Margaret Dana

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel 1847–1868 James Pace Company (1850) Approximate age at departure: 43

Elizabeth's sister, Margaret Kennedy, wife of Charles Dana along with her family. She died shortly after they crossed the Missouri River (on June 14th) of an epidemic of Cholera. Her husband, Charles Dana, recorded the distance from the river as being "24 miles".

Married a Mr. Lusk and had one daughter before his death.

First wife of Charles Root Dana; they married in Lowville, Lewis, New York about 1827 and had two more daughters and four sons.

She died of cholera while crossing the Great Plain enroute to Utah Territory.

They were traveling with a company of Latter-day Saint pioneers led by Captain James Pace.

Her husband had recorded the circumstances of her death in his daily journal. His details described the approximate hour and that the location was 24 miles west of where they had crossed the Missouri River, three miles below the mouth of the Platt River, 3 days prior. (Bethlehem ferry was 18 miles downriver from Kanesville on the Missouri.)

Her grave tablet, made of wood, was inscribed with a knife by her husband, and stood the test of time long enough to be recorded by a passing pioneer sister who later saw it on the trail. Inscription: M. DANA Adieu, beloved Margaret, adieu - reluctant I leave you behind, but duty compels me to go, because of this wilderness land.

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via Charles Root Dana by SmartCopy: Apr 26 2015, 11:01:59 UTC
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 12 2023, 6:19:08 UTC