William's Story
Birth: March 6th, 1848 | male | in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England
Death: October 11th, 1856 | 8 years old | in Florence, Douglas, Nebraska
Memorial: Stone 6 | left column
William Keetch is the seventh of eleven children born to William Kempton Keetch and Ann Greenwood, both from England.
After the family immigrated from England to America, they traveled to Nebraska and thought they would stay there and meet with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley the following year. However, they were prompted to begin their journey and joined the James Willie Handcart Company in 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. Cholera, a bacterial disease caused from contaminated water, infected many of the travelers. While stationed in Winter Quarters, Ann and several of the children became ill with chills and fever. Ann passed away. One month later on October 11, William, 8-years-old, died and is buried next to his mother in the Winter Quarters Cemetery in Winter Quarters, Nebraska.
The rest of the family went West with the Willie Handcart Company.