English: Portrait of Alfred Kelley, probably about 1851. Kelley was an attorney in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. He is known as the "Father of the Ohio & Erie Canal" for his successful legislative attempt to establish the canal. He was the canal's first commissioner and oversaw its completion. He was the founding president of the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad (completed in 1851) and pushed for a state charter for the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (later known as the Lake Shore and Southern Michigan Railroad).