Nathaniel Hopkins, his wife, Lucinda (Eaton) Hopkins, Joshua Eaton (her brother), and her seven sons and two daughters came to Nebraska in the spring of 1872. They had started from Wisconsin, their former home. Mr. Hopkins had been sick for eight years and all the family's finances had been spent to pay the doctor bills. Joshua Eaton then took care of the expenses of the trip for them to come in the covered wagon. They made a dugout. Then in August, 1872, a daughter, Mary, was born. Mr. Eaton, who had ridden all the way out here on horseback, also helped fight the Indians when Marion Littlefield was killed. Charlie White, called Buckskin Charlie, also fought.

The supplies were brought from Lincoln or Beaver Crossing. There was seldom any white flour--just cornmeal. Whenever there was white flour for the gravy, it was browned in the skillet and water was added.

The Indians often came to beg for flour, money, and other supplies--but there were none to spare. Mr. Hopkins was unable to even rise from his chair because he had inflammatory rheumatism. However, Mrs. Hopkins would stand behind his chair thinking that he could protect her from the Indians, of whom she was deathly afraid.

Mary often heard of the grasshoppers, and how they were so bad the sun couldn't be seen.

The first school that she went to was the Farmer's Valley schoolhouse. Here she completed her education.

Whenever the folks had no meat the men would go out and kill an opossum or some other small animal. Mary's mother would cook the meat for them, but as soon as this was done she would go to the neighbor's for the sight of them eating this made her nearly sick.

As a result of the Easter storm, Fred Kailey lost his wife and baby. The log cabins of the Kaileys and Charlie White were not finished, as they did not have the chinking yet, so when the storm came up they had to go to the neighbor's or freeze. Fred's wife couldn't make it so he left her and the baby and hurried to the neighbor's house for help. When they came back the baby was dead but his wife was still breathing. They hurried and carried her to the house, where she breathed her last. The baby and Fred stayed with the Hopkins for four years. "Buckskin" Charlie would never have saved his wife, but he made her angry. He often told the Hopkins children of how this saved the life of his own wife and baby, though she was not easily angered. She was carrying the baby's clothes in a little bundle, and as she kept falling down with the bundle, Charlie said, "Throw it down." She answered, "Why it's got the baby's clothes." As it kept hampering her Charlie took it from her and threw it away. This angered her and Charlie said afterward that it had saved her life.

The blizzard of 1888 was, however, more realistic to Mary as she experienced it herself. Joshua (her brother), and Byron, one of the twins, were starting to school with Mary, then 16 years old, when some big snowflakes started to fall. Their mother called to them, "Had you better go to school?" They went on however, as it was not cold, and soon covered the l l/2 miles to school by cutting across the fields. Frank Benefield was the teacher at Farmers Valley and there were quite a few pupils in the school. The real storm struck about three in the afternoon. Teacher and pupils looked at each other in wonder at the roar. The snow fell fast and the teacher dismissed school, sending the older children with the smaller ones. Among those going toward the Hopkins place were Manley Ames, Charlie Bray and John Thompson. There were also two horses which the boys had ridden that morning. It was hard to keep from falling under the feet of the horses. They left Alice Bray and Mary at Buckskin Charlie's. He then lived south of the iron bridge which was west of the mill. Meanwhile the others went on and took the smaller ones home. John stayed at the Hopkins home, as it would have been impossible for him to have gotten home. After a while the neighbor brought a wagon for the girls. Buckskin Charlie, hearing a noise, went outdoors and found the team and wagon which had come after the girls. They took her to the lane into the dugout. She had a very hard time getting in--falling many times. When she got to the dugout it was nearly all covered with snow. Her father and a brother were up west on a trip, and a sister-in-law was with Mrs. Hopkins. All over the county the teachers showed the heroic spirit so typical of the pioneers. Only a few perished.

Her father had been assistant to J. D. Wescott, the postmaster at Farmers Valley for several years. She was married in October, 1891, to Willis Singer, formerly of Ohio. Mary had been born, married, and had lived in the dugout. After her marriage the couple moved to the Will Nease farm which they rented. To this union were born 8 children, all of whom are living in Hamilton county and elsewhere. Both were honest, hard-working people--heroic through the trying years in the new land. Though Mr. Singer died in 1937, Mrs. Singer has carried on her task of being helpful through sickness and hardship. A great-grandmother, she is my grandmother, and I am proud of her.