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Spring 1996 The San Joaquin Historian Quarterly Journal of
The San Joaquin County Historical Society
Robert Shellenberger Editor This Issue ...
Published by The San Joaquin County Historical Society, Inc. Micke Grove Regional Park p,O, Box 30 Lodi CA 95241 - 0030 (209) 331-2055
(209) 953-3460
Gary Christopherson
Craig Rasmussen
Elise Austin Forbes
Robert F. McMaster
Alan H. Johnson
Olive Davis
Robert Shellenberger
Timothy J. Hachman
Volume XI New Series Number 1
Spring 1996
President
President-Elect
Secretary
Vice-President
Vice-Presiden t
Vice-President
Vice-President
Past President
The Society, a non-profit corporation, meets the
fourth Monday monthly except July, August and
December. Membership includes subscriptions to
the San Joaquin Historian and the monthly
newsletter, News and Notes. Additional copies may
be purchased at the Museum.
The Society operates the San Joaquin County
Historical Museum at Micke Grove Regional Park
in partnership with San Joaquin County. The
Society maintains an office at the Museum.
Manuscripts relating to the history of San Joaquin
County or the Delta will always be considered, The
editor reserves the right to shorten material based
on local interest and space considerations. Inquiry
should be made through the Museum office.
The inspirational story of America Kelsey
is not new, but needs to be reiterated
periodically for the benefit of new
generations. It was to be the lead story of this
issue, but it is very difficult to write about just
one Kelsey. The neglected history of the
sacrifice of David Kelsey had to be retold and
became our paramount story. And then there
is Nancy and Benjamin and Andrew and
Mary Ellen (who was scalped!), and ....
So, this issue is devoted to the amazing
Kelsey family and their role in the history of
San Joaquin County and California.
On The Cover...
"Here she is, Miss America ... " our own
special heroine, America Kelsey. The romantic
story of the brave little nurse stranded in
hostile wilderness who eventually grew up to
marry her gallant rescuer has universal appeal
and been the inspiration of at least one noveL
We incurable romantics have had our own
visions of how the lovers must have looked.
But, was she really pretty? Our cover photo,
taken in 1867 when America was 35 years old,
certainly meets the editor's expectations
(Sigh!).
Was he handsome? You will find George
at age 45 on page 8 for your own judgment.
Manuscripts Needed
Please note this issue is authored by the
editor-an unhealthy state of affairs! We are
anxious to publish your efforts. We can even
furnish a list of provocative topics to
interested author-historians.
San Joaquin County
Historical Society and Museum
Michael W. Bennett
Director
© 1996 San Joaquin County Historical Society, Inc.
Cover photo courtesy San Mateo County Historical Assn
Page 2
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 1996
The Ordeal and Tragedy of
David Kelsey-Forgotten Pioneer by
Robert Shellenberger
William Gulnac must have been greatly relieved in the summer of 1844 when he
successfully recruited David Kelsey and family to settle on his pending land grant, Campo de
los Franceses. In fact, he must have felt he had hit the jack pot, because in David Kelsey he
found a tested frontiersman eminently qualified to face the rigors and dangers of the raw San
Joaquin wilderness.
Background
New Yorker William Gulnac (1801-1851)
arrived in Californian 1833. He married here
and became a citizen of Mexico in 1834. He
was a property owner, operated a
blacksmith shop, and was active in
community affairs. In 1842 he met German
immigrant Charles M. Weber (1814-1881)
who arrived in California overland with the
Bidwell-Bartleson Party in 1841. The two
formed a successful business partnership in
San Jose that included a store, a bakery, a
mill, the manufacture of shoes and other
enterprises. He and Weber also shared
political interests and were proponents of
either annexation of California by the U.S.,
or an independent state of the Texas pattern.
Gulnac and Weber were not equally
ambitious, however. Gulnac had " ... taken
badly to drink" and they dissolved the San
Jose partnership in 1843. But they kept open
one project: the petition for a land grant to be
known as Campo de los Franceses (Camp of
the French) on the San Joaquin River where
Stockton now stands. Weber was not yet a
citizen and the application had to be made
by Gulnac. Weber selected the site and was
the instigator of this enterprise, but Gulnac
(in the beginning, at least), was
an
Spring 1996
enthusiastic partner. The request was for
eleven leagues (over 48,000 American acres),
the maximum allowable and more than
could be allowed a single family. Gulnac had
to agree to settle eleven other families on the
grant in order to perfect title.
In the autumn of 1843, before the grant
had been approved, Gulnac and Weber
assembled a herd of cattle and horses to
begin occupation of the site. Gulnac, his son
Jose, Peter Lassen (who also included some
of his stock), and some vaqueros moved to
the grant, but fearing Indian raids, continued
on to the Consumnes River to be under
Sutter's protection. This failure caused
Weber to travel to Sutter's and arrange a
treaty with Chief Jose Jesus of the local Si­
Yak-Umna tribe.
In 1844, Gulnac again made an effort to
settle the grant. But the time was not right.
California was in political turmoil, small pox
was again loose in the Valley and taking a
hideous toll on the Indians and the Indians
were taking their revenge. In addition,
Campo de los Franceses was remote. There was
no nearby settlement to obtain supplies or
market your crops-Sutter's Fort being
closest-and the trail to San Jose crossed the
San Joaquin Historian
Page 3
San Joaquin which was fordable as little as
three months per year. (In those times the
San Joaquin River could be three miles wide
during the spring and early summer snow
run-off). Location on the Sacramento-San
Joaquin delta guaranteed mosquitoes and
more disease.
Gulnac went to Sutter's Fort to try to
recruit his target of eleven families from any
overlanders who might arrive that season.
Despite all the difficulties, he had moderate
success. James Williams and Thomas
Lindsay agreed to settle north of what would
later be called Stockton Slough with the
promise of free land. Gulnac brought down
some horses Williams and Lindsay would
tend, and finally, he met David Kelsey, an
authentic frontiersman down from Oregon,
who agreed to settle with the promise of title
to one square mile of property if he and his
family resided on site for one year.
It was short of the goal, but Gulnac had
worked hard and made a start.
David Kelsey
David Kelsey was born in Barren County
Kentucky in 1793 where his Pennsylvania
born father was an early pioneer. The father
changed the Scots-Irish spelling of the family
name from Kelsay to the English
styIe-Kelsey. He was a veteran of the War
of 1812 (the famous Kentucky Rifles), and
family legend has it that he was responsible
for the capture of a British General during
the Battle of New Orleans. David and his
wife, Susan Cazzort, later moved to st. Clair
County, Missouri and soon had a family of
ten children (see article The Kelsey Clan
following).
