Isaac B. Kelly (1791-1883), merchant and builder, is reported by local tradition to have constructed at least four Greek Revival plantation houses in southern Sampson County (then New Hanover County) during the 1840s. He is also believed to have built his own residence in Kenansville, Duplin County. Tradition recalls that he had a pattern book from which his clients chose designs. The buildings attributed to him, like others in the area, show a bold Greek Revival style with heavy, rectilinear classical motifs. A native of Cumberland County, Kelly married Catherine Shepard in 1835 and lived in Kenansville, where he was a merchant, justice of the peace, postmaster, and state legislator. Kenansville tradition also cites Thomas Shepard (1770-1851), Kelly’s father-in-law, as a master builder. The 1850 United States Census listed Shepard as a farmer and Kelly as a merchant. Like many men of their day, they may have combined contracting with other occupations; it is not known whether Kelly was a carpenter himself or was a contractor who employed slave or free artisans to accomplish the work. Kelly appeared again as a merchant in Kenansville in the 1870 census and in 1880 was listed as a farmer.

• Thomas R. Butchko, An Inventory of Historic Architecture, Sampson County, North Carolina (1981).
• Ruth Little-Stokes, “Kenansville Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places nomination (1975).
• Jennifer F. Martin, Along the Banks of the Old Northeast: the Historical and Architectural Development of Duplin County, North Carolina (1999).