Seeking drier weather for her husband , the family moved to Mexico in 1859 , and then to Texas in 1861 where Nancy , Martha Ann and two younger daughters survived an attack by Comanche . Nancy loaded guns and told the children to hide . Her two oldest girls hid , but 12-year-old Mary Ellen was captured and found the next day scalped , stabbed and with a fractured skull which she survived but suffered mental illness until her death six years later In 1864 , the family returned to California , at first in San Luis Obispo , then settling near Fresno in 1865 . The wandering continued ; the family moved to Inyo County , survived the approximately 8.0 1872 Lone Pine earthquake , which Ben said was the only thing that ever frightened him . Ben worked in the Cerro Gordo Mines , and finally the family moved to Los Angeles where Ben Kelsey died on February 19 , 1889 , aged 76
1872 Lone Pine earthquake
1872 Lone Pine earthquake
Nancy Kelsey