The Oregon-California fever that swept
the Missouri-Illinois frontier in the winter of
1840-41 badly infected the Kelsey clan and
David's four eldest boys joined the famous
convoy that left Sapling Grove for California
on May 12, 1841. This group split along the
way with some going on to Oregon, and the
others-the famous Bidwell-Bartleson
Page 4
Party-proceeding to California. Two sons,
Isaac and Samuel, went to Oregon, and
Benjamin, his wife and child, and Andrew
elected to try for California.
In 1843 the remainder of the family
followed to Oregon with the Applegate Train
of that year. After wintering in Oregon,
David and his younger children took the
Siskiyou Trail to Sutter's Fort and his fateful
meeting with Gulnac.
French Camp 1844
It is not recorded whether the French
Camp site was Kelsey's choice or if it was
assigned. It should have been a good
location. The Hudson's Bay trappers had
wintered there for a number of years, so
there would have at least been corrals, some
kind of boat landing, and minor bits of
clearing and infrastructure already in place.
It was an established trading site at the
junction of several important Indian trails,
including the main trail from Sutter's to
Li vermore' s rancho and San Jose.
Importantly, it was on sandy soil that
drained well during the winter.
When Kelsey first arrived in August of
1844 there was a flurry of activity on the
grant. Later testimony at Weber's land title
hearings indicated there were at least four
houses near McLeods Lake (named for
Alexander McLeod, leader of the first
Hudson's Bay trappers to visit the delta),
with two families in temporary residence.
Corrals were constructed, fruit trees planted
as well as a small patch of wheat. There were
horses and cattle and some vaqueros on site.
In addition, Kelsey had a man named Kelly
who worked with him in building his cabin
at French Camp.
By autumn, however, it was quiet. Only
James Williams and Thomas Lindsay
remained at McLeod's Lake, occupying two
cabins and tending the stock. The Kelsey
family was now also on it's own and
apparently consisted of only Kelsey and his
wife, daughter America, and perhaps son
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 19%
David Crocket. America was twelve years
took ill, presumably with the malady that
old, David Crocket was fourteen.
infected the Indian. Susan Kelsey had spent
The little family would expect to face
her life on the frontier and was used to
dealing with ordinary illness without outside
hostile Indians (the treaty with Jose Jesus
covered only the local tribe that occupied the
aid, but something made her quickly realize
territory between French Camp and the
this was something her home remedies could
Stanislaus River), thieves, disease,
not handle. She loaded David, and America
mosquitoes in enormous swarms. Their only
into the wagon and started for Sutter's Fort
neighbors would be
to find a doctor.
the two cattle herders
When they reached
at McLeods Lake.
Lindsay's cabin at
Dead
father
unburied,
blind
mother,
and
Sutter had given
McLeod's Lake, he
Gulnac a swivel a stricken child alone in tlte wilderness. This
urged them to spend
was
the
fate
of
the
first
white
family
to
settle
cannon and he passed
the night. He said
in San Joaquin County.
it on to Kelsey. Each
Williams would
night Kelsey would
soon return and was
charge the piece and
good at doctoring.
fire an evening salute
Williams had some
to warn any marauding Indians that he was
medicine he thought would probably be the
cure.
armed.
Williams arrived and dosed his patient.
Late in the fall supplies ran short. The
According to later testimony, by morning the
family was existing on wheat gruel (his seed
for his first planned crop?), game, and tea
nature of Kelsey's illness became
made from herbs gathered along French
obvious-small pox! This was the dreaded
Camp Slough. Kelsey therefore buried his
killer disease of the Valley, having already
cannon, loaded his valuables and his family
decimated the Indian population. Sutter had
into a wagon, and traveled to San Jose for
warned he would kill anyone who brought
the disease to his settlement.
supplies. In San Jose he would meet Charles
Weber for the first and only time. If older
Lindsay and Williams immediately took
members of the family were with him, they
off, separating themselves from the highly
stayed behind when he returned to French
contagious disease. Lindsay's parting advice
Camp. It is not known how long the Kelseys
is said to have been that they shouldn't try to
stayed in San Jose, but they would have to
bury Kelsey should he die, but rather drag
return before winter rains raised the San
him out to where the coyotes could dispose
of the body.
Joaquin River and made it impossible to
As Kelsey grew weaker, wife Susan fell ill
ford.
and was quickly blinded by the disease,
While in San Jose, Kelsey visited a sick
leaving twelve year old America to nurse
Indian. The reason for this visit is a puzzle.
Kelsey was too new to the area to have a
them both. Kelsey died three weeks after his
close acquaintance in far-off San Jose.
first symptoms. The plight and despair of
Further, the Kelseys were noted for their
that little girl can't really be imagined, for
now she was also becoming ilL
prejudices against Indians. One sensible
Dead father unburied, blind mother, and a
speculation is that he was referred to the
stricken
child alone in the wilderness. This
Indian as a possible employee to take back to
was the fate of the first white family to settle
the grant.
in San Joaquin County.
This short meeting had dire consequences,
for soon after return to French Camp, Kelsey
Spring 1996
San Joaquin Historian
Page 5
Rescue
Fortunately, cattle herders came by and
after long consideration, one of them, George
F. Wyman, found the courage to cross the
quarantine line and go to America's aid. He
buried David Kelsay near the corner of
Fremont and Lindsay Streets in today's
Stockton, nursed Susan to reasonable health
and cared for America, too. Then he took
them to Monterey, America riding on his
horse with him.
Aftermath
After a few weeks, James \Villiams and
Thomas Lindsay returned to their cabins at
McLeod Lake. Lindsay stayed with the stock
and Williams went to Sutter's for supplies. A
short time later, riders on their way from San
Jose to Sutter's, found Lindsay's arrow­
riddled body floating in McLeod Lake and
buried him near Kelsey. Indians from
Amador County were blamed.
Williams joined Sutter's army that was
involved in the Micheltorina affair. (He
would testify for Weber during his land title
hearings in 1855).
Thus, in less than one year, all of our
original settlers were gone and only two,
lonely pioneer graves remained to mark the
attempt. Gulnac's and Webers' second
endeavor to settle their grant was a disaster.
Weber was naturalized by now and
eligible to own land. Gulnac lost faith in th.e
project, feeling they wou.ld never get ~t
settled in time to perfect tItle. He sold hIS
rights to Weber for a nominal amount.
Weber's attempts were temporarily thwarted
by the Micheltorena affair, the Bear Flag
Revolt and the war with the United States,
but he persisted and won his grant.
Susan Kelsey, permanently blind, moved
to Hillsborough, Oregon to be with her son,
Isaiah Kelsey, and died there in 1856.
Nothing is known of David Crocket
Kelsey other than his death date-1882.
On September 2, 1846, at Sutter's Fort
John Sutter united in marriage America
Page 6
Kelsey and her rescuer, George Wyman. The
bride was fourteen, the groom twenty-seven.
0000
Author's Comment
David Kelsey deserves to be remembered.
