HOOPER COMPASS VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 NOVEMBER 2000
William Hooper, Rector of Trinity Church, and William Hooper, Signer of the Declaration of Independence Almost every Hooper family with ties to antebellum North Carolina has had some member who claimed their lineage connects with that of the famous founding father, William Hooper. Most such claims are erroneous, and probably arose from misunderstood questioning of elderly parents and grandparents. Unfortunately, once a tie to William Hooper has been suggested, disproving that illustrious connection is nearly impossible - there's always someone who insists "my grandpa told me about it, and he wouldn't lie." The Signer's actual family was small, with few progeny in the earliest years. The editor offers this group of articles as extensively documented guides for those attempting to find or disprove their own family's potential link to William Hooper or to his siblings. Because the first two William Hoopers were socially INSIDE THIS ISSUE and politically prominent in their own times, much William Hooper, Rector of Trinity Church, and documentation of their lives is available. North 59 William Hooper, Signer of the Declaration of Independence Carolinian William Hooper "the signer" was born in Old Style/New Style the colonies, but came from Scottish roots. His father, 60 also William Hooper, was the immigrant to this 61 Other Hoopers in Boston continent. 62 Family of Anne Clark Hooper Reverend William Hooper: The first William Hooper was christened 5 March 1704. He spent his 68 Siblings of the Signer childhood at Ednam, county of Roxburgh (near Descendants of Reverend William Hooper, Kelso), Scotland.(1) Well-educated for his times, the 76 Boston [chart] Direct Descendants of William Hooper, elder William Hooper studied at the University of 78 Signer Edinburgh, Scotland, perhaps graduating in 1723. His Watters Ancestry in North Carolina career in Great Britain is poorly documented. About 78 1734, Hooper migrated to Boston where in 1737 he 79 James Hogg, Friend of the Signer became the first rector of West Church.(2) This congregation identified itself as Independent Congreg 81 Another Professor Hooper ational, but the ministers following Hooper all were William Hooper Family Record [transcribed Unitarian. Hooper served his congregation from 84 from Bible Record at North Carolina Archives] 1737-1746.(3) Mislaid Documents 86 Reverend Hooper soon found a helpmeet for his 86 Editor's Message calling, and married Mary Dennie on 18 Oct 1739.(4) The bride was a daughter of John Dennie, "an A Quarterly Publication, © 2000, 2009 of eminent merchant" of Boston.(5) Two possibly three children were born to the couple while Hooper served A NNE G OODWIN West Church. An infant named Mary Hooper was baptized there on 17 May 1741, but her parentage was not given. If she was Reverend Hooper's child, she WEBSITE must have died in early childhood.(6) www.HooperCompass.com Most historians identify Reverend Hooper's son William (born 17 June 1742 and baptized 21 June 1742 at West Church)(7) as the eldest of the five children of the older William and wife Mary. The second son, John,
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 59 was baptized 12 August 1744, also at West Church. Old Style/New Style (8) No further record (burial, marriage) of this son John has been identified in Boston. Dates in the Eighteenth Century At some point in the 1740s, Reverend Hooper began The old Julian calendar, an inheritance of most to change his religious sentiments. He became more of Europe from ancient Rome, was out of liberal than his congregation. Seeking to mold his sequence with the seasons by the sixteenth actions after his thought, he broke his associations century. In 1582, Pope Gregory XII decreed that with the Congregationalists and became an Anglican ten days should be dropped, so that the day [Episcopalian] in the fall of 1746. after October 4 became October 15, 1582. Such a change was not uncommon in Boston. The France and several other Catholic countries Reverend Mr. Addington Davenport was son of one adopted the so-called "New Style" calendar in 1582 or 1583. Great Britain , under protestant of the founders of Boston's Brattle Street Queen Elizabeth, refused to comply with the Congregational Church. Yet Reverend Davenport papal order. Finally, in 1752, Britain and her served as the first rector of Trinity [Anglican] colonies adopted the New Style calendar; by Church in Boston when that church was established then, the discrepancy was eleven days. Thus, in in 1740. In fact, Reverend Davenport had previously 1752, the day after September 2 became served in Boston at King's Chapel [Anglican], and September 14 (see calendar below). before that in parishes at Scituate and Hanover. In At the same time, the British changed the first those smaller parishes, Mr. Davenport and his fellow day of the new year from March 25 to January 1. Anglicans had been considered by the townspeople For example, the day after March 24, 1750 had as apostates from the Congregational Church. been called March 25, 1751, just as January 1, 1750 immediately followed December 31, 1750. The attitude at Boston's Trinity was far different. After the switch to New Style dates in 1752, many Over a third of the members in the first decade were writers began to refer to earlier dates of January "Gentlemen and Merchants who were bred 1 to March 24 by dual years. So the day after Dissenters" [i.e., Congregationalists] who had December 31, 1750 might be rendered as recently conformed to the Anglican church.(9) Thus, January 1, 1750/1. Of course, if the New Style 11 upon the death of their first minister, the vestry and days correction was added, then the date might wardens at Trinity in November 1746 sought to fill also be rendered as January 12, 1750/1, or as January 12, 1751. Instead of using dual dates, the vacancy with the esteemed Reverend Hooper: some writers use the abbreviations N.S. or O.S. Upon the Consideration of the Loss this Church after the year. hath Sustained by the Death of their late Worthy and faithfull Minister the Revd. Mr. Addington George Washington's birthdate is an example of Davenport Deceased, the proprietors ... pro such confusing dual dates. Today, his birthdate is ceeded ... to the Choice of a Successor as Incum remembered as February 22, 1732. But when the bent Minister of this Church … it appeared that future President was born, his parents would have Mr. William Hooper was Unanimously chosen, noted the day as February 11, 1731. On what who upon the Bishop … granting Him Ordination was then called February 11, 1751, Washington according to the Rules of the Church of England celebrated his twentieth birthday. But after the is Minister of Trinity Church. …[T]he salary to switch to New Style that year, Washington waited commence from the present time altho he must 365 days to celebrate his twenty-first birthday on go to England for Episcopal Ordination.(10) February 22, 1753. Thus, late in 1746, William Hooper set sail for England. The Boston Evening Post commented "It is generally thought no minister in the county was ever September 1752 better respected and supported by his people."(11) Hooper carried with him to London several Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat testimonials about his character. One of the testimonials had been written by the royal governor. 1 2 14 15 16 Unbeknownst to Hooper, his wardens, and vestry, 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 another Boston churchman had tried to subvert the ordination. When word of the opposition in 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 England reached Boston, the wardens and vestry held an emergency meeting on 21 May 1747: Several letters being read informing that Mr. Hooper who this Church hath presented to the Bishop of
60 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 London for Holy Orders has been opposed by Mr. Commissary Price by representations directly contra Other Hoopers in Boston dicting the Testimonials the Church & many other persons have given The Vestry taking into concideration this Names noted between 1760 and 1800 unjust behaviour look upon it highly injurious to this Church Another Hooper associated with Trinity Church is John who are intirely satisfied of the good Character of Mr. Hooper. He was never identified as a relative to Reverend Hooper ... William Hooper in the Trinity records. Neither does he The vestry and wardens were incensed. They wrote to appear in the church records while Reverend Hooper was the Bishop in London insisting on the selection of Mr. alive. This John Hooper's burial occurred on 27 Aug 1790, when his age was noted as 80 years. Hooper, stating that they "found no cause to alter their said Choice." They likewise wrote to Mr. John Hooper may have had several marriages. One celebrated at Trinity was that to Elisabeth Griggs on 1 Hooper, promising to stand by him. They even September 1776. Elisabeth probably had been widowed enlisted the assistance of other churches. The letter prior to that marriage. written by the King's Chapel Anglicans reveals the On 25 October 1778, Elisabeth Hooper was one of the admiration Mr. Hooper commanded in Boston: sponsors for the christening of Jane Courant White, Boston N. E. June 5, 1747 daughter of Benjamin and Jane White. The other sponsors May it please Your Lordship for this baptism were William Clark and Elisabeth Greggs. Our Bretheren of Trinity Church being under great On the same day, William Clark and Elisabeth Greggs, Dificultys & Discouragements by reason of Mr. William along with John Greggs, were sponsors for the christening Hoopers Ordination being put off on account as we of a son of Susanna (Greggs) Wales. The choice of heare of some representations made of Him to your sponsors in the two baptisms suggests that the Mrs. Lordship as a person whome Common Fame reports Hooper concerned was the former Elisabeth Griggs who to be of bad Morals & Haveing desired Us to acquaint had been married to John Hooper in 1776. your Lordship of Mr. Hoopers Character so farr as we In June of 1779, John Hooper was one of three sponsors are able Since His first Setelment in Boston to his Depar for Jane Lancus, daughter of the deceased William Lancus ture last Fall We the Church Wardens & vestry of the of Milton, Massachusetts, and his wife Mary Mathews. Kings Chapell do Solemnly declare that we know not Parents often chose the godparents, sponsors, and of any Imoralitys he has been charged with since he witnesses to christenings from a circle of close friends and had been a Dissenting Teacher in this Town but that he relatives. Therefore, the names given in the above baptisms has Maintained a very fair Character here, and from His may represent relatives or neighbors of these Hoopers. constantly taking his Turn with the rest of the Teachers Sadly, John Hooper's wife lived but a few years after their in this Town in the Weekly Lecture and the Great Love marriage. The burial of Mrs. Elizabeth Hooper was noted & Esteem His people had for Him till he left them must at Trinity on 7 Jan 1781. She was 56. be of the oppinion that He is a Gentelman of Good Another marriage for John Hooper (to Jane Lesco) was Morals …(12) recorded on 10 Jul 1781, but the event occurred elsewhere Long before the letters could reach England, Edmund than Trinity Church. This Jane (Lesco) Hooper might be Lord Bishop of London ordered Martyn, Lord Bishop the same Mrs. Hooper who was twice a sponsor at Trinity on 9 April 1794. The christenings were for Mary of Gloucester, to ordain William Hooper into priestly Henderson, daughter of Joseph Henderson, and her half orders. Then on 10 Jun 1747, the Bishop of London sister Elisabeth Rawson, daughter of William Rawson and licensed Reverend Hooper to preach and officiate in Susanna (Sever) Rawson. New England. Reverend Hooper immediately sought a Sources: return passage to Boston. The Trinity Church records Boston [MA]City Registrar, 1901, A Report of the Record note on 24 August 1747: Commissioners of the City of Boston Marriages 1752- 1809: Boston, Municipal Printing Office, Volume 101, The Revd. Mr. William Hooper arrived in Health & pages 403, 448. Safety from England. Blessed be God. Oliver, Andrew and Peabody, James Bishop, editors, Only four days later, the church's proprietors inducted 1982, Records of Trinity Church, Boston 1728-1830: Reverend Hooper. Although it was a Friday, there were Boston, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, many other members of the congregation present. Publications Volume 56, pages 581, 584, 645,734, 804. They saw Reverend Hooper perform his first "Divine Service according to the Rubrick & Liturgy of the Church of England" as Incumbent Minister of Trinity Church.(13) He continued his ministry in that church until his death. When Reverend Hooper went to England, his wife Mary remained in Boston. She was expecting another child and gave birth in the spring of 1747. So, the third son George Hooper was christened at Trinity Church on 15 May 1747, while his father was absent in England. Not quite nine months after Reverend Hooper returned, he celebrated the birth of a daughter whom he named Mary. On 15 May 1748, he officiated at her christening. Youngest son Thomas was baptized on 7 April 1751.(14)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 61 William Hooper the Signer: Reverend Hooper had great aspirations for his eldest son and namesake. Although the boy was always sickly, young William was well educated at home and at the Boston Latin School. He graduated from Harvard with his A.B. in 1760 and achieved his M.A. in 1763. The student was much influenced by his law studies under the great patriot James Otis.(15) The younger William Hooper Family of Anne Clark Hooper moved to Wilmington, New Colonel Thomas Clark (Jr.), leader of the 1st Regiment of North Carolina Hanover County, North Carolina Continental Troops, had served in the patriot army since the beginning of the about 1764 to practice law. He Revolution. (He held the brevet rank of General in North Carolina, but others rapidly gained influence. Brother exceeded him in seniority in the Continental Line.) At the fall of Charleston, the George, also educated at the Boston British captured Colonel Clark with his North Carolinians. Clark was not Latin School, joined William. exchanged until near the end of the war. During his confinement at Hadrell's George followed the profession of Point, Clark prepared a memorial to the North Carolina General Assembly. his grandfather Dennie, and became Acts previously passed by that body had allowed governmental seizure of real, a merchant. personal, and chattel property owned by North Carolina Loyalists.(1) Clark's petition to the Assembly requested compensation from the sale of confiscated Like his elder brothers, the youngest property of James Murray. Colonel Clark and his siblings claimed that their child Thomas Hooper also studied maternal uncle James Murray had appropriated the property of Thomas Clark, Sr. at the Latin School in Boston. Later, while acting as the guardian of the Clark children. Thomas moved to Wilmington and On 18 April 1782, the House appointed a committee to investigate Colonel Clark's became a partner in his brother claims. Then on 4 May, the Assembly considered a motion "Respecting the Claim George's mercantile firm. Powell of Colonel Clark and others against the estate of James Murray."(2) Statements noted that the "Hooper brothers made by Colonel Clark within his memorial help identify the family members below.(3) were said to be handsome, with charm, grace of manner, and The elder Thomas Clark had come to the Cape Fear River area (now Wilmington) in 1737. He was a partner in trade with John Rutherford. Their commerce was cultivated minds but tempered by sufficiently profitable to allow Clark to purchase plantations (Rock Fish and Long an aristocratic reserve."(16) Creek plantations) and slaves. In June of 1766, the attorney Thomas Clark, Sr., married Barbara Murray. She was a sister of James Murray, who William Hooper was elected had served on the King's Council in North Carolina before 1750. The couple had recorder of the Cape Fear borough. four children: His weak constitution caused him 1. James Clark was born about 1740. He died without issue in 1769. to suffer much from the insect- 2. Thomas Clark, the soldier, was born about 1742. After 1769 and before the borne fevers endemic in that Revolution, he traveled in Europe and lived in Bertie County, North marshy area. The next spring, he Carolina. received word that his father, 3. Anne Clark, born about 1743, became the wife of William Hooper, signer of Reverend Hooper, had "died the Declaration. without warning, falling down 4. John Innes Clark, the youngest child, was born about 1744 and lived in suddenly in his garden," in April Rhode Island in 1782. 1767.(17) The young attorney must The father died in 1746, and Mrs. Clark died suddenly in 1761. The uncle James have returned to Boston to settle Murray was not then in North Carolina. Upon his arrival, the Clark children were the estate, from which he inherited taken into his family. Between 1769 and 1782, James Murray lived in Halifax [Nova many books and manuscripts. While Scotia], Boston, and Florida. in Boston, William probably also Notes: sought the approval of his mother 1. Clark, Walter, 1905, State Records of North Carolina: Nash Brothers, (Mrs. Mary Dennie Hooper) for his Goldsboro [NC], Vol. XXIV, pages 123-124. The assembly had voted to allow confiscation of property of all absentee landowners, effective 1 October chosen life partner, Anne Clark(e). 1778. Anne was a native of New Hanover 2. General Assembly Papers/Session Records. Session of April-May 1782. NC Archives 66.8.25.5.13 and 66.8.28.15. These records have been microfilmed. County, North Carolina, born about 3. Bailey, James, 1980, "The Estate of Thomas Clark Wilmington, N.C., 1746" in 1743. She was the only daughter of North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, VI:4 [November], pages 246- Thomas Clark, Sr., and his wife 250. Barbara Murray. Before his death, the older Clark had been a merchant, planter, and high sheriff of New Hanover County. William Hooper and Anne married at King's Chapel in Boston on 16 Aug 1767.(18) William Hooper and his bride returned to North Carolina, where William resumed his public life. However, they may have gone back to Boston for the wedding of William's sister Mary to John Russell Spence, of London, in February 1768.(19)
62 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 In those days, attorneys traveled widely to serve from Britain. In April of 1774, Hooper wrote his clients in several counties on their circuits. Thus, friend Iredell: many Carolinians knew Mr. Hooper, Esquire. He With you I anticipate the important share which rode horseback across much of the province, and colonies must soon have in regulating the politi became politically active, so that references to the cal balance. They are striding fast to indepen attorney appear in Anson, Cumberland, and New dence, and erelong will build an empire on the ruins of Great Britain.(22) Hanover Counties from 1768-1770. In 1769, he had In 1774, the North Carolina Provincial Congress been appointed deputy attorney general of the Salis named Hooper to serve as first of its three delegates bury District. Thus, he became an officer of the (Hooper, Joseph Hewes, Richard Caswell) to the British Crown. First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Hooper Beginning of Revolutionary Service - In January was the most conservative, and Caswell the most rad of 1773, William Hooper represented Fayetteville in ical, of this group. Meanwhile, Hooper also served the short (42-day) Provincial Assembly. He served on Wilmington's Committee of Safety and repre again in December of that year, representing New sented New Hanover in the North Carolina General Hanover County. Also in that year, he purchased Assembly. Thus, he was forced into frequent travel over a hundred acres on Masonboro Sound, about between Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Hewes eight miles south of Wilmington. The next year, he and Caswell likewise traveled to participate in both added thirty acres of adjacent land and began locations. In the next Continental Congress, Caswell building a house which he called Finian.(20) (now Governor of North Carolina and militia leader) The North Carolina Assembly appointed Hooper to was replaced in the Continental Congress by John its Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry. That Penn, a strong proponent of independence. committee communicated extensively with Boston Family matters delayed Hooper. On the first of and the other provincial correspondence commit February 1776, Hooper went to the assistance of his tees. (Bostonian Samuel Adams was instrumental in mother who had only "lately got out of Boston." He maintaining activities of the Committees of Corre had reason for concern about her safety – his activi spondence in the colonies.) The radical thinking of ties were considered treasonous by Royal appointees, his fellow Harvard graduates John and Samuel and they knew his family connections.(23) Adams, and of his mentor James Otis, probably held He returned to Congress great influence over under fresh instructions. Hooper's own political The prior Continental thought. Congress had assigned His Harvard training Hooper to serve on a made Hooper better committee to state the educated than most rights of the colonies. In other public men in the April, 1776, the North state. Still, his fellow Carolina Provincial North Carolinians also Congress moved, in its contributed to Hooper's Halifax Resolves, "that political development. the delegates for this He often interacted with colony in the Continental other patriots such as Congress be impowered Archibald Maclaine, Hen to concur with the dele ry Watters, and James gates of the other Iredell.(21) Attorneys Colonies in declaring Hooper and Iredell Independency." How maintained a great ever, William Hooper friendship, often staying was not present on 2 July in each other's homes 1776 when the vote on and traveling the court the Declaration of circuit together. When Independence occurred. apart, they frequently Later, on 2 August 1776, corresponded. Though he signed the amended Hooper was less radical than Maclaine and Watters, version of the Declaration after the document had he was among the first to predict the separation been engrossed on parchment.