The Sager orphans (sometimes referred to as the Sager children) were the children of Henry and Naomi Sager. In April 1844 Henry and his family took part in the great westward migration and started their journey along the Oregon Trail. During their journey both he and Naomi lost their lives and left their seven children orphaned. Later adopted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, missionaries in what is now Washington, the children were orphaned a second time, when both their new parents were killed during the Whitman massacre in November 1847. About 1860 Catherine, the oldest of the Sager girls, wrote a first-hand account of their journey across the plains and their life with the Whitmans. This account today is regarded as one of the most authentic accounts of the American westward migration.
The children's names were (from oldest to youngest):
- John Carney Sager (born 1831 in Union County, Ohio)
- Francis "Frank" Sager (born 1833 in Union County, Ohio)
- Catherine Carney Sager (born April 15, 1835 in Union County, Ohio)
- Elizabeth Marie Sager (born July 6, 1837 in Union County, Ohio)
- Matilda Jane Sager (born October 6, 1839 in Buchanan County, Missouri)
- Hannah Louise "Louisa" Sager (born 1841 in Platte County, Missouri)
- Henrietta Naomi "Rosanna" Sager (born May 30, 1844 along the Oregon Trail in present day Kansas)
Read more about Sager Orphans: Before The Oregon Trail, On The Oregon Trail, The Deaths of Henry and Naomi Sager, The Whitman Years, The Deaths of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, After The Whitman Massacre, Sources
Famous quotes containing the words sager and/or orphans:
“My sweetest Lesbia let us live and love,
And though the sager sort our deeds reprove,
Let us not weigh them: Heav’n’s great lamps do dive
Into their west, and straight again revive,
But soon as once set is our little light,
Then must we sleep one ever-during night.”
—Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus] (84–54 B.C.)
“My profession brought me in contact with various minds. Earnest, serious discussion on the condition of woman enlivened my business room; failures of banks, no dividends from railroads, defalcations of all kinds, public and private, widows and orphans and unmarried women beggared by the dishonesty, or the mismanagement of men, were fruitful sources of conversation; confidence in man as a protector was evidently losing ground, and women were beginning to see that they must protect themselves.”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)