He and his Susan were the prototype of the
American frontier family. They didn't just
survive frontier hardships, they thrived.
They were as tough as a life style of poverty,
deprivation, danger, and grinding drudgery
required-with some grit left over. They not
only pioneered, they reared a family bred to
tame the frontier. This last adventure left
David in a lonely, unmarked grave and
Susan blind and dependent. But we know
they accepted their fate without a whimper.
That was the stuff they were made of, the
life-and the freedom-they chose.
David Kelsey and his family came to settle
San Joaquin County when no others would
dare. Today the site of their final tragedy is
occupied by the Stockton City Hall. vVho
among us will venture to say they failed?
No monument commemorates the Kelsey
effort and sacrifice-even the fine plaque in
French Camp fails to mention them. Lindsay,
at least, had a street named in his honor by
Captain "Weber.
There is a very short street in the
residential \Veberstown subdivision in north
Stockton. Dating from the 1950s, the streets
in this small unit honor some old California
names: Pardee, Ebbetts, Mark Twain,
Bidwell, Carson-and Kelsey. It would seem
that the subdivider, the late Charles Weber
III, grandson of Stockton's founder, dis­
covered the overSight and made this small
restitution on behalf of us all. Perhaps we
should do more.
RS
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 19%
Ca1.aanry, AnqUlsh, Rescue, ana Romance
The IoyLL of
AmeRICa KeLsey By
ROBeRT SheLLenBeRqeR
It is impossible to relate the ston) of America Kelsey without being romantic. There is a
sweetness to this bit of history that willllot be denied. It is the stuff offairy tales, bad
fiction, and romance novels. And it is true. But, how did the story really end?
Once Upon a TIme ..•
America Kelsey was born in St. Clair
County, Missouri on June 6, 1832, the tenth
and youngest child of pioneer David
Kelsey and Susan Cazzort. She spent her
first eleven years on the Missouri frontier
and then, in 1843, joined her family in the
great adventure of traveling west to the
Oregon Territory in a wagon train.
The trip to Oregon lasted over six
months and they arrived in winter. She
had a married sister and a married brother
there, so there was a warm place to stay
and new cousins to meet.
In the spring of 1844, her father again
loaded the wagon for the dangerous trek
down the Siskiyou Trail to California
where two other brothers already lived.
This would be their new home.
At the little Sutter's Fort settlement, her
father met a man named \Villiam Gulnac
who promised him one square mile of
virgin land if only he would help settle the
district by agreeing to move immediately
on the place and stay at least one year.
And so, in August of 1844, they moved
to the abandoned trappers' camp called
French Camp in the lower San Joaquin
Spring 1996
Valley. Their only neighbors were two
herders who lived several miles to the
north. They were two days travel from
Sutter's Fort.
By November they had run low on
supplies and David Kelsey took his family
to San Jose. Here they met old friends and
relatives and purchased their needs. David
visited a sick Indian, perhaps to recruit
him to come work at French Camp.
Calamity
After their return, David became very
ill. Susan hitched the wagon and started for
Sutter's Fort with David and America in
search of a doctor. When they came to one
herder's cabin, he invited them to spend
the night and the other man came with
some medicine.
But when morning came, it was evident
that David was dying of small pox. The
herders fled in fear of the disease. They had
been warned that they would be killed if
they brought the disease to Sutter's Fort or
infected the Indian villages. Their last
advice was to not try to bury David when
he died, but to allow the coyotes to dispose
of the corpse.
San Joaquin Historian
Page 7
, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . found the destitute family. One
of them had the gumption to
ignore the danger and rescue
America and her mother. He
buried David, nursed mother
and daughter until they were
well enough to travel, and then
he took them out of the foggy
San Joaquin Valley to safe haven
in Monterey.
Susan never recovered her
sight and so moved to Oregon to
the home of one of America's
brothers. America would have
to stay with relatives in
California or join her mother in
Oregon. Which to do?
Suddenly a third option was
offered. Her rescuer returned
and asked her hand in marriage
and she accepted. And so, on
June 2, 1846, America Kelsey
became Mrs. George Wyman.
The Eno
George F. Wyman 1818-1893
... Happy Ever After?
Everything we know tells us
America and George lived
Courtesy San Mateo County Historical Assn
happy, full, successful lives.
' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' After several moves, they settled
Susan Kelsey became infected and the
on the San Mateo County coast at Half
disease quickly blinded her. America, now
Moon Bay, then called Spanish Town. In
only twelve, became nurse, cook, and
fact they were the second English speaking
protector of her parents.
family in the community. They had a
But, there was little anyone could do, let
family of nine children-seven boys and
alone a child. David died within three
two girls.
weeks and America was not strong enough
to move or bury him. She could still tend
The Hero
her mother, but then discovered she too
George Francis Wyman was born in
was a victim of the pox. The illness and
Oswego, New York in 1818. At the age of 17
anguish of her mother was terrible to
he shipped out on a whaler that was
wrecked off the Monterey Coast in 1835. He
witness. Complete tragedy seemed to be
their only future.
stayed in Monterey working as a vaquero
until 1840 when he was employed by John
George Wyman to the Rescue
Sutter as a hunter and trapper. He helped
Some cowboys traveling between San
in the construction of Sutter's Fort in 1842.
He was involved in the Bear Flag incident
Jose and Sutter's Fort happened by and
The brave cMoboy 'who rescued and
married America1l Kelsey.
Page 8
later
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 1996
and stated it was he who guided Major
Gillespie north as far as Chico on his trip to
retrieve General Fremont, who was on the
trail for Oregon.
To be historically fair about his bravery
in breaking the quarantine, it is highly
probable he had already had small pox and
was immune, or he had been vaccinated.
The Anglos, at least, were on a sort of
vaccination binge at this time. In fact, John
Bidwell reported he vaccinated an Indian
chief and his son with puss taken from his
own festering vaccination. (Then he
disappeared for a while, knowing it would
make them temporarily ill).
It is also probable that Wyman had at
least met David Kelsey at Sutter's Fort and
was not a total stranger.
None of this detracts from what he did
for David Kelsey's family.
He had his own view of history, stating
he saw the first gold discovered in 1848. He
said it was "found by the little children of
Peter Weimar, though they gave the
specimens to Marshall who received the
honor of the discovery."
It appears he had acceptable
qualifications to be a brother-in-law to the
lusty and rugged Kelsey clan.
George Wyman died in 1893, age 75.
The Princess
The fact America was only 14 when she
married was not that unusual for the times
and the life-style of her family. Girls
married young in those days, especially in
California where there were virtually no
American women. Even little Virginia
Reed, survivor of the Donner Party at age
12, writing to her cousin in "the States"
with first news of the tragedy and scant
weeks after rescue, said "... tell Henriet if
she wants to get Married to corne to
California." It appears America's four
sisters all married at about 16 or 17. The
sobering experiences of her short life
would certainly have left her emotionally
and intellectually mature beyond her years.