(24)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 63 Hooper also served in the Secret Correspondence Marion, and William Henderson scoured not only Committee, frequently communicating with South Carolina, but also Georgia, North Carolina, Benjamin Franklin, the Commissioners in France, or and even Virginia, to fill their regiments. They prom committees in Massachusetts.(25) But he was ised bonuses and bounties of free land to those who stricken with yellow fever early in 1777. Nevertheless, would enlist for the duration of the war. he attended the North Carolina General Assembly in The departure of so many North Carolinians worried early April. But the pressures of illness and so much Hooper. In November 1778, he wrote Iredell: travel caused him to resign his seat in Congress at Our troops go to the Southward never to return, the end of April. a Soldier made is a farmer lost. The South Carolin The dual service in Congress and in the Assembly ians will requite us as heretofore; they will take had strained Hooper's finances. He returned to his advantage of the necessities of our men when law practice in the courts of North Carolina. War- they get them amongst them, and by supplying wants which they can very humanely excite, related disruptions to the courts minimized his they will entrap all our countrymen into their own profits therefrom. He also turned his attention to the Regiments…I tremble for a country which I love… work on his plantation, but remained an active voice the day of our perdition is not a great way off.(28) in the political sphere. Meanwhile, he enjoyed family When the British again turned their attention to the life. During a visit to Hooper's home on Masonboro south in 1779, Hooper's position became precarious. Sound, Iredell wrote his wife about the Hoopers: Particularly after the fall of Charleston (May 1780), They seem so happy in each other and their the British began to harass North Carolina. His politi children; their deportment to me is so obliging cal activities had made William Hooper a marked man. and friendly; the situation so agreeable (upon a sound, in sight of the sea) ...The children are very A house owned by Hooper was burned; then, his fine ones, though none promises to be so hand plantation home Finian was shelled. The family some as himself, but they appear to be sensible, moved into the town of Wilmington for protection are extremely well behaved, and his little girl … I from Tories. Late in January 1781, the British took believe will be pretty.(26) the town. William Hooper was away, at Edenton, but In July of 1778, Hooper wrote Iredell from Finian, the officers forced Mrs. Hooper from her home. telling about plans to attend the special session of British Major James H. Craig treated the Hooper the Assembly called for the third of August. Still family so cruelly that other British officers publicly suffering from the extreme coastal heat and from a chastised his conduct. Anne Clark Hooper fled to fever (as did his daughter Betsy), Hooper intended to Hillsborough, where her brother helped shelter her. confer with Joseph Hewes before Hewes returned to She soon was joined by her husband. Congress.(27) Until 1781, Hooper continued to William Hooper described his wife's flight and the represent Wilmington in the General Assembly. destruction of his home in a poignant letter to his War in the South - Before 1779, the Carolinas expe friend Iredell. His words reveal the resolve of his rienced only brief warfare with British regulars. Early wife and his own sorrow: in 1776, inland Tory forces had planned to march to From Edenton I proceeded to Newbern, and the Cape Fear coast to join with the British regulars immediately upon my arrival heard that Mrs. there. The British soldiers had sailed with Sir Henry Hooper…and others had been expelled from Clinton from Boston in January. But the Tory inland Wilmington, and suffered to carry with them troops were turned back by Richard Caswell's patriot nothing but their wearing apparel; that some of force at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in Feb the ladies had sought shelter near Wilmington, but that Mrs. Hooper and Mrs. Allen had been ruary, so never joined Clinton. The British next sailed seen with their families in wagons … moving to Charleston, where they expected easy victory be towards Hillsboro. I immediately made provision cause of the unfinished fortifications at Sullivan's for following, but before I got off, the evacuation Island. Yet the defenders at Fort Moultrie managed to of Wilmington was announced to me. sink British ships, preventing the landing of troops I then resolved to take that in my route, to there. The army turned its attention to the north, secure, if possible, some of my negroes, and to largely leaving North Carolina to its internal struggles. collect what I could from the wreck of my prop erty. I found that Mrs. Hooper had managed … Further south, near the Savannah River, Indians and to carry off all our household linen, blankets, and Tory militias scuffled with Patriot militias near the all the wearing apparel of herself and children frontier settlements. South Carolina worried about [leaving] behind all her furniture … these skirmishes on its boundary, and endeavored to … The British had borne off every article of house raise militia and Continental troops for defense. and kitchen furniture, knives, forks, plates, and Leaders like Colonels William Moultrie, Francis spoons an almost general sweep; nor had they
64 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 spared the beds … My library, except as to law But Hooper also had many friends who were accused books, is shamefully injured, and above 100 of Loyalist actions. His merchant brothers had been valuable volumes taken away … You know my suspected of helping Britain in the late war. William partiality to my books. Hooper's forbearance towards Loyalists probably was a Three fellows of mine had gone off with the British; factor that prevented his election as delegate to North one had been forced away by the militia, and I had lost five other negroes by the smallpox. After Carolina's Constitutional Convention in 1788. Still, he I had drawn together my few negroes that re could counsel the delegates to consider the new mained…and picked up the fragments of my prop country's need for the commercial and legal skills of erty, I set off for Hillsboro. I found my family there the former Loyalists. When he entertained or wrote his with Mrs. Allen, and hers under the roof of the acquaintances, he could advise them to lift anti-Loyalist house which Col. Clark had provided for them, legislation. His prior service surely must have held sway, and making an attempt at housekeeping with for by the end of 1788, Hooper had become North the few articles they had brought, and the Carolina's only surviving signer of the Declaration.(33) colonel's camp furniture. Mrs. Hooper had been ill for several months before All the health problems and political reverses led she left Wilmington, and when she came out, … Hooper to consider his own demise. In April 1788, there was very little reason to believe that she he prepared his last will and testament. By May of would have reached Hillsboro alive. My son Tom 1790, Iredell wrote of Hooper, "I fear a few months was under the influence of a high fever …They will finish him."(34) Ill health continued until stood in the sun for several hours, when my Hooper's death on 14 October 1790. In his will, his daughter, overcome with the heat, called out, first request had been that his body be "buried with "Mamma, let us go home." Mrs. Hooper, whose decency and with little expense."(35) The family firmness never forsook her in the severest moment of trial answered "My dear, we have no home." followed the directive, burying him in a corner of his Betsy could not support it. She burst into tears.(29) garden, adjacent to the Old Town Cemetery in Hills About 1782, the Hoopers bought a house (now a borough. [The remains were excavated in 1894 and National Historic Landmark) at Wilmington.(30) Al reburied at the Guilford Courthouse National Military though Anne Clark Hooper recovered her health, the Park in Greensboro.(36)] stresses of the war exacted a toll on the little family. In William Hooper failed to describe the state of his body the fall of 1782, Iredell twice reported that Hooper, or mind upon the creation of his last will, but he did his daughter Betsy, and son Tom were quite ill.(31) prepare for his death with deliberation. To his wife and Fevers haunted Hooper for the rest of his years. each child, he gave specific named slaves, but preferred Post-Revolution Legacy - In November 1782, that the remaining unnamed slaves remain with his wife Hooper's friends and former Continental Congress during her life. The Fayetteville home in which they associates John Jay, John Adams, and Benjamin lived was to be retained by wife Anne Clark Hooper, Franklin signed a preliminary peace treaty in Paris. then to pass to daughter Elizabeth. Land purchased By the time news of the agreement reached the from the Hogg family similarly was to be held by the Carolinas, Hooper had begun his withdrawal from widow and pass to the daughter. Also, horses, carriages, public service. Iredell confided to his wife, in May livestock, and plantation tools went to Mrs. Hooper. An and June, 1783, that Hooper was overwhelmed by estate called Clarkmont similarly went to Mrs. Hooper, the travel necessary to maintain his legal practice: then to Elizabeth. All claims made upon the estate of The next day I over took Mr. Hooper and con James Murray were devised entirely to Mrs. Hooper. tinued on with him here [Wilmington], where we A house, brick store and land lots in Wilmington went arrived the day before yesterday...Mr. Hooper to eldest son William. But so long as his mother lived has not been very well, owing to a great deal of and as his sister remained unmarried, the son was to fatigue of which I had an equal share but have pay her an annuity of 50£. If Elizabeth married, then stood it better, not having been in the least sick ... the annuity to Mrs. Hooper would reduce to 40£. Since Mr. Hooper is with Mr. A. Maclaine...Mr. H. seems Elizabeth married so soon after her father's death, also inclined to end his Circuit at Newbern. When William never needed to make the larger payment. The he can extricate himself here."(32) Political setbacks compounded the physical difficulties. father also gave his namesake the old plantation and In 1782, Hooper's election (for Wilmington) had been house on Masonboro Sound. invalidated. He was defeated in the 1783 election. When Younger son Thomas received lands in New Han elected in 1784 and 1786, he urged moderation in the over County. The inheritance included a house, treatment of Loyalists and absentee owners. Here, he office, and lots in the Town of Wilmington, bought found himself in opposition to some of his former from the DeRossett family.(37) Clark's Place on the Revolutionary cronies. Cape Fear River, and Clark's Island were properties
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 65 William Hooper had obtained, in right of his wife, But in two places in the will, Hooper made special provi from the Thomas Clark estate. These passed to son sion for his other books, using far greater detail than he Thomas. William Hooper also had purchased land on made for his other personal property. First, he devised an island opposite Wilmington - the land once was his books to his wife and her executors and assignees. owned by William's brother Thomas Hooper, but had Then he wished that his wife select from his miscella passed through another party before William had neous books those she wished "to retain for the amuse obtained it. This land, too, went to son Thomas, as ment of herself and children, and such books so did all of the Signer's land in Moore County. So long retained at the death of my wife shall be divided as his mother was alive, Thomas was to pay her an amongst my children." The "worthy friends" were to annuity of 20£. sell the remaining books, along with his law books, to William Hooper's great love of reading manifests pay debts. Hooper even specified that they consider itself again in his disposal of his books. Evidently, he whether selling the books in another state might bring a believed neither son would follow his profession as an higher price. attorney. Thus, Hooper ordered that Ever the learned gentleman, William Hooper be …under the direction and with the advice and queathed more than his possessions. His sons lived assistance of my worthy friends Governor Samuel short lives. But his daughter, grandchildren, and great- Johnston, Archibald Maclaine, Alfred Moore, grandchildren followed his example in their public lives. James Iredell, and Jesse Benton, my law books His model inspired them with both a love for learning should be sold to the best advantage and the proceeds applied to the payment of my debts. and a desire to serve the needs of their communities.
Notes 1. Parents of Reverend Hooper were 2. The West Church organized 3 January are several Hooper baptisms at Robert Hooper and wife Mary Jaf 1737. The building now known as "Old Boston Churches. Reverend Hooper fray. Powell gives the birth year as West Church" in Boston was the second identified his three youngest children 1704. Drake, Lossing, Dwight, and meeting house, built in 1806. The con when he recorded their baptisms at Sanderson all identify the birthplace gregation disbanded in 1889; United Trinity. Similarly, his wife and daugh as Edinham. Wheeler identifies the Methodists presently use the building. ter Mary, when they appear in Trinity birthplace as Marblehead, Mass. Information from
66 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Baptisms, 1747 "March 15, George, Son of the Reverend Mr. Hooper," to make provisions "extraordinary care & trouble" since the Reverend William & Mary Hooper." [Entry for a funeral and to determine what decease of the late Incumbent. attested by Jos. Dowse, Warden. further measures would be needed. Records of Trinity Church, page 150. Date shown in printed record is (Records of Trinity Church, p. 147). 20. Powell, ibid. given the New Style calendar year; 18. Boston (MA) City Registrar, 1898, A 21. James Iredell was born 1751 in in the manuscript, the date is given Report of the Record Commissioners of England and died in 1799. He came as the Old Style 1746.] the City of Boston - Marriages: 1752- to America as comptroller of Baptisms, 1748 "May 15, Mary Daughter 1809: Municipal Printing Office, Boston, customs at Edenton, North Carolina of the Rd. William Hooper & Mary. God City Document #150-Marriage Inten in 1768. His wife, whom he married in Fathers Mr. Joseph Dowse, Mrs. Ben Fanueil & tions, Volume 28, p. 362. Anne Clark was 1773, was the former Hannah Mrs. Greenleaf. "[Entry attested by Wm. an orphan. Thus the choice of Boston, Johnston. After serving as a judge Hooper Minister, and the wardens. hometown of the groom, rather than the and as Attorney General in North Joseph Dowse was one of two bride's childhood home of Wilmington, Carolina, Iredell was appointed wardens, while Benjamin Fanueil NC, is reasonable. Hooper's selection of Associate Justice of the U.S. was one of the vestrymen in 1748. In King's Chapel, however, may seem sur Supreme Court in 1790 and 1765, Stephen Greenleaf, Esq., prising. Trinity Church records reveal the continued there until his death. He became a warden of Trinity probable reason Hooper married else was the youngest member of the Church.] where. After the death of Reverend original court. His widow survived Baptisms, 1751 "April 7, Thos. Son of the Hooper, the wardens and vestry decreed until the late 1820s. Their son James Revd. William & Mary Hooper." (sole on 14 Apr 1767 that the pulpit and became governor of North Carolina christening that day). [Entry attested reading desk at Trinity be "decently cover'd in 1827 and a US senator in 1828. by Wm. Hooper Minister, and the with the best black Cloth, and that after the funeral 22. Hooper to Iredell, April 1774, as wardens]. Solemnitys Shall be over, the Cloth shall be given to the quoted in Ashe, Samuel A., 1905, The original handwritten church Reverend Mr. Walter, the Assistant Minister." Biographical History of North records are also available: Trinity That is, the church itself was in mourning. Carolina: Charles Van Noppen, Church (Boston, MA), 1737-1896, So shaken was this religious community Greensboro [NC], Vol. 2, p. 199. Records of Baptisms, Marriages, that it failed to discuss finding a replace 23. Powell, ibid. Powell suggests the Burials, And Confirmations, 1738- ment for their minister. Not until a meeting elder Mrs. Hooper later resided at 1820, 1867-1896: manuscript of the Vestry on 13 March 1768 did the Milton (Caswell County), North available at LDS FHL as film wardens determine to set a date for Carolina. Supposedly, Mrs. Hooper 1,289,683 Items 2-4. Marriages 1737- considering a new minister. Ultimately, died at Milton, at an unknown date. 1820 Christenings 1738-1820: Reverend Hooper's assistant, William However, it is far more likely that available as film 856,691. Please Walter, became the new minister on confusion has caused a misidentifi note that photocopying of the Easter Monday, 4 April 1768. cation of her change of residence. microfilm is not allowed. Thus, when William Hooper married Mrs. Hooper probably settled in 15. Otis had been advocate-general Anne Clark in August 1767, no minister Milton, Massachusetts, a smaller of the British Crown in Boston when was yet available to officiate at Trinity town just south of Boston. In 1774, the government enforced the Church. Records of Trinity Church, pp. Milton [MA] had been the site of the hated Navigation Acts by use of 147-150. "Suffolk Resolves," resolutions which "John Doe" search warrants (writs of 19. Ibid., p. 399, "John Russell Spence, from London called for organized colonial assistance). In protest, Otis resigned before 1768, married Mary Hooper, daughter of the resistance against Great Britain. that office and addressed the court late Rev. Mr. Hooper [March?] 2, 1768." Also see Compare the information contained on the colonists' behalf. He based Whitmore, William H., 1973, Port Arrivals in a letter transcribed in Taylor, his opposition on the supremacy of and Immigrants to the City of Boston, Robert J., Lint, Gregg L. and Walker, natural law over Acts of Parliament. 1715-1716 and 1762- 1769: Baltimore : Celeste, editors, 1979, Papers of In 1764, Otis published a pamphlet Genealogical Publishing [reprint, repagi John Adams: Belknap Press, The Rights of the Colonists nated excerpt (pp. 229-317) from Boston Cambridge [MA], Vol 3 (May 1775- Vindicated, which again was based (MA) City Registrar, 1900, A Volume Of January 1776), pp. 267-272, Letter of on natural law. In 1765, Otis was a Records Relating To The Early History Of Mercy Otis Warren to John Adams, leader of the Stamp Act Congress. Boston Containing Miscellaneous Papers]. Watertown [MA] [late] October During the 1760s, Otis stood among The location of Mary Hooper's wedding 1775, with addendum dated the ablest leaders of the movement is unclear. The marriage on 2 [Feb? November 7, 1775. Mrs. Warren first that became the American March?] 1768 was recorded by William reported that the furnishings of Old Revolution. He was mentally Walter within the Trinity register, "John South Church in Boston had been disabled in 1769 by a blow to the Russell Spence of London to Mary Hooper Dr. of the removed to accomodate that head, but lived until 1783. late Revd. Mr. Hooper." There is a possibility church's use as a stable for 16. Powell, page 107. that Reverend Walter recorded Miss Burgoyne's light horse. The British 17. Quotation is from Powell, who gives Hooper's marriage not because he had troops slept nightly with arms ready, death date as 14 April 1767. Some officiated at her wedding at Trinity, but expecting attack by the Americans. sources indicate Reverend Hooper because she was a regular and well Mrs. Warren clarified, with her died on a Sunday, but 14 April was beloved worshipper at Trinity. Another addendum, the source of her not a Sunday. One source, possibility is that Reverend Walter did intelligence about the British published in 1851, gave the date as perform the ceremony at Trinity, even occupation: "The Circumstance I Mentioned 5 Apr 1767, which was a Sunday. But before his official selection as minister with Regard to the old south Church and which three contemporary sources agree was made in April 1768. There is strong you may well think Gives Great affliction to the with the 14 April date. The indication that Reverend Walter, from sisterhood, Comes from Mrs. Hooper who Got out Massachusetts Gazette and New January to March of 1768, already had of Boston Last week with a Number of other Hampshire Gazette published begun to serve in the capacity of a persons...Our Caution is on account of the small notices identifying 14 April as death regular minister. When Mr. Walter was pox with which Many are infected." date. The Trinity Church wardens chosen in April, the vestry voted to Watertown, from which Mrs. Warren and a great majority of the vestry award Walter £40, which was almost wrote, lies about 15 miles west of met on 14 April, "upon the sudden Death of exactly a quarter year's salary, for his Boston. However, Mrs. Warren told
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 67 Mr. Adams of her own plans to [NC], Division of Archives and History,
Siblings of the Signer
Not so prominent as their father and brother, George (born 1747), Mary (born 1748), and Thomas Hooper (born 1751) did survive childhood and married. Unfortunately, fewer records exist to reveal details of the lives of Mary and Thomas. For help in navigating the individuals and relationships, see the descendants chart for Reverend William Hooper on page 76. Although Powell's biographies suggest George and that 110£ (the annual salary originally paid to Thomas Hooper arrived in North Carolina very Reverend Hooper) "be paid the ensuing year to his shortly after their brother William's migration,(1) the Widow for the Support of her Family." Daughter Mary Trinity church records imply instead that the younger Hooper married in 1768, thus, the daughter probably children remained in Boston for several more years. was at least one of the family members so supported In April 1767, when Reverend Hooper died, the for the year 1767. Further, the church voted to build vestry of the church sent a committee "to wait upon a vault under the Chancel "to be appropriated for the Mrs. Hooper & the family and to assist them." use of Mr. Hooper's Family," once more indicating [Italics and emphasis added.] The church also voted they were considering individuals besides the widow.
