Elbern Kelley, A Honey Lake Tragedy

Elbern Kelley's grave, Susanville Cemetery, 2002.
Elbern Kelley’s grave, Susanville Cemetery, 2002.

In 1862, the John D. Kelley family arrived in Susanville from Washoe Valley, Nevada. The following year they located in the Tule District of the Honey Lake Valley. The property was known for many years as the Dill Ranch, now owned by Jay Dow.

On July 8, 1863, the family went over to Milford for a social visit. Kelley’s nine-year-old son, Elbern and Joshua Bristo Rice, then eleven, went down to play along the shore of Honey Lake. They then ventured out into the lake on a sand bar. Kelley went even further and got into deep water and did not know how to swim. Rice did not know how to swim either, and rushed to get help. By the time Rice returned it was too late, and Kelley had drowned. It was the first death at Milford and the second drowning in Honey Lake.

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