From The Mountain Eagle, September 4, 1912
Submitted by Robin Sterling

Joe Kelley Falls To His Death. While Out Hunting Saturday Night near Lynn, He Walked Off Bluff 43 Feet High. Killed Almost Instantly. Joe Kelley, a well known citizen of near Lynn, while out hunting Saturday night, walked off of a bluff 43 ½ feet high and was killed almost instantly by the fall. It happened on what is known as Millstone mountain a short distance above Lynn station on the Northern Alabama railroad and within about a half mile of his home. He had with him one of his brothers’s sons and another young man, whose name we did not learn. Their light had gone out and they were walking along in the dark when Kelley stepped off of the bluff and went down to his death. One of his companions just lacked one step of meeting the same fate. They all were well acquainted with the situation around there but did not know they were so near the bluff. After the accident, the two companions went around the bluff and hunted for the unfortunate man, hoping against hope to find that he was not killed or seriously wounded, but with only a few matches to furnish a light, which were soon exhausted, they failed to find him and had to go for help. When found, Kelley was dead, and it is believed that he was killed almost instantly, but the young man with him thought they heard him groaning after the fall. He had fallen on a log and was badly bruised and cut. The deceased leaves a wife and three children. He was a son of Rich Kelley, who owns the Kelley mill on Clear Creek, near Double Springs. [Joseph A. Kelly, 22 Aug 1880 – 12 Oct 1912; New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery (Kelly Mill)]