Ada Keseberg, Donner Party

http://user.xmission.com/~octa/DonnerParty/Keseberg.htm#Elisabeth%2...

Ada had a twin sister who died after the Kesebergs arrived in the United States from Germany -- see "The Missing Keseberg Child" in Donner Party Bulletin 14.

     When the First Relief left the lake camp on February 22, 1847, they took Ada and her mother with them, but the little girl died on the way out. W. C. Graves recalled, "The second day, Mrs. Keisburg offered twenty-five dollars and a gold watch to anyone who would carry her child through; but it died that night and was buried the next morning in the snow."

There was a grisly sequel to her death: On their way out of the mountains in April 1847, the Fourth Relief stopped at a site used by previous relief parties. While sitting by the fire, Louis Keseberg noticed a piece of cloth sticking out of the snow. He tugged at it, and into his arms tumbled the corpse of his little daughter, who had died two months earlier. He had no idea until that moment that she was dead.