Old Kernville Historic Cemetery
Take a Tour through the rich local history of the Kern River Valley. The Old Kernville Cemetery memorializes the pioneering families that shaped many communities of native Indians, miners, ranchers and businesses. Join us as we introduce you to many of these early pioneers.
Francisco
Apalatea
(1850-1928)
Block 29, Lot C10
Francisco was born on the Yaqui Indian reservation east of Tucson, Arizona in 1850. He was educated at the Xavier Mission nearby. Reportedly at age 14 he came west and obtained a land grant in what is now Los Angeles. When gold was discovered in the Sierras he sold the property and came to Porterville area and married his first wife, a Chumash lady named Catherine Franco.
In 1873, Francisco moved to Kern County where he chiefly engaged in mining, mostly on the Piute Mountain. He discovered the Bryan mine, which he afterwards sold for $5000. Over the years, he continued his mining interest and had several good claims.
In 1902, he and his family lived on a 160-acre ranch 3 miles north of Old Kernville. In 1915, he sold the ranch to his son-in-law Matt Burlando for $10. Later the ranch became the center of New Kernville. Francisco Apalatea married 3 times. His second wife was Mary (Butterbread) Reich. Together they had 8 children and his third wife Rosa Reich, a native of South Fork area. Their union produced an additional 5 children. That s a total of 16 children. Many relatives still live in the KRV today.
Bert Dewey
James
(1898-1980)
Block 7, Lot A4
Son of Billie and Ava James, Bert was born in Keyesville. Story has it that Billie had rushed to fetch the doctor when Ava was about to deliver their first born, but the baby would not wait. Mrs. William Walker was called to assist. By th time Billie and the doctor arrived, the new arrival was doing just fine. Billie and Ava had decided to name the boy Burton but Mrs. Walker threw a fit. It seems the memory of the infamous Burton-Walker Feud was still alive. So the name Bert was given instead.
Bert James ranched until age 31. In 1929 he bought the grocery business from owner Jim Brechtel. It's said that he ran the store giving credit to many of the locals. Many debts were never paid, but Bert sure had a lot of friends. The store was then called "Bert's Store" and later called James Store as it is often referred to today.
In 1944, Bert lost his wife and was left ot run the store and raise their 13 year old son, Clint James. About a year later a young Kansan named Helen Ramsey came to the valley to teach at the High School. Helen and Bert married in 1944.
In 1949, during the construction of Lake Isabella Damn, they mover their home to the east side of the river and in 1953 moved the store to what is now New Kernville. He later turned the business over to Clint but remained active in community till his passing on May 7, 1980.
William Henry Scodie
(1825-1898)
Block 20, Lot B6
He was born Wilhelm Heinrich Schodda on June 18, 1825 in the Duchy of Hanover, Germany.
Wilhelm left Bremen, Germany as a teenager, worked as a ship's cabin boy, then in Saniago, Chile as a cook. After going to Australia, he arrived in San Francisco in 1855. In 1856, he was in the mining town of Keyesville here in Kern County. In the 1860 Census, he was listed as a "merchant" aged 33. He ran a small hotel and changed his name to Scodie (easier for the Americans to pronounce). He saved his money and looked for land to buy. In 1861, he bought a ranch in the South Fork Valley. J.V. Roberts and his Indian wife Ellen on the Bloomfield Ranch were his only neighbors.
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Will Scodie operated the stage stop known as Scodie Station for travelers which included a hotel, store, bank and blacksmith shop in an existing adobe house. All was not peaceful for the store keeper. He survived several robberies by the infamous outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez's gang. Will was relieved of $800, a string of horses, and a change of clothes.In the early 1870's, at the age of 48, he married a young Indian woman, a Tubatulabal named White Blanket. William and White Blanket had one child, a daughter, Sophia. It was Sophia that named the station Onyx. When the postal department needed a name for the post office, Will left it to Sophia, and while thumbing through a dictionary found the word "Onyx". She liked the sound and so it was to be.