68 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 In April 1768, the church again contemplated ways gresses. James Iredell, Samuel Johnston, and William to support Mrs. Hooper. First, they considered an Hooper were Maclaine's conservative allies in the annuity. The motion failed. Then they voted that 50£ Assemblies. Unquestionably a patriot, Maclaine be "paid to Mrs. Mary Hooper the widow of the late supported property rights, and property qualifi Revd. Mr. William Hooper towards the Support of her cations for voting and office-holding, and strong Family for the ensuing year." The reduction in executive power. When the first state constitution amount probably indicates both a reduction in the was written, radicals were able to limit the governor's size of her household (after Mary's marriage) and authority, but the conservatives managed to maintain the need of the church to pay the new Incumbent property requirements for voters. Minister, Mr. Walter. Before the Revolution, Maclaine was a mentor who At the church's annual meeting in March of 1769, influenced the political thought not only of William, the proprietors yet again voted to help "Mrs. Hooper but also of George Hooper. By 1775, George had & her children." This time, they appointed a day for a married Maclaine's daughter Katherine (or Kitty).(5) special collection to be taken for them. The use of When the Hoopers' only son was born in Wilmington the plural children implies that George, Thomas, and on 7 December 1775, they honored the father-in-law maybe even John (if alive) were the remaining mem by naming the boy Archibald Maclaine Hooper.(6) bers of her household early in 1769. However, only Apparently, the couple honored George Hooper's Thomas would have been under the age of majority mother (who died 1779) when a daughter named then. Mary Hooper was born between 1774 and 1784. The April meeting of 1770 marks the first time that (Whether there were any other children is uncertain, a collection was ordered solely to benefit Mrs. but only A. M. Hooper and his sister Mary survived Hooper. Clearly, by that time, all her children either their father).(7) had died, married, or moved away. Again in 1771 and Patronage of Powerful Patriots - Under the 1772, the proprietors voted collections to benefit the guidance of his father-in-law, George Hooper began widow Hooper, but made no mention of family or seeking opportunities for public service. With his children.(2) No additional records about the family Boston Latin School education and familial appear in the Trinity Records after Mrs. Hooper's connections in the legal field, George Hooper November 1779 death.(3) looked to the courts for such an opening. In 1777, Mary Hooper Spence: After the death of he expressed his interest in the clerkship of the New Reverend Hooper, little further information about Hanover court. His relatives supported him, but also the Hooper family appears in Boston. Son William's wanted to assure that George Hooper's own merit, marriage to Anne Clark occurred at King's Chapel in not the influence of his friends, was the cause for his 1767. A little more than half a year later, Reverend appointment. At the end of the year, Maclaine Hooper's daughter Mary married John Russell cautioned his friend, attorney James Iredell: Spence. There is a 1769 mention that John Russell ...Mr. Hooper writes you that his brother George Spence entered Boston, Massachusetts "with lady" is a candidate for the Wilmington Clerkship. The appointment of Clerks is vested in the Judges, or on the ship London from Philadelphia,(4) but no later any two of them; but there is no room for record of them was located by this author. An exten solicitation, if the candidate is defective in sive search of the Boston, Philadelphia, and London qualifications, as the Judges are bound by oath records after 1768 might yield additional information. to nominate impartially.(8) George Hooper: In the Carolinas, records of Soon it became clear that James Iredell himself the younger Hooper brothers begin to appear in the would be awarded a superior court judgeship, 1770s. The Cape Fear area had been settled by Scots. thereby gaining power to nominate court clerks. The handsome Hooper brothers, born in the Again, Maclaine wrote to Iredell on behalf of his colonies to a Scottish minister, immediately joined son-in-law: the upper ranks of that society. George appeared ...As to Mr. G. Hooper, I am too much interested in his welfare to trust myself with saying any thing in headed for a public career similar to that of William. his favor. I will only beg leave to observe that I hope One of the Wilmington leaders was Archibald his own merit will be his best recommendation. I Maclaine. He had been born about 1728 in Lothian wish your partiality for him may not induce you to (the area around Edinburgh) Scotland and first was a overlook the merit of any other candidate..." (9) merchant in the colony. Unsuccessful in trade, Mac Iredell seemed to have little doubt about the laine studied law and followed politics, eventually qualifications or even the patriotic sentiments of representing Wilmington in the provincial con George Hooper. By the middle of January, 1778,
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 69 Iredell had taken his oath of office. He immediately By 1782, George Hooper definitely was in Charleston. appointed Hooper as the Wilmington Clerk. Later in He was able to communicate with his brother William, the year, Iredell traveled to the Cape Fear area. First, who wrote to Iredell that George was in Charleston he spent several days with his friend William Hooper and was "at present in suspense what to do."(14) at the Masonboro Sound plantation. Then Iredell George began a correspondence with his father-in- came into Wilmington where he enjoyed a stay at the law in which they discussed business and politics. home of George Hooper. Of Kitty Hooper, Iredell The problems of Loyalists developed as another observed to his wife Hannah: theme. Such letters continued until 1788,(15) but the Mrs. G. Hooper is extremely genteel, has one of Hoopers did return to North Carolina at times. In the finest persons I ever saw, and seems a most May 1783, Iredell told his wife that Kitty Hooper amiable Woman.(10) was at Wilmington with her father, with George Neither Iredell nor brother William Hooper gave in Hooper expected the next month.(16) dication in 1778 that George Hooper was of Loyalist Peace returns to the Carolinas -Perhaps by then persuasion. In fact, George was appointed to an George Hooper's North Carolina property had been additional office by the Assembly. As an importer, impounded. In the Paris negotiations for the prelimi merchant George Hooper was vitally interested in nary peace treaty in 1782, the British had insisted the shipping along the Carolina coastal waterways. that Loyalists have the chance to regain confiscated Thus, he became one of the navigation commis property. Ultimately, the peace talks recommended sioners along the Cape Fear River. He still held that that the states allow non-combatant Loyalists to re office in February 1799.(11) claim the property. In 1783 and 1784, however, the Suspicions of Toryism - George Hooper had been states were inclined to ignore the treaty clauses. resident in North Carolina in October 1778, so was Iredell probably was thinking of those clauses when, not subject to confiscation of his property because just after mentioning "G. Hooper," in his May 1783 of absence. Perhaps, though, he was offended by the letter, Iredell launched into a denunciation: Senate's refusal to consider his brother Thomas's I long greatly to be at home, where I should be petition for citizenship early in 1779. Perhaps he very well satisfied not withstanding the decided the Assembly was too radical for his conser pernicious and ridiculous laws that have been vative beliefs. Then whispers circulated that George lately made. The event has justified my fears, was a Loyalist. Whatever his beliefs, his mercantile and the strong conviction I had of the necessity business must have been precarious. of a more than ordinary exertion at the present period. Not only the most wanton injury has From February to May of 1780, the British been done to Individuals, but the national blockades allowed little commerce through the Character disgraced, as more than one article primary southern port of Charleston. Savannah, too, of the Treaty of Peace has been expressly was in British hands. Traders struggled to fend off violated. If such things are much longer suffered, their creditors and to find enough goods to sell. this will not be a Country to live in, and in the Then Charleston succumbed to the British Siege in mean time they must deeply wound the feelings May 1780. By the end of May, word of the defeat of every Man of sensibility and honour. had reached Masonboro Sound, where James Iredell The date of George Hooper's permanent return to and William Hooper discussed the precaution of North Carolina is unclear. David Alexander apparently leaving the area. The two of them did flee to the was a Charleston partner. Hooper and Alexander greater security of Wilmington.(12) Frightening brought several actions in South Carolina courts between times, these were, for those of patriotic sentiment. 1785 and 1795. But in 1790 and again in 1800, George Hooper was enumerated in New Hanover County.(17) Other merchants in Wilmington, like George Hooper, were suspected of being Tories. At this point, the Further proof of George Hooper's return to North scrip used to pay for military supplies was virtually Carolina comes in his petitions to the Assembly. North worthless. Those who refused such payment often Carolina failed to ratify the US Constitution until 1789. were branded as Loyalists. Thus, the motivations of Nine other states, the minimum to create the new George Hooper are unclear. Was he hoping for a federal government, had ratified by June 1788. Thus resurrection of Loyalist fortunes, or did he fear for a short period in 1789, North Carolina acted as a British reprisal for the activities by his relatives? Was separate country, and had its own import fees. he simply hoping to devote more time to trade? Since Charleston had the best southern harbor for Whatever the cause, George Hooper resigned his ocean-going ships, most goods arrived in South Car clerkship on 8 June 1780. He may have left for South olina before being transferred to coastal ships bound Carolina soon afterward.(13) for North Carolina. Merchants importing from
70 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Europe had to pay import taxes at Charleston, then the end of the year. Two Raleigh (Wake County) pay a second import tax when the same items arrived newspapers reported the death in their editions of in Wilmington. As one of the merchants faced with 27 Dec, and identified Mrs. Hooper as "wife of the double taxation, Hooper complained to the As George Hooper of this Town."(23) The widower sembly in 1789 and received favorable treatment in a survived her by 11 years. In 1820, George Hooper's report dated December 1790. Other merchants then slaves were enumerated under his name, but he allied with Hooper were John Bradley, John Ingram, apparently lived in town with his son, rather than on and Nathan Ward.(18) the plantation.(24) In April of that year, George Profits from land acquisition helped Hooper's Hooper prepared a will. Significantly, he named as company recovered from the wartime losses. Until his niece Mrs. Elizabeth Watters of Hillsborough, 1790, the area now Tennessee had been a part of and bequeathed "her choice of as many of the North Carolina. In payment to its Revolutionary printed Books I may die possessed of as she may soldiers, North Carolina granted Tennessee acreages think proper to select."(25) Here again is an indica on the basis of Bounty Warrants. For many former tion of the importance of books to the descendants soldiers who returned to their homes, such vouchers of Reverend William Hooper. The Raleigh Register of for distant land were virtually worthless. So they sold 29 June 1821 reported that George Hooper had died or traded the scraps of paper for pennies. Land on 19 June 1821 at Wilmington. traders appeared at courthouses on county days, and Archibald Maclaine Hooper and family: Like his left with warrants for thousands of acres. father George Hooper, A.M. Hooper was a member Also, North Carolina owed large debts for provisions of St. James Episcopal. He was an attorney and furnished to the army. The Tennessee lands were an worked at times for the Wilmington branch of the asset that could be traded. Thus, soldiers, speculators, State Bank of North Carolina. Later, he worked in and suppliers in North Carolina began the first steps the U.S. Customs office at Wilmington. His greatest to acquire title to Tennessee lands. The land office at legacy was literary. In 1822, A.M. Hooper wrote a Hillsborough closed in 1784, but the entries matured sketch of his uncle, the signer of the Declaration of into actual North Carolina grants even after the Ten Independence.(26) That sketch was used as source nessee territory became a separate state in 1796. Mer material for several editions of Biography of the chants often accepted mortgages on Tennessee lands Signers of the Declaration of Independence. He also in lieu of monetary payment for goods. If the cus wrote a draft biography of Revolutionary War General tomer defaulted, the lands became property of the Ashe. From 1826 to 1832, he was the editor of Wil mercantile company. Deeds and tax records show mington's Cape Fear Recorder. By the 1840 census, that merchant George Hooper of Wilmington had though, he had moved to Chatham County, North acquired or traded for tracts in at least three Ten Carolina, where his wife's Jones cousins lived.(27) nessee counties.(19) So his name appears in records The children of A.M. Hooper and his wife Charlotte of Claiborne, Davidson, and Stewart Counties from left many documents revealing their lives. Their 1799 to 1806; but there is no indication that he ever names were George Deberniere, Maclaine, John De lived in Tennessee.(20) Berniere, Louisa, and Johnson Jones Hooper. By 1800, Hooper had been fully rehabilitated in the Another daughter, born 1810-1814, died in child eyes of North Carolina politics. When the Bank of hood. Maclaine Hooper (born about 1810, alive 1820) Cape Fear was chartered in 1804, he became its first also apparently left little record, and may have died president. Summer of 1806 must have been eventful before marriage. Archibald Maclaine Hooper died at for the aging George Hooper. On the first day of the home of his eldest son in Alabama in 1853,(28) June, his widowed daughter Mary Shaw remarried in his wife Charlotte may also have died that same year. Wilmington to merchant James Fleming. Then, a George DeBerniere Hooper was born in 1809 and week later, his son, the attorney Archibald Maclaine became an attorney. He moved to Alabama about Hooper, married in Chatham County to Miss Charlotte 1833 and was a Justice of the Peace in Lafayette, DeBernier, daughter of Colonel John Antony DeBer Chambers County, Alabama by January of 1835.(29) nier and Anne Jones DeBernier.(21, 22) Nothing more He may also have stayed briefly in Columbus, Georgia is known of Mary Hooper Shaw Fleming, but her about 1835, but returned to Fayetteville, North Caro brother left numerous records. lina to marry Caroline Eliza Mallett in 1836. They The location of the family in 1810 is uncertain, since moved back to Chambers County, Alabama, where both the New Hanover and Wake County enumera George tutored his younger brother Johnson Jones tions have been lost. However, George Hooper's Hooper in the law. Wife Carolina Hooper returned to wife, Kitty Maclaine Hooper, died at Wilmington at
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 71 North Carolina in 1838 for health reasons - an infant Hooper's intervention, she met Reverend John J. daughter who died in North Carolina is buried at Hills Roberts. The men were professors of modern lan borough. By 1850, the family had moved to Russell guage at Chapel Hill. The widow was married to County, Alabama where they lived at the town of Roberts in September 1842, by the Reverend William Crawford. They were enumerated there again in 1860, M. Green (the same man who had officiated the as were some of their adult children. After the war, marriage of John De Berniere Hooper to Mary George Hooper was one of the two Russell County Elizabeth Hooper in 1837).(33) delegates to the Alabama Constitutional Convention Thomas Hooper: When he left Boston, Thomas held at Montgomery on September 12-30, 1865.(30) Hooper first came to the Cape Fear area and worked Hooper later lived at Opelika (Lee County) Alabama, with brother George in the mercantile effort. George and died in 1892.(31) and Thomas intermingled with the other planters and John Deberniere Hooper, born 1811, married his were well known to their older brother’s political asso cousin Mary Elizabeth Hooper. His life and their ciates. There is little evidence that Thomas received a family are discussed separately with the descendants university education, as had William. Many upperclass of the Signer. families of that period instead sent sons on prolonged Johnson Jones Hooper, born 1815, worked for his Grand Tours of Europe. Emulation of that tradition father at the Cape Fear Recorder and published his might explain why the carefree Thomas sailed over first poem in that paper in 1830. Next, he moved to seas in the later 1770s. Worries about the unhealthful Alabama where he first was an attorney (trained by, climate along the Carolina coast, or perhaps the part then partner with, his brother George) and next a nership's desire to expand trade in Europe, may also journalist in Lafayette, Alabama. After his marriage to have motivated the overseas travel. Mary Mildred Brantley in 1842, he began writing Upon his return, Thomas was ready to settle into a stories for his paper, the East Alabamian. The tales more stable life. By 1778, his elder brother William soon attracted attention from a New York editor. In Hooper had already enjoyed over a decade of December of 1844, Hooper introduced his most marriage and had three children. In the fall of that famous character, Simon Suggs and in 1845 his New year, William wrote to the Iredells announcing,(34) York friend published Hooper's Simon Suggs, Late ...Thos Hooper quitted his liberty on Thursday Last Captain of the Tallapoosa Volunteers. The humorous [12 November 1778] making a Solemn resignation book has been through at least 13 editions, and influ there of to Miss Mary Heron and begins again to enced the writing of another southerner, Mark Twain. wear the Phiz of Benedict the married man; this traffick must thrive, let politicks go as they will. He In 1850, Hooper lived in Chambers County. By 1860, brought home with him from France a fine crop he had moved to Montgomery, Alabama where he of Health, and may take matrimony as owned and edited the Montgomery Mail. He strongly philosophers do, to prevent the effects of supported southern rights and became secretary of repletions.(35) the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of Quite possibly, Thomas returned from France not America in Montgomery. In 1861, he, his wife, and only to marry, but also to protect his goods and land youngest child moved to Richmond, Virginia as editor from seizure. The North Carolina Assembly earlier for the "Proceedings of the Provisional Congress" and had voted that the property of absentees was subject of the Confederate Constitution. He died in Rich to impoundment.(36) Resale of such confiscated mond (1862) and was buried at Shockhoe Hill Cem assets was intended to help finance the state's military etery. His family returned to Montgomery.(32) efforts. William Hooper's confidant James Iredell had Louisa Hooper was born between 1810 and 1820. She written in January 1778 to an acquaintance who was was a deeply religious woman who married in Wilming apparently then visiting in England or France: ton to Reverend Daniel Cobia, of St. Philips Episco I should be glad, if it could be permitted, to give pal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The mar you a particular history of our affairs; but it ought riage was reported in the Raleigh and Charleston however to be known in England that a papers. They married in November of 1835, but their confiscation of the property of all absentees will happiness was brief. Her husband had consumption take place here, with respect to all such who are not arrived by the 1st of October next.(37) (tuberculosis) and died in Charleston less than fifteen William Hooper, who himself had attended the months after the marriage. The widow went to Pitts Assembly which voted the measure, likely warned his boro, in Chatham County, where her parents then brother of the upcoming confiscations, and of the lived. Sadly, her infant son Daniel Cobia, died not need to establish citizenship. Thus, Thomas Hooper, quite fourteen months after his father's death. who may have been in Europe when his brother Probably through her brother John DeBerniere
