Julia Blanche Munroe Kell (1836-1917), commonly referred to as Blanche, was born in Macon, Georgia in 1836 and was the daughter of Nathan C. and Tabitha Napier Munroe. In 1856, Blanche married John McIntosh Kell (1823-1900) with whom they had ten children together. John McIntosh Kell graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1841 and accompanied Commodore Matthew Perry on his expedition to Japan in 1852. Upon the onset of the Civil War, Kell resigned his United States Commission and commanded the Georgia Navy before it was absorbed into the Confederate States Navy. As part of the Navy, Kell served as the executive officer on the C.S.S. Alabama under Admiral Raphael Semmes. Following the war, Kell retired from the navy and lived with his family at their plantation in Sunnyside, Georgia. In 1886, Governor John B. Gordon appointed Kell adjutant general for the state of Georgia.
From the description of Julia Blanche Munroe Kell papers, 1838-1908. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 297453356
