James F. Reed

James F. Reed
Reed and wife, Margret
Born	James Frazier Reed (1800-11-14)November 14, 1800 County Armagh, Ireland
Died	July 24, 1874(1874-07-24) (aged 73) San Jose, California
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery San Jose, California
Known for	Donner Party
Spouse(s)	Margret Reed

James Frazier Reed (November 14, 1800 – July 24, 1874) was a businessman, soldier and, most notably, an organizing member of the ill-fated Donner Party emigration to California, in 1846.

Born in County Armagh in northern Ireland, Reed claimed to be of noble Polish stock. After the death of his father, he emigrated with his mother to the United States. Once there, his mother sent him to live with a family member in Virginia, where he worked as a clerk in the family store. In about 1825, Reed moved to Illinois, where he took an interest in mining. While living there, Reed ran several businesses and took part in the Black Hawk War of 1832, serving with Abraham Lincoln.

In 1835, he married Margret Keyes Backenstoe, a widow with two daughters, a baby and an elder daughter, Virginia Elizabeth Backenstone, whom Reed did not adopt, but who nonetheless went by the name Virginia Reed. The couple had four more children in Springfield: Martha Jane (called Patty); James F., Jr.; Thomas Keyes; and Gershom Francis, who died as an infant.

In 1845, Reed decided to head west to California and organized a small group which left the Springfield area in the spring of 1846. The other members were George Donner and his brother Jacob, along with their families and hired hands. Each head of household had three wagons. In addition to two supply wagons, Reed had a particularly comfortable one made for his family to ride in, which has since become legendary. The Reeds and Donners left Springfield on April 14 and May 19 joined a large wagon train led by William H. Russell.

While camped in Wyoming, the Reeds, Donners, and several other families decided to take a new route, Hastings Cutoff, and elected George Donner captain, creating the Donner Party; the Donner Party separated from the other emigrants on July 20. While crossing the desert west of the Great Salt Lake, Reed was forced to abandon two of his wagons after losing nearly all his oxen. The exhausted Donner Party re-joined the California Trail on September 26 near Elko, Nevada, having taken three weeks longer than the traditional route.