Wahkiakum Eagle- April 3, 1969, Page 8, Col. 1,2,3 Cathlamet, Wahkiakum, WA DEATH OF EARLY GRAYS RIVER RESIDENT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF PAST. By Florence Savage Jessie Mitchell Barr Hopkins, who was the third white child born at Grays River, died in a Convalescent home near Seattle, on March 1, 1969. She was the seventh and youngest child of Samuel E. and Margaret Jane Waterman Barr, who came to Washington Territory about 1870. Samuel E. Barr, born in Pennsylvania, was married to his first wife there, but moved to Iowa in the late 1830s. They had five living children when his wife died in 1847. He was married to Margaret Jane Waterman in 1849, in Van Buren County, Iowa. In 1852, leaving Margaret Jane with their two infant children, Thaddeus and Zeralda, and the children of the first wife, Samuel traveled to Portland with a wagon train, and remained there for seven years. In 1859, he returned to Iowa, where he “sold” various members of the Waterman family on the West. Among those who left were Margaret Jane and her two children and three of the children of Samuel E. and his first wife; Margaret Jane’s father and second wife, who are buried at Walla Walla; and the families of several of her sisters. They traveled from Iowa to New York, where they took a boat for the Isthmus of Panama, crossed the Isthmus by tram, thence to Portland by boat. The Watermans all went on to Walla Walla, but the Barrs remained in Portland for about 10 years. Samuel E. was a carpenter and a cabinet maker. During these years in Portland, Margaret Jane gave birth to four more children: Emma, Effie, William and Frank. About 1870, the family removed to Knappton, where they remained only a short time. While they were there, the oldest daughter, Zeralda (born in Iowa), was married and went to Portland, where she remained the rest of her life. At this time, Samuel E. Barr and the oldest son, Thaddeus, filed homestead claims on Grays River and the family moved, Samuel E. was given the position of Collector of Customs at Shoalwater Bay (Oyster Bay) which position he held until shortly before his death, while Margaret Jane and the children held down the homestead claims on Grays River. The first home was built on the spot of land now belonging to De Witt and Miss Louise Barr. Here Jessie Mitchell Barr was born on November 6, 1872. The name Mitchell was given her for the intimate personal friend of Samuel E. Barr, John Mitchell, who was Senator of the U. S. Congress from Oregon Territory, and who recommended Samuel E. for the position at Shoalwater Bay. In such early pioneer times, Jessie was very fortunate. Upon the insistence of members of her family, she lived in Astoria two consecutive winters, where she worked as a mother’s helper for her room and board and went to school. In 1890, the family sent her to Olympia to attend Olympia Collegiate Institute, a very good school, supported by the Methodist church. She attended O. C. I. for two years. There she met her future husband, George S. Hopkins, and they were married in 1892, in the original family home on Grays River. (That house burned shortly afterward, and was replaced by the one now standing.) The Hopkinses lived in Olympia from 1892 till 1906, in Rosburg till 1917, in Carbonado till 1956. In 1956, they moved to Seattle, where Mr. Hopkins died in November, 1956. Mrs. Hopkins lived for a time with her daughter, then with her son until shortly before his death in 1968. Mrs. Hopkins outlived all of her brothers and sisters, her husband and three of her children. She leaves a daughter, Mrs. Anthony Savage, of Seattle, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren in or near Seattle. In addition are the descendants of her brothers and sisters, all of whom, with the exception of Zeralda, the eldest sister, lived at one time on Grays River. The original claim of Thaddeus Barr is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Elgin Gollersrud, the original claim of Samuel E. and Margaret Jane Barr by De Witt and Miss Louise Barr. Mrs. Ruth McAllister is a niece of Mrs. Hopkins, and Mrs. James Lindros and Mrs. Ed (Jean) Gollersrud) Olson, Eden Valley, are grandnieces. Mrs. Hopkins was a member of Chapter BB, P. E. O., of Seattle, and of Iris Chapter, Eastern Star, of South Prairie, and was Worthy Matron in 1929. Samuel E. Barr was buried on the hill above the original home. Other members of the family are buried in the Grays River cemetery: Margaret Jane Waterman Barr, Emma Barr, Effie Barr Seeley, Thaddeus S. Barr and William L. Barr, and wives and husbands, sons and daughters of this pioneer family.