Spring 1996
'Ve can be skeptical about other wifely
skills. The only life she had known for half
her years was camp life. She was probably
adept around the camp fire, but her
collection of recipes must have been
minuscule (see following), and she would
be unskilled in at least some normal chores
of the time including baking, making soap,
skimming milk, spinning, sewing, needle
point, and a hundred other things girls
raised in houses knew by second nature.
Her first child was not born until she
had been married about five years. This
suggests the poor diet and exceptional
stress of her formative years delayed her
full maturi ty.
But America was pretty and she was
game and we can't doubt her affection for
the man who rode in out of the winter
gloom to her rescue at the lowest point of
her life.
The prince and princess of this idyll
were not fancy or refined. They were real
people of their times. It would have been a
privilege to know them both.
In 1915, Dave S. Matthews of
Stockton was so enamored with the
story of America and George that he
wrote and published a novel based
on their romance. Here is what he
imagined:
1/1 owe you so much ... "
Wyman ... enfolded her 11l his
anns. "Yes, so much," he smiled,
"'that you are indebted to me for life,
The mortgage is foreclosed and you
must be mine for all time."
Aw, shucks ...
America's Final Years
The Lake County Museum has a few
family notes referring to America in its
archives. They give us a hint of the
personality of our America.
San Joaquin Historian
Page 9
"During the period of 1909-12, Mother
and I visited Aunt America Kelsey
Wyman at her home in Half Moon Bay,
California. Aunt America could not read
or write, but she earned her own living.
Some of her stories, I remember, others I
remember
because
Mother
and
Grandmother helped me to remember.
Aunt America owned a lovely painting of
Rebecca and Grove Cook which she
planned to give to the NDGW./I
Aunt America UJaS still earning her
own living when she was quite elderly. I
remember her horse hair couch and how
she cooked meat on her stove grate ... ".
II
(both quotes attributed to a niece)
George and America Wyman were
interviewed for an 1883 history and mug
book of San Mateo County. After alluding
to America's trip across the plains to
Oregon, travel on the Siskiyou Trail to
California and the experience in 1844 in
French Camp, the writer said (beginning
with understatement):
liThe complete history of this lady
would be quite interesting. She is now a
member of the San Joaquin Pioneer
Society....She is not favorably impressed
with the present state of things, and would
like to see the old times of thirty-five years
ago, when beans and beef alone made the
bill of fare./I
She died at the home of George, Jr., on
May 12, 1916, aged 84. She was buried next
to George in the Old Odd Fellows Cemetery
on the edge of Half Moon Bay. This
cemetery has been abandoned and we
could not find her grave. The Half Moon
Bay Historical Foundation has acquired the
cemetery and hopes to restore it. Perhaps
someday we will find her again.
Gon~
Page 10
Bllr nor fORgOTTen...
DOD
Selected References Spring 1996 Publications
Ault, Philip Pioneer Nancy Kelsey (Californian Magazine,
March/April 1992)
Bancroft, Hubert H. History of California (San Francisco CA:
History Co, 1886. Reprint Santa Barbara CA: Wallace
Hebberd, 1966)
Cowan, Robert G. Ranchos of California, a list of Spanish
Concessions and Mexican Grants (Fresno, CA:
Academy Library Guild, 1956)
Davis, Olive Stockton, Sunrise Port on the San Joaquin
(Woodland Hills CA: Windsor Publications, Inc. 1984)
Gilbert, Col. FT History of San Joaquin County (Oakland
CA: Thompson and West, 1879. reprint Howell-North
Books, Berkeley CA, 1968)
Hammond, George P., and Morgan, Dale L. Captain Charles
M Weber (Berkeley CA: The Friends of the Bancroft
Library, 1966)
Hammond, George P. The Weber Era in Stockton History
(Berkeley CA: The Friends of the Bancroft Library, 1982)
Lewis, Donovan Pioneers Of California (San Francisco CA:
Scottswall ASSOCiates, 1993)
Maththews, Dave S. America Kelsey [Fiction] (Stockton,
CA Stockton Record Print, 1915)
Retzer, John L, in charge Soil Survey of the Stockton Area,
California (United States Department of Agriculture,
1951)
Shebl, James Weber! (Lodi, CA: San Joaquin Historical
Society, 1993)
Stewart, George R. The California Trail (New York, NY:
McGraw-Hili Book Co., Inc., 1962)
Tinkham, George H. History of San Joaquin County
California With Biographical Sketches (Los Angeles CA:
Historic Record Company, 1923)
Thompson, Evelyn Prouty Manteca, selected chapters from
its history (Manteca, CA: The Manteca Bulletin, 1980).
Thrapp, Dan L. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1988)
Newspapers
Stockton Independent
Stockton Record
News & Notes (S.J. Historical Society)
Individuals and Private Papers
Rother, Margaret Waganet, Kelsay descendent
Jones, Larry, Idaho Historical Society
Howard, Donna, Lake County Museum
Facilities
Haggin Museum, Stockton
San Mateo County Historical Association
Lake County Museum
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 1996
Where Was Kelsey's Cabin?
Who Was Rea lly There?
The exact location of Kelsey's cabin in
French Camp will probably never be known.
The only artifact that might ever be
discovered is the cannon Kelsey is said to
have buried before he left on his fateful trip
to San Jose in 1844.
Weber subdivided and created the town
of Castoria, later renamed French Camp, in
1850. The original town site contained a
plaza adjacent to the slough that was later
labeled Rendezvous Square, apparently to
recognize the seasonal trapper settlement
maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company
(1832-45).
The evidence indicates the town was not
laid out to conform to any previous
development, but rather for practical
demands. The 1855 survey shows most pre­
existing fences and buildings to be south of
Fourth Street.
The explanation can be found by use of a
soil map. The advantage of the French Camp
location was its sandy soil which contrasted
with the adobe-clay soil of Stockton. The
sandy soil is on the south of French Camp
Slough, the adobe on the north side. The
French Camp Turnpike purposely follows
the sandy side of the dividing line of the two
soil types, making it an all weather road in
early years. In winter, sandy French Camp
was dry, Stockton a mud hole. (Weber was
encouraged to establish Stockton there for
that reason, but wisely opted for superior
water access).
Within old French Camp, the soil line
generally follows Second Street. Rendezvous
Square is on the west side of McKinley
Avenue and divided by the soil types. The
actual rendezvous site was probably on the
school grounds where trapper artifacts have
been recovered. Certainly the trappers
would not set up camp in the mud, nor
would Kelsey.
Kelsey built his own cabin. He would
have stayed on the sand near the slough for
water and perhaps a boat landing.
Want to find his cannon? Stay away from
the slough and dig in the sand. Good Luck!
