Sarah Keyes was a member of the Donner Party, emigrating to California in 1846. She was the mother-in-law of one of the group's leaders, James Reed.
Mrs. Keyes was seventy years of age and suffering from consumption when the group left Missouri in the Spring of '46. She insisted on going with her daughter & family and hoped to meet up with one of her sons, who had gone west a couple of years before. A special wagon was outfitted for Mrs. Keyes, designed to provide a comfortable ride for the elderly woman.
When the wagon train reached the Big Blue River, in what is now northern Kansas, heavy rains had swollen the river & they had to wait for the waters to recede so they could cross. They named the campsite "Alcove Spring" and the men set about building a raft to ferry the wagons across. Mrs. Keyes died on the morning of May 29, with her daughter, Margaret, at her side. A cottonwood tree was felled & the trunks of it was split into planks to build a coffin. Her grave was dug a short distance from the camp, under a large oak tree. John Denton, a young Englishman traveling with the Donners, found a gray stone and carved her name and age to serve as her tombstone. Rev. Mr. Cornwall offered a prayer over her grave & hymns were sung by the entire company. The inscription on her stone read, "Mrs. Sarah Keyes, Died May 29, 1846, Aged 70."
Mrs. Keyes' grave location is described as lying between Alcove Springs and Independence crossing, about one quarter mile from each. It is located on a sloping hill, on the north side of Alcove Springs Creek. The stone was still standing in 1930, but none of the engravings remained.∼Sarah Keyes,
d. May 29, 1846, age 70; ALCOVE SPRING:
Mother-in-law of James Frazier Reed. Reed-Donner Party.
In the winter of 1845-46, Mrs. Keyes, now 70 years old, was not surprised when doctors told her that her health was such that she had only a few months to live. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the end, Mrs. Keyes vowed she would use whatever strength remained in her in an effort see her son one more time -- a son who had emigrated to Oregon several years earlier.
A son-in-law agreed to let her accompany him and his family; word was sent to the son in Oregon to meet his mother at Fort Hall in Idaho. But the reunion was not to be. Mrs. Keyes died only a matter of days after the wagon train left Independence, Missouri. During the early morning hours of May 29, 1846, Mrs. Keyes was buried near the Big Blue River in present-day Kansas.
The death of Mrs. Keyes was undoubtedly commented upon and remembered by other members of the train, and under other circumstances might have become part of the folk lore of the trail. Sadly, the name of Mrs. Sarah Keyes was all but lost to history when the party with which she had commenced the trip west subsequently encountered one of the most fearsome experiences in trail history -- a tragedy that forever attached the name of the train's leaders to Donner Pass.
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Source: http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/stories_donner_party.php∼"After crossing the Big Blue [river, MO.] on the 13th - on the western bank were two graves. "Sarah Keys of Springfield, IL., died in '46 [1846] age 76." Letter dated May 19, 1849, by J.M. Hixson. "Genealogical Notes from the "Liberty Tribune, 1846-1858," Vol. 1, page 39.
Mrs. Keyes was seventy years of age and suffering from consumption when the group left Missouri in the Spring of '46. She insisted on going with her daughter & family and hoped to meet up with one of her sons, who had gone west a couple of years before. A special wagon was outfitted for Mrs. Keyes, designed to provide a comfortable ride for the elderly woman.
When the wagon train reached the Big Blue River, in what is now northern Kansas, heavy rains had swollen the river & they had to wait for the waters to recede so they could cross. They named the campsite "Alcove Spring" and the men set about building a raft to ferry the wagons across. Mrs. Keyes died on the morning of May 29, with her daughter, Margaret, at her side. A cottonwood tree was felled & the trunks of it was split into planks to build a coffin. Her grave was dug a short distance from the camp, under a large oak tree. John Denton, a young Englishman traveling with the Donners, found a gray stone and carved her name and age to serve as her tombstone. Rev. Mr. Cornwall offered a prayer over her grave & hymns were sung by the entire company. The inscription on her stone read, "Mrs. Sarah Keyes, Died May 29, 1846, Aged 70."
