Elizabeth Ann Healey

Elizabeth Ann Healey is the sixth of 12 children born to John Healey and Mary Hemmingway, both of England. With a desire to be with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Great Salt Lake Valley, the Healey family saved enough money for Mary and four children to secure passage on a ship bound for America. (Because of limited finances, John and a son waited a year to immigrate to America.) Upon arrival in America, Mary and children traveled to Nebraska and joined the John R. Murdock Company to journey west. The Company departed Nebraska on July 24, 1862.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Just two weeks into the journey, l6-month-old Elizabeth Ann passed away of undocumented causes. She is buried near the Missouri River, in Nebraska.

The history of Mary Healey says: “When they drew near the Missouri River, her only daughter, Elizabeth Ann 16 months, died, with tears and prayers she was buried wrapped in a teamster’s shirt.”