72 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 signed the Declaration of Independence, petitioned at least two purchases in 1783.(41) Thomas may have the General Assembly of North Carolina for citizen planned to retire from his mercantile business and ship. The Assembly's Committee on Citizenship con assume the role of planter. Late in the spring of 1783, sidered the petition of several New Hanoverites and Iredell gossiped to his wife Hannah, reported their rejection on 23 January 1779.(38) ...Mr. Hooper has received a letter from his Shortly, Thomas Hooper moved to South Carolina, Brother Tom mentioning that he expected his probably seeking the greater mercantile opportunities Wife from England in a few days, and that they should be with him in July at Hillsborough--and afforded by the Port of Charleston. He most likely as he understands it, on their way to the north was among the non-combatants caught in Charleston ward. Tom Hooper was preparing for some new during the 1780 siege by Clinton. Nevertheless, he settlement as he has lately sold 29 Negroes.(42) managed to continue in a profitable business, and to From 1784 to 1796, Thomas Hooper brought several communicate with his family. From Wilmington, lawsuits that were heard before the South Carolina William Hooper reported in February 1782 that Court of Common Pleas. Several of these may have My brothers are both in Charleston - Tom carrying involved residual claims from business conducted on an extensive trade, and making money rapidly. during the Revolutionary period. In 1786, he mort His wife goes to England in the spring, and he, I gaged his lot on the corner of George and Meeting suppose, will soon follow her.(39) Streets. By 1793, he had defaulted on that loan, and During the same month, Mary Heron Hooper con lost title to the lot. Between 1788 and 1791, Thomas tacted her patriot brother Edward Heron about the and Mary sold three other properties. impending trip. He immediately sought permission from the governor for travel into the enemy territory: Thomas and wife Mary clearly had left Charleston, for Sir: they were enumerated for 1790 in Claremont County By a Flag which lately arrived here from Charles of Camden District. The home consisted of a adult Town, I received a letter from my sister, Mrs. male, a male under 16, a female, and 22 slaves. It is Hooper, wife of Mr. Thomas Hooper, informing me unclear whether the younger male was their son, an that she was in an ill state of health and that she unrelated visitor, or perhaps nephew Thomas Hogg had expectations of going to Europe this spring. Hooper, who was about 17. In this letter she earnestly importunes an interview with me before she leaves America and it is my Court and deed records at the South Carolina earnest wish to gratify her if I can obtain the Archives show that Mrs. Mary Hooper became a permission of the Government. widow and executrix of her husband's estate in the With this view I beg leave to trouble you for a flag later 1790s.(43) In 1800, Mary Hooper headed the and permit to proceed to Charlestown by land or Claremont County household of three women born water by the first convenient opportunity. I must 1755-1774, a female and a male born 1784-1790, and further request of your Excellency to grant me a 19 slaves. Mary Hooper was enumerated in the same protection for my property in my absence as I area, which had become Sumter District, in 1810. Her mean to return to the possession of it and intend to make my absence as short as circumstances last appearance as head of household was on the 1820 will permit. Sumter County census, when she was listed as over I am you Excellency's 45, with a young lady aged 10-16 also in the home. Most ob. H'ble Serv't, Mrs. Hooper probably died before 1830. Most E. Heron(40) biographers of the Hooper brothers indicate no If Thomas Hooper ever did join his wife in Europe, children of Thomas Hooper survived to adulthood. his absence from South Carolina was brief. He made
Notes: 1. William S. Powell, editor; 1988; Colonial Society of Massachusetts Registrar, 1900, A Volume Of Records Dictionary of North Carolina Publications, Boston, Vols. 55 - 56, pp. Relating To The Early History Of Boston Biography: University of North 147, 150-151, 153, 155, 158. Containing Miscellaneous Papers], p Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, Vol. 3 (H- 3. The Records of Trinity Church (p. 792) 89. This 1769 reference to Spence K), pp. 197, 199. Powell appears not show that Mrs. Mary Hooper, age 65, aboard the ship London might to have examined the Trinity Records, was buried there on 22 November indicate that Spence's 1768 marriage for he was unaware of the death 1779. record identifying him as from date and burial of Mrs. Mary Dennie 4. Whitmore, William H., 1973, Port London, might refer to the ship and Hooper at Trinity Church. Nor was Arrivals and Immigrants to the City of not to the City of London. Perhaps Powell aware of the baptismal dates Boston, 1715-16 and 1762-1769: Spence was a ship's captain or the of the Hooper children in Boston. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing merchant owner of the London. If so, 2. Oliver, Andrew and Peabody, James [reprint, repaginated excerpt (pp. there may be later shipping records Bishop, editors, 1980-1982, Records of 229-317) from Boston (MA) City in Philadelphia and Boston, or Trinity Church, Boston 1728-1830:
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 73 perhaps even in Charleston, which 10. James Iredell to Hannah Iredell, household included three women mention him. Wilmington 9th June 1778, in aged 25-45. After the end of the Revolution, there Higginbotham, Vol. 2, p. 31. 18. See files 66.8.52.19.4, 66.8.53.2.7, , was a John Spence who was an 11. File 66.8.16.33 General Assembly 66.8.57.2.7, and 66.8.62.4.4 General attorney in London and Edinburgh. Session Records at the North Carolina Assembly Session Records for This John Spence was an advocate State Archives. 1 February 1799, November 1789 through December for Charles Reid and Company of House bill to amend an act entitled 1790. North Carolina and Scotland in An act to regulate the pilotage of 19. Claiborne County, Tennessee, Deed presenting Loyalist claims before the Cape Fear and Ocacock bars and Book A, p. 209. 1804 sale from James British Board on the Claims. North the rivers leading from the same - Hogg to George Hooper for $2500. Carolina's State Archives has copies Brunswick, Wilmington, New Bern, Book E, p. 372, 1819 Archibald of the paperwork filed at the British Bath, and Edenton. Hooper (son of and administrator for Public Records Office. Whether there 12. See the letter of James Iredell to George Hooper) to Joseph Mahan is any connection between John Hannah Iredell, Mason Borough 28th for $400. Russell Spence and wife Mary Hooper May 1780 in Higginbotham, Vol. 2, p. Davidson County, Tennessee, Deed Spence with the 1790s-1800s London 159. Book E, beginning page 143. 1799 attorney is unknown. 13. Powell describes the resignation, indenture from William Cochran, 5. Several biographers have indicated then states, "it is doubtful whether the George formerly of Burke County, North the wife of Maclaine and mother of Hooper listed as a prisoner of the Patriots after the Carolina, now of Tennessee, to "George Katherine Maclaine Hooper was Battle of Camden in August 1780 was George Hooper, merchant, of Wilmington, North Elizabeth Rowan, but the author Hooper the Wilmington merchant." Because of Carolina, surviving partner of Ingram and Hooper found no independent verification. A the later connection of Thomas and of the other part" for 2276 acres in several memorandum book kept by Mary Hooper to the Camden district, tracts along South Harpeth River. Archibald Maclain (1695-1740), there does seem to be some Impartial Review and Cumberland Presbyterian minister in Ireland, is item possibility that George Hooper was Repository, issues of 12 July and 4 #2313 in the Manuscripts traveling that area, perhaps on his October 1806, Stewart County, Department, Southern Historical way to Charleston, when the fighting Tennessee, June and September. Collection, University of North erupted at Camden. court terms, unpaid taxes for 1000 Carolina at Chapel Hill. The book 14. William Hooper to James Iredell, acres on South Side Cumberland includes family records, some added Wilmington February 17, 1782, in River and Five-mile Creek. [Notices by Archibald Maclaine (1728-1790/2), Higginbotham, Vol. 2, pp. 327-331. abstracted in Eddlemon, Sherida K, legislator of North Carolina and by 15. The originals are part of the George 1988, Genealogical Abstracts From the Hooper family. A check of this Hooper papers (#351) in the Tennessee Newspapers 1791-1808: volume (185 pages) likely would Manuscript Department, Southern Heritage Books, Bowie [MD], pp. 157, reveal much early data on the Historical Collection, University of 158, 166. family. North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The 20. George Hooper was a head of 6. Collier Cobb had been a student of letters were published in Clark, household in 1790 and 1800 New Professor William Hooper (great- Walter, editor, State Records of North Hanover County, and his slaves were nephew of George Hooper) and Carolina: Nash Brothers, Goldsboro enumerated under his name in 1820 later associate of John D. B. Hooper [NC], Vol.XVI and XVII. New Hanover. George probably was (son of Archibald Maclaine Hooper). 16. James Iredell to Hannah Iredell, the oldest male (aged over 45) listed Working with the assistance of family Wilmington, May 31st, 1783 in in the 1820 A.M. Hooper home. members, he wrote that " To George, Higginbotham, Vol. 2, pp. 413-415. 21. Neal, Lois Smathers, 1979, Abstracts ...one son was born, Archibald Maclain Hooper." 17. For the 1790 census, there were 3 of Vital Records from Raleigh, NC Cobb, Collier, 1908?, "John De males over 16, 2 females, and 14 Newspapers 1799-1819: Spartanburg Berniere Hooper," in Ashe, Samuel A. slaves. (Because of North Carolina's [SC], The Reprint Company, Spartan and Weeks, Stephen B., 1908, delay in ratifying the Constitution, the burg [SC], Vol. 1, pp. 163 and 246. Biographical History of North 1790 North Carolina census could not 22. Ashe, Samuel A., and Weeks, Carolina: Charles L. Van Noppen, be completed in 1790, so the figures Stephen B., 1908, Biographical History Greensboro [NC], Vol. 7, pp. 251-252. may reflect the 1791 household.) of North Carolina: Greensboro [NC], 7. Year range is indicated by a female George and son A.M. Hooper Charles L. Van Noppen, Vol. 7, p. 252. of that age within George Hooper's probably are two of the males. The Lieutenant-Colonel John DeBernier, 1800 household (New Hanover females probably were wife Kitty, descendant of French-Huguenots County, p. 602, George Hooper and daughter Mary. The third male who fled to England, had came to 01201-10100). Her first husband, Mr. could have been George's nephew America in the latter part of the Shaw, may also have been living with Thomas Hogg Hooper. eighteenth century. He had married George Hooper in 1800, for there is In 1800, George Hooper's household Ann Jones, daughter of Conway an extra male aged 16-26 in the included a male aged 10-16, 2 males Jones and sister of Edward Jones home. The female aged 0-10 in the and a female 16-26, and male aged (later Solicitor General of North home might be Mary's daughter. over 45. The identity of the youngest Carolina). The Jones and DeBernier Since the marriage record has not male is uncertain. One of the males families had first arrived at been found, the given name of Mr. 16-26 probably was A.M. Hooper, Philadelphia. Then, they moved to Shaw and the date and location of and the female of the same age Wilmington, NC before finally settling the marriage are uncertain. range likely was his sister Mary. The in Chatham County. Edward Jones 8. Archibald Maclaine to James Iredell, other male of similar age might have married Mary, oldest daughter of New Bern 25 Decr 1777, in been Mr. Shaw, her first husband. The Peter Mallett of Fayetteville, and Higginbotham, Don, editor, 1976, The oldest male was George Hooper. settled at Rockrest in Chatham Papers of James Iredell: Division of Wife Kitty Hooper may have been County. The DeBerniers settled Archives and History, Raleigh [NC], absent on a long visit with Mary nearby, but after their house burned Vol. 1, pp. 470-471. Hooper, the widow of Thomas down, they moved to Charleston 9. Archibald Maclaine to James Iredell, Hooper, who had so recently died in where Colonel De Bernier died in Wilmington 8 January 1778, in South Carolina. Mary Hooper's 1800 1812 and Mrs. De Bernier in 1821. Higginbotham, Vol. 2, pp. 1-2.
74 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 The 1800 enumeration of the family in (Peter Mallett papers). An excellent very early in January. Nothing but your presence Chatham County, NC was under the biographical note is online at there at that time can I fear prevent a most spelling DeBurner. In 1810, the census
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 75 Descendants of Reverend William Hooper, Boston
Numbers refer to generation. In keeping with the Hooper Compass privacy policy regarding living (or potentially living) individuals, the editor omits information dated after 1900.
1. Reverend William Hooper (chr. 5 Mar 1704, Ednam, Roxburgh, Scotland; d. 14 Apr 1767, Boston, MA) spouse: Mary Dennie (b. 1714; m. 18 Oct 1739; d. 22 Nov 1779) ├2. William Hooper (Signer) (b. 17 Jun 1742, Boston, MA; d. 14 Oct 1790, Hillsborough, Orange Co., NC) │ spouse: Anne Clark (b. about 1743, New Hanover Co., NC; m. 16 Aug 1767; d. between 5 Apr 1793 & Aug 1795, Orange Co., NC) │ ├3. William Hooper (b. 1768; d. 15 Jul 1804, Brunswick Co., NC) │ │ spouse: Helen Hogg (chr. 17 Jun 1767, Reay, Caithness, Scotland; m. 26 Jun 1791; d. 1 Nov 1846, Chapel Hill, Orange Co., NC) │ │ ├4. Professor William Hooper (b. 31 Aug 1792; d. 19 Aug 1876, Chapel Hill, Orange Co., NC) │ │ │ spouse: Frances Pollock Jones (b. 1794/1799; m. Dec 1814; d. after 8 Jan 1833) │ │ │ ├5. William Wilberforce Hooper (b. Jan 1816; d. 25 Nov 1864) │ │ │ │ spouse: Mary J Kearney (m. 23 Dec 1852; d. 24 Jan 1892) │ │ │ │ ├6. Edward William Hooper (b. 18 Apr 1854) │ │ │ │ ├6. Florence Antoinette Hooper (b. 25 Jun 1856) │ │ │ │ ├6. James Havelock Hooper (b. 13 Mar 1858) │ │ │ │ │ spouse: Frances Daughtry m. 23 Feb 188?) │ │ │ │ │ └7. son (b. Dec 18, 1881; d. 31 Jan 1882) │ │ │ │ └6. Charlotte Elizabeth Hooper (b. 18 Dec 1859; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ spouse: Benjamin Crowell Alston (b. 1 Jan 1854; m. 28 Jan 1880; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. Bettie R Alston (b. 12 Jun 1881) │ │ │ │ ├7. Charlie Cooke Alston (b. 19 Feb 1884; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. Lillian Mayfield Alston (b. 6 Apr 1887; d. 21 Sep 1887) │ │ │ │ ├7. Mary Lucy Ellen Alston (b. 17 Mar 1889; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. John Crawell Alston (b. 29 Nov 1891; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. Robert Mumford Alston (b. 29 Nov 1891; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. Bernadene Alston (b. 24 Jan 1894; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ ├7. Josephine Alston (b. 15 Mar 1896) │ │ │ │ ├7. DeBerniere Hooper Alston (b. 1 May 1898; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ └7. Marian Loucretia Bradford Alston (b. 23 Nov 1900) │ │ │ ├5. Edward Jones Hooper (b. 24 Mar 1818; d. 21 Oct 1850) │ │ │ │ spouse: Amelia Massy (m. 27 Nov 1845; d. Oct 1851) │ │ │ │ ├6. William Hooper (b. 9 Dec 1846) │ │ │ │ └6. Theresa Hooper (b. between 1846 & July 1851, perhaps twin of William) │ │ │ ├5. Mary Elizabeth Hooper (b. 26 Sep 1819; d. 23 Jun 1894) │ │ │ │ spouse: John De Berniere Hooper (b. 6 Sep 1811, Smithville, NC; m. 20 Dec 1837; d. 23 Jan 1886, Chapel Hill,Orange Co., NC) │ │ │ │ children below are fifth generation from Rev. William Hooper if calculated through their father's lineage │ │ │ │ ├6. Helen Hooper (b. 29 Oct 1838; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ │ spouse: James Wills (served in Bell Battery, 7th NC Regiment, C.S.A.) │ │ │ │ ├6. Frances DeBerniere Hooper (b. 1 Feb 1842; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ │ spouse: Spier Whitaker (m. 31 Jul 1866) │ │ │ │ ├6. Edward DeBerniere Hooper (b. 23 Jul 1846; d. 10 Aug 1847) │ │ │ │ ├6. Henry De Berniere Hooper (b. 9 Jun 1849; d. alive 1900) │ │ │ │ │ spouse: Jessie Wright │ │ │ │ ├6. Mary Louisa Hooper (b. 20 Jul 1851; d. 10 Oct 1853) │ │ │ │ └6. Julia De' Berniere Hooper (b. 24 Jul 1856, Warren Co., NC; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ spouse: Ralph H. Graves (b. 1857; d. 1889) │ │ │ │ ├7. Ralph Henry Graves (b. 11 Jul 1878, alive 1900) │ │ │ │ └7. Mary Graves (b. 8 Jun 1886, alive 1900) │ │ │ ├5. Joseph Caldwell Hooper (b. 21 Jun 1821; alive 1900) │ │ │ ├5. Elizabeth Watters Hooper (b. 9 Nov 1824; d. before 1884, unmarried) │ │ │ ├5. Thomas Clark Hooper (b. 15 Nov 1827; d. 1884) │ │ │ │ spouse: Mary E Stevenson (m. 24 Nov 1849) │ │ │ └5. DuPonceau Hooper (b. 8 Jan 1833; d. before 1884) │ │ ├4. Thomas Clarke Hooper (b. Sep 1794; d. 24 Nov 1828, Chapel Hill, Orange Co., NC) │ │ │ spouse: Eliza Donaldson (b. about 1803; m. 25 May 1825; d. 11 Oct 1825) │ │ └4. James H. Hooper (b. Sep 1797; alive 1840) │ │ spouse: Margaret S. Broadfoot (m. 14 Nov 1821; alive 1860) │ ├3. Elizabeth Hooper (b. 1770; alive 1840) │ │ spouse: Colonel Henry Hyrn Watters (m. 15 Oct 1790) │ │ └4. Henry Watters, Jr. (b. 1791/1793; d. young, after 1800) │ └3. Thomas Hogg Hooper (b. about 1773; d. between 12 January 1804 & April 1805, Brunswick Co., NC, no descendents) │
76 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 │ ├2. John Hooper (b. Aug 1744, Boston, MA; died young) ├2. George Hooper (b. about Mar 1747, Boston, MA; d. 19 Jun 1821, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC) │ spouse: Katherine Maclaine (b. about 1753; m. by 1775; d. 8 Dec 1810, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC) │ ├3. Archibald Maclaine Hooper (b. 7 Dec 1775, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC; d. 25 Sep 1853, Russell Co., AL) │ │ spouse: Charlotte Jones De Berniere (b. 1775; m. 8 Jun 1806; d. 1853) │ │ ├4. George DeBerniere Hooper (b. 1809; d. 1892, ?GA) │ │ │ spouse: Caroline Eliza Mallett (b. 1814; m. 27 Sep 1836; d.1875) │ │ │ ├5. Sophia B Hooper (b. 1837; d. Sep 1838) │ │ │ ├5. George William Hooper (b. 1839, AL; d. 1883, AL) │ │ │ │ spouse: Charlotte Isabella Waddell (m. 1859) │ │ │ │ ├6. Charlotte Isabella Hooper (b. 1868, AL; alive 1900) │ │ │ │ │ spouse: Buckner Killebrew Collier (m. 1881) │ │ │ │ └6. George Beatty Hooper │ │ │ ├5. Archibald Maclaine Hooper │ │ │ ├5. William Hooper │ │ │ ├5. Charles Mallett Hooper │ │ │ ├5. John De Berniere Hooper │ │ │ └5. Carolina Alice Hooper │ │ ├4. Maclaine Hooper (b. 1807/1810; died young) │ │ ├4. John De Berniere Hooper (b. 6 Sep 1811, Smithville [now Southport], Brunswick Co., NC d. 23 Jan 1886, Chapel Hill, │ │ │ Orange Co., NC) │ │ │ spouse: Mary Elizabeth Hooper (b.26 Sep 1819) │ │ │ [their offspring are listed above as 6th generation under William Hooper, Signer] │ │ ├4. Louisa Hooper (b.1810/1820; alive 20 Sep 1842) │ │ │ spouse: Rev. Daniel Cobia (b. before 1820; m. 30 Nov 1835; d. 8 Feb 1837, Charleston, SC) │ │ │ └5. Daniel Cobia (b.1836/1837; d. 9 Apr 1838, Pittsboro, Chatham Co., NC) │ │ │ spouse: Rev. John J. Roberts (m. 20 Sep 1842) │ │ ├4. daughter (b.1810/1820; died young) │ │ └4. Johnson Jones Hooper (b. 9 Jun 1815, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC; d.7 Jun 1862, Richmond, VA) │ │ spouse: Mary Mildred Brantley (m. Dec 1842; survived husband) │ │ ├5. William De Berniere Hooper (b. about 1844, Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL; alive 1861) │ │ ├5. Annie Brantley Hooper (b.1845/1846, Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL; d. 1846/1850) │ │ └5. Adolphus S Hooper (b. about 1847, Lafayette, Chambers Co., AL; survived father) │ └3. Mary Hooper (b. 1774-1784; alive 8 Apr 1820) │ spouse: James Fleming (m. 1 Jun 1806) ├2. Mary Hooper (b. May 1748, Boston, MA; alive 1769) │ spouse: John Russell Spence (m. 2 Feb 1768; alive 1769) └2. Thomas Hooper (b.1751, Boston, MA; d.1 Aug 1798, Charleston SC) spouse: Mary Heron (b.1755/1774 m.12 Nov 1778; alive 1820) (no children known to have survived childhood)
Note: 11 children born to Thomas Clark Hooper (son of Professor William Hooper and Frances Pollack Jones Hooper) are listed in the LDS Ancestral File, but the information has not been independently confirmed by this writer. The names and birthplaces of the children are consistent with information presented in this series of articles. See AFN: 18WJ-JVP in Ancestral File (available at LDS Family History Centers or online at
