In great tragedies we often look for heroes—they sacrificed and saved others who couldn’t save themselves. In the Donner Party story there are a few heroes among those families looking out only for themselves. One of my favorites is carriage-maker (or coffin-maker, according to some sources) William Henry Eddy (1818-1859), whom I first met while reading Michael Wallis’s The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny (2017). Eddy’s origins are mysterious: his people could be from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or even South Carolina. Today Eddy families strive in vain to claim William H. Eddy as their own, but turn up empty. His wife, Eleanor Priscilla Eddy, also came from nowhere. Perhaps Eddy was a cousin of the Eddy brothers, William (1832-1932) and William (1842-1922), who were famous mediums from Vermont and descended from Salem, Massachusetts, folks. Maybe that’s why he was mysterious about his origins! Eddy, Eleanor and their two small children, Margaret and James, joined the larger Russell Party in early June 1846, and immediately Eddy proved his worth by repairing Edwin Bryant’s wagon axle. Bryant was a newspaper man and he heavily documented the Donner Party’s journey before the winter entrapment because he traveled with them, but he escaped being part of the Donner Party crew. He did take the Hastings Cut-off on mules, not wagons, had a hard go of it, but reached California in September before the snows hit. I’ll return to Bryant in a second.
Eddy was the party’s only skilled hunter and while he and his family were trapped at Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) in early November he killed an owl, a coyote, three ducks, and a squirrel, most of which he shared with the Murphys (his cabin mates) and others. Eddy was also known as “Lyin’ Eddy” for his out-sized ego and his luck at getting his deeds noticed. By befriending Bryant, a writer, Eddy was able to get his story told first—which happened time after time again thanks to having a great relationship with his buddy Edwin Bryant. Also in November, and also with William Foster’s borrowed rifle, Eddy killed a 900-pound grizzly bear. First he shot it, then the wounded bear charged him, then Eddy dodged the omnivore around a tree, then he shot it again, then he used a tree branch to make really sure the bear was dead. Whew! That bear kept the lake folks going for a few weeks AND that bear meat saved Eddy’s life when Eleanor packed some of it in Eddy’s backpack when he led the Forlorn Hope party in December. But was the bear story true? Yes, according to archaeologists who found a bear tooth that could have belonged to a bear that size. Yet, why wasn’t this bear hibernating? What was it doing so high up in the mountains? Maybe it was a stupid bear. Regardless, it’s a major part of Eddy’s story. Some say that Eddy learned how to hunt in the Upstate of South Carolina and that his mom’s family was from Germany—which makes sense that he befriended the Donners and some of the other German immigrants.
Later, Eddy co-led the Forlorn Hope in late December along with Charles Stanton and the Miwok Indians, Luis and Salvador. This party consisted of 14 very brave nine men and five women who wore homemade snowshoes to venture out of the camps and seek help. After a few days, leader Charles Stanton became snow blind, and he was left for dead. Eddy and the others had a communication barrier with the Miwoks (only Stanton knew their language) and so the whole party got lost. Their trek should have only taken them six to seven days to reach Johnson’s Ranch, but instead it took 33. The only men who survived were Eddy and William Foster (he of the borrowed rifle) and the five women. Yes, the Forlorn Hopers had to resort to cannibalism, but Eddy tried to hold out as long as possible (of course he retold this to Bryant). Eddy also tried to save the Miwoks from Foster’s rifle, but Foster got to them first and later butchered them while Eddy and Mary Graves shot down a deer. The story goes that Eddy pulled Mary away from the group to eat her, but of course Eddy refutes that. Eddy was still the strongest of the Forlorn Hopers and makes it to Johnson’s Ranch while his starving compadres are at a Miwok village with their butchered Miwok former companions still in their backpacks. Not three weeks later Eddy volunteers for the First Relief party to save the Donner Party, but he only makes it to the Sierra foothills since he’s still very weak. Meanwhile, his starving family at the lake is dying. Eleanor and Margaret go first and then James dies in March a few days before Eddy and Foster reach the camps in the Third Relief. Sadly, Eddy’s entire family is cannibalized, allegedly by Louis Keseberg and Levinah Murphy—she earlier did “commence” on Milt Elliott. Keseberg later commenced on Tamsen Donner.
One of my research questions is why did Eleanor Eddy die while Margret Reed, James Reed’s wife, who was also a lake “widow” survive? Eleanor had two kids to take care of, 
while Margret had three. The women were about five years apart, with Eleanor the junior. All of Margret’s kids lived, while Eleanor’s died. Both widows had limited resources and no one wanted to share with both of them. Eleanor must have believed in Eddy’s abilities to come back to her, and he did, although it was too late. Margret’s James did also return with the Second Relief party, but a few weeks earlier. I’m thinking that Eleanor had a different mind-set than Margret and gave up sooner—or maybe she wasn’t as resourceful as Margret, although Eleanor did secretly place the grizzly bear meat in Eddy’s backpack. I’ll keep hunting…
Now, the big hero part of the story. Foster and Eddy lead the Third Relief and on March 13, 1847 burst into the Murphy cabin to find the three Donner daughters, Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, as well as Simon Murphy and the two adults: Keseberg and Mrs. Murphy. No Foster or Eddy children are left. Eddy says something like, “I’ll kill you, Keseberg, you $%*#*#! if I ever meet you again in California!” but it never happened. Tamsen Donner is also at the Murphy cabin, horrified that her three girls have been abandoned by Cady and Stone. She asks Eddy to “Please save my children” and offers him silver. Eddy refuses the money and says he would take the children out or die with them on the trail. He is true to his word and all of the kids live. Years later Georgia Donner said this about Eddy: “To your tender care I owe my life.” From these words, I was inspired to write my song, “William Eddy.”
