Friday, September 19, 2014

The oldest marked grave on the trails

It is well known that travel on the trails resulted in many deaths. Most of those who perished were buried where they died. This resulted in many unmarked graves of unknown emigrants. By reading many of the diaries some of the graves are identified and marked today. Wyoming’s Converse County has more marked trail graves than any other county. There are marked grave sites of Pvt. Ralston Baker, Mary (Kelly) Hurley, Sharp-Taylor-Franklin, Alva Unthank, J.D. Parker, Martin Ringo and Ada McGill. One grave stands out because it is the oldest marked grave on the entire trail system, that of Joel Hembree. Joel Hembree, his wife Sara, and their eight sons from McMinnville, Tennessee were part of a large group, estimated at 1,000, to leave Independence, Mo., in May 1843 on their way to Oregon. On July 18, between Bed Tick Creek and LaPrele Creek, six-year-old Joel Hembree , the second youngest son, fell from the wagon tongue on which he was riding and was fatally injured. Diarist William Newby wrote, "July 18: A very bad road. Joel J. Hembree’s son Joel fell off the waggeon tung & both wheels run over him. Distance 17 miles. July 19: Lay By. Joel Hembree departed his life about 2 o’clock. July 20: We buried the youth & ingraved his name on the headstone. Dr. Marcus Whitman, who was with this group, described the fatality as a wagon having passed over the abdomen." The finding of Joel’s grave is almost as interesting as the story of the boy’s death...more

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