Walter Read

Walter read is the son of Clementine Read, born in England. Clementine, along with her children Walter, John Theophilus Pidcock, and William Wharton Reed, immigrated from England to America. Once in America, they joined the John Tidwell Company of 1852 to journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Cholera (a bacterial disease caused from contaminated water) invaded the company and infected many of the Saints. Among the victims was 11-year-old Walter. He passed away and is buried along the trail west of Buffalo Creak, Iowa.

From a company journal by Charles Samson: “Walter Read died today aged 11 years and 6 months – this is the 9th we have buried”.

And yet another journal by George K. Bowering: “Here we again were called to the painful duty to bury a boy named Walter Reid Aged 11 years who died of Cholera after laying nineteen hours.”