Tamsen Donner

Last updated • 11 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Tamsen Donner
Born
Tamsen Eustis

(1801-11-01)November 1, 1801
Newburyport, Massachusetts
DiedMarch 1847(1847-03-00) (aged 45)
Truckee Lake, California
Cause of deathExposure
Known forParticipation in Donner Party
Spouse
George Donner
​
(m. 1839)​
Children
  • Frances Eustis Donner
  • Georgia Ann Donner
  • Eliza P. Donner Houghton

Tamsen Eustis Dozier Donner (November 1, 1801 – March 1847) was an American pioneer, most notable for her key role as a member of the infamous Donner Party. Donner was described as having been "a little woman" [1] and "a good shot with a pistol". [2] As the party encountered worsening conditions, she repeatedly refused to leave her dying husband, George Donner. She subsequently became the last victim to perish in the ordeal and possibly the last to be cannibalized.

Contents

Early life

Massachusetts and Maine

Donner was born Tamsen Eustis on November 1, 1801, in Newburyport, Massachusetts to William Eustis and Tamesin Wheelwright, the youngest of seven children. [3] Only two of her siblings, Elizabeth "Betsey" Eustis Poor and William Eustis, lived to adulthood. [4] She began teaching at age fifteen, [5] a career that would take her across the country. Donner moved to Maine at some point after 1817 and worked as a school teacher. Letters to her sister, Betsy, indicate she worked and lived in Boobartown, Wells, and Williamsburg. [6] Reporting on her work in Williamsburg, Donner states that she has "a convenient school house, pleasantly situated, (and) board(s) in a remarkably agreeable family". [7]

North Carolina

Donner moved to North Carolina in 1824 to find better work as a schoolteacher. [8] A Miss Eustis is recorded as having taught the Elizabeth City Academy's "female department" in 1827. [9] In December 1829, she married Tully Dozier, postmaster, and they had a son soon after. [9] Donner's son died on September 28, 1831, followed by a premature daughter on November 18. [10] Her husband died the same year on December 24. [11] Due to the loss of her family in such a short period, Donner became deeply depressed and was plagued with nightmares. [12] Despite this, Donner was able to support herself. When her brother, William, offered to take care of her, Donner said "I am abundantly able at present to take care of myself and to supply every necessary and unnecessary want." [13]

Illinois

Some time between September 1836 and February 1837, Donner moved to Illinois. [14] There she again worked as a schoolteacher, and sporadically taught and cared for her brother's children. [14] Donner met George Donner, a local farmer and her future husband, in Springfield, Illinois. [13] They courted and were married May 24, 1839. [15] Donner had three children with her husband: Frances Eustis (1840), Georgia Ann (1841), and Eliza (1843). [16] Donner started a "reading society" at her home, [13] the purpose of which changed at one point so Donner "might read to those assembled the publications which had kindled in (George and Jacob Donner) the desire to migrate to the land so alluringly described". [17] Donner seemed to enjoy her life in Illinois, writing to her sister saying "I am as happy as I can reasonably expect in this changing world." [18]

Participation in the Donner Party

Early journey

George and Jacob Donner, Tamsen Donner's husband and brother-in-law, decided to migrate to California. According to her daughter, Eliza Houghton, Tamsen Donner "was in accord with my father's wishes, and helped him to carry out his plan." [15] Houghton recalls that her mother "was energetic in all these preparations, but her special province was to make and otherwise get in readiness a bountiful supply of clothing". [19] Donner also collected supplies for a women's school that she hoped to open in California. [19] The Donners brought with them their five daughters still living with them, including Tamsen's three daughters and two of George Donner's daughters from a previous marriage.

