Israel, Edward, 1959-1884

American arctic explorer; born July 1, 1859, at Kalamazoo, Mich.; died May 27, 1884; educated at the University of Ann Arbor, Mich. He joined the Signal Corps of the United States Army and became a sergeant. In 1881 Israel volunteered for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, under the command of Gen. A. W. Greely, accompanying the expedition as astronomer (1881-84); in this expedition he made many valuable scientific observations. At times he commanded special sleigh parties. Although not physically robust, he often volunteered for geographical work; in 1882 he rendered especially important service in determining the practicability of an overland route to Hazen Land in Greenland through "The Bellows" valley. The amiability of his disposition endeared him to his comrades, and, being the youngest in the party, he was familiarly denominated "Benjamin." When ill and starving, he refused to accept more than an equal ration. Israel died before the return of the expedition. In reading the burial service, General Greely, remembering that Israel was of the Jewish faith, omitted such portions as were inappropriate.

SGT Edward Israel; BIRTH 1 Jul 1859, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, USA; DEATH 27 May 1884 (aged 24), Canada; BURIAL
Mountain Home Cemetery, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, USA; PLOT; Jewish Block A Sec 5 Lot 4; Astronomer and Polar Explorer. Israel left for Washington, D.C. on April 28, 1881 to join the Lady Franklin Bay Polar Expedition with 23 other men under the leadership of Adolphus Greely. The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition was commissioned by the US government to collect scientific information about the polar regions. Israel received the assignment of collecting astronomical, magnetic and meteorological data.

The ill-fated expedition left Washington on June 9, 1881, reaching Newfoundland later in the month. From there, the crew boarded a special polar-equipped ship and went to Lady Franklin Bay, to a site far above the Arctic Circle. Israel and the rest of the crew spent two years at a camp they called Fort Conger.

In 1882, the annual supply ship did not arrive, and by August 1883, the expedition ran out of supplies. They took off trying to find the ship, guided only by Israel's astronomical data. When the expedition reached Cape Sabine, it was found that their supply ship had hit ice and sunk.

The expedition members had to struggle through the winter of 1883 with virtually no supplies. Three weeks before the crew of the expedition was rescued by the US Navy, Israel died. Too weak and ill to bury Israel (or other dead expedition members), the remaining members of the crew returned Israel's body to Kalamazoo on August 11, 1884.

Sergeant Edward Israel; Born: July 1, 1859; Died: May 27, 1884 of starvation at Camp Clay; As an astronomer, Edward Israel recorded many valuable observations in the Arctic. He also took magnetic data and gave lectures to the men about the stars and other celestial bodies. A small man, Israel suffered in the cold, even freezing one of his feet while taking routine measurements outside.