1. Conway Jones ├2. Ann Jones (b. 1755-1760; d. 1821, Charleston, SC) │ spouse: John Antony De Berniere (b. 1755-1760; m. near Belfast, Ireland, d. 1812, Charleston, SC) │ └3. Charlotte Jones De Berniere (b.1775 d.1853) │ spouse: Archibald Maclaine Hooper (b. 1775; m. 1806; d. 1853, nephew of Signer) └2. Edward Jones (b. 1762 Ireland; d. 1841) spouse: Mary Elizabeth Mallett (b.1755/1765) └3. Frances Pollock Jones (b.1794/1799 d. after 8 Jan 1833) spouse: Professor William Hooper (b. 1792; d. 1876, grandson of Signer) 1. Peter Mallett (b. 1744) immigrant from France to Wilmington, NC ├2. Charles Peter Mallett of Fayetteville │ └3. Caroline Eliza Mallett (b.1814 d.1875) │ spouse: George DeBerniere Hooper (b.1809; m. 1836; d. 1892, great-nephew of Signer) └2. Mary Elizabeth Mallett (b.1755/1765) spouse: Edward Jones (b.1762 d.1841) └3. Frances Pollock Jones (b.1794/1799 d. after 8 Jan 1833) spouse: Professor William Hooper (b. 1792; d. 1876, grandson of Signer)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 77 Direct Descendants of William Hooper, Signer
Two different historians have indicated that, by 1908, the only living descendants of William Hooper, Signer, were related through his grandson, Professor/Reverend William Hooper. Samuel Ashe wrote of the Signer: Mr. Hooper left three children. His son William also left three children. But his descendants are now confined to the descendants of his grandson, Rev. William Hooper. The other historian, Collier Cobb, had known the Hooper family his entire life. Cobb studied under Professor Hooper, and wrote a biography of that man using a manuscript biography provided by the professor himself. Cobb also had the assistance of a daughter and granddaughter of the man, and numerous primary source documents. He too noted the lineage of then-living descendants of the Signer: All of the descendants of William Hooper, the signer, now living are descendants of the Rev. William Hooper, professor in the University of North Carolina. (1) Thus, today's Hooper genealogists who claim a direct descent from the North Carolina Signer must show how they are related to Professor William Hooper (b. 31 Aug 1792 at Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina). For an abbreviated map of the Hooper descendants, see the chart on page 76. Upon the death of her husband William, Anne Clark Hooper began turning to family friends for advice and assistance. Her daughter Elizabeth immediately married Henry Hyrn(e) Watters, a wealthy planter. Watters had had much interaction with the North Carolina Assembly. Household information from the 1790 census suggests that Mrs. Watters Ancestry in Hooper (and perhaps her son Thomas Hogg Hooper) soon went North Carolina to live at the ancestral home of the Hyrne family in New Han Henry Watters's mother was a child of over County.(2) Colonel Edward Hyrne, who had died and Meanwhile, the eldest son of the widow Hooper managed his left his lands to sons George and Henry own home in New Hanover County and oversaw the work of ten Hyrne. The elder son George Hyrne also died without issue and left the family slaves there. Young William Hooper was courting a daughter of plantation to his brother Henry. Then in James Hogg, who was a neighbor, an old family friend, and 1772, before Henry Watters was grown, wealthy land speculator. Hogg was also vitally interested in higher his uncle Henry Hyrne left him the education and in the early 1790s, was active in founding the plantation New Hyrneham, nearly 3000 University of North Carolina (UNC). His daughter Helen Hogg acres of lands, and many slaves. Younger siblings of Henry were named Elizabeth, (born 1767) likewise shared an interest in education. Like her Joseph, and George Watters. (This Joseph fiancé William Hooper, she had Scottish roots. Watters may be identical to the J. H. Surely the widowed Anne Hooper must have been delighted Watters who became a friend of Thomas when, within a year after her husband's death, her son William Hogg Hooper.) married Helen Hogg on the last day of June in 1791. Both family Source: Will of Henry Hyrne, New Hanover and friends of the family participated in the Orange County cere County, NC Sept 1772. mony . When William Hooper applied for the marriage bond four days before the wedding, he took along his sister's husband, Henry Watters, to serve as bondsman. The witness signing the bond was A. Benton. Other Bentons were family friends. William the Signer in his will had referred to "the advice and assistance my worthy friends ... Jesse Benton." In fact, Jesse Benton was a co-executor of that will, along with James Hogg and sons William and Thomas Hooper. Samuel Benton later helped prove the will of Anne Clark Hooper.(3) Shortly, the newlywed William Hoopers were blessed with the birth of an heir. As with his father, this child was the eldest male in his line and bore the name William. (For clarity in the rest of this article, he will be identified as Professor William Hooper.) The son was born on 31 August 1792. A first cousin, a son born to Elizabeth Hooper Watters, was of similar age. Sadly, Henry Watters, Jr. died young.(4) Character of the Widow Hooper -The widow Anne Clark Hooper considered Hillsborough (Orange County) to be her legal residence. But she visited the homes of her married children, sometimes remaining for extended stays. In the spring of 1793, during one of those visits to her daughter at Hyrnham, Mrs. Hooper prepared her will. The document reveals something of her lifestyle. She was far better educated than most adult women of 18th-century North Carolina, for she wrote the document herself. Her husband had had his desk, but she had her own desk. She practiced the needlework common to the cultivated upperclass women of the time, and left her daughter "a Chair and screen of my own working." She must have enjoyed drinking tea – probably sweet and strong – for she mentioned a set of teaspoons, sugar tongs, and a tea strainer. Further, the widow Hooper trusted her children. Twice, she confidently referred to their peaceful settlement of her affairs. She prepared the will herself, beginning with the statement that
78 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 …whatever inaccuracies my James Hogg, Friend of the Signer Children may find in it will not The older James Hogg had been born 1729/1730 in East Lothian, Scotland, lead them into disputes but settle had married there to Anne McDowal Alves Hogg (1732-1801), and had amicably any little errors. come to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1774. Before they arrived in the She bequeathed several specific colony, the Hogg family had suffered a burned home at Borlum in Reay Parish, Caithness County, and a shipwreck off the Shetland Islands.(1) legacies, following in accord with After resettling in Orange County (about 1778), James Hogg became a her husband's will. Then she left the prominent at Hillsborough, supporting patriot causes. He served on the large remainder of the estate to be Committee of Safety and in the Assembly. He also was a land speculator, divided "as best suits their conve accumulating vast tracts of wilderness lands. As a member of the Transyl nience without quarrels." vania Company (lands purchased illegally in negotiations with the Chero kee and covering much of Kentucky), Hogg represented the company in Anne Clark Hooper had little chance 1775 at the Continental Congress. He, or else his brother Robert, must to shape the characters of her grand have been a close friend to the Signer William Hooper, since the youngest children. Another grandson was son of the signer became known as Thomas Hogg Hooper.(2) born in September of 1794 and Five children had been to Hogg in Scotland. The sons were Walter (born 6 named for the widow Hooper's Oct 1768), and Gavin (born 1770). Daughters were Robina (born 1767, married William Norwood), Helen, and Elizabeth (Betsy, born 1766, father. But little Thomas Clarke married John Huske, died 1788). In 1786, the older James Hogg Hooper could not have been out of petitioned the Assembly seeking a name change for his sons Walter and diapers before Mrs. Hooper died. Gavin. He asked to alter the surname to Alves,(3) probably to honor their Her will was proven in August mother's family. These name changes explain the curiosity that the 1795. Gavin Alves (brother of witnesses to William (the Signer) Hooper's will in 1788 bore differing surnames, yet were mother and children, all members of the same neigh Helen Hogg Hooper) gave his oath boring family - (Mrs.) McDowal Hogg, Walter Alves, and Helen Hogg.(4) that the testament was a true will. 1. In March 1774, James Hogg awaited transport from the Shetland Islands William Hooper, son of the to North Carolina. His letter about his experience was published in the Signer -In September 1797, the Scots Magazine, July 1774, pp. 345-346. He then described his family, little family of William and Helen including servants, as totalling 16 individuals. A full transcription of the letter appears in an article "A Tacksman at Borlum, 1765" by Geoff Leet in Hogg Hooper was completed. the Caithness Field Club Bulletin 1997. The entire article is available [as of James Hogg Hooper was named for March 2009] on the internet at
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 79 The Hogg/Alves family had been deeply involved in Robert Donaldson" married Thomas C. Hooper on development of the University of North Carolina. 25 May 1825. James H. Hooper was his brother's The first North Carolina state constitution provided bondsman.(16) Stepfather Joseph Caldwell officiated for the chartering of academic institutions. In 1789, at the ceremony.(17) the state chartered its university. James Hogg, Sr. had This marriage was brief. Mrs. Eliza Hooper, just 22 served as one of the commissioners to select a site years old, died in October of that same year.(18) for UNC.(11) Walter Alves, brother of Mrs. Helen Soon, her husband also died. He must have been Hogg Hooper, served as a trustee of UNC from visiting his mother and stepfather, or his brother 1795 to 1813. He was treasurer of the board of William, for the Raleigh papers reported that Mr. trustees for the first four years. Dr. James Webb had Thomas C. Hooper of Fayetteville died at Chapel been one of the first students in 1795-1796; in 1807, Hill, [early Sunday morning] 16 Nov 1828.(19) he married Mrs. Hooper's niece (Anne Alves Huske). From 1812 to 1850, Dr. Webb was another of the Merchant James H. Hooper remained in Fayetteville trustees of UNC.(12) until his death in the 1840s. His widow continued living there, at least until 1860. No children With such family connections, good students like belonging to this couple were included in the North young William Hooper easily won acceptance into Carolina Archives copy of the Hooper family record. the university. He excelled in Latin and Greek and A review of census records and of Hooper's estate graduated in 1809. One of the foremost influences proceedings should reveal whether any children on his education had been the University President, survived.(20) However, the statements of Professor Joseph Caldwell. Later that summer, Dr. Caldwell William Hooper's family strongly suggest that James became Hooper's stepfather. According to the H. Hooper had no surviving descendants by 1908. Raleigh newspapers, the Reverend William L. Turner So, returning to greater detail about the Professor's performed the ceremony uniting Reverend Joseph life and family is appropriate. Caldwell to Mrs. Helen Hooper on 17 August 1809. (13) The bondsman was Walter Alves, who was Professor William Hooper: Understanding the particularly interested in the marriage, both as a professional life of Professor Hooper helps track brother of the bride and as a university trustee.(14) the paths (and records) of his family in several parts of the Carolinas. After completion of his master's Caldwell, a Presbyterian, had influenced the religious degree in North Carolina, Hooper further studied thinking of his studious stepson. Like all his family, William Hooper was reared in the Episcopal Church. Still, William Hooper gave great consideration to Calvinistic doctrine during work on his graduate degrees (his UNC Master of Arts was granted 1812). A detour into the lives of Thomas and James Hooper: While William was working on this advanced degree, his younger brothers followed him in studies at UNC. Thomas Clarke Hooper graduated 1812: James H. theology at Princeton in 1813-1814. Princeton, Hooper did so in 1815. They may have lived at the which was his stepfather's alma mater, awarded residence of their eldest brother in 1820 Orange Hooper a Master Of Arts degree in 1817.(21) County. Sometime after graduation, however, the In the early years of the University of North brothers moved to Cumberland County, North Carolina, the faculty was small, as was funding. Carolina. Thomas followed his grandfather's Hence, William Hooper's stepfather, Dr. Caldwell, tradition in law. James emulated his great-uncle employed the young man as a tutor as soon as he George Hooper and great-grandfather Dennie's had graduated. After his studies in New Jersey, mercantile careers.(15) William Hooper returned to marry Frances (Fanny) At the age of 24, James H. Hooper married Mar Pollock Jones in December of 1814. They married in garet S. Broadfoot at Fayetteville, on 14 Nov 1821. Chatham County, which had long been the home of The bondsman was James Donaldson. Four years her parents, Edward Jones (1762-1841) and Mary later, Eliza Donaldson, a daughter of "the late Elizabeth Mallett Jones.
80 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 A merchant and lawyer, Jones had served as solicitor In Fayetteville, St. John's Episcopal church had been general in the early days of the state. He was a native founded in 1817. Part of the land for the church of Ireland who first came to Wilmington and came from the estate of Peter Mallett and from the Fayetteville before settling on his estate Rockrest in dower of his widow Sarah, who were relatives of Chatham County. (22) Not far away in the same Professor Hooper's wife. Additional land was pur county were his inlaws, John and Ann (Jones) chased, for a nominal amount, from George Hooper, DeBernier, who later removed to Charleston. A the great-uncle of Professor Hooper. In 1822, the daughter of the DeBerniers had married Archibald rector of St. John's resigned because of ill health. Maclaine Hooper. His successor was Reverend William Hooper, who Several children were born to Professor and Mrs. left his faculty position in Chapel Hill and was Hooper. The names given to the children reveal ordained that same year. much of his family connections and of what shaped Few details of Hooper's efforts at St. John's remain. the professor's thinking. The first son, William Wil The great fire of Fayetteville on 29 May 1831 berforce Hooper, born 1816, bore the first name of destroyed the church building and its records. the founder of the family in North America. But he Newspaper notices show that Reverend Mr. Hooper also born the name of William Wilberforce, a person performed marriages in Fayetteville in 1823 and as then notable as a philanthropist and antislavery late as July 1824. The church remembers that he crusader.(23) The William Hooper family record (see was deposed in 1824 over doctrinal dif page 84) appears to have been created by William ferences ... in the baptismal service. From all Wilberforce Hooper's family [with additions by his accounts he was a sincere and good man and daughter Charlotte Elizabeth (Hooper) Alston]. entitled to follow his conscience. William W. Hooper's family seems to have retained Late in 1824, another daughter Elizabeth Watters its connections to the Littleton, Warren County, Hooper was born. She was named for Professor North Carolina area. Hooper's great-aunt. Mrs. Watters lived at Hills With his added degree and an increase in income, borough during the 1820s. The wealthy widow William Hooper in 1817 became a professor of helped finance the education of some of her ancient languages at University of North Carolina younger Hooper kinsmen. Perhaps Professor and remained in that position until 1822. Three more Hooper chose his daughter's name in recognition of children were born during this time. A son born in his relative's efforts. The young namesake Elizabeth 1818 was given his maternal grandfather's name Hooper never married. Edward Jones Hooper. This son became a medical After leaving his ministry, Professor Hooper doctor: he died at the age of 32. returned to Chapel Hill as professor of logic and rhetoric at UNC. In 1827, The third child was a girl Another Professor Hooper whose name honored her son Thomas Clark Hooper maternal grandmother Mary John De Berniere (J.D.B.) Hooper graduated from the was named for Professor University of North Carolina in 1831. His education Hooper's brother and their Elizabeth Hooper. This had been funded by his grandfather's widowed sister, daughter married her kins Mrs. Elizabeth Hooper Watters. After tutoring in the great-grandfather. The elder man John De Berniere language department at Chapel Hill from 1831 to Thomas Clarke Hooper died Hooper. In their twilight 1833, he obtained a Master of Arts there in 1834. Next nearly a year after his he taught at the (Episcopal) Trinity School, near nephew's birth - perhaps the years, Professor and Mrs. Raleigh. On December 20, 1837, De Berniere Hooper William Hooper made their married his kinswoman, Mary Elizabeth Hooper. The infant received his name home with this daughter. bride and groom shared a common ancestor in Rev because the uncle was erend William Hooper via their paternal side; they A son born in 1821 was suffering from consumption shared another common ancestor in Conway Jones, and his imminent death was named Joseph Caldwell through maternal lineages. See the chart on page 76 Hooper for Professor for further biographical data on their families. already obvious. Professor Hooper's stepfather. This son Joseph was alive as William Hooper's son late as 1900 and lived in Florida. Thomas C. Hooper became an educator and a member of the Baptist church. (See the note about The Reverend Caldwell's vocation both in education his family on page 77.) and in the ministry greatly influenced the career decisions made by his stepson. Professor Hooper In 1828, Professor Hooper returned to his position spent a total of 65 years as an educator with much as professor of ancient languages. For years, though, time devoted to pastoral care. In 1818, he was con he wrestled with the subject of baptism. Ultimately, firmed in the Episcopal Church; he was licensed as a he was baptized at Mt. Carmel Church, Orange lay reader in St. Mary's Parish of Orange County. County, and united with the Baptist Church. Though
