Kelsey, that is. Two more letters to her friend, Helen Weber, are in the Weber Family Papers. They are written from Gilroy, where the Kelseys moved after they left Lone Pine, Inyo County.
The earthquake occurred in March 1872. By October they were in Gilroy, and by the next February they had rented a place. Nancy’s letter gives us an idea of what people were looking for in a piece of property, and what it cost in 1872. I have fixed up her spelling and added some punctuation.
We have rented a place in old Gilroy. We have to pay ten dollars a month. There is three acres of ground and a barn and a few fruit trees. I have a few chickens and ducks. I am again going to try to make me a home here if I can.
And that what Nancy, and many a pioneer woman did over and over — start again to
Farm Girl Feeding Chickens, by Julien Dupre
make a home in a new place.
goldfields 