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William Kelsay

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William Kelsay

Birth
Greene County, Tennessee, USA
Death
6 Dec 1878 (aged 86)
Kelseyville, Lake County, California, USA
Burial
Kelseyville, Lake County, California, USA Add to Map
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William Kelsay, son of John and Mary Anderson Kelsay, learned the art of gunsmithing from his father-in-law George Harmon in Greene County, Tennessee, and married Barthena Heamon. They moved to Wayne County, Kentucky, by 1820, and in 1851 moved to Ray County, Missouri, where they remained for ten years. In 1861, William, his wife, daughter in law Millie Kelsay & her children, son Nathaniel Kelsay (and his two eldest sons), and daughter Sarah Kelsay, joined the Harriman Wagon Train and began a journey to California. In southern Idaho while camping by Raft River they were attacked by Indians (and white renegades) who stampeded all of their stock, and so they were left stranded. After waiting a day or two in case another wagon train passed by, the band decided to burn what they couldn't carry and started off on a journey that would take them across desert and over mountains to California. William and Barthena were the oldest people in the group, but many days William led the rest on the tiring march. I have a fuller history of this ordeal and I must say these people were real pioneers and no life was lost. William and his family settled at the town of Kelseyville in Lake County (the town being named after the three sons (Ben, Andrew and Samuel Kelsey)of William's first cousin, who had come west in 1841 and played a role in the early days of California history. William lived out the remainder of his days in Kelseyville and died the year after that of his wife.
William Kelsay, son of John and Mary Anderson Kelsay, learned the art of gunsmithing from his father-in-law George Harmon in Greene County, Tennessee, and married Barthena Heamon. They moved to Wayne County, Kentucky, by 1820, and in 1851 moved to Ray County, Missouri, where they remained for ten years. In 1861, William, his wife, daughter in law Millie Kelsay & her children, son Nathaniel Kelsay (and his two eldest sons), and daughter Sarah Kelsay, joined the Harriman Wagon Train and began a journey to California. In southern Idaho while camping by Raft River they were attacked by Indians (and white renegades) who stampeded all of their stock, and so they were left stranded. After waiting a day or two in case another wagon train passed by, the band decided to burn what they couldn't carry and started off on a journey that would take them across desert and over mountains to California. William and Barthena were the oldest people in the group, but many days William led the rest on the tiring march. I have a fuller history of this ordeal and I must say these people were real pioneers and no life was lost. William and his family settled at the town of Kelseyville in Lake County (the town being named after the three sons (Ben, Andrew and Samuel Kelsey)of William's first cousin, who had come west in 1841 and played a role in the early days of California history. William lived out the remainder of his days in Kelseyville and died the year after that of his wife.

Gravesite Details

Many gravestones in Pioneer Cemetery (including that of William and Barthena Kelsay) have been vandalized and destroyed by vandals. I do, however have photos of their tombstones before they were destroyed. William Kelsay is my 4th great grandfather.

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