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 81 more liberal than most of his Baptist contempo school and daughter in Warren County, Professor raries, he was respected by them. In 1832, he advo William Hooper moved first to Raleigh, where he led cated establishment of a Baptist literary institute in Sedgwick Female Seminary for the 1851-1852 term. the state - the recommendation led to the founding He became pastor of the Baptist Church at New of Wake Forest College. Bern, in Craven County in 1852. He may have served Professor Hooper's youngest child DuPonceau more than one church, for marriage bonds indicate Hooper was born in 1833. This son was named for he officiated at marriages in Craven County in 1854, Pierre Etienne (or Peter Stephen) Du Ponceau and in Northampton County in 1855. (1760-1844), who had served in the Revolution, was From 1854-1862, Professor Hooper presided over a jurist, and – most significantly – was a student of Chowan Female Seminary (now Chowan College, a American Indian languages. The famed linguist P. S. Southern Baptist school in Murfreesboro). He Du Ponceau had become president of the American became associated with the Buckhorn Baptist church Philosophical Society in 1827. His memoir on the of Hertford County in 1855. While at Chowan, he grammar of Native American languages was highly opposed secession and resisted the display of the respected by scholars of the 1830s. Furthermore, P. Confederate flag at the school, ultimately resigning. S. Duponceau had been a frequent correspondent of He found a teaching position at Fayetteville Female Edward Jones (father of Frances Pollock Jones Seminary for the 1862-1863 term. His son Thomas Hooper).(24) As for the child DuPonceau Hooper, C. Hooper and son-in-law John De Berniere Hooper little is known (as of 2000). had been teaching there since 1860. In March, 1863, Also in 1833, the University of North Carolina Professor Hooper's wife died at Fayetteville. bestowed a Doctor of Laws degree on Hooper. Pro Perhaps interactions with his wife's relatives after her fessor Hooper finally left his university teaching death brought his thoughts to her childhood home position in 1838 to serve as the first head of the new in Chatham County. The next term, 1863-1864, he Furman Theological Institute (then in Winnsboro, spent in Chatham County as associate principle of Fairfield County, South Carolina). He soon moved to Mt. Vernon Female Seminary. His son Thomas C. Columbia (Richland County) as professor of Roman Hooper was there at the same time. Then, in 1865, literature at South Carolina College. He taught there Professor William Hooper returned to the from 1840 to 1846, serving as acting president for a Fayetteville school. After two years, he moved to time. At times, he served as a minister – newspaper Wilson Collegiate Seminary, where he was associate notices reveal that he performed marriages in principal from 1867 to the end of his career in 1875. Columbia in 1846. John DeBerniere Hooper joined him there. Late in 1845, the trustees at Wake Forest College Professor William Hooper also worked with the (Wake County, North Carolina) beseeched Professor Wilson Baptist Church. Finally, at the age of 83, he Hooper to preside over the college. His family and retired, left Wilson County, and moved to Chapel educational contacts helped him raise sufficient Hill to live with his daughter and son-in-law. The funds so that by 1850, the school's debt was retired. University of North Carolina had reopened in 1875 However, he resigned from the presidency at the end and John De Berniere Hooper had become of 1848. Just as he had done at Columbia, he professor of Greek and French. pastored a local Baptist church while at Wake Forest. The two learned kinsmen had little remaining time Professor Hooper next opened a school for boys together. Professor William Hooper died at Chapel near Littleton, at the edge of Warren County, North Hill on 19 August 1876. He was buried next to his Carolina, where he worked from 1849 to 1852. He mother Helen Hogg Hooper Caldwell and step persuaded his daughter and son-in-law John De father Reverend Joseph Caldwell at the University. Berniere Hooper to leave Chapel Hill, where De DeBerniere Hooper continued teaching language Berniere had been a professor of Latin and French until he resigned at the end of 1885. He died at his for 10 years, to join him. De Berniere continued to home on 23 Jan 1886 and was buried at Oakwood teach at Littleton until 1860. Cemetery in Raleigh. While working in the language Professor Hooper's liberal views encompassed department, Hooper had been assisted by his son-in- female education - in 1848 he had written that, with law Professor Ralph Henry Graves (husband of Julia education, a woman "can be man's equal if not his Hooper). Graves died in 1889 and was buried in the superior in the removal of crime and wretchedness Old Chapel Hill Cemetery at the University of in the world." Matching action to his thoughts, he North Carolina. His wife survived him for many had worked from 1851 to 1865 in educational years. She provided many family papers and much institutions for women. Leaving behind his family information for biographers of her father and
82 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 grandfather. She and two children are buried at the Helen Hooper Wills (Mrs. James Wills) also is buried Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Mrs. Graves's sister at that cemetery. Notes: 1. Ashe, Samuel A. and Weeks, Stephen 9. 1800 NC New Hanover p. 11 Will Newspapers 1820-29, vol. 2. Mar B., 1908, Biographical History of North Hooper 30010-00100-09 slaves; 1800 riage listed in Raleigh Register on Fri Carolina: Greensboro, Charles L. Van NC Orange p. 490 William Hooper day 23 Nov 1821, p. 3, col. 5. Cum Noppen, Vol. 7, pp. 244, 249-250. 00000-00000-40 slaves. berland County Marriage Bond 14 2. 1790 NC New Hanover, Henry 10.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 83 William Hooper Family Record Donated by Mrs. C. W. Nielson to North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 400.1.1.1122 All data after 1900 omitted from this transcription for privacy reasons. See
Family Record continued 4th Generation continued Thomas Clark Hooper born Sept 1794 died Nov. 1828 James H. Hooper born Sept 1797 died June 184? 5th Generation William Wilberforce Hooper born Jany 1816 Edward Jones Hooper born March 24th 1818 Mary E. Hooper born Sept 26th 1819 Joseph Caldwell Hooper born June 21st 1821 Elizabeth Watters Hooper born Nov. 9th 1824 Thomas Clark Hooper born Nov 15th 1827 Duponceau Hooper born Jan.y 8th - 1833. 6th Generation The children of John Deberniere Hooper & Mary E. Hooper Helen Hooper born Oct 29th ---1838 Fanny Hooper born Feb. 1st - 1842 Edward Debernier Hooper born July 23 1846 [died Aug. 10th 1847] Henry de' Berniere born June 9th 1849 Mary Louisa, born July 20, 1851 died Oct 10 1853 Julia de' Berniere, born July 24th 1856
84 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 6th Generation continued Edward J. Hooper & Amelia Massy were married Nov. 27th 1845 Their children: William was born Dec. 9th 1846 Theresa " " " *Benjamin Crowell Alston was born 1st January 1854 Bettie R. Alston was born 12 June 1881 Charlie Cooke Alston was born 19 Feb 1884 Lillian Mayfield Alston was born 1887 April Mary Lucy Ellen Alston was born 17 Mch. 1889 John Crawell and Robert Mumford Alston were born 29 November 1891 **Bernadene Alston was born 24th Jan 1894 Josephine Alston was born 15 March 1896 De Berniere Hooper Alston was born 1st May 1898 Marian Loucretia Bradford Alston was born Nov. 23, 1900
6th Generation continued William W. Hooper and Mary Jane Kearny were married on the 23d of December 1852. Their son Edward William Hooper was born, April 18th 1854 (Easter Monday). Lucy Roxana Elizabeth Earlis Florence Antoinette Hooper born June 25th 1856 (Wednesday morning) James Havelock Hooper, born March 13th 1858 (Saturday) Charlotte Elizabeth Hooper, born 18th December 1859 (Sunday evening) Benjamin Crowall Alston and Charlotte Elizabeth Hooper were married January 28, 1880 William C. Daughtry and Laura Rencher Hooper Was Married Dec 3 1874. Benj. C. Alston & Charlotte E. Hooper Were married 1880 Jas. H. Hooper & Frances Daughtry was married on Feb 23rd 188? Their Son born on December 18, 1881 Sunday night died on Jan 31st '82 lived one month Seven days
DEATHS Edward Jones Hooper M.D. died Oct 21 1850 Amelia, his wife, died 1851 Oct, Wm. Wilberforce Hooper died Oct Nov. 25 1864. Rev. William Hooper Died August 19th 1876 Mary Jane Hooper died January 24, 1892 Lillian Mayfield Alston died 21st Sept 1887 [rest of data on page dated after 1900]
* Most entries before this point appear to have been copied all in one handwiritng, probably at the same time and from another record. Additions after this point made in a different handwriting and ink from prior entries. ** Handwriting and inks vary in most entries after this point, suggesting the events were recorded near the time of occurrence.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches” 85 "Mislaid" Documents Information about individuals or families can crop up in unexpected places. Here are two examples, one from Kentucky and one from Texas. These are presented to aid researchers who might never otherwise be able to locate them. Future issues may contain other such misplaced documents. Tennesseans in Kentucky: An early interest in Shelby County, Texas in Collin County, vital records caused the Kentucky legislature to Texas:About 1870, a Hooper deed was recorded in instruct tax assessors to collect information about Collin County, Texas, even though neither the buyer births, marriages, and deaths. The taxmen were nor seller lived in Collin County when the land was supposed to obtain the information from the sold in 1852: families during annual tax collections. Name of Richard Hooper child, father's name and mother's maiden name, date to of birth, and location of birth (if not in county Thomas Griffin where data was collected) were recorded. The State of Texas legislative acts went into effect in 1852, and stopped Shelby County } Know all men by these before the Civil War. Who would think to look in presents that Richard Hooper of state and these Kentucky records for a Tennessee birth? county aforesaid … $500 … paid by Thomas Griffin of Travis County in said state … half of In 1857, there was just such a Hooper birth - land certificate number 99 issued heirs of Pernicy Hooper (Henry County, Tennessee) to A. N. Rachel Stimp [or Story] by the board of land Hooper and Mary F. Garrett on September 3rd. (1) commissioners of Shelby County 3rd February The full names of the parents were Asa Newton 1838 for one league and labor (2) to have and Hooper and Mary Frances Garrett. According to to hold one half of said land certificate … on 17 records in the LDS "Ancestral File," they had December 1852 another daughter born about 1855, and Mary Richard Hooper [seal](3) Frances Garrett Hooper and the other daughter Griffin eventually sold the land to another person. eventually died in Sherman, Texas after 1900. That deed shows the land was in Cooke County, Texas on the waters of the Little Wichita River. Notes: 1. Simmons, Don, 1991, Graves County, Ky., Birth Records 2. A labor of land was about 170 acres. 1852 to 1859: Melber [Ky], Simons Historical Pub., p. 56. 3. Collin County Deed Book Q, p. 730 [LDS film 1,287,059].
Editor's Message: by Anne Goodwin
Don't we all wish that our own Hooper ancestry had left as many records as did the Signer's family? William Hooper walked with the giants of the American Revolution and of the young State of North Carolina. As we ponder the voting this year, consider whether William Hooper (the Signer) and his friends could ever have imagined such Congressional and Presidential election campaigns as have been seen this year. Even those without links to the Signer can learn from a study of his life. For example, the first few paragraphs of the section War in the South on page 64 give background for the enlistment of Absalom Hooper (born 1760s near the present boundary of Polk and Rutherford Counties, NC) in the South Carolina Continental Line. Also, learning the many locations of the Signers descendants on 1800-1850 records can help rule out some of the many Hoopers listed in census indexes. If you haven't seen enough about the Reverend William Hooper lineage here, I recommend research into the following: Boston deeds or probates dating from 1735 to 1780, New England Anglican/Episcopal Diocese records for correspondence from 1745-1785, Correspondence and diaries of other Continental Congress members, and of their wives, Charleston, South Carolina deeds, probates, and mercantile records from 1779-1825 St. James Episcopal church records (1811-1901), Wilmington, North Carolina Also check out the links to Hooper records (wills, Bible records) at the Family Source Compass site:
86 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 HOOPER COMPASS VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY 2001 Savannah Merchant - Thomas Hooper Some of the very earliest records in Georgia which mention the Hooper surname are a few land records and two estate records for Thomas Hooper. This gentleman seems to have arrived about 1759. In May of that year, he petitioned the governor of the colony for a small lot in Savannah. Hooper had an exact location in mind, and described the spot: “a wharf lot, ...100 feet under the bluff or bank of the Savannah [River] adjacent to David Cunningham.”(1) After conferring with his council, the Governor agreed to the assign the lot to Hooper. The official transfer occurred on 5 February 1760 when His Excellency signed the patent.(2) The annual quitrent due was nominal - one peppercorn.(3) The small fee probably reveals the eagerness of the colony INSIDE THIS ISSUE to attract settlers and mercantile efforts. Nearly a fortnight earlier, merchant Hooper knew both that 87 Savannah Merchant - Thomas Hooper the his application had been approved and the date when the patent would be official. He must have been a canny Jesse Hooper, Pioneer of Georgia businessman, because he managed to record his memorial 88 for the lot on January 25, before obtaining the Governor's signature. He even recorded memorials for grants to two 95 Obadiah Branch other men - Alexander Brown, for 745 acres in Christ Church Parish, and John Holmes, for 400 acres along Virginia Deeds Cathead Creek in St. Andrew's Parish.(4) Perhaps these 100 were his customers or benefactors in the colony. Clemmons S. Hooper and Samuel Queen, In the early 1760s, Mr. Hooper had accounts in coastal 101 Both Georgia Soldiers … But When? South Carolina as well as in Savannah. He most likely reimported trade goods initially shipped to Charleston, Battle of Stono which had the best port in the southern colonies. Unfor 101 tunately, he conducted his colonial enterprises for only half a decade. Perhaps he suffered from malaria or yellow fever, 106 Broad River Thomas Hooper or another illness endemic to the marshy coastal areas. Per haps he was injured during his travels. Perhaps he died of old age. Whatever the cause, he was dead by the middle St. Paul Signers 108 1760s. There were no survivors in the colonies. Instead, he left any proceeds from his estate to individuals surnamed 109 Tryon Connections Wright, residents of Bristol, England.(5) Notes: 1. Warren, Mary Bondurant, and Jones, Jack Moreland, abstractors, Brown's Enmity 1991, Georgia Governor And Council Journals 1753-1760: Heritage 110 Papers, Danielsville [GA], p. 129. 2. A memorial was a land document recording all the title transfers Why So Much Genealogy Gets into Some concerning a particular tract. Hooper's patent for the land was 111 Revolutionary Pension Applications the original transfer, from the colony to an individual, for that land. A deed, in contrast, would transfer land between individuals, and be recorded in deed books. By documenting the transfer in the Mislaid Documents memorial books, Hooper was insuring himself against the loss of his 112 original patent papers. Thus, even if his own documents burned or were stolen, Hooper would be able to prove his ownership. Why Didn’t You Tell Me 3. Warren and Jones, ibid., p. 157. 114 4. Warren, Mary Bondurant, editor, and Weeks, Eve B. and Lowery, Robert S., abstractors, 1988, Georgia Land Owners' Memorials A Quarterly Publication, © 2001, 2009 of 1758-1776: Heritage Papers, Danielsville [GA], p. 37. 5. Georgia Department of Archives and History, Thomas Hooper, A NNE G OODWIN estate records, Oct 14, 1768, recorded Nov 1 1768, in Colonial Records Inventories of Estates Book F Ordinaries Office 1754-1770, pages 368, 369, 370, 371. ibid., Thomas Hooper, estate records, (folder #164), Oct 31, 1765, WEBSITE November 7, 1766, in Colonial Records Georgia (Colony) Estate www.HooperCompass.com Records 1751-1775 (4 pages following no. 164) ibid., Thomas Hooper and Garland Britten, deed records, recorded Aug 10, 1767, in Chatham County (Savannah) Miscellaneous Bonds Book R 1765-1772, pages 140, 141.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 87 Jesse Hooper, Pioneer of Georgia
Born 23 March 1758, possibly in Georgia or South Carolina, Jesse Hooper died near Nashville, Tennessee in 1839. Despite the many years he lived in poorly documented areas (where there has been either federal or local loss of records), parts of his life are known. His early years in Georgia provide the predominant focus of this issue. Several associated articles, in this and the next issue, attempt to explain nearby Hoopers – some of whom are relatives – in Georgia. The single most informative document revealing Hooper's Georgia years is his testimony for federal census, and the associated testimony of his friend Charles Gent. In this issue, we examine the pension testimony and take a very brief look at the two areas where Jesse Hooper lived in Georgia. The next issue will look at the two neighborhoods in much more detail, with emphasis on other Hoopers and Hooper relatives in those areas. (See website
Declaration made by Jesse Hooper, in order to obtain the benefit of the Captain Jacob Colson served Act of Congress of the 7th of June 1832. as a captain in the militia during 1775 and 1776 and State of Tennessee Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions for the was on an expedition under Davidson County { County and State aforesaid Major Williamson. ~Moss, Bobby Gilmer, 1989, On this 28th day of July 1832 personally appeared before the Court Roster of South Carolina Patriots aforesaid, Jesse Hooper a resident of said County and State, aged seventy in the American Revolution: four years on the 23rd day of March last, who being first duly sworn Baltimore: Genealogical according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order Publishing Company to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress 7th Lachlan McIntosh (1725-1806) June 1832. served as Georgia's highest That he enlisted in the Army of the United States (the Army that was Continental office. He received before the Declaration of Independence) in the month of March became notorious when he 1776 with Jacob Coulson, and served in the first battalion (or regiment) of killed his rival in a duel. The opponent was Button the Georgia line, under the following named officers, to wit: L McIntosh, Gwinnet, a signer of the General: ______Harris, J_____ Habbersham, one of them Colonel the Declaration of Indepen other Lieutenant Colonel, he cannot however remember their rank or their dence for Georgia. (Also see given names. note 3 in the article on The applicant states further that on the enlistment of which he is now Samuel Queen and Clem mons Hooper, page 105.) speaking, he entered the service as a private soldier, and remained in the John Habersham (1754-1799) Service for the term of one year, ending March 1777, at which last date, or was son of the James soon after, perhaps in April, he was regularly discharged by the above Habersham (who had been named Habbersham; he remembers that his discharge which has been long granted 500 acres in 1756). since lost, was a printed paper, the blanks being filled up in writing. John was a major in the During the term of this enlistment, the applicant was only in one Georgia militia in the engagement and then as follows: Sometime in Feb'y or March, as well the Southern Department. Joseph Habersham (1751- applicant recollects, Genl. McIntosh marched a force of about five 1815), the brother of John, hundred men from Savannah to the Altamaha river, to a place called Fort fought at the Siege of Barrington; Capt. Colson's company, in which the applicant was a private Savannah. and was present, constituted a part of this force. ~Wright, Robert K., 1989, The Continental Army: Soon after the troops reached the fort, thirty or forty men was ordered to Washington, D.C., U. S. Army pass the river in boats, and reconnoiter the strength and position of the Center of Military History. Indians, the enemy against whom the Detachment was directed-six men Tories captured Fort and their horses, besides the ferryman, went over in the first boat - As soon Barrington on 13 March 1778. as the boat reached the opposite shore, the Indians who lay in ambush, rose upon the men, and fired - Four of their number were Killed on the spot - two of them jumped into the water and attempted to swim to the shore from which they had started. One of the two was killed in the attempt - the other made good his retreat. The ferryman, by laying close to the bottom of the boat and
88 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 artfully directing the oars also escaped. After this the Indians immediately appeared in force, and a battle was kept up for some time from the opposite bank of the river, neither party venturing to cross. During the engagement the applicant well remembers that Genl. McIntosh received a ball in his heel - he was present when that wound was inflicted. Not long after the engagement, the detachment was relieved by Col. Sumpter and his command – Genl. McIntosh marched us back to Savannah where the applicant was discharged as before stated. Hezekiah Yancey served in The applicant, who lived in Wilkes County, Georgia on Broad river about the SC Rangers under one mile above the mouth at the time of his first enlistment, returned Captain John Caldwell and thither when he was discharged. In a few days after getting home, he sub Col. Thomson during 1775. stituted himself for one Hezekiah Yancey, a militia man drafted for three months, and served the time out at Fort Charlotte an American Station on the South Carolina Bank of Savannah River.*
The map on the left is a portion taken from Mouzon, Henry, et al, 1775, An Accurate Map Of North And South Carolina With Their Indian Frontiers: shewing in a distinct manner all the mountains, rivers, swamps, marshes, bays, creeks, harbors, sandbanks and soundings on the coasts, with the roads and Indian paths as well as the boundary or provincial lines, the several townships and other divisions of the land in both the provinces: London: R. Sayer and J. Bennett. The area shown here is upper Georgia and South Carolina, with the Savannah River represented by the dark diagonal line from northwest to southwest. The wavy line that intersects about the middle of the left side of the bright yellow box is the Broad River. That midpoint at the left of the yellow box is approximately the location claimed as the residence for Jesse Hooper at his first enlistment.
