Bodies include twins and drowned toddler

Of the 32 bodies found at block 49 — the first pioneer cemetery in the Salt Lake Valley — few were identified by name.

There was a set of conjoined twins who died at birth, several infants and children. Many were thought to be part of the Charles C. Rich and Vincent Shurtliff families.

One of the first known to be buried there was 3-year-old Milton Howard Thirlkill, a boy from Mississippi who traveled with his family to Utah. They arrived July 22, 1847, having come to be with other pioneering members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Aug. 11, 1847, Thirlkill drowned near a dam along City Creek.

"All his life he'd been on the trail, in essence," said Ron Andersen with the Mormon Trails Association. "They're here a week and finally after his two-year odyssey, one week later, he's dead. You could imagine the heartbreak of a parent."

Caroline Van Dyke Grant died of cholera on Sept. 26, 1847. She was within 75 miles of Salt Lake City, and her husband, Jedediah H. Grant, carried her body to be buried in Salt Lake — next to Thirlkill.

Nancy O'Neal Rich died Oct. 5, 1847, days after she arrived in the valley. Her granddaughter, Eliza N. Rich, was buried next to her in 1849. Nancy O'Neal Rich was the mother of LDS apostle Charles C. Rich.

Other bodies found at block 49 include a 65-year-old woman who was buried alongside two infants. All remains were reburied at This is The Place Heritage Park.

(Information courtesy of This is The Place Heritage Park.)