Nancy Kelsey
| Nancy Kelsey | |
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Nancy Kelsey photographed by Carleton E. Watkins
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| Born |
Nancy Roberts August 1, 1823 Barren County, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | August 10, 1896 (aged 73) Cuyama, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | California pioneer |
| Known for | 1st white woman to overland from Missouri to California |
Nancy Kelsey (August 1, 1823, Barren County, Kentucky – August 10, 1896, Cuyama, California) was a member of the Bartleson-Bidwell party. She was the first white woman to travel overland from Missouri, seeing Utah and Nevada before crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains into California on November 25, 1841. Wife of Benjamin Kelsey, and the mother of eight surviving children, she is sometimes referred to as the "Betsy Ross of California" for her role in creation of the original Bear Flag from which Bear Flag Rebellion got its name.
Born in Barren County, Kentucky, her family moved to Jackson County, Missouri when she was three years old.
Nancy married Benjamin "Ben" Kelsey on October 25, 1838 in Henry County, Missouri. Her husband and his brothers, David, Samuel and Andrew had settled a section in the Hoffman Bend area of what would become St. Clair County, Missouri and had already been in some trouble with the authorities. There were some shady dealings in real estate; Samuel was indicted for murder, and a lawsuit was filed against Andrew in 1841. After his brothers left for the west, David remained behind as David Kelso in Missouri, taking care of their elderly father, Samuel Kelsey Sr.
Nancy Kelsey was 17 years old in 1841 when Ben decided to travel west after reading doctor John Marsh's letter describing his trip by sea through the Strait of Magellan to the San Joaquin Valley of California.
Before they left Missouri, her second child, named after his uncle Samuel, died after only eight days. Shortly thereafter on May 18, 1841, Ben and Nancy with their one-year-old daughter, Martha Ann, and Kelsey's brothers joined John Bidwell as members of the first wagon train to California. The group had at least one wedding on the trail. Father Pierre-Jean De Smet performed the ceremony for Nancy Kelsey's sister "Betsey Grey" and her new husband Richard Phelan before the two emigrant groups and the priest's parties split up in August 1841.
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