The next year Eddy marries a wealthy widow, Favilla Ingersoll Alfred, with two children and he buys up her late father’s property in Sacramento in September 1850. They have three more children and he divorces her in 1854 (I wonder why?). Then he marries a schoolteacher, AM Pardee of St Louis, and lives out his remaining years in Petaluma. We don’t know what he does for a living, but I imagine him as a property manager or hardware store owner or maybe he’s a pimp. He dies Christmas Eve, 1859, probably from a heart attack. I’m conducting more research on him post-Donner Party and he’s the main character in my forthcoming novel. Very interesting and fascinating fellow.
Here is his obituary:
DIED. In this city, 24th. ult., HENRY EDDY, late of Mass., a pioneer of 1846, and well known as the rescuer of the “Donner party,” aged 43. [San Francisco, St. Louis and Mass. papers please copy.] — Sonoma County Journal (Petaluma, California) January 6, 1860.
“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?”
Alice, you might be becoming part of the tale — and that’s okay! I have not managed to catalog the details you provide. Yet, finding the story more fascinating than grotesque, I love that you are able to convey it. As you keep going, I’m along for the ride … as long as you “Never take no shortcuts.” : -)
Thank you, Doug! The cannibalism is only a small part of the story, but is what leads most folks to learning about the Donner Party–I’m trying to change that perception. Not by saying it didn’t happen, but there were so many other things going on!
Alice,
I probably have the answers you are seeking about W. H. Eddy’s second wife, Flavilla.
Without divulging more than 3 decades of research on her interesting life, I will relate that Flavilla “took up” with an Englishman while married to Eddy. Whether the child she raised in Illinois was Eddy’s or the Englishman’s will never be known.
If you would like some additional background, please contact me. I will say that most Eddy descendants despise Flavilla. However, I have come to believe that W. H. Eddy may have been difficult to live with (understandably) following his tremendous losses of his family at Truckee Lake.
Hi Michael, I’d love to connect with you further about W. H. Eddy!~ My email is alice@aliceosborn.com Thanks so much! Alice
So true. I got into studying about this tragedy several years ago. The things that interested me are the personalities of those involved. Eddy, Stanton, and Reed all fascinated me.
Hi Don, thank you so much for your comment! As we speak, I’m at a writing retreat working on a novel just about William Eddy post Donner Party and his friendship/bromance with James Reed that also involves his 2nd and 3rd wives, businesses, children, and adventures that addresses the dark forces both within and outside of him that seek to destroy him. I’m adding the scene with Charles Stanton and Eddy about the mules!
Alice, My name is kirk eddy Flagg {born in san Jose, calif 1957} my grandfather was Phillip Flagg he was married to William and Flavilla’s daughter at least that’s the family history that was related to me, would love to get any info on the post donner party era of his life, i know he lived in Santa Clara, Calif but that’s about it. my parents did not like to talk about his history and only told us about him being our great, great, great grandfather after we had become adults
Alice, My name is kirk eddy Flagg {born in san Jose, calif 1957} my grandfather was Phillip Flagg he was married to William and Flavilla’s granddaughter {Alonzo’sdaughter} at least that’s the family history that was related to me, would love to get any info on the post donner party era of his life, i know he lived in Santa Clara, Calif but that’s about it. my parents did not like to talk about his history and only told us about him being our great, great, great grandfather after we had become adults
Ok so my maiden name is Jennifer Ann Eddy. My fathers name was Dennis Gasper Eddy. His father (my grandfather) is Fredrick William Eddy and my great grandfather is Andrew Eddy. I wonder if this is a part of my family history? My grandfather Fredrick William Eddy is German. He had married Ann Montelion (my grandmother from Italy)
So William eddy is my best friends great great great uncle. His great Grandfather’s uncle is what he said. My grandmother read the book The Indifferent stars above and Two days later invented him over for dinner and my grandmother lost herself. Said he was the spitting image from the book. Kinda cool
Who, Mike Flagg?
William Eddy was a highly intelligent, brave and innovative man .. He was a master hunter and backwoodsman..Mr. Eddy was able to use Flint and steel fire making with a piece of cotton from a garment..usually can’t be done with raw fiber- must be charred first.. He had more stamina than others.. challenged a grizzly bear with a single shot rifle..
Thank you so much, Matthew, for taking the time to comment on my blog. I was immediately drawn to William Eddy the first time I read about him–his determination, skills, intelligence, and heroism. I’m working on a novel about him post-Donner Party–how did he move forward and start over after losing everything? Stay tuned!