It is odd to note that the record is not
clear as to the members of the Kelsey family
who resided at French Camp at the time of
Kelsey'S death. Family accounts don't agree,
but with the exception of America's
statement: they come from later generations.
Here is a chronological list of what some
historians have concluded.
1879
Co!. F.T. Gilbert
Gilbert, who interviewed Captain Weber
extensively, states that there were two
children present-a boy and a girl.
1885
H.H. Bancroft
One girl and pOSSibly a small boy who
may have died there.
1923
G.F. Tinkham
Three girls. Tinkham also interviewed
Weber in detail prior to 1880.
1959
R. Coke Wood
Two daughters and a son present. 1966
G. Hammond and Dale Morgan Three daughters, but mention only America when Kelsey dies.
1982
George Hammond (alone)
Revises his opinion to two girls.
1984
Olive Davis
Davis says one daughter (America).
1993
James Shebl
Another vote for three daughters.
This would normally be a minor point
considering the tragedy involved, but it is
important because of the role of twelve year
old America. She was the baby. If there were
older siblings, what part did they play?
The Kelsey genealogy is of some help.
America and her brother David Crockett
were the only "children" remaining in the
family by 1844. If these records are correct,
the other Kelsey girls were married, and
therefore not in French Camp. Further, in
1883 America stated that she and her mother
were the
.first white women at Stockton."
She does not mention sisters or brothers.
We do know for certain that the burden
of care fell on little America, a very special
young lady.
U ..
RS
RS
Spring 19%
San Joaquin Historian
Page 11
IDlil 7fJ THE FllllTla..
THE DAVID KEUEr CLAN ROIERT SNELLENIERIER Before exploring some of the contributions
and adventures of this singular western
family, it is only appropriate to further
consider more Kelsey history in San Joaquin
County. The sacrifice of David Kelsey has
already been discussed as well as the
heroism and romance of his youngest child,
the ''brave little nurse" America.
Rebecca Josephine Kelsey Fowler Cook
Grattan (1826-1871) was a member of the
1841 party that chose Oregon over
California. She came to California from
Oregon in 1844 with her father, David. She
was married to William Fowler, but left him
under "scandalous circumstances" to marry
Grove C. Cook in 1845. According to
Bancroft, she " ... presently had some reason
to regret it."
Cook was also a member of the 1841 train,
but elected to come to California with
Bidwell-Bartleson. In 1845 he murdered the
educated son of an Oregon Indian chief at
Sutter's Fort during an argument, an event
that had "lasting repercussions." Cook was a
man of charm and abilities and made a lot of
money during the Gold Rush, which he later
lost. He died in 1853. They had a two year
old son, Grovy, who died in Stockton in
1854-the second Kelsey grave in our
county.
Rebecca then married Dr. Christopher
Grattan (c1823- ?), pioneer Stockton
physician and a widower. She died in
Stockton in 1871, marking the third
generation of Kelseys to be buried here.
Page 12
Frances Kelsey Buzzell (c1820-c1854),
came to California via Oregon with her
father, David, in 1844. In August of '44 she
married \-Villard Joseph Buzzell, a former
sailor who jumped ship in 1840 at Half Moon
Bay. Buzzell met Charles Weber in San Jose
and came with him to settle in Stockton in
1847. (Some reports suggest Buzzell
encouraged his father-in-law to accept
Gulnac's offer of land). On September 9,
1847, while temporarily camped on Weber's
Point, Frances gave birth to the third of her
six children, Elisabeth, the first "American
girl" born in San Joaquin County.
Buzzell built the first log house in Stockton
and opened it as a tavern. He planted wheat
near the boat landing in 1848,. but never
harvested it, joining the Gold Rush as a
member of the Stockton Mining Company.
The Buzzells left Stockton in 1850 for Half
Moon Bay.
Their daughter Elisabeth (1847-?) returned
to Stockton to marry Christopher Grattan,
nephew of Dr. Grattan, her unc1e by
marriage.
One of her sons, Willard Buzzell (1850-?),
also settled in San Joaquin County and was
tower foreman at the Mossdale railroad
bridge for many years.
Another son, Joseph Buzzell (1852-1895t
was a farmer near Mossdale and a deputy
sheriff under Thomas Cunningham. This
grandson of David Kelsey was shot and
killed near Paradise Cut in 1895, the first
deputy to lose his life in the line of duty.
Sadly, another first for the Kelsey family.
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 19%
Here are some brief notes on all of David
Kelsey's children.
Benjamin Kelsey's story is told in a
separate article.
Elizabeth Kelsey East (1815-1888) carne to
Oregon in 1843 with her husband and three
children on the Applegate Train with her
father and the rest of the family. They settled
there and reared a family of 13 children.
Samuel Kelsey (1816-?) went to Oregon in
1841, returned east and helped escort the
remainder of the family to Oregon in 1843.
He carne to California in 1844 and
participated in the Bear Flag affair. When his
brother Andrew was killed by Indians,
Samuel took part in the revenge massacre.
His wife was Lucy Applegate. Nothing more
was found.
Zedi diah Kelsey (1818-1888) was also
called Isaac and Isaiah. Went to Oregon in
1841. He can claim another Kelsey first:
while on the trail, he was married to
Winifred Williams. This was the first ever
marriage ceremony on the Oregon-California
Trail.
Francis Margaret Kelsey's story is noted
above.
Andrew Kelsey (1821-1849) carne to
California with the Bidwell-Bartleson Party,
and settled in Lake County. He was close to
his brother Ben and the two were involved
in the cattle business on land leased from
Salvador Vallejo. He was a participant in the
Bear Flag Revolt and in the war with Mexico.
When gold was discovered, he and Ben
mined at Kelsey's Diggings in El Dorado
County, using Lake County Indians as
virtual slaves. The settlement of
Kelsey-where James MarshalC the
discoverer of gold, died- bears their name.
Andrew abandoned his Indians when the
claim petered out and continued his rough
ways with them back in Lake County. The
Indians retaliated in 1849, murdering
Andrew and a partner named Stone. This led
to inevitable white reaction which
culminated in a major massacre of about 100
Spring 1996
Indians-men, women, and children-at the
Battle of Bloody Island in Clear Lake. Brother
Samuel was part of this affair.
The town of Kelseyville was named after
Andrew, but the white community generally
felt Andrew "had it corning" and most were
appalled by the Indian slaughter. He is not
well remembered and his memory disowned
by many of his family.
Loretta Kelsey Williams (1824-1874) and
her husband went to Oregon in 1843,
homesteaded a section of land where they
raised cattle and grain. They had 13 children.
Rebecca Josephine Kelsey is noted above.
David Crockett Kelsey (1830-1882) has
left no record.
America Kelsey Wyman is noted in a
separate article.
This is truly an uncommon family history.
