Sager orphans

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The Sager orphans (sometimes referred to as the Sager children) were the children of Henry and Naomi Sager. In April 1844 the Sager family took part in the great westward migration and started their journey along the Oregon Trail. During it, both Henry and Naomi died and left their seven children orphaned. Later adopted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, missionaries in what is now Washington, they were orphaned a second time, when both their new parents, as well as brothers John and Francis Sager, were killed during the Whitman massacre in November 1847. About 1860 Catherine, the oldest daughter, wrote a first-hand account of their journey across the plains and their life with the Whitmans. Today it 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)