Credit: Courtesy of Thompson D. Smith, descendant of William Kelly
Born in Pittsburgh, William Kelly studied metallurgy at the Western University of Pennsylvania before moving to Kentucky. There, in 1847, he began to experiment with his "air-boiling process," for reducing the carbon content of iron. Kelly failed, however, to apply for a patent until 1857, after English inventor Henry Bessemer had already done so. During the financial panic of 1857 Kelly sold his patent, then returned to Kentucky, where he engaged in a variety of businesses.