In the magnified map on the right, notice the residence marked Hoopers on the South Carolina side of the Savannah. The stream (thin curved line) near the Holmes and Hooper residences was Russell's Creek. Notice also the two parallel line marking a road or path to the east of the Savannah River. The area now is under the waters of Lake Thurmond. When the map was created, this Hooper residence was within five miles of Fort Charlotte, with travel possible both by water and by path. The notes used for the original map were collected about 1768-70, so the residences date to that period. These notes, therefore, indicate that even before the Revolution, Hoopers inhabited South Carolina in a spot less than five miles from where Jesse Hooper claimed he lived when he first enlisted to serve in the Georgia troops about March of 1776/7.
*Fort Charlotte sat in South Carolina across from the mouths of the Broad River and Pistol Creek onto the Savannah River. The South Carolina land formerly had been that of John Vann, but was lost to debt. In 1765, the British built the fort to protect settlers and traders traveling along the river and along the Cherokee trail. On 12 July 1775, American forces seized the fort from its British defenders. Across the Savannah, in Georgia, John Vann's petition for 100 acres "on north side of Broad River about a mile and a half from the mouth and 66 miles above Augusta" was approved on 5 June 1760. Another petition granted the same date for 100 acres was to Ezekiel Harlan. The land was "on Broad River adjacent land petitioned by John Vann at Pistol Creek about 65 miles above Augusta." Harlan's agent, Edward Barnard, Esq. filed a memorial for the land on 16 December 1762, describing the land as being in St. Paul's Parish and bounded on the east by the Savannah River and Pistol Creek, on the west by Gideon Chivers, other sides vacant, granted 7 December 1762. Harlan later sold the land to Zachariah Lamar (see Lamar in St. Paul Signers). When the Harlan/Alexander transaction occurred, the land was described as adjacent to that of Gideon Chivers. Chivers may have been the heir of Matthew Chevers, a free negro. The first discernible land transaction along Pistol Creek in Georgia records is the issuance of the warrant, on 14 Feb 1759, to Matthew Chevers. This Chevers "had been in the province some years." The 100 acres warrant was for "land on Pistol Creek at the ford on the Cherokee Path 60 miles from Augusta." ~Warren, Mary Bondurant, and Jones, Jack Moreland, abstractors, 1991, Georgia Governor And Council Journals 1753-1760: Heritage Papers, Danielsville [GA]. pp. 103, 125. ~Warren, Mary Bondurant, editor, and Weeks, Eve B. and Lowery, Robert S., abstractors, 1988, Georgia Land Owners’ Memorials 1758-1776: Heritage Papers, Danielsville [GA], p. 72.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 89 Coming home from Charlotte the applicant did not remain long until he This surely must have been enlisted a second time for one year. He now entered the service as a light horse the Captain James Little who man. The name of his Captain was Wm. Wilson. Jno Coleman was the colonel. helped General Pickens fight The duty of the company to which he was now attached consisted in guarding Colonel Boyd. Capt. James the back settlement, & aiding at times in defending the outposts - he labors Little was among the Wilkes under the impression (though time and age has weakened the minuteness of Men at the Battle of Kettle his recollection) that he was then in the continental line - he was in no battle Creek (14 February 1779). during this term. About sixteen days before his year was out, Col. Coleman A Return of the Wilkes County called the men together, told them verbally that they were at liberty and that he Reg't 4 October 1781– "... on would give them their regular discharges whenever they would apply. The Col. command at Captn. Gunnels soon after took sick & died & the applicant never got his discharge in the Station 1 Captn., 1 Ieut., 2 regular form: Soon after this the British aided by the tories and Indians became sergt and 20 men. On com so troublesome & dangerous that the frontier settlements of Georgia broke up mand with Col. Cunningham their Forts & Settlements, and many of them went to the forts in South to Genrl. Twigs Camp 75 Carolina. Applicant then became a volunteer under one Capt. Littl[edge of page men. E. Clarke, Col. A list of is torn] and he served for a long while in the petty but dangerous warfar[e] of the Captn. Names-Zachria the day - he was in an engagement against the tories, at a place called Kettle Phillips, Daniel Gunnels, Creek: the battle was very warm & lasted near four hours. The tories were James Little, John Autry, Richard Herd, William Walker, commanded by Col. Boyd. Genl. Clark of Georgia with Col. McDooly (or Alexander Alexander, Dooly), Col. Jno. Cunningham under him, commanded the American troops. It Alexander Autry, Sam'l was said that Genl. Clark had several horses shot under him during the fight, Harper, Peter Rockimore." though of this the applicant only speaks from the report of the day. In the ~ Warren, Mary Bondurant, same Captain's company, the troop being still under Genl. Clark, but the names editor, 1978, Chronicles of Wilkes of the other field officers now not recollected, applicant was at the first siege of County, Georgia from Washing Augusta. The Americans succeeded in taking Grayson's fort, and as he believed ton’s Newspapers 1889-1898: would have succeeded in expelling the British from the place altogether, if a Heritage Papers, Danielsville strong reinforcement to the enemy's army had not compelled them to retire - [GA], pp. 12, 21. he well remembered that on occasion of this siege, the Americans fought the ~Willingham, Robert Marion, British & Indians three days & nights & there was many lives lost on both sides 1969, We Have This Heritage-The History of Wilkes County, - Applicant was also at the Siege of Savannah. The name of his Captain has Georgia, Beginnings To 1860: entirely escaped his recollection Col. Jno Dooley (or McDooly) commanded Wilkes Pub. Co., p. 93. the regiment to which he belonged and the Count D'Estaing was commander in chief. The Americans were ineffectual but, they fought bravely. The First Siege of Augusta oc curred 14 - 18 August 1780. In conclusion the applicant begs to state that he faithfully served his county through the whole of the revolution, he is now old, poor, and helpless, and The Siege of Savannah took desires to avail himself of the bounty of the Government. place between 23 September 1779 and 20 October 1779. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension, or an annuity except the present & he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency in any state. Sworn and subscribed in open court July 28 1832 Henry Ewing, clerk of Davidson County Court his Jesse x mark Hooper. As part of the above application, the former soldier Hooper was fortunate in having a nearby friend who need to provide a witness to verify the claim. Jesse could do so. Personally appeared before said Court on the 28th day of July 1832, Charles Gent, a Citizen of said County, & made Oath to the following facts, to wit, that he had been acquainted with the within named Jesse Hooper from their early youth, that he is himself now seventy-eight years of age; that he was in the Battle of Kettle Creek spoken of in the above declaration with said Hooper, that the Tories were commanded in said battle by Col. Boyd, that the American troops were commanded by Genl Clark of Georgia, Cols. McDooly & Cunningham or Pickens, that Said battle was warmly contested, that said Hooper behaved himself well as a private in said action, that three horses were soo [sic] under Genl. Clark on the day of the engagement; he also Stated that he was at the Siege of Augusta with said Hooper, at which siege Genl Clark commanded the American troops, and Col. Brown those of the British & tories; that said siege was warmly carried on, and would have been successful had it not been for a re- inforcement to the enemy; they fought from Thursday 10 O'Clock until the same hour of the day on the next Monday, these were the only two actions in which I was concerned with said Hooper, but I served with him almost constantly during the war, and he always behaved himself as a good soldier. He also further states that said Jesse Hooper enlisted at the same time with himself under Captain Wilson for one year & served out the year with him. Sworn to and subscribed in open court July 28th 1832 Charles x Gent Henry Ewing Clerk of Davidson County Court
90 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 The court expressed its opinion that Jesse Hooper was Wilkes County Fees Paid for Headrights, 1778 an upright, sober, honest, truthful man. They stated Relative When Grantee’s By Whom that he "has been for many years an exemplary mem Position in Acres Paid Name Paid ber of the Baptist Church." Jesse Wharton, one of 1778 List the justices, added that he had been "long acquainted 19 May Churchl. #32 200 Mr. Gregg with applicant and that he sustained the reputation 1778 Hooper 19 May of an honest and upright man." #33 William Hooper 200 [blank] 1778 Jesse Hooper's other records in Georgia are less 19 May #51 Jesse Hooper 200 Mr. Gregg comprehensive in explaining his life there. As shown 1778 by the testimony, the Georgia residence of Jesse Adapted from information in Davis, Robert S., Jr. 1981, “Lost Georgia Land Grants, 1775 and 1778,” in Georgia Genealogical Hooper began sometime before March 1776 (since Society Quarterly, Spring 1981, pp. 3-30. Hooper served under militia officers who lived in The next appearance by Jesse Hooper is in his land what became Wilkes County, Georgia.) He returned survey for 200 acres in Wilkes County. The tract in to a home "about one mile above the mouth" of the plat (below) lies in the "Fork District" (Georgia Broad River in 1777. That was the year that Wilkes Militia District 203) in Madison County, Georgia. County became an entity, an outcome of a conven The Fork District is so named because Fork Creek tion called at Savannah to frame a constitution for runs through it and because the eastern tip of the the State. area is formed by the split of the Broad River into Prior to 1777, any official records concerning the the North and South Forks. The land immediately to area were filed either with the Governor and Execu the west of the Hooper tract was granted in 1784 to tive Council (at the colonial level) or under the ad William Stokes, and now is in the north half of the ministration of St. Paul's Parish (later Richmond Watson Mill Bridge State Park. Jesse Hooper's origi County). Augusta was the seat of that parish, and the nal western boundary lies about 0.8 mile (in a direct likely location where Hoopers would have sought gov line) east of Bridge Road. The modern West Drive, ernmental interaction. During part of the Revolution, which heads south towards the river from the Augusta served as the capital. But the town changed Comer-Carlton Road (State Highway 72) appears to hands several times, and each time, whoever lost run along the western edge of the Hooper tract. control carted their records away to places of safety. Unfortunately, some of the early ledgers and minutes The endorsement at the bottom of the plat reads: were lost in the Savannah River. Still, there may be State of Georgia Wilkes By a receipt Samuel Cres remaining records connected with St. Paul's Parish well County Surveyor Dated December 18 1784 which could elucidate the earliest Hooper connec tions in the area known as the "Ceded Lands." In Wilkes County, some loose wills and estate papers survived at least until the 1930s, but the records of the earliest land courts after 1777 have been lost. The first deed book dates from mid-1784. Land plats date from 1783 and can be obtained from the Georgia Sur veyor General Department. There are no land grants recorded between 1775 and 1782 – perhaps because none were issued during the war, perhaps because of records loss. However, the process of obtaining an original land grant involved several steps, such as ob taining a warrant to authorize a survey, conducting the survey and marking the bounds, cross-checking existing records to assure has no conflicts with prior plats, issuance of the grant, and recording of the grant. At each step, fees were paid to officials. One such record of "fees" survives from 1778 and con cerns nearly 200 headrights in Wilkes, Liberty, and Richmond Counties. Evidently, the land court met several times in Wilkes - April 9 and 17; May 19; June 3; July 20, perhaps on Septemer 7, and on October 7 and 19. All Hoopers are extracted in the fees table:
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 91 I have Admeasured and laid out unto Jesse The State of Georgia initiated tax returns in 1785. hooper Two hundred acres of Land in Wilkes Most, but not all, of Wilkes County's earliest tax lists County on the South fork of Broad River having survive. The local Justice of the Peace usually was the such Markes and form as the above Plat appointed tax receiver. From 1785 to 1794, the tax Represents certified December 20th 1784. Thos Gregg, D.S. payer was expected to report his taxes, especially his poll tax, in the district where he actually lived. His The outside of the folded plat indicates this survey lands, however, might be in another district or matured into the actual grant on 18 September 1787. another county. No tax records from 1788 or 1789 When the copyist recorded this survey in the survive. Elbert County was split from Wilkes County platbook, he miswrote the survey date as 10 at the end of 1790. The lands in the Fork District September. The copy of the actual grant kept by the then fell into Elbert, for which no tax returns have Governor's office shows Governor Mathews signed survived before 1800. the final papers on 22 September 1787.
Selected Wilkes County, Georgia Tax Reports, 1785-1790
Line Number r
a Number Location Quantity and Quality
e District / Tax Receiver Taxpayer of
Y of of Land of Land Slaves Return #10 Jesse Hooper Wilkes 100 acres 2nd quality Captain Pope's(1) / #12 Thomas Hooper Wilkes 100 acres 2nd quality Wilie Pope #13 Churchwell Hooper Wilkes 150 acres 2nd quality 1 5
8 #51 Absalom Hooper none 7 1 Captains Nail's 80 acres 2nd quality; #58 Jesse Hooper Wilkes and Hall's (2) / 150 acres 3rd quality† Thomas Scott 530 acres 2nd quality, #60 John Forgus ‡ Wilkes 1 217½ acres 3rd quality 18 Absalom Harper none
6 Captain William Black's / 8
7 80 acres 2nd; 1 Thomas Scott 31 Jesse Hopper Wilkes 160 acres 3rd quality #7 Wilkes Absalom Hooper 327½ acres 3rd quality
7 Captain Nelson's (3) / 8 7
1 Samuel Nelson Wilkes 240 acres 2nd quality #15 Jesse Hooper Franklin 150 acres 2nd quality Colonel John Cunningham's #11 Jesse Hooper Wilkes 40 acres 2nd quality 0 9
7 Battalion, Captain Nelson's 1 District / not stated #56 Absalom Hooper Wilkes 40 acres 3rd quality
Notes: 1. The district covered landowners south of Broad River, east of the Savannah, along Fishing and Pistol Creeks. The southwest boundary of the district was at the approximate location of Tignall Georgia. 2. This district contained the commingled returns of two areas. Lands were in the eastern part of the Fork District, or east of the Forks (along Dove and Deep Creeks), or north of the Fork District along the North Fork of the Broad River, extending up to the west of present Hart County. 3. Between 1786 and 1790, the district consisted of the lands between the North and South Forks of the Broad River and added lands further west along the South Fork. † Acreage is probably a transcription problem and should be 160. ‡ See statement (on page 105 in Queen/Hooper article) by John Fergus, who knew Absalom Hooper after war. This is the only year Fergus appears in this district. Later, he was a taxpayer in the district just to north, along the North Fork of the Broad above Vineyard Creek. Fergus continued moving north along the Broad River until he was in Franklin County. Old maps show Fergus Iron Works on the east side of the North Fork of the Broad River. This may have been a forge run by Fergus's brother William. Recollections retold by a grandson (Lemuel) of Absalom Hooper indicate that Absalom got along well with the Cherokee because he was a blacksmith who provided a necessary skill. He may have learned his skills from one of the Fergus men.