Mrs. Keyes' grave location is described as lying between Alcove Springs and Independence crossing, about one quarter mile from each. It is located on a sloping hill, on the north side of Alcove Springs Creek. The stone was still standing in 1930, but none of the engravings remained.∼Sarah Keyes,
d. May 29, 1846, age 70; ALCOVE SPRING:
Mother-in-law of James Frazier Reed. Reed-Donner Party.
In the winter of 1845-46, Mrs. Keyes, now 70 years old, was not surprised when doctors told her that her health was such that she had only a few months to live. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the end, Mrs. Keyes vowed she would use whatever strength remained in her in an effort see her son one more time -- a son who had emigrated to Oregon several years earlier.
A son-in-law agreed to let her accompany him and his family; word was sent to the son in Oregon to meet his mother at Fort Hall in Idaho. But the reunion was not to be. Mrs. Keyes died only a matter of days after the wagon train left Independence, Missouri. During the early morning hours of May 29, 1846, Mrs. Keyes was buried near the Big Blue River in present-day Kansas.
The death of Mrs. Keyes was undoubtedly commented upon and remembered by other members of the train, and under other circumstances might have become part of the folk lore of the trail. Sadly, the name of Mrs. Sarah Keyes was all but lost to history when the party with which she had commenced the trip west subsequently encountered one of the most fearsome experiences in trail history -- a tragedy that forever attached the name of the train's leaders to Donner Pass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/stories_donner_party.php∼"After crossing the Big Blue [river, MO.] on the 13th - on the western bank were two graves. "Sarah Keys of Springfield, IL., died in '46 [1846] age 76." Letter dated May 19, 1849, by J.M. Hixson. "Genealogical Notes from the "Liberty Tribune, 1846-1858," Vol. 1, page 39.
Sarah Keyes was a member of the Donner Party, emigrating to California in 1846. She was the mother-in-law of one of the group's leaders, James Reed.
Mrs. Keyes was seventy years of age and suffering from consumption when the group left Missouri in the Spring of '46. She insisted on going with her daughter & family and hoped to meet up with one of her sons, who had gone west a couple of years before. A special wagon was outfitted for Mrs. Keyes, designed to provide a comfortable ride for the elderly woman.
When the wagon train reached the Big Blue River, in what is now northern Kansas, heavy rains had swollen the river & they had to wait for the waters to recede so they could cross. They named the campsite "Alcove Spring" and the men set about building a raft to ferry the wagons across. Mrs. Keyes died on the morning of May 29, with her daughter, Margaret, at her side. A cottonwood tree was felled & the trunks of it was split into planks to build a coffin. Her grave was dug a short distance from the camp, under a large oak tree. John Denton, a young Englishman traveling with the Donners, found a gray stone and carved her name and age to serve as her tombstone. Rev. Mr. Cornwall offered a prayer over her grave & hymns were sung by the entire company. The inscription on her stone read, "Mrs. Sarah Keyes, Died May 29, 1846, Aged 70."
Mrs. Keyes' grave location is described as lying between Alcove Springs and Independence crossing, about one quarter mile from each. It is located on a sloping hill, on the north side of Alcove Springs Creek. The stone was still standing in 1930, but none of the engravings remained.∼Sarah Keyes,
d. May 29, 1846, age 70; ALCOVE SPRING:
Mother-in-law of James Frazier Reed. Reed-Donner Party.
In the winter of 1845-46, Mrs. Keyes, now 70 years old, was not surprised when doctors told her that her health was such that she had only a few months to live. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the end, Mrs. Keyes vowed she would use whatever strength remained in her in an effort see her son one more time -- a son who had emigrated to Oregon several years earlier.
A son-in-law agreed to let her accompany him and his family; word was sent to the son in Oregon to meet his mother at Fort Hall in Idaho. But the reunion was not to be. Mrs. Keyes died only a matter of days after the wagon train left Independence, Missouri. During the early morning hours of May 29, 1846, Mrs. Keyes was buried near the Big Blue River in present-day Kansas.
