Blizzard of 1888

FITZPATRICK, NOLAN, DOHENY, MOYLAN, WALENTA, SARGENT

Posted By: Patricia Morris (email)
Date: 11/27/2004 at 01:56:31

My g-g-grandfather, Daniel Nolan, died in that blizzard. However, he lived & died in South Dakota. He was born & raised in Iowa; then about 1-2 years before the blizzard they moved to SD. He had taken a sick elderly neightbor to Armour, SD, & when the storm started he did not want to leave his family alone. So they started back. They got stuck in the storm; he left the man with the wagon & tried with the horses to make it back. No such luck. He was found by the Indians & they said they would care for him but his family wouldn't let him stay. He died 10 days later of gangrene at the age of 36, leaving a wife, Bridget, 4 children & one on the way.
This has always been quite a story in our family. A few months ago, a distant cousin sent me a copy of the story that the community had put together years later. So great to see it in print. - Trish