Amelia Mary Ann Gunn

Amelia Gunn was the second of nine children born to Thomas Gunn and Ann Houghton from England. In 1855 the family traveled from England to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They remained there to earn enough funds to journey west. It was there that their daughter Amelia Mary Ann was born. The Gunn's left Philadelphia in 1860 and were able to connect with the John Smith Company to trek west. The company left Nebraska June 22, 1860 for the Salt Lake Valley.

Whooping cough invaded the camp. Two-year-old Amelia came down with the disease and struggled for weeks. She passed away on August 10, 1860, and was buried along the Mormon Trail between Deer Creek and the ferry crossing at Green River, Wyoming.

In Ann Houghton’s history it is written: “On August 10, 1860, great sorrow came into the family when their lovely, little daughter, Amelia Mary Ann, 2 years and 7 months old, died of whooping cough after an illness of three weeks. All that was possible had been done for her, she could have overcome the disease but her condition was weakened through other complications that had set in. The night before her death it was pitiful to see her so uneasy, restless and feverish. She kept calling for a drink of water, loving hands ministered to her wants until the end came peacefully.

“The mother happened to have some good linen on hand, from which burial clothes were made. They were also fortunate in having some new lumber which was to have been made into feed boxes for the animals, so from this a coffin was made.”

“President Karl G. Maeser, preached the funeral sermon. It was so hard to drive on, leaving the little grave, never to see it again, but with courage and determination they proceeded on their way toward the Salt Lake Valley.”