Israelaus' Story
Birth: September 14th, 1852 | male | in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England
Death: July 12th, 1854 | 1 year old | at the Baptist Missionary station near the Kansas River
Memorial: Stone 4 | left column
Israelaus McMaster is the son of William Athol McMaster Sr. and Margaret Drummond Ferguson. The family immigrated from England to America. With a desire to cross the plains with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they joined the Daniel Garn Company bound for the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Exhaustive travel, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Israelus died of undocumented causes and buried at Baptist Missionary station near the Kansas River.
From his father’s journal: “Wednesday 12 th my young son [Israelaus McMaster] died at the Baptist Missionary station near the Kansas river. We crossed the river about 7 mils to the west of this where we Camped for the Night.
Friday 14th I buried my son on the top of the hill near a large stone about 8 o’clock in the morning. He died on his way to Zion in the last days, so he rests in peace with his Lord.”