Mary Antoinette Barnes was born in the town of Rodman, Jefferson county, New York, April 28, 1834.

When she was eleven years old, her parents moved to Greenleaf, Wisconsin, then a new region with poor educational facilities in that part of the State where they settled.

[1] Much of her instruction was received at home, under the care of a governess,[1] though she was also educated in the public schools of Greenleaf.

Returning to Nebraska, she filled several positions in the WCTU, becoming State president in 1888, and holding that office for six years.

[4] I She was called to Sioux City, Iowa, on account of the death of her cousin, George G. Haddock, the circumstances of whose untimely murder at the hands of a drunken man caused general indignation and horror.

[4] Mary A. Hitchcock Wakelin was murdered by her husband while she was sleeping at their home in Fremont, Nebraska, February 25, 1900.