Donner and Reed documents up for auction

R. R. Auction of Amherst, New Hampshire, is offering two early documents bearing the signatures of Donner Party leaders.

The first is a petition dated February 16, 1840, asking the Sangamon County Commissioners to extend the Jacksonville Road, signed by George Donner and 37 others. The other document, undated, protests the annulment of the Bloomington Road, and is signed by James F. Reed and over a hundred others.

Bidding opens on December 27 and ends January 12. For more information about the auction, click here.

Donner descendant to speak

Don Springer, a fourth great grandson of George Donner, will be speaking in Springfield, Illinois, this month. Don is a descendant of George's only son, William, who remained in Springfield when his father headed west in 1846. Don's branch of the family still owns part of William's farm, which originally had been George's. (George and Tamzene sold it to William for "1 dollar & natural love & affection" in 1841.) Don's talk, "Springfield’s Donner Family: Trials of the Pioneer Trail, 1846," is a presentation of the Sangamon County Historical Society and will be given at the Brookens Library, University of Illinois Springfield, April 20, at 7:00. For more about Don and his presentation, click here.

Personal testimonial: Don is a great guy, knowledgeable about Sangamon County, and a great preserver of family lore, documents, and artifacts. In 2006 he erected a stone monument to George Donner, Sr., and his wife Mary in the Donner family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery in Springfield. The stone also memorializes Captain George Donner, Jr., and his wives Susannah Holloway, Mary Blue, and Tamzene Eustis Dozier. None of these individuals' resting places are known or marked, and Don did them all proud, with fine marker and ceremony that included Sons of the American Revolution in full Continental Army uniform. Good job, Don!

Had to laugh...

Today my genealogy program told me that Noah James was the half-brother of the father-in-law of the brother-in-law of a second cousin of the husband of a great-granddaughter of George Donner.

I did not ask for this information.

Grrr!

When I first heard about Ron Cunningham's Donner Party ballet performed recently in Sacramento, I was sorry to have missed it. Not anymore! A correspondent wrote to the paper and learned of a "plot twist" -- George Donner didn't die of gangrene, no, no! Instead, the ballet suggests he was beaten to death by disgruntled party members. Tch! As if the memories of Donner Party members haven't been sullied enough, their ordeal misrepresented, their sufferings turned into stupid jokes, and now this. I'm glad I didn't see this "artistic" interpretation of the Donner Party and hope it was a flop.

Here endeth the rant.