Alice,
“Today Eddy families strive in vain to claim William H. Eddy as their own, but turn up empty.” When I was a kid 50 years ago my grandmother, my mom’s mom, told me that I was a descendant of a Donner Party survivor named William Eddy. I have never been able to verify this. I’m guessing that my grandmother was born sometime around the first world war since my mom, her eldest, was born in 1937. Grandma’s full maiden name was Winnifred Joyce Flagg. The only other thing I remember is also from my childhood. One day when my grandmother was in town visiting, another relative she had not seen in many years came by to visit. My mom called him Uncle Bill but I think he was actually a cousin of my grandmother. His name was William Eddy. Do you know if any of William H. Eddy’s daughters ever married a man named Flagg? Maybe one of his grand-daughters married a man named Flagg? If you have come across that name, I’d love to hear about it.
Look in the 1930 census to find your grandmother, born 1913. She is the daughter of Phillip N Flagg and Edith Miriam Eddy, who is a grandaughter of William H Eddy through his son Alonzo.
Thank you, so much!! and thank for reading my post on William Eddy too!
I was friends with a Marilyn Eddy. she claimed to be descended from William Eddy survivor of the Donner party. i accepted this as fact. Marilyn grew up in the north area of Sacramento. i have lost touch now as her name changed when she married.
Hi Chris, thank you so much for contacting me! Marilyn is descended from either one of William Eddy’s sons, James Knox Eddy or Alonzo Eddy. They each had two sons a piece. I’ll need to do more research through the Santa Clara Historical Society (where I’m a member) to find out Marilyn’s heritage. ~Alice
Hi Alice, I am a descendant of William Eddy and can trace my lineage, he was my great great grandfather, my last name should be Flagg but my mother and father never married hence my last name Rodriguez.
Maybe someday we could share information, I would love to know more
Wish I knew what his address was, in Petaluma. Maybe he lived near me!
I think you are my uncle, Norm. Please let me know if you would like to make contact.
Hi Margaret. Are you Mike’s daughter?
That is awesome I wish my family was easier to trace
my four times great grandfather was Matthew D Ritchie. His daughter Harriet was the one that opened the door to Mr. Eddy at Johnson’s Ranch. The family was living at the ranch that winter. He and his son William were part of the first rescue party. William later married Sarah Graves Fosdick and they had 2 children. The family settled in Napa and there is a creek named after the Ritchie’s. One of the other rescuers was married to Ritchie’s oldest daughter. His name was John Stark. I have done a lot of research, I’d love to share what I know with you.
A friend who grew up on rural Liberty Rd. in Petaluma, CA told me a Donner Party survivor was buried at the old cemetery near her home. Naturally I assumed it was William Eddy, since he died in Petaluma. However, I’m seeing now he was buried elsewhere, San Jose? I’m wondering if this was just confusion on her part, or if some other person associated with the Donner tragedy settled in and was later buried in Petaluma? So many in this saga seem to have ties to Sonoma and Napa counties, near where I live.
Yes, I believe William H Eddy lived and died and was buried in Petaluma 1859
Although in 1949 historians dedicated a memorial plaque in his honor for leading the forlorn hope and rescuing the remaining survivors of the Donner party
Angie O, your information re: the burial of William H. Eddy of Donner Party fame, in Petaluma may not be wrong. I recall learning many years ago from reading some info at the San Jose Library’s California Room that William Eddy of the Donner Party had been originally buried in Petaluma (where he lived & died) but later at the insistance of family members (descendents / Alonzo?) his remains were transferred to a burial plot at Oak Hill Cemetery, San Jose, CA where his grave is marked with a large boulder as his tombstone. Reed and some other Donner Party family members are also there because they migrated from Sacramento to San Jose in later years.
I also have always been intriqued with the possibility that William H. Eddy was related to my husband’s Eddy line but as of yet have not found the connection. Bobbi Eddy, San Jose
this is a special story to me because I found out that William eddy might be my great great and who knows how long grampa since I’ve found some hints leading towards that he might be in my family since my family at the at the time was in the part of California where he settled and I have the same last name and eddy was not a popular name back then
Just suppose someone could provide the answers to who William Eddy of the Donner Party is and from where he came? I can assure you he wasn’t from the Eddy’s of South Carolina or the Eddy from Cranbrook, Kent County, England or a descendant of the Eddy Family Association, the “Pilgrim Eddy’s in America” from Martha’s Vineyard or Massachusetts.
Its really wholesome that this comment section is a family reunion
Here’s what Find a Grave has.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5238/william-henry-eddy
This is amazing
Cheers from sunny Brasil
Has the book come out, Alice?
So I’m guessing that the Flagg’s here are all descended from Phillip Flagg…howdy cousins
I have a friend, Mike Flagg, that told me about his relationship to William Eddy. An uncle but I don’t know how great. His brother, William Eddy Flagg was killed by a cop in Sonora. 💔
What great additional context to the movie I have on at this very minute. Eddy certainly came out the hero. They were lucky to have someone with his skill along on the journey. It reminds me somewhat of the great Mormon Migration westward. Lessins from both parties. Plan plan plan. Perserverence!!