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After White Blanket passed, Will married Elise Stahlecker Marx and they had a child named Willma. William Scodie died November 4, 1898.
White Blanket Scodie
(1850-1879?) Block 20, Lot A3
White Blanket Scodie is listed as the 1st wife of William Henry Scodie with whom she had a daughter circa 1874, Sophia. There is some confusion about her burial or if she is the White Blanket in the photo. But the confusion is likely because there were more than one White Blankets - the other probably her mother or grandmother. that could have been Maria White Blanket, aged 80 in 1880, when she was living with her son-in-law, Tom Bobb,Unfortunately, White Blanket Scodie died before Sophia was six, conceivably in 1879, Will listed himself as a widower in the 1880 census.
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White Blanket Scodie is buried in the old Kernville Cemetery with the Scodie family. Her grave was not marked until 1992, when relatives in the Hays family, installed a simple flat marker at the urging of Scodie family descendent Lynn Hay Rudy.
Matt Burlando
(1886-1930)
Block 9, Lot C11
Matt Burlando was born in Torino (Turin), Italy in 1886. He came to California and married Lupie Apalatea, who was the daughter of Francisco Apalatea. After their marriage, they moved up the Kern River to one of the Edison Camps and Matt worked as a blacksmith there. They had 4 children: Isabell Blanche "Betsy", Johnny, Billy and Claude (aka Skeeziks).
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After the birth of their 1st child Betsy, Matt decided he wanted to go into business for himself. He started what was later known as Fairview Lodge in the 1920's. After living in a tent for some time they built their first house. This served as a house, dining hall and store. Lupie would serve meals to Edison workers as well as tourists that had discovered the riches of the area. Matt also started a burro packing business, taking people into the back country. A part of their house would later be used for the now famous McNally's Steak House.
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In 1915, they sold the Lodge and purchased his father-in-law's 160-acre ranch 3 miles north of old Kernville. Matt Burlando died in 1930 and Lupie followed in 1855. Their son Bill still resides on Burlando Rd. in Kernville.
Cora Nettie Hight Yarbrough
(1868-1956)
Block 15, Lot A3(b)
On October 3, 1868, during a storm in the Greenhorn Mountains, Nettie was born to Charles & Sarah Hight in the hurried shelter of a deserted cabin with the help of Glenville midwife Grandma Allen. Nettie her childhood in the log cabin on the family's mountain homestead, watching her father make furniture and her mother make soup and candles using lye made from oak ashes in the ash hopper. In 1879 the family moved down the mountain to Kernville where all 6 Hight children attended school. Nettie later married David W. Yarbrough, described as a wild and wooly cowpuncher. She and Dave shared the challenges of cow camp and cattle ranching until they both slowed their lives a bit. They set up a wayside station in Red Rock Canyon. Due to Dave's suffering a series of strokes, they returned to Kernville where she cared for him.
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In October 1950, the Order of E. Clampus Vitus convened to commemorate the old town of Kernville before it was lost to Isabella Like, placing a plaque just outside the Old Kernville Cemetery. The Clampus selected Nettie as epitome of the pioneer spirit of the old town. Cora Nettie Hight Yarborough died in 1956.
Harold 'Bill' M. Calkins
(1870-1945)
Block 15, Lot D12
Harold “Bill” M. Calkins was born on October 1, 1870. His mother's maiden name was Mead. Harold resembled an actor of the times by the name of Bill Neigh. Because of this he was nicked named "Bill". Harold was also a stand in stuntman for some of movies made in the valley.
Bill and his wife had been running the Mountain Inn in Kernville but he felt the area was getting to civilized for them. They moved 15 miles upriver and started Camp Durrwood. Durrwood is a misspelled place name. It should have been Durwood, recording the fleeting presence of Billy Durwood, foreman of the A. Brown Ranch in 1879.
Bill Calkins had an unusual pet, a mountain lion named Tim. Bill of course had several tales to tell about Tim. Bill was another of the very colorful characters of the Kern River Valley. In 1944, Bill sold Camp Durrwood. Bill died on January 4, 1945.