Donner Party Survivor, Pioneer. Margret's first husband, Lloyd Backenstoe, died of cholera in 1834, leaving his widow with a baby daughter, Virginia. Her second husband, James Frazier Reed, had been engaged to her sister Elizabeth who also died in the same cholera epidemic. A year later Reed married Margret. She was ill, but was married as she lay in bed, with Reed standing beside her holding her hand. Margret Reed’s frail health was one of the reasons her husband wanted to move to California so he organized the "Reed and Donner emigrant party" that left Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois on April 14, 1846. On October 5, 1846, her husband was banished from the train and she was left behind with the children while he went ahead to Sutter’s Fort for supplies. When disaster struck, however, she rallied and became, as her daughter Virginia said, "the bravest of the brave." She, along with her children, Virginia and Jimmy were rescued by the First Relief. On her way out of the mountain she met her husband who was leading the Second Relief and informed him that Patty and Tommy were still at Donner Lake. All her children survived the ordeal in the mountains and she had two more children, Charles Cadden and Willianoski “Willie” Yount. Margret's sick headaches never returned, but her health was not robust and she died at age 47. Margaret Streets in downtown San Jose is named after.
Donner Party Survivor, Pioneer. Margret's first husband, Lloyd Backenstoe, died of cholera in 1834, leaving his widow with a baby daughter, Virginia. Her second husband, James Frazier Reed, had been engaged to her sister Elizabeth who also died in the same cholera epidemic. A year later Reed married Margret. She was ill, but was married as she lay in bed, with Reed standing beside her holding her hand. Margret Reed’s frail health was one of the reasons her husband wanted to move to California so he organized the "Reed and Donner emigrant party" that left Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois on April 14, 1846. On October 5, 1846, her husband was banished from the train and she was left behind with the children while he went ahead to Sutter’s Fort for supplies. When disaster struck, however, she rallied and became, as her daughter Virginia said, "the bravest of the brave." She, along with her children, Virginia and Jimmy were rescued by the First Relief. On her way out of the mountain she met her husband who was leading the Second Relief and informed him that Patty and Tommy were still at Donner Lake. All her children survived the ordeal in the mountains and she had two more children, Charles Cadden and Willianoski “Willie” Yount. Margret's sick headaches never returned, but her health was not robust and she died at age 47. Margaret Streets in downtown San Jose is named after.
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