92 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 The land records and other facts help to explain some 1785, Mary Edds, planter, signed a Lease and Release of the confusion from the tax lists. Jesse Hooper's to Churchel Hooper for 150 acres bounded by John double listing in 1785 might be because his wife was Gambol and Thomas Hooper. Where did this extra expecting the birth of a child (William T. Hooper land come from? Perhaps Jesse Hooper had managed was born about 1785, according to several Tennessee it and paid the taxes for 100 acres of the tract. census records). Perhaps she wished to be closer to In the 1785 Fork District, where his grant lay, Jesse the earlier settled area near the Savannah River. Also, seems to have reported all of his 200 acre grant. But there were only 74 taxpayers in the expanded Fork again, there is additional land - 30-40 acres. There is District in 1785. In 1786, the reduced district never no surviving deed wherein Jesse bought the smaller theless reported 73 taxpayers. Perhaps concerns parcel, nor was a grant made to him. about Indian attacks had depopulated the district in Look again at the tax records. Between 1786 and 1785, and families fled to the existing forts in safer 1787, Jesse Hooper's taxable land increased because areas until new forts could be built and militia mus of his new grant in Franklin County. His Wilkes land tered in more remotes districts. was reported as 240 acres, and the quality had im The 1785 amounts reported in Captain Pope's dis proved (probably as the result of improvements and trict were considerably smaller acreages than land clearing done by Jesse). By the 1790 taxes, Jesse's tax grants and warrants indicate they should have been. able Wilkes land had decreased to just 40 acres. The Thomas and Church Hooper both had received 200- disappearance of the 200 acre grant is easily ex acre grants in 1784. The difference might be a form plained by a deed (Wilkes County Deed Book MM, of citizen's protest against newly enacted tax laws. page 459) dated 21 November 1788. Jesse Hooper Or, the lands may have been of such poor quality and Elizabeth, his wife, of Wilkes County, Georgia, (fetid swamps along the river?) that they did not fit sold to John Strong of Buckingham County, Virginia, into the taxable groups. for £20, 200 acres described as Clues about Jesse's wife come from the 1785 and on north side of South Fork of Broad River in 1786 taxes. Jesse Hooper's 100 acres reported in the Wilkes County, Georgia, 200 acres, adjacent Pistol Creek district probably was land that he was Southwest by South Fork of Broad River, only managing. Instead, it may have belonged to a northwest by William Stokes, all other sides relative of his wife. No surviving grant, plat, nor vacant at time of survey, granted to said Hooper deed indicates Jesse Hooper himself ever owned land on 22 September 1787. in the Pistol Creek area. Thus, there is little way to Absalom Hooper also has an unexplained excess of explain the 100 acres as Jesse's possession in 1785. taxable lands. In 1786, he had none to report, at least Nineteenth century biographies of Jesse's descen not in Wilkes County. However, in May 1784, Absa dants indicate they thought his wife was named Eliz lom Hooper had applied for a warrant, based on his abeth Eades. Georgia deeds do prove that the given Georgia militia service, for 287½ acres. The plat was name of Jesse's wife was Elizabeth. They apparently dated 25 July 1784 and shows the land was in what were newly wed in 1785, judging by known birth then was Washington County. He waited to pay all years for several children. his fees, however, because a fiat (certifying the land had not been otherwise claimed) seems to have been A woman named Mary Eades in 1785 paid taxes for filed 13 August 1790. The grant finally was awarded 250 acres in the Pistol Creek district, then in 1786 on 9 February 1792. Absalom, then described as “of paid taxes on the same amount of acreage in the Washington County, Georgia,” promptly sold the Fork District. Since she was responsible for paying land for 75£ on 13 June 1792. taxes, the woman either was a spinster or a widow. This 250 acres was sold in a 1788 deed (Wilkes Deed But the soldier's grant fails to explain the remaining Book DD, page 172) by Mary Eades to Abel Penning 40 acres reported by Absalom. No grant to Absalom, ton, both of Wilkes, for £110 and had been granted in nor sale to or from Absalom exists in state records or October 1785. The land was on Cedar Creek and was in records of Elbert and Wilkes County. So in 1787, adjacent vacant land when surveyed. One of the wit both Absalom and Jesse Hooper had unexplained nesses was a Fork District neighbor of the Hoopers; parcels of 40 acres. the Justice of the Peace before whom the deed was Lacking the 1791-1800 Elbert tax records, the other proved was Thomas B. Scott, of the Fork District. source to help understand the extra land is the deeds. There is a curious problem, however. Thomas The exact year of departure of Absalom Hooper for Hooper's plat along Pistol Creek was surveyed on South Carolina is uncertain, since his first land acqui Christmas, 1783. One of the nearby neighbors was sition there seems to have been in 1798. However, shown as "Mary Edes Land." Then, on 4 November his land sale in 1792 suggests he might have moved
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 93 from the Fork District area to Washington or Greene marriage has passed control to a new husband. Since County by 1792. Jesse's wife is Elizabeth, such a marriage would look Then in 1794, Jesse Hooper and wife Elizabeth sold highly probable … except that Elizabeth Saylors was 80 – not 40 – acres of land. This land was also in the also conducting land transactions, in her own name, Fork District, along the North Fork of the Broad in the area in 1789 for the other part of her original River just south of grant: where the bridge for 28 August 1789 state Highway 72 Elizabeth Saylors crosses into Elbert to William Patten, County. There is no both of Wilkes Co., for £47, on deed to Jesse Hooper south side of nor from Elizabeth Broad River, part Sailors showing how of a tract the Hoopers granted to acquired the land. Elizabeth, adjacent bank of 12 Apr 1794 Jesse Broad River, 47 Hooper and acres. Elizabeth + Elizabeth, his wife, Sailors. Witness: to William Dudley, Thos. B. Scott, JP. all of Elbert, for 40 Registered 5 Sept pds., 80 acres orig. 1789. [Wilkes granted to Book BB p 15] Elizabeth Saylor, 8 June 1785, in sd. 29 Feb 1788 co. on the S. side Andrew Woods of Broad River, adj. river, the upper end by M. of Burke County, North Carolina to William Patten Woods, down to river, down river to Barnett, of Burke County, North Carolina for £10, south William Miller. Jesse Hooper. Elizabeth Hooper. side Broad River, part of a tract originally Wit: Wm. Hodge, JP Elbert Co. £ 40 recd. 12 Apr granted to Elizabeth Sailer and sold by her to 1794 I assign the within deed over to Thomas Andrew Woods, adjacent bank of Broad River. Oliver, for value recd, 6 June 1794. Wm. Dudley. 47 acres. A. Woods. Wit: James Patten, Samuel Test. John Casrron, Chs. Coulter. 4 Mar 1799, Woods. Proved 10 Feb 1789, Jo. Moore, J.P. William Dudley ack. deed to Thomas Oliver Registered 5 Sept 1789. [ibid., p. 18] before R. Hunt. [Elbert Book E, p. 142] [This land is exactly at the bridge crossing the river Could the 80-acre tract, part of a grant to Elizabeth on Highway 72 to Elberton.] Sailors, have been the combination of the two 40- Because I have not located the original warrant nor acre parcels Absalom and Jesse Hooper reported for the original plat for Elizabeth Sailors, I am unsure of their extra taxes in 1787 and 1790? This hypothesis the size of her grant of 8 June 1785. Perhaps the is made more appealing by the fact that Absalom's above transactions are two halves of a tract, the wife was Sarah (Salers) Hooper. Perhaps both remaining part of the original grant not sold by Jesse Absalom and Jesse were overseeing lands for a Hooper. If so, the dramatic price difference between widow or spinster who was Sarah's relative. Then, the halves is impressive. Perhaps instead the sale to perhaps after Absalom squeezed together enough fee Andrew Woods was a questionable transfer, or a money to finalize his soldier's grant, he may have left mortgage, and Woods sold only his interest, a mere the Fork District, first for Washington County, then part of the full value. Since the Elizabeth Sailer to for South Carolina where his initial grant matured in Andrew Woods sale was not recorded separately, 1798. His departure would have left the full 80 acres there is the suggestion that Elizabeth Sailors failed to to be managed by Jesse Hooper. Somehow, then, record all her transactions. there may have been an unrecorded transfer from Elizabeth Sailors to Jesse Hooper. Jesse Hooper left for Tennessee sometime before 1802, when a Davidson County court document One problem is that no Elizabeth Sailors ever mentions him. He probably left about 1794, after appears on the Wilkes taxes. Normally, when lands selling the Sailors land. Two years earlier, he had sold pass from a woman to a man and there is no deed his Franklin County grant, perhaps having never lived showing the transfer, one considers the possibility on the land: that a mother has died leaving a sole heir, or that a
94 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 24 Mar 1792: Jesse Hooper and wife Elizabeth of took a form of a census. They reported a white Elbert County, Georgia to Stephen Carpenter of population of 2678 males over 16, 2146 females over Franklin County. In consideration of 80 pounds, 16, 2328 male children, and 2051 female children. conveys 150 acres in Franklin County on Broad Women were obviously in the minority, suggesting River. witness: William Hodge, J.P.; James Naylor, Alex. Hodge. Recorded 7 Jan 1794 [Franklin that single adult females were unlikely to remain County Book K, pp. 23, 23B] unmarried for very long. The recording date in early 1794 might have Although the schedules from the 1790 Wilkes significance. Buyers sometimes waited to record County federal census are lost, the recapitulation purchases, since a recording fee was charged. When totals do survive. Before Elbert County was the seller was about to leave the area and would no separated from its parent, Wilkes County had 5152 longer be available to acknowledge the sale, the buyer males over 16, 6740 males under 16, and 12160 had a self-interest in getting a copy of the deed made females. Such dramatic growth in the space of four at the courthouse, in case the original was destroyed. years suggests there had been many marriages, many Since Jesse Hooper sold the last 80 acres also in births, and much immigration. Reasonably, there 1794, the transactions could reflect preparations for must have been a similar increase in the value of the interstate move. Church Hooper, who also land. Those who were willing to go elsewhere and moved to Davidson County, Tennessee, sold the last start over could sell their developed lands at inflated of his Pistol Creek lands in 1796 and purchased land prices. Perhaps such profits ultimately inspired Jesse in Tennessee that same year. Hooper to move to Tennessee and Absalom Hooper What motivated all the moves? Perhaps a change in to move to seek bounty lands in South Carolina. the land values. In 1786, the Wilkes tax collectors Sources: Acker, Martha Walters, compiler, 1976, Deeds of Franklin County, Georgia 1784-1826: Birmingham, [AL], p. 38. Farmer, Michal Martin, 1997, Elbert County, Georgia Deed Books K-R, 1806-1819: Farmer Genealogy Co., Dallas. Farmer, Michal Martin, 1996, Wilkes County, Georgia Deed Books A-VV 1784-1806: Farmer Gen. Co., Dallas,pp. 35, 90, 410. Lucas, Silas, compiler; 1994, Some Georgia County Land Records: Greenville [SC], Southern Historical Press, vol. 2. Obadiah Branch This issue's emphasis on Revolutionary and eighteenth century Georgia requires some discussion of descendants of Obadiah Hooper, Sr.(1) The sons and sons-in-law of old Obadiah served Virginia, not Georgia, during the Revolution. They moved south to the Carolinas after the end of the war; several were Georgians before 1800. Much of this lineage's first migration was to the Georgia. Even those deeds and court records in northwestern area of South Carolina. Nancy Good Georgia which do mention an Obadiah Hooper can lett was a daughter of old Obadiah Hooper, Sr. Her muddle understanding, since there is great risk of obituary suggests her father left Virginia before her confusion with Obadiah Hooper, Jr. Fortunately, for marriage in 1786: three men of the next generation of Obadiah's clan, Nancy Hooper ... was born on the 25th of personal statements give more insight regarding their January 1762 and married her late husband trails to Georgia . [William Goodlett] 14th February 1786. Her natal James Hooper was born in 1746. The day of birth place was Mecklenburg County, Virginia, from was recorded as 25 October in the family record that whence her parents migrated to Spartanburgh District, S. C. during its early settlement, where he himself wrote, but he apparently celebrated his she was married. Herself and husband were birthday on 5 November 1746.(4). Shortly after his among the first settlers of this District [Greenville] 86th birthday, he appeared before the courts of a few years after their union, at a place where Dekalb County, Georgia to apply for his pension. At they both died.(2) such an age, remembering events from 50 years By the time the 1790 census (3) was completed, the earlier must have been difficult. The old soldier Goodletts had moved to Greenville. No one named recounted that he had been a resident of Lunenburg Obadiah Hooper appears as head of household in County, Virginia when he enlisted there in 1778. He South Carolina on the 1790 census. Perhaps the aged recalled twelve months of service in the 6th Virginia father Obadiah lived in the home of a child. Or Regiment and another term that lasted about three maybe he left for Georgia before the enumerators months. His only major battle had come during reached him. Neither the Virginia nor the Georgia about six weeks service in North Carolina when he census for 1790 and 1800 still exists, so there is little had been at Guilford. help there in deciphering Obadiah, Sr.'s path into
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 95 He probably enlisted for that last service when Rich on page 100). Thus, it is possible that Georgia ard B. Hooper likewise enlisted, in February 1781. records between 1790 and 1800 might refer to this The battle of Guilford Courthouse occurred on 15 man. Pre-1790 records for any James Hooper in March 1781. But James had a real reason to hurry Georgia likely do not refer to the Virginia veteran. back to Virginia - he was a new bridegroom, having Another James Hooper, a Revolutionary veteran in married Elizabeth Chambers on 6 January 1781.(5) Spartanburg District, South Carolina, had lived in Their first child was born in December of 1781. upper South Carolina since before the war. This early James Hooper had little to say about his residences Carolinian was a minor local official in the 1790s after the end of the Revolution. When he testified in until he sold his remaining SC lands in 1802. Those 1832, he lived in Dekalb County, Georgia. The who locate pre-1800 references in upper South widow's testimony (on 7 January 1839) tells more. Carolina or northeastern Georgia should use caution Mrs. Elizabeth Hooper said that after the marriage in identifying which James Hooper is involved. in Lunenburg, Richard Brooks Hooper became prominent in from thence she removed to and settled in Franklin County, Georgia, but was not among the Franklin County. pioneers there. He remained a resident of Franklin She remained there until 14 years earlier when she County on his application date of 28 Jan 1838, but and her husband had moved to Dekalb County. The his tombstone is in what is now Banks County, oldest son, James Hooper, Jr. – testifying in April Georgia. (Banks County was created from parts of 1840 – swore that Habersham and Franklin Counties.) He was alive in he, deponent, resided at the house of his said father from the time of his birth until his father's September 1841, when he and his final wife Adenia death, which happened on the twenty-eighth day (Mason) Miller Hooper filed a guardian's return for of April in the year Eighteen hundred & thirty six. his Miller stepchildren. Both Richard and Adenia may If all the testimony is correct, then this family moved have died before July 1844, when one of the oldest to Franklin County, Georgia soon after the end of sons of Adenia became guardian of the minor the Revolution, staying in that area until 1825 when children, “Henry F. and Martha M. Miller, orps.”(7) they arrived in Dekalb County. Richard Hooper clearly identified his pre-war resi There is cause to wonder about the accuracy of Mrs. dence, testifying Hooper's statements in 1839 First, she was an ex that he enlisted at Lunenburg Court House in tremely old woman. Next, her testimony records that Virginia, the place where he then resided, in the "she had eight children by her said husband" but only month of March 1776... six children are named in the Bible. Her attorney and Again, in March 1779 at Lunenburg Court House in Virginia her son both later corrected the statement back to six he entered as a volunteer for six months, children. She also offered as proof of marriage date and the fact that her "eldest son was fifty seven years of was marched to Stono, South Carolina, & was age in the month of December last," when in fact it placed under the Command of Genl. Lincoln of was her eldest daughter who had the December the Regulars, was marched from Stono to birthday. Several documents associated with James Charleston, and Elizabeth Hooper's pensions, and showing these later moving up to Camden where he was discharged birthdays, are available online at: as a Second Sergeant. [See Battle of Stono on page http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hoops/hooper/rw.html. 101.] Thus, during his military service, Richard A Franklin County, Georgia deed made in 1798 Hooper had toured through some of upper South proves James Hooper by then had established Carolina. residency in the county. Sale of the land a year later In his pension testimony, Hooper was quite specific by James and Elizabeth Hooper shows the purchase in his response to the interrogatories in the published had been made by the former soldier, and not by one regulations. [See Why So Much Genealogy... on of his similarly named nephews. page 111 for the questions.] So when did James Hooper arrive in Georgia? Deeds in 1. Was born in Lunenburg County in the state of Halifax County, Virginia reveal that although James Virginia in May 1755 or 1758 does not recollect Hooper lived in Lunenburg County, he also owned which. land in Halifax through the 1780s. He may have be 2. He does not know that there is any record of his age as the book was lost by his father. gun preparations to leave about 1790, and almost 3. When called into service he lived in Lunenburg surely was gone by 1794, when some of his land was County, Virginia. Since the Revolutionary War, to sold for non-payment of taxes. (See Virginia Deeds wit in 1782 or 1783 he removed to Surry County,
96 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 N.C. and in 1799 he removed to Greenville, South Carolina, remained two years and then removed to Pendleton (S.C.) remained there until about the year 1820 when he removed to Franklin County Georgia where he has resided since ... Other records mostly confirm his statements. A Halifax County, Virginia marriage bond for Richard Hooper and Elizabeth Ward bears the date 2 Jan 1783. Richard Hooper appears on the 1790 Greenville District, South Carolina census (which was not completed until 10 April 1791). A Pendleton District deed dated 9 October 1792 transferred land in that district to Richard Hooper, planter, of Greenville When his agent misplaced the original application County. The time when he moved to his new land is papers, Obadiah Hooper appeared again before the unknown, but in November 1796, Richard Hooper courts on 27 January 1836. He was more specific in witnessed and proved a deed between Moses Guest tracing his migrations on this second attempt: and David Humphries for a Pendleton land transfer. ... he entered the service of the U.S. as a regular soldier in October 1775… he resided in the county The 1800 census lists Richard Hooper in Pendleton of Lunenburgh Virginia at the time of his enlist District. Another Pendleton deed, dated 11 October ment aforesaid … that when he entered the 1805, was witnessed by Richard Hooper, possibly army as a volunteer aforesaid he lived in the indicating he still resided in Pendleton at that time. county of Lunenburgh Virginia, …That during his However, he could also have been visiting relatives in residence in Greenville Dist So Carolina, his house Pendleton at a time appropriate for the deed-writing. was burnt and with it his discharges, that he was The deed concerned a sale by Nathaniel Perry, hus born in the year 1755 December 15th, as band of Richard's sister Susannah. Richard Hooper's appears upon record in his (applicant's) own family bible, now at his residence in the county name is not on the 1810 Pendleton census. If the and state aforesaid transcribed from his father's 1810 and 1820 Franklin census enumerations had family bible, that since the revolution the appli survived, they probably would list Richard Hooper, cant has resided in the counties of Lunenburg since by 1810 he lived on land in Franklin County.(8) and Halifax Virginia, from whence he removed to Obadiah Hooper Jr. was among the first of his clan Greenville Dist SC and there resided 6 years, and from thence removed to Georgia, Franklin to arrive in Georgia, but he did not remain in the County, where he resided 18 years, from thence state. In his efforts to obtain a federal pension, he he removed to the State of Tennessee, Bedford twice made declarations about his service and about County, where he resided near six years, from his prior residences. His first statement bears a thence to Alabama Tuscaloosa County, from February 1835 date: thence to Pickens County Alabama, where he ...that he resided in Lunenburgh Virginia at the now resides, he had resided about sixteen or time of his enlistment, from thence he removed seventeen years in the last mentioned State, how to Pendleton Dist in the State of So Carolina from long he resided in Virginia after the revolution there he removed to Franklin County Georgia before his removal to So. Ca he does not now from there to Franklin County Tennessee from recollect. During his residence in Ga he was there to Tuscaloosa county in the state of Ala elected a member of the convention that bama from thence to Pickens County in the said framed the constitution of that state.(9) state, where he now resides. That he was born in Later, after the 1839 death of his father, John M. the year 1755 in Lunenburg County in the state of Hooper attempted to help his stepmother obtain a Virginia on the 15th day of December according widow's pension. One matter was to prove the date to a register of his age in his father's family bible, and fact of the marriage, while another was to show which he now has in his possession at his resi that the couple remained husband and wife until the dence in the said county of Pickens. veteran's death. A part of John M. Hooper's March
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 97 1842 testimony suggests the son made the migration Thus, the 1787 reference to Obadiah Hooper of with the father: Granville County SC, in comparison with Obadiah's he [deponent] was at the Residence of the said own testimony, suggests two potential explanations. Obadiah Hooper while a Citizen of the State of Perhaps Obadiah was living in the unorganized area, Georgia and moved him to the State of Tennes near the upper reaches of the Tugaloo/Savannah see Bedford County and from there to Alabama system. When he had first arrived there, that area, Tuscaloosa County and then in said state to Pic although officially unorganized, might have looked to kens County when and where the foregoing Parties lived... old Granville County for official business. When the western Indian lands were organized in 1786 and The timeline indicated by the testimony of 1836 1789, he then would have become a Greenville and indicates that Obadiah Hooper, Jr. had lived later a Pendleton citizen without moving. in Alabama from about 1819-1836 in Bedford County, Tennessee from about 1813 to The more likely explanation is that the Virginia scribe 1819 preparing the deed misheard the county, and that in Franklin County, Georgia from 1795 to 1813 Greenville County had been intended. Granville in Greenville District, South Carolina from 1789 District (Earl Granville's proprietary area) once to 1795 encompassed the upper half of North Carolina, and in Lunenburg and Halifax Counties in Virginia Granville County, North Carolina shares a common from the end of the war to 1789. border with Halifax County, Virginia. This proximity could explain why a clerk might mishear and Obadiah Hooper appears on no census for 1790 to substitute a familiar county name for another county 1820, but deeds and tax records help to better refine name in further distant territory. And per his own the above timeline for his Georgia, South Carolina, statements, Obadiah likely moved from Virginia and Virginia residencies. The first deed with the directly to Greenville County. He may have name Obadiah Hooper is dated 5 March 1790. John controlled lands on both sides of the Saluda River Carter and wife Nancy sold 280 acres on the Tugaloo (the northern border for Greenville and Pendleton). River to "Obadiah Hooper of Pendleton County, Clearly, though, he was in South Carolina by 1787. South Carolina." He may have remained in Pendleton for a few months before moving onto his Georgia In Virginia, a comparison of the names on the James land. He probably did move before the 1790 and Obadiah Hooper deeds (See Virginia Deeds on Pendleton District census was finished (17 May 1791) page 100) with the 1783 taxpayers of John P. Smith's since his name is not found on that enumeration. district (see the table atop page 100) shows that the Obadiah taxed there is the same individual who was This land was sold in 1798 by "Obadiah Hooper, Jr." "of South Carolina" in 1787. Obadiah also appeared and signed by Obadiah and Elizabeth Hooper.(10) In on the 1782 tax list(1 poll, 2 slaves, 2 horses), but no 1807, Obadiah and wife Sarah sold 560 acres of their Obadiah Hooper was on the 1784 to 1800 lists. land. Obadiah and Sally sold their remaining 35 acres in January 1810. The deed was swiftly recorded, as if Because so many men bore the name Obadiah they were about to leave