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Andrew Kelsey
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Andrew Kelsey
Andrew Kelsey, or Andy Kelsey, was an early American pioneer of California with his brothers Samuel and Benjamin Kelsey. Originally from Kentucky, he arrived in Alta California with the Bartleson–Bidwell Party in 1841, ventured into Oregon with his brothers, and participated in the Bear Flag Revolt. He eventually settled in the Clear Lake area in modern-day Lake County, California after acquiring livestock from Californio Salvador Vallejo. He and his business partner Charles Stone effectively enslaved local Pomo and Wappo bands and, along with Benjamin Kelsey, subjected them to starvation, torture, rapes and murders. Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone were killed in 1849 during an Indian uprising triggered by their mistreatment of the indigenous population. Kelsey's name is attached to the town of Kelseyville in Lake County.
Andrew Kelsey was born in Barren County, Kentucky around 1819, the son of David Kelsey and Susan Jane Cossart. His family moved to Missouri in the 1830s. The "Kelso" family were "the first settlers of the Hoffman Bend section" in St. Clair County, Missouri, "considered pretty shrewd" and "inclined to make the most of their opportunities". Legal troubles followed them, as they attempted to secure some of their neighbors' pre-emption claims, and had to vacate the area. Andrew Jr. (as he was known then, his uncle being Andrew Sr.), his brother Samuel and their father David ended embattled in lawsuits. The same Missouri historian speculates that Jesse Applegate, a well-known St. Clair County figure, encouraged the Kelsos to explore new horizons. (Samuel Kelsey married a Lucy Applegate, but relation is unknown.)
Along with his father and his brothers Samuel and Isaiah, Andrew appears in the 1840 U.S. census in Deerfield, Missouri, where he is enumerated as a farmer and head of a family with two girls aged between 5 and 9.
Andrew, his brother Benjamin and his wife Nancy arrived in Alta California in the Bartleson–Bidwell Party in November 1841. The other Kelsey brothers, Isaiah and Samuel, chose to head for Oregon with their father when the party reached Soda Springs. Ben and Andrew spent time at Sutter's Fort and trapping north of the San Francisco Bay before deciding to drive cattle to Oregon and meet up with their other brothers.
In 1844, along with his brothers Ben and Sam and his father David, Andrew Kelsey was part of a party leading emigrants from Oregon on the Siskiyou Trail to Sutter's Fort. Among the party were Joseph Willard Buzzell, who had married Margaret, one of Ben's daughters (and with whom he would eventually raise two daughters at the Fort), as well as William and William Fowler Jr. (who had married Rebecca, one of Andrew's sister). Buzzell, who was close to John Sutter, is credited for convincing the Kelseys to return to California.
Historian H.H. Bancroft suggests Andrew Kelsey might have been part of Micheltorena's 1844-1845 campaign in captain John Gantt's company. The man participated with his brothers in the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which ended Mexican control of California and established the California Republic (Andrew's sister-in-law Nancy Kelsey is said to have sewn the first Bear Flag).
Kelsey met Charles Stone, who took part in the second rescue relief group sent for the Donner Party in 1847. Charles Stone and another man were given $500 to rescue Tamsen Donner's three young daughters. They eventually abandoned them at Donner Lake to head back west to avoid harsh weather conditions, "their packs stuffed with booty".
Captain Salvador Vallejo was the brother of Californio general Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, and had been pacifying Rancho Lupyomi, the grant he had received from the Mexican government. Both Salvador and his brother were in 1844 each granted 16 square leagues, or about 112 square miles (290 km2). Vallejo had hoped to sell the Clear Lake area grant to former Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs, who had befriended his general brother.
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Andrew Kelsey
Andrew Kelsey, or Andy Kelsey, was an early American pioneer of California with his brothers Samuel and Benjamin Kelsey. Originally from Kentucky, he arrived in Alta California with the Bartleson–Bidwell Party in 1841, ventured into Oregon with his brothers, and participated in the Bear Flag Revolt. He eventually settled in the Clear Lake area in modern-day Lake County, California after acquiring livestock from Californio Salvador Vallejo. He and his business partner Charles Stone effectively enslaved local Pomo and Wappo bands and, along with Benjamin Kelsey, subjected them to starvation, torture, rapes and murders. Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone were killed in 1849 during an Indian uprising triggered by their mistreatment of the indigenous population. Kelsey's name is attached to the town of Kelseyville in Lake County.
Andrew Kelsey was born in Barren County, Kentucky around 1819, the son of David Kelsey and Susan Jane Cossart. His family moved to Missouri in the 1830s. The "Kelso" family were "the first settlers of the Hoffman Bend section" in St. Clair County, Missouri, "considered pretty shrewd" and "inclined to make the most of their opportunities". Legal troubles followed them, as they attempted to secure some of their neighbors' pre-emption claims, and had to vacate the area. Andrew Jr. (as he was known then, his uncle being Andrew Sr.), his brother Samuel and their father David ended embattled in lawsuits. The same Missouri historian speculates that Jesse Applegate, a well-known St. Clair County figure, encouraged the Kelsos to explore new horizons. (Samuel Kelsey married a Lucy Applegate, but relation is unknown.)
Along with his father and his brothers Samuel and Isaiah, Andrew appears in the 1840 U.S. census in Deerfield, Missouri, where he is enumerated as a farmer and head of a family with two girls aged between 5 and 9.
Andrew, his brother Benjamin and his wife Nancy arrived in Alta California in the Bartleson–Bidwell Party in November 1841. The other Kelsey brothers, Isaiah and Samuel, chose to head for Oregon with their father when the party reached Soda Springs. Ben and Andrew spent time at Sutter's Fort and trapping north of the San Francisco Bay before deciding to drive cattle to Oregon and meet up with their other brothers.
In 1844, along with his brothers Ben and Sam and his father David, Andrew Kelsey was part of a party leading emigrants from Oregon on the Siskiyou Trail to Sutter's Fort. Among the party were Joseph Willard Buzzell, who had married Margaret, one of Ben's daughters (and with whom he would eventually raise two daughters at the Fort), as well as William and William Fowler Jr. (who had married Rebecca, one of Andrew's sister). Buzzell, who was close to John Sutter, is credited for convincing the Kelseys to return to California.
Historian H.H. Bancroft suggests Andrew Kelsey might have been part of Micheltorena's 1844-1845 campaign in captain John Gantt's company. The man participated with his brothers in the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, which ended Mexican control of California and established the California Republic (Andrew's sister-in-law Nancy Kelsey is said to have sewn the first Bear Flag).
Kelsey met Charles Stone, who took part in the second rescue relief group sent for the Donner Party in 1847. Charles Stone and another man were given $500 to rescue Tamsen Donner's three young daughters. They eventually abandoned them at Donner Lake to head back west to avoid harsh weather conditions, "their packs stuffed with booty".
Captain Salvador Vallejo was the brother of Californio general Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, and had been pacifying Rancho Lupyomi, the grant he had received from the Mexican government. Both Salvador and his brother were in 1844 each granted 16 square leagues, or about 112 square miles (290 km2). Vallejo had hoped to sell the Clear Lake area grant to former Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs, who had befriended his general brother.