Most of their contemporaries were more like
the Oregon branch of Kelseys. They survived
the trek, found their land, built a future and
reared a family. But Ben and Sam and
Andrew and Buzzell always seemed able to
find a tougher challenge of the bare-knuckle
variety. They had their own way of taming a
frontier. We can't always approve of how
they did it, but their deeds and life-style
astonish us still. They were /loners" and their
full story begs to be told.
Disclaimer
Unfortunately, all of the research
and data collected fails to agree. It is
certain there are errors in dates and
names-in fact family records don't
agree! We will happily accept
corrections, additions, and contrary
opinions.
San Joaquin Historian
RS
Page 13
P'ROTOTYPE AME'RICAN FAMILY THE KELSEYS BASED ON MATERIAL RESEARCHED BY
'ROY MATTHEWS SYLA'R
Certain family names automatically
conjure visions of the frontier-Boone, Zane,
Sublette, for starters. They blazed and
opened trails, built forts and towns,
succeeded and multiplied in the most trying
circumstances the wilderness could provide.
They did it as individuals and as families.
They exemplify the American pioneer spirit;
they are the essence of a westering people.
In our wisdom we honor these people and
this special spirit, ever in awe of their
courage and stubbornness. In the smugness
of our time we deplore their aggression and
waste and violence. In fairness, we learn
from their mistakes, but are slow to judge
them by standards of a more enlightened
era.
The Kelseys, as a family, are rarely
mentioned in normal historical discourse
about the settlement of the 'Vest, particularly
of California and Oregon. They ought to be if
for no other reason than the fact they seemed
to always be there when something special
was happening-and usually in numbers.
Using the year 1841 as an example, Four
Kelsey brothers and their families made up
more than ten percent of the group that was
California bound from Missouri. Along the
way the first ever marriage on the Oregon­
California Trail was performed: Isaiah (also
called Isaac and Zedidiah) Kelsey took
Winifred \Villiams as his bride. When the
Bidwell-Bartleson Party split off, four
Page 14
Kelseys were among the 34, accounting for
more than ten percent. The unacknowledged
leader over much of the trail after Fitzpatrick
left them at Fort Hall, was Ben Kelsey. The
first woman and the first child over the
Sierra were Nancy and Martha Ann Kelsey.
Of the group that selected Oregon, at least
ten percent were Kelseys!
They left their name in both
states-Kelseyville, Kelsey, and Kelsey's
Diggings in California and Kelsay Springs on
the slope of Mt. Hood in Oregon.
Kelsey-Kelsay
The family traces its roots to a Scots-Irish
immigrant whose name was Kelsay. Most of
his descendants still spell their name in that
fashion. David Kelsey adopted the English
version, which easily differentiates his
branch of the family tree. It is interesting that
both Kelseys and Kelsays settled in
Kelseyville. The latter protect their spelling
so as to differentiate themselves from the
notorious Andrew Kelsey for whom the
town was named.
The Kelsays originally settled in
Pennsylvania and Virginia in the mid-1700s.
By the late 1700s, some of the family was
pioneering in the Northwest Territory of
North Carolina (now Tennessee). From
Virginia and Tennessee representatives
moved on to the Kentucky frontier and then
Missouri. They were not all rouglz and tumble
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 19%
frontiersmen in the manner of David Kelsey.
Their number included legislators, ministers,
lawyers, and soldiers.
Kelsay women married into other frontier
families, including the famous Sublette
brothers who were mountain men, trail
blazers, and fur traders of note. One Kelsay
in-law joined Henry Clay in the defense of
Aaron Burr in his treason trial (1806).
By 1852, Kelsays were on the trail to
Oregon and continued to migrate west for
many years. A memorable incident on the
trail occurred in 1862. \Villiam Kelsay (1792­
1878) and 18 members of his immediate
family joined the Harriman Party of 35
wagons bound for California. At the Raft
River Crossing (near Idaho Falls), they lost
all of their livestock to marauding Indians
and white renegades. They had no choice
but to abandon their wagons and walk the
final 600 miles across the Nevada deserts
and over the Sierra to Sacramento. They
made the trek in 58 days-lugging their
supplies the entire distance. William was 69
years old at the time, his wife 61. Two of the
grandchildren were less than two years old
and had to be carried the entire distance.
They settled in Kelseyville.
One Kelsay lady married a man named
James Ethan Allen. He owned property in
Sacramento County that was involved in a
squatters war. A Sacramento sheriff was
killed when he mistakenly attacked Allen's
home. Allen took off, but returned with his
wife in 1854 and was absolved from blame
and his property restored, but
local
sentiment was against him, so he sold out
and joined the Kelsays in Lake County.
For the fun of it, note that 30s movie
actress Brenda Joyce was a Kelsay, as was
the actor-director Richard Boone (Have GUll,
the school or the courthouse, or the
cemetery. It is unusual to be able to get
insight to so many events and eras through
the history of a single family, a family that in
most ways seems as ordinary as yours and
mine.
We shouldn't be surprised that they had a
hand in the settlement of Stockton and San
Joaquin County. It is what they did.
0000
Based on genealogical data collected by
Kelsay descendent Roy Matthews Sylar and
shared by Margaret Waganet Rother of Santa
Rosa, yet another descendent. It is dated
March 7, 1986.
0000
French Camp -1849-50
.. .in August of 1849, CoL P. W. Noble
and A. Stevenson took possession of the
old French Camp-ground. They kept a
public-house as well as a store; they were
merchandising also at Mariposa, making
French
Camp
the
depot
of
supplies .... These gentlemen were the first
\vhite men to occupy Castoria (since it
was abandoned).
The selection of that site so earlv for a
stand for a hotel and store was due" to the
fact that Castoria ... has in the main a
sandy soil, and the teamsters, in going
from Stockton to Mariposa, found a
passable road by way of French Camp in
the wet seasons.
Immediately after the arrival and
starting of business by the LeBarron firm,
Mr. Atwood began the navigation of the
French Camp slough, in a yawl that would
carry about 1500 lbs. freight and four or
five passengers .... Freights were 5 cts. per
lb., and a passenger would be accom­
modated for $5.
Will Travel).
Family histories can become tedious, but
they give us insight into other eras as no
other record can. The record the real people
who got there first, planted the first crop,
built the first church, donated the land for
Spring 1996
Excerpted from the Thomson & West
History oj San Joaquin County, 1879, by
Col. Frank T. Gilbert
San Joaquin Historian
Page 15
TUESDA Y MORNING, JULY 9, 1872
VISIT OF A PIONEER FAMILY
There are now visiting to this city a gentleman
and his wife, who crossed the plains and arrived
in California in 1841, thirty-one years ago. The
gentleman is Mr. Benjamin Kelsey, the.discover­
er of Kelsey's Diggings on the .north sIde of t~e
South Fork of the American nver. The famIly
emigrated from Jasper county., Misso~ri, and
crossed the plains in company wIth Captam Web­
er of this city; Captain Joseph Chtlds, Colonel
Rickman, and others. Mr. Kelsey's family then
consisted of himself, wife and one child-a
daughter, who is now Mrs. Lewis, and resides !n
Lynn Valley, in the southern part of San JoaqUl.n
valley. The journeyings of Mr. Kelsey and fa~11l­
Iv and the events of their lives, many of WhICh
;r~ thrilling, would fill the pages of an interesting
book Shortly after their arrival in this State, they
took ~p thei; abode in Sonoma and subsequently
went to Oregon, where they resided about one
year.
