Thomas Jefferson Marion Kelley was born on April 15, 1855, in Washington, Georgia, the third of ten children of Captain George W. Kelley, a farmer, mill-man, merchant, lumber trader and Confederate States Army Civil War veteran.

A Georgia native, George Kelley was described as having been very active in the development of Alachua County, Florida.

Graduating in 1880, he took a course at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Medical College of Georgia.

In 1910, Kelley contracted paralysis after suffering from a stroke, leaving his speech seriously affected for the final two years of his life.

Kelley died at age 57 on October 10, 1912, in Gibson, Georgia, and was survived by a brother, three sisters, two daughters and four sons.