In the early days of their migration, Donner read and practiced botany along the trip, finding tulips, primrose, lupine, "the ear-drop", larkspur, creeping hollyhock, and an unidentified “beautiful flower". [20] Her daughter Eliza recalled that Donner also "made pencil and watercolor studies" of the flowers. [21] Donner spent a large portion of her time cooking, using flour, rice, beans, cornmeal, and meat. [22]

Tamsen Donner wrote letters to The Springfield Journal documenting their travel, two of which survive. Her first letter is dated June 16, 1846, and was published on July 23. [22] After traveling 450 miles, Donner was optimistic, writing, "If I do not experience something far worse than I have yet done, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started." [22] Donner reported liking the Indians she met, stating that, "All are so friendly that I cannot help feeling sympathy and friendship for them." [22] Donner also described the traveling party, writing that, “We have [some] of the best people in our company, and some, too, that are not so good." [20] Donner reported that she was able to "botanize and read some, but cook[ed] ‘heaps’ more". [23] In her second letter, Donner updates the journal on the position of the party, stating "To-morrow we cross the river, and, by reckoning, will be over 200 miles from Fort Laramie, where we intend to stop and repair our wagon wheels." [24]

The Hastings Cutoff path that the Donner Party used and Tamsen Donner was wary of. HastingsCutoff.gif
The Hastings Cutoff path that the Donner Party used and Tamsen Donner was wary of.

While the rest of the party decided to trust the promises of Lansford Hastings and his "Hastings Cutoff," Tamsen Donner was wary of the gamble of trusting Hastings on his word. [25] No one had actually met Hastings, and the route they chose was a matter of life and death. [25]

George and Tamsen Donner took Luke Halloran, a young businessman headed west in search of better health, into the Donner Party. [26] Halloran became ill along the route, and Tamsen Donner took on the role of watching over and caring for him. "Despite my mother's unwearying ministrations," Eliza Donner recalled, "death came on the fourth of September.” [27]

When the party reached the Utah desert, Tamsen Donner found and reassembled a torn note presumably written by Hastings. Once reassembled, the note read "2 days—2 nights—hard driving—cross—desert—reach water." [26] Donner believed the reason the note was torn was that crows had pecked and torn at it. [28]

Separation

Over the course of the journey, some families in the Donner Party moved faster than others, resulting in the group separating into smaller sections. [29] The two Donner families lagged to the rear of the party at large, and after a heavy snowstorm they were left seven miles behind the rest of the party at Alder Creek. [30] Tamsen Donner wanted to continue onward into the mountains but was overruled by George and Jacob Donner, who decided to set up camp at Alder Creek. [30] While stuck, Donner would brush her daughters' hair daily while telling them Bible stories. [31] She also wrote, sketched, knit, and sewed, all while telling her daughters the stories "of 'Joseph in Egypt,' of 'Daniel in the den of lions,' of 'Elijah healing the widow's son'". [32] Donner's daughter, Georgia, later recalled of this time that Tamsen had said "that we children had not had a dry garment on in more than a week, and that she did not know what to do about it". [33]

Map showing the location of the Alder Creek camp, where Tamsen Donner and her family stayed, and the lake cabins, where the rest of the party stayed. Map of Truckee Lake and Alder Creek.png
Map showing the location of the Alder Creek camp, where Tamsen Donner and her family stayed, and the lake cabins, where the rest of the party stayed.

First relief

While repairing a broken wagon axle with his brother, George Donner seriously injured his hand with a chisel. [34] This injury became infected, later leaving him too ill to move. Tamsen Donner cared for her husband in his illness, and her daughter Eliza recalled her sitting "by his side, with a basin of warm water upon her lap, laving the wounded and inflamed parts very tenderly, with a strip of frayed linen wrapped around a little stick". [35] When the first rescue party arrived to the Alder Creek camp, Tamsen Donner refused to leave her husband, and instead sent her two stepdaughters, Elitha and Leanna, with the rescue party. [36] Donner gave the girls a blanket to use on the trek to safety. [36] Recalling the morale of the Alder Creek camp after the first relief left, Eliza Donner stated that Betsy Donner, Jacob Donner's wife, often prayed with Tamsen Donner "for strength to bear their burdens". [32] One day, Tamsen Donner reported having seen bear tracks near the camp, and suggested that they hunt it for meat. [32]