CAPTURED BY THE SA VAGES,
Who scalped her, fractured her skull by a blow
from a lance, thrust lances through her body, and
left her for dead. Eventually the young woman
rallied, however, and managed, in that fearful
condition, to reach her parents who had been left
utterly destitute the Indians having carried away
every"thing of v~lue that they possessed. The girl
was removed to the nearest fort where, wonderful
to relate she recovered and came with her parents
to this S'tate, where she died five years after. The
family
ARRIVED THE SECOl\.'I) TIME IN CALIFOR'\JTA
RETCRl\I1NG TO CALIFORNIA,
Thev again took up their residence near Clear
Lake, where they remained som~ eight ):,ears: ~nd
were largely interested in ranchIng. and In ~Ismg
horses and cattle. After expenencIng a senes of
almost unbearable annoyances and suffering in­
numerable losses through the depredations of In­
dians they removed to the northern part of the
State 'and -remained some twenty-two months in
Siskiyou county, when they again pulled up
stakes and journeyed through Sacramento and
San Joaquin valleys to Mariposa, \vhere they re­
mained only two months. From there they went
to San Jose, remaining a little over eIght months
at the latter place; thence went to Oakland, '.vhere
they resided about one year. From Oakland they
we~t to Gilrov and there remained fourteen
months, and th~nce proceeded to t~e K~r~ nver
mines, where Mr. Kelsey engaged m minIng ~or
some eighteen months. They wen~ from Kern nv­
er to Four Creeks and there reSided two years,
when they started for Mexico, and remained three
months only in that country, when they
STARTED FOR TEXAS,
Arriving in that state in February, 1863, and re­
maining there until the following May, ~hen they
again started for California. A sad calamity befell
Page 16
them at this time. Thev had reached a point some
distance outside of the white settlements-a point
on the borders of the Indian country where
several parties had agreed to meet and then
proceed together to the far West .While Mr. K~l­
sey had taken his gun and gone In quest of :vIld
turkeys, a band. of some twen~y-thre~ Indians
made a raid on hiS own and a neighbonng camp.
The women, perceiving the Indians approaching,
and learning of their intent from a young man
who had been wounded bv them and had fled
hoping to find refuge at M;. Kelsey's camp, de­
serted the camp and hid in the undergrowth. One
of Mr. Kelsey's daughters was
In the Fall of 1864, and went to San Luis Obispo.
In 1865, they went to Aurora, and in A~gus.t of
the same year they went to the Owen s fiver
country where they remained, about five miles
from I~dependence, until lately, '.vhen they start­
ed for this valley.
!viR. KELSEY
Is fifty-eight years of age, but does not appear
much "more than forty. He is above the average
size, muscular and powerful, quiet and ~nobtru­
sive in manner, genial and affable. He qUIetly re­
marked to us yesterday that he had encountered
hostile Indians, fought grizzly bears and wolves
and had never been troubled with sensations of
fear until he experienced the shocks of earthquake
near Independence. There was something about
these earthquakes that he could not understand
and they greatly troubled him, and he ~reatly p.re­
ferred solid ground to that kind of temtory WhICh
rumbled and tumbled under his feet.
Ed. Note
The Lone Pille Quake of 1\-larch 26, 1872 had an
estimated Richter magnitude in excess of 8.0,
ranking it in the top three in state history. T~is
quake and its aftershocks spooked the otherwlse
fearless Ben Kelsey.
RS
San Joaquin Historian
Spring 19%
The Kelsey Family
Oh, That Nancy • • • and intelligent. She was pretty, cheerful,
It seems that the one member of the
tough, and devoted to Ben.
extensive Kelsey clan destined to be best
Nancy's story of crossing the plains and
remembered is Nancy Roberts Kelsey (1823­
mountains to California is well-know, but to
1896), the only woman of the Bidwell­
iterate the essentials, four Kelsey brothers
Bartleson Party of 1841 and thus the first
white woman to come overland to California
decided to try for California in 1841 and
over the Sierra. Nancy was the wife of
joined the Bartleson/ Fr. De Smet caravan
that left from vVeston, Missouri. This was the
peripatetic frontiersman Benjamin Kelsey
(1813-1889), David's eldest son. Thus, she
first organized train of immigrants to
was America's sister-in-law.
attempt an overland crossing to California.
Nancy Kelsey has become the darling of
Their destination was John Marsh's Rancho
western historians-and not without good
Los Meganos, near present day Brentwood in
reason. Not only did she lead a most
Contra Costa County. Ben Kelsey took his
interesting life, she also granted several
wife and daughter with him. Nancy, not
interviews that left us a legacy of marvelous
quite 18, had just given birth to a son who
died, and daughter
quotes.
Nancy's story is not
Martha Ann was a
toddler of a little more
to be confused with Nancy's decision to mamj Ben Kelsey at
the more usual tale of age fifteen is today's equivalent of a high
man 12 months. Ben
the
brave
and school sophomore hopping onto the sissy
was 27.
persevering pioneer seat of a Harley Davidson and vrooming
The party split
wife we associate with
off into the sunset with a Hell's Angel.
near Fort Hall (Idaho),
such heroines as Juliet
with Father De Smet
Briar of Death Valley
and his missionaries
fame, or the surviving wives of the Donner
heading to Indian villages to the north. The
Party. These ladies met a great challenge on
California train split almost immediately
the trail and then spent the remainder of
with all but 34 opting to go to Oregon over a
more certain route. Ben's brother Samuel
their years rooting their families and seeking
to build conventional lives. Nancy's decision
elected to take his wife and family to Oregon
to marry Ben Kelsey at age fifteen is today's
as did brother Isaiah and his new bride. Only
equivalent of a high school sophomore
one family voted to try the unknown-Ben
hopping onto the sissy seat of a Harley
Kelsey's. Andrew stayed with Ben.
