanthropic efforts were his gifts to the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

; he established the Kelso Home for orphans in 1872. The first location for the home was almost directly across the street from his residence.