Fannie Burdett

Fannie's Story

Stories > Fannie Burdett
The Story

Fannie's Story

researched by Penny Magnusson Hannum

Birth:  May 7th, 1860   |   female   |   in Countesthorpe, Leicestershire, England

Death:  August 1st, 1861   |   1 year old   |   near Chimney Rock in Wyoming

Memorial:   Stone 10   |   left column

Fannie Burdett was born to Thomas Burdett II and Maria Herbert, both of England. After the Burdett family sailed the ocean to America, they joined the Joseph Horne Company to travel to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah.

Company journals indicated that sickness claimed the lives of several members of the pioneers. On August 1, little Fannie became ill and passed away.

1 year old Fannie is buried near Chimney Rock in Wyoming.

Fannie's older sister, later wrote: “My little sister Fannie, the baby who wasn't two years old, took sick and died. She is buried near Chimney Rock in Wyoming. Mother grieved so much over her. They dug her grave deep and not having any boards to make a coffin, just wrapped the body in a sheet. I can hear my mother crying and saying, “Those poor little bones.” I realized as I grew older that she meant that they would be crushed by the weight of the dirt and rocks as the grave was filled in.”

submitted by The Daughters of Utah Pioneers and Days of ‘47