Davison and vrooming off into the sunset
\Vithout a fixed trail, a guide, adequate
with a Hell's Angel.
supplies, the party soon had to abandon its
wagons in favor of pack animals and blunder
Born in Kentucky, raised on the Missouri
frontier, she had at best a brief frontier
across the desert to the Humboldt River,
then on to the Sierra and finally passage
education. It is said her "earthy vocabulary
across the crest and down the hazardous
would have given any genteel hostess the
canyons of the Stanislaus River. They were
vapors." Like her husband she was bright
Spring 1996
San Joaquin Historian
Page 17
forced to eat most of their animals and
Nancy, carrying her baby, walked barefoot
the last miles out of the mountains into the
Great Valley where she collapsed from
hunger and physical exhaustion. Fortunately
game was plenty and the ragged but
refreshed party safely made its way to
Marsh's rancho.
Nancy's cheerful demeanor and
uncomplaining courage during the trek
endeared her to all the party. She was the
first woman to accomplish this feat and it
established her bona fides as a legitimate
western heroine.
\Vhen asked why she went along on this
journey rather than waiting for Ben to come
for her later when a safe trail had been
established, she answered matter-of-factly
"Where my husband goes, I go. I can better
endure the hardships of the journey than the
anxieties of an absent husband."
Nancy's life of adventure was only just
beginning. Here is a potpourri of her later
life:
From Marsh's, the family made its way to
Sutter's Fort, where Ben worked for John
Sutter during the winter. As soon as Spring
arrived, they moved to Cache Creek, built a
small cabin and Ben hunted deer and elk for
hides and tallow.
From Cache Creek, they moved north and
built the first white dwelling near Calistoga.
Ben used his hunting profits to buy cattle
which he took north to sell to the Oregon
settlers. The party was under constant attack
by Indians after the cattle and horses. There
was soon a battle at a Sacramento River
crossing and one of the herders, "Bear"
Dawson, killed an Indian attacker who fell
within six feet of Nancy and Martha Ann.
The attacks continued and Nancy
reported sleeping within 40 feet of where
arrows were dropping into camp at night.
She sat on her horse and watched a battle
that resulted in twelve Indians being slain.
In Oregon they sold their stock and
bought dry goods and other merchandise to
Page 18
sell back in California. On the way back from
Oregon in 1844, Indians attacked near Shasta
at night. Nancy hid her babies (two by then),
in the brush remembering As I hid the little
ones in the bush, I wondered if I would ever
see daylight again."
In 1846, Ben was a participant in the Bear
Flag revolt. When William Todd painted the
Sonoma version of the Bear Flag, Nancy
furnished some of the cloth. At about this
time Ben, ever the independent loner,
crossed wills with John C. Fremont and
Fremont would never again recognize him.
Ben and his brother Andrew established a
cattle ranch in Lake County. When gold was
discovered in 1848, the brothers founded
Kelsey's Diggings and reaped a small
fortune using Lake County Indians as virtual
slaves. Nancy said they made $100 per day
per Indian.
(The Lake County Indians eventually
murdered Andrew and another partner in
revenge. The town of Kelseyville was named
in his memory).
Ben bought sheep for one dollar per head
and sold them for $16 in the mines. He also
loaned money at 25% compound interest
In 1849 they resided near Sonoma. Ben
was ill and Nancy rode to town for medicine.
Along the way she was accosted by an
Indian who wanted to lasso her off her horse.
She was without her pistol, so talked her
way out of the situation. She reported the
incident and the culprit was quickly
captured and sentenced to 100 lashes. When
she got home and told Ben, " .. .instead of
taking the medicine he rode into town and
shot the Indian dead."
Ben's itchy feet could not stand prosperity
and they moved next to Mendocino and
Humboldt counties where they suffered
financial reverses and had a hand in
founding Eureka and Arcata.
In 1856 Ben built and operated a toll
bridge over the Kern River. He soon tired of
that and in 1859 traveled to Mexico and
Texas to purchase cattle. It was while in
San Joaquin Historian
/I
Sprmg 1996
One of her last requests was that she be
Texas that their camp was attacked by
buried in a real coffin "not something
Comanche Indians while the men were off
scraped up with old boards." Her neighbors
hunting. The women and children scattered
took up a collection and stored a ready-made
and hid as best they could, but daughter
coffin for her use in a neighbor'S house. She
Mary Ellen, then 13 years old, was captured,
was buried near her
clubbed, stabbed and
cabin, next to a
scalped.
U\Ve could not find
grandchild.
"We found her the next day. Yes, we found
the captured one. She
Nancy and Ben
her, and my anguish was horrible when I
Kelsey had nothing to
had
recovered
discovered that she had been scalped and
sufficiently to wander
do with San Joaquin
partially deranged."
around in search of
County or Stockton
help. Oh, the anxiety
other than the fact
of that night!
Charles Weber was
"We found her the next day. Yes, we
also a member of the Bidwell-Bartleson
found her, and my anguish was horrible
Party and therefore a friend. She is known to
have visited Stockton just once (see 1872
when I discovered that she had been scalped
interview above). That small connection has
and partially deranged."
been excuse enough for virtually every
Mary Ellen was nursed back to reasonable
health and died in Fresno in 1866.
history of either Stockton or San Joaquin
Ben's wanderings continued. As Nancy
County to include her photo and/or a bit of
said, he was " ... a man of adventurous
her story.
disposition."
Now I have gOlle and done it, too. Oh, that Nancy-she is irresistible! In 1872 they were chased from Owens
Valley by earthquakes. She wrote to old
DODD
friend Helen \Veber for advice and help in
finding a new location. Eventually they
A very good biography of Nancy Kelsey
resided in Los Angeles where Ben died in
by historian Phillip H. Ault can be found in
1889.
the March/April 1992 edition of The
Nancy then turned to the life of seclusion
Califofllia/ls. See also Nancy Kelsey in Pioneers
she loved and moved to a remote area in
ofCaliforilia by Donovan Lewis.
Santa Barbara County where she unofficially
RS
homesteaded a small parcel far from town
Nancy's Grave
and raised chickens. She also served as
midwife for the hill people and was noted
Nancy's grave is 011 remote private
for her herbal remedies. Cancer took her life
propernJ 15 miles from New Cayuma, 50
on August 10, 1896 in her seventy-third year.
miles east of Santa l'v1aria, where it has been
In an interview she succinctly wrote her
protected mzd preserved by the owners.
own obituary:
Many years ago BOl) Scouts lined the
"I have enjoyed riches and suffered the
grave with stones and provided a wooden
pangs of poverty. I saw General Grant
plaque. The Native Daughters of the Golden
when he was little known. I baked bread
West later provided a head stolle.
for General Fremont and talked to Kit
On April 1, 1995, a commemorative
Carson. I have run from bear and killed all
marker was placed on the site with proper
other kinds of game."
ceremony by The Oregon-California Trails
She didn't mention that she also bore ten
Association (aCTA).
children.
Spring 1996
San Joaquin Historian
Page 19
Address Correction Requested
San Joaquin County Historical
Society and Museum
P.O. Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030 Non-Profit Organization POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 48 Lodi CA 95241