Marinda Lucy Nancy Pay

Marinda Lucy Nancy Pay is one of two children born to Richard Pay and Sarah Ann Pay (first cousins), both born in England.

After joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they immigrated to America with a desire to journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley. While camped at Johnson, Iowa, Sarah Ann gave birth to a daughter, Marinda, born 10 July 1856.

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 Marinda was born, her mother, Sarah Ann, became ill with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a serious bacterial infection transmitted by ticks.

A journal entry recorded: “A thunder storm bringing wind and rain caused chaos to those who slept in shelters made from handcarts and quilts. The strong wind blew away the quilts and the rain drenched the individuals. There was no protection against the striving force lashing out its fury at those camping at the Iowa campground.

“They joined the John A. Hunt company to come West with other Saints. Sarah Ann was ill during the trip west, trying to take care of her daughter and with the weather conditions they were experiencing, and the food was scarce as time went on. The company was traveling only a few miles a day because of the snow.”

Two-month-old Marinda passed away on 4 October 1856, and buried at Chimney Rock, Nebraska.

From the family journal: “When Brother Goble saw Brother Pay digging a grave for his little daughter he immediately went to help him. He gave Brother Pay support in the unpleasant task that was becoming a daily occurrence amongst the Saints.”

From the family journal: “A letter from John A. Hunt posted at Fort Laramie to Brigham Young. He writes that the company buried Marinda Lucy (Nancy) Pay on the south side of the North Platte River, having crossed from the north side 3 days before (2 October 1856) after having previously crossed Crab Creek. According to the letter, she was 11 weeks old and had died 'sometime during the night.’”

Sorrow and loss struck the Pay family again when Sarah Ann died at Ft. Bridger, Wyoming before reaching the Salt Lake Valley. Having lost both children and wife, Marinda's father, Richard, traveled on alone to the Salt Lake Valley.