THE ECLIPSE CEMETERY HOOKER COUNTY

by Hooker County Historical Society

Entry T87 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

In July of 1890, a couple came in a covered
wagon to the Chauncey Tucker home enroute
to a haying job north of Whitman. Their baby
was sick with dysentery and travel was hard,
they insisted the baby stay with a neighbor,
Mrs. Edwards until they could return. The
couple never returned and the baby lived
only a few weeks. Chauncey Tucker selected
a site on the northwest corner of his tree claim
for the grave. Mr. Edwards dug the grave and
the small child was laid to rest. The grave is
marked with a stone which reads "Our
Baby". As the harsh life of the Sandhills
claimed the lives of others in the area, more
graves were included in the tree claim. Mr.
Tucker fenced a part of the land and said he
wanted it to be used as a community
cemetery.

A short time later, about 1900, a post office
was established in the Tucker home. It was
known as the Eclipse Post Office. It was only
natural to refer to the community cemetery
as the Eclipse Cemetery.

The Rev. George Ware and his wife,
Frances made trips north and south of
Mullen in what he called "The Gospel
Wagon", holding services in homes or in
school houses and conducting funerals in the
isolated Dismal River area. Winter or sum-
mer, whenever there was a funeral, the
Tuckers invited the mourners to their home
for coffee and something to eat. It became the
custom for families to gather at the cemetery
on Memorial Day to care for the graves and
decorate them with wild flowers. They
brought picnic lunches and were invited to
the nearby Tucker Ranch to share their food.

The Eclipse Church building was started
in 1916 and dedicated in 1918. The Church
and cemetery are located thirty miles south-
west of Mullen in Hooker County near the
south fork of the Dismal River. The cemetery
serves as a final resting place for over 100
pioneers and their families. It is still used
today.