Through his mother's family, Kelly was an heir of Morris W. Kellogg, founder of a major engineering and petroleum services company.
[2] Over five decades, beginning when he was a boy, Edey assembled a significant collection of clocks, watches and associated research materials that he donated to the Frick after his death.
[5] He gave several works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he died, including sculptures by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
[6] Edey was gay[7] and part of New York City's cultural and artistic life; he was friendly with Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol.
[8] He kept a diary that extensively documents his life in New York City and elsewhere over several decades, which has been described as "Proustian in its sweep and attention to detail.