Loran Isabella Preator

Loran Isabella Preator is the second of six children born to Richard Preator and Mary Ann Harpe, both from England. After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family desired to immigrate to America. Before leaving England, Richard and Mary Ann’s 1-year-old son, Fred Thomas, died.

The Preator’s and two daughters, Mary and Loran, sailed to America on the ship Echo.” After their arrival, they joined the Edmund Ellsworth Handcart Company of 1858 to journey with other Saints to the Great Salt Lake Valley. It was the first of many handcart companies to travel to the Utah Territory.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, premature birth, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Cholera, a bacterial disease caused from contaminated water, infected many of the travelers. After they began the trek in Iowa, 3-year-old Loran came down with “whooping cough” and passed away. The next day, the company moved on to the Salt Lake Valley.

According to journals written in the DUP book Tales of Triumph, Volume 6, Page 220 it says: “A worship meeting was held in the morning and again at 1:30 in the afternoon, followed by the administration of the sacrament at 7:30 that evening. Between the first two meetings three-year-old Lora Pratter died of whooping cough. Both children were buried at nearby Little Bear Creek.”

*NOTE: According to the Pioneer Overland Travels, she died “Died in 10 miles East of Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve, Jasper, Iowa”