Harriet's Story
Birth: June 8th, 1839 | female | in Suffolk, New York
Death: July 18th, 1852 | 13 years old | along the Platte River in Nebraska
Memorial: Stone 3 | right column
Hariet Mariah Howell is the second of seven children born to Edmund Wheeler Howell and Sarah Vail, both of New York. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Howell family desired to travel with other Saints to the Salt Lake Valley. They joined the David Wood Company in 1852.
Disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Cholera (a bacterial disease caused by contaminated water) infected many members of the camp. Hariet and her father, Edmund, were among those victims. Harriet’s father passed away on July 10 in Nebraska. Eight days later, 13-year-old Harriett succumbed to the disease and was buried alongside the Platte River in Nebraska.