The death of Mrs. Keyes was undoubtedly commented upon and remembered by other members of the train, and under other circumstances might have become part of the folk lore of the trail. Sadly, the name of Mrs. Sarah Keyes was all but lost to history when the party with which she had commenced the trip west subsequently encountered one of the most fearsome experiences in trail history -- a tragedy that forever attached the name of the train's leaders to Donner Pass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/stories_donner_party.php∼"After crossing the Big Blue [river, MO.] on the 13th - on the western bank were two graves. "Sarah Keys of Springfield, IL., died in '46 [1846] age 76." Letter dated May 19, 1849, by J.M. Hixson. "Genealogical Notes from the "Liberty Tribune, 1846-1858," Vol. 1, page 39.
Mrs. Keyes was seventy years of age and suffering from consumption when the group left Missouri in the Spring of '46. She insisted on going with her daughter & family and hoped to meet up with one of her sons, who had gone west a couple of years before. A special wagon was outfitted for Mrs. Keyes, designed to provide a comfortable ride for the elderly woman.
When the wagon train reached the Big Blue River, in what is now northern Kansas, heavy rains had swollen the river & they had to wait for the waters to recede so they could cross. They named the campsite "Alcove Spring" and the men set about building a raft to ferry the wagons across. Mrs. Keyes died on the morning of May 29, with her daughter, Margaret, at her side. A cottonwood tree was felled & the trunks of it was split into planks to build a coffin. Her grave was dug a short distance from the camp, under a large oak tree. John Denton, a young Englishman traveling with the Donners, found a gray stone and carved her name and age to serve as her tombstone. Rev. Mr. Cornwall offered a prayer over her grave & hymns were sung by the entire company. The inscription on her stone read, "Mrs. Sarah Keyes, Died May 29, 1846, Aged 70."
Mrs. Keyes' grave location is described as lying between Alcove Springs and Independence crossing, about one quarter mile from each. It is located on a sloping hill, on the north side of Alcove Springs Creek. The stone was still standing in 1930, but none of the engravings remained.∼Sarah Keyes,
d. May 29, 1846, age 70; ALCOVE SPRING:
Mother-in-law of James Frazier Reed. Reed-Donner Party.
In the winter of 1845-46, Mrs. Keyes, now 70 years old, was not surprised when doctors told her that her health was such that she had only a few months to live. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the end, Mrs. Keyes vowed she would use whatever strength remained in her in an effort see her son one more time -- a son who had emigrated to Oregon several years earlier.
A son-in-law agreed to let her accompany him and his family; word was sent to the son in Oregon to meet his mother at Fort Hall in Idaho. But the reunion was not to be. Mrs. Keyes died only a matter of days after the wagon train left Independence, Missouri. During the early morning hours of May 29, 1846, Mrs. Keyes was buried near the Big Blue River in present-day Kansas.
The death of Mrs. Keyes was undoubtedly commented upon and remembered by other members of the train, and under other circumstances might have become part of the folk lore of the trail. Sadly, the name of Mrs. Sarah Keyes was all but lost to history when the party with which she had commenced the trip west subsequently encountered one of the most fearsome experiences in trail history -- a tragedy that forever attached the name of the train's leaders to Donner Pass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: http://www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/stories_donner_party.php∼"After crossing the Big Blue [river, MO.] on the 13th - on the western bank were two graves. "Sarah Keys of Springfield, IL., died in '46 [1846] age 76." Letter dated May 19, 1849, by J.M. Hixson. "Genealogical Notes from the "Liberty Tribune, 1846-1858," Vol. 1, page 39.
Inscription
GOD IN HIS LOVE
AND CHARITY HAS,
CALLED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL VALLEY,
A PIONEER WOMAN
MAY 29, 1846 - (stone)
--
IN HONOR OF SARAH HANDLEY KEYS
DAUGHTER OF A REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOT.
ARTHUR BARRETT CHAPTER, DAR - (plaque)
Family Members
Spouse