Second relief

Upon the arrival of the second relief, George Donner was still too weak to move. [37] Tamsen Donner again refused to leave her husband, stating that she was determined "to remain and care for him until both should be rescued, or death should part them". [38] James Reed, a former party member returned as a rescuer, told Donner that another rescue was on the way. This, and the fact that the second relief was already overloaded with survivors, led her to decide to keep her daughters with her a little while longer. [39]

After the departure of the second relief, Tamsen Donner made a deal that Charles Cady and Charles Stone would take her daughters to safety for a fee. [40] Donner may have proposed the same deal to Reed, but was declined due to the second relief already being full. [40] Before Cady and Stone took the girls, Tamsen Donner said to them "I may never see you again, but God will take care of you." [41] Cady and Stone did not keep their promise of taking the girls to safety, and instead abandoned them at the Breen cabin where Lewis Keseberg and Levinah Murphy resided. [41] Nicholas Clark, a rescuer charged to stay with the Donner camp, discovered that the girls had not been delivered to safety after all. After Clark notified Tamsen Donner of the betrayal, she hesitantly left the bedside of her dying husband to head to the lake in order to make arrangements for her daughters. [42] John Baptiste Trudeau, a worker brought on by George Donner that had stayed to care for the Donner family, disputes this, telling Eliza Donner "It is true, but Clark did not return to report to your mother. She went over to Keseberg's Camp and, found you there. I staid with your father while she was gone. She was away two days." [2] Before she left for the lake, Trudeau recalls "[Tamsen Donner] wrote every day and kept account of every thing that happened. Sometimes she used to read to me at night what she had written. If her papers had been saved they would be very valuable to you." [2]

Third relief

When the third relief arrived, Tamsen Donner still refused to leave her husband as long as he lived. William Eddy, a party survivor returned rescuer, recounts that Tamsen Donner said "she would not consent to leave him while he survived". [43] Eddy also states that Donner expressed "the greatest solicitude for her children, and informed Mr. Eddy that she had fifteen hundred dollars in silver, all of which she would give him, if he would save the lives of the children… the last words uttered by Mrs. Donner in tears and sobs to Mr. Eddy were, 'Oh, save, save my children!'" [43] After arranging the girls departure with the rescue party, she returned to Alder Creek to care for George Donner. [44] This would be the last time Tamsen Donner's daughters would see her. Recalling saying goodbye, Georgia Donner said "There was hardly time for words or action, and none for tears." [44] Eliza Donner remembered that they "listened to the sound of her voice, felt her good-bye kisses, and watched her hasten away to father, over the snow, through the pines, and out of sight, and knew that we must not follow". [43]

Death

The exact circumstances in which Tamsen Donner died are unknown and highly contested. Both accounts of the events before, during, and after her death agree that in March 1847, [45] after George Donner finally passed away from his illness, Tamsen made her way over to Lewis Keseberg's cabin and died shortly after. Before leaving, Donner wrapped her husband's body in a sheet as some semblance of a burial. [46]

William Fallon, leader of the group sent to salvage the property of the Donner Party, paints a grisly scene. Fallon reported that Lewis Keseberg, told them he was the lone survivor left at the camp. [47] Fallon also states that Keseberg said Donner had gotten lost on her way from the Alder creek camp to the lake cabins, spent too long outside in the snow, barely made it to the cabin he was occupying, and died soon after. [47] Fallon's account alleges that Keseberg cannibalized Donner, and stated that her flesh was "the best he had ever tasted." [48] This account is highly contested, with author Ethan Rarick calling it "at best, half true". [49]

Keseberg's account states that Tamsen arrived at his cabin late one night, saying that her husband, George Donner, had died, and that she intended to cross the mountains alone. [50] She refused to eat the cannibalized remains Keseberg offered her, and she was dead by the next morning. [50] Keseberg denies accusations that he enjoyed the cannibalization of Tamsen Donner, and states that he promised her that he would retrieve the Donners' money and save it for the surviving children. [50] Keseberg claims to have tried to keep that promise, though Fallon and his men demanded it as payment for their efforts.

