Virginia Reed MurphyVirginia Elizabeth Backenstoe was born June 28, 1833 in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, the daughter of Lloyd Backenstoe and Margaret Keyes.[1] Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother remarried. She was the half-sister to Marth J. (Reed) Lewis, James F. Reed Jr, Thomas K. Reed, Charles C. Reed and Willianoski Y. Reed.The Reed family was part of the ill-fated Donner Party which was trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during a snowstorm in 1846 while emigrating to California. They suffered extreme hardship. The survivors resorted to consuming human flesh to stay alive. Virginia's stepfather was banished from the wagon train after killing a teamster in the Wattach Mountains during a dispute. [2]Virginia wrote an extensive account of the trip which was published in Century Magazine. Read More Read Less