Indiana became a state in 1819. The north was settled by people from New England and New York, the center by people from the Mid-Atlantic states and Ohio, and the south by people from Southern states, particularly Kentucky and Tennessee.
Margaret Ricketts Kelso was born on April 24, 1806 in Dearborn County, Indiana. She was the daughter of Robert Ricketts and Susannah Wilson.
She married Daniel E. Kelso on May 3, 1824/25 in Dearborn County, Indiana. His parents were Robert Kelso and and Jane Mercer.
Margaret and Daniel's children included:
Robert Kelso (1826, died at 7 months),
Emily Kelso (1827, died at 8 months),
John Kelso (1829, died age 6),
William Harrison Kelso (1831, married Phebe J. McGlaughlin and Emeline E. French),
Jane Kelso Noble (1833, married Lewis Noble),
Zerelda Kelso Dickerson (1837, married Jeremiah Dickerson ), Edmund Squibb Kelso (1839),
Melissa Ann Kelso Bennett (1841, married William Bennett),
Cinderella Kelso (1843, died at 4 months) and
James Polk Kelso (1845, married Mayme Baird).
They lived in Switzerland County where he was a prominent lawyer. He served several terms in the Indiana State Senate. He was elected in 1834, 1842 and 1848.
Margaret died on March 3, 1854 in Versailles, Ripley County, Indiana when she was 47 years old.
After her death, Daniel's housekeeper, Anna Lawless gave birth to a daughter, Mary Mollie Kelso (1855). Daniel married Isabella Kinnear in Jefferson County on November 1, 1855.
