Jane Toppan was born Honora Kelley on March 31, 1854, the daughter of Irish immigrants. Her mother, Bridget Kelley, died of tuberculosis when she was very young. Her father, Peter Kelley, was well known as an eccentric and abusive alcoholic, nicknamed by those who knew him "Kelley the Crack" (as in "crackpot"). In later years, Kelley became the source of many local rumors concerning his supposed insanity, the most popular one being that his madness finally drove him to sew his own eyelids closed while working as a tailor.