All five of George Donner's children in the Donner party survived the ordeal, including Tamsen Donner's three daughters. [45] Tamsen Donner's body was never recovered. [51]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola Montez</span> Irish dancer and actress

Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld, better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Gräfin von Landsfeld. At the start of the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, she was forced to flee. She proceeded to the United States via Austria, Switzerland, France and London, to return to her work as an entertainer and lecturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs Patrick Campbell</span> British stage actress

Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner, better known by her stage name Mrs Patrick Campbell or Mrs Pat, was an English stage actress, best known for appearing in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Barrie. She also toured the United States and appeared briefly in films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donner Party</span> 19th-century group of American emigrants who became trapped

The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, were a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the migrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, mainly eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation, sickness, or extreme cold, but in one case two Native American guides were murdered and eaten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Carrington</span> Soap opera character

Amanda Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. She was portrayed by Catherine Oxenberg for two seasons from 1984 to 1986, and then by Karen Cellini for 13 episodes from 1986 to 1987. Eliza Bennett plays Amanda in the CW reboot series Dynasty from 2021 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royall Tyler</span> American judge

Royall Tyler was an American jurist, teacher and playwright. He was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard University in 1776, and then served in the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolution. He was admitted to the bar in 1780, became a lawyer, and fathered eleven children. In 1801, he was appointed a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. He wrote a play, The Contrast, which was produced in 1787 in New York City, shortly after George Washington's inauguration. It is considered the first American comedy. Washington attended the production, which was well-received, and Tyler became a literary celebrity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Harrison Eustis</span> American dog breeder

Dorothy Leib Harrison Wood Eustis was an American dog breeder and philanthropist, who founded The Seeing Eye, the first dog guide school for the blind in the United States. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2011.

The following timeline provides an almost day-to-day basic description of events directly associated with the 1846 Donner Party pioneers, covering the journey from Illinois to California—2,500 miles, over the Great Plains, two mountain ranges, and the deserts of the Great Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom</span> Landgravine consort of Hesse-Homburg

Princess Elizabeth, called Eliza, was the seventh child and third daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte. After marrying the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Frederick VI, she took permanent residence in Germany as landgravine.

Ruth Whitman was an American poet, translator, and professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Eliza Bleecker</span> American poet, correspondent (1752–1783)

Ann Eliza Bleecker was an American poet and correspondent. Following a New York upbringing, Bleecker married John James Bleecker, a New Rochelle lawyer, in 1769. He encouraged her writings, and helped her publish a periodical containing her works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton</span> Wife of Alexander Hamilton (1757–1854)

Elizabeth Hamilton was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and was a passionate champion and defender of Hamilton's work and efforts in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.

<i>Who Would Have Thought It?</i> 1872 novel

Who Would Have Thought It? (1872) is a semi-autobiographical novel written by María Ruiz de Burton. After a long period in which Ruiz de Burton's work was almost completely unknown, the novel was rediscovered by critics interested in the history of Mexican-American literature, and republished to acclaim in 1995. Yet Ruiz de Burton's life was not particularly typical of the Mexican-American experience, as she married a prominent US officer, Captain Henry S. Burton, in the aftermath of the Mexican–American War and became acquainted with many powerful people in Washington D.C. The novel reflects her ambiguous position between the small in number Californio elite and the Anglo-American populace, which formed the majority of the United States population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Yount</span> California settler (1794–1865)

George Calvert Yount, later known by his Spanish name Don Jorge Concepción Yount, was a Californian ranchero, fur trapper, and entrepreneur. Born in North Carolina, he later emigrated to Alta California, where he became a Mexican citizen and acquired substantial property holdings in the Napa Valley, largely due to the influence of his friendship with General Mariano G. Vallejo. The city of Yountville, California is named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza de Feuillide</span> 18th and 19th-century English sister-in-law of Jane Austen

Eliza Capot, Comtesse de Feuillide was the cousin, and later sister-in-law, of novelist Jane Austen. She is believed to have been the inspiration for a number of Austen's works, such as Love and Freindship, Henry and Eliza, and Lady Susan. She may have also been the model from whom the character of Mary Crawford from the novel Mansfield Park is derived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabrielle Burton</span> American novelist

Gabrielle Burton was an American feminist novelist and screenwriter.

Elizabeth Jane Ross was a Scottish poet, artist, and collector of Gaelic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulette Fink</span> French Jewish nurse and resistance fighter

Paulette Weill Oppert Fink (1911–2005) was a French-Jewish nurse and resistance worker during the Second World War. She later emigrated to the United States where she helped to raise money in support of the new State of Israel. An executive member of the National Women's Division of the United Jewish Appeal, she was elected chair in December 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Keseberg</span> Survivor of the Donner Party (1814–1895)

Johann Ludwig Christian Keseberg, also referred to as Lewis Keseberg, was a member of the Donner Party of 1846–1847. He was the last survivor to be rescued from the Donner campsite. His reputation and his involvement in cannibalism allowed him to be remembered as "the most infamous and vilified member of the Donner Party."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Austen Hancock</span> English socialite (1730–1792)

Philadelphia Austen Hancock was an English socialite and the aunt of Jane Austen. Throughout her life, rumours circulated in India and England that she was the mistress of Warren Hastings, who was the godfather and suspected father of her daughter, Eliza de Feuillide.

<i>The Hunger</i> (Katsu novel) 2018 horror novel by Alma Katsu

The Hunger is a 2018 historical horror novel by Alma Katsu. It is a reimagining of the events of the Donner Party which includes supernatural elements. It received critical praise and was nominated for the 2018 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel as well as the 2019 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel.

References

  1. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 85.
  2. 1 2 3 King & Steed 1995.
  3. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 21.
  4. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 22.
  5. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 280.
  6. ↑ Burton 2009, pp. 280–281.
  7. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 281.
  8. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 282.
  9. 1 2 Burton 2009, p. 284.
  10. ↑ Burton 2009, pp. 287–288.
  11. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 288.
  12. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 15.
  13. 1 2 3 Rarick 2008, p. 16.
  14. 1 2 Burton 2009, p. 297.
  15. 1 2 Houghton 1911, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Houghton 1911, pp. 12–13.
  17. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 13.
  18. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 17.
  19. 1 2 Houghton 1911, p. 14.
  20. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 29.
  21. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 21.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Houghton 1911, p. 27.
  23. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 28.
  24. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 29.
  25. 1 2 Rarick 2008, pp. 50–51.
  26. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 70.
  27. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 36.
  28. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 38.
  29. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 108.
  30. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 117.
  31. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 126.
  32. 1 2 3 Houghton 1911, p. 78.
  33. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 59.
  34. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 51.
  35. ↑ Houghton 1911, pp. 58–59.
  36. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 171.
  37. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 194.
  38. ↑ Houghton 1911, p. 81.
  39. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 195.
  40. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 207.
  41. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 208.
  42. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 217.
  43. 1 2 3 Houghton 1911, p. 91.
  44. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 219.
  45. 1 2 Johnson 1996.
  46. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 229.
  47. 1 2 Rarick 2008, p. 223.
  48. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 224.
  49. ↑ Rarick 2008, p. 226.
  50. 1 2 3 Rarick 2008, p. 225.
  51. ↑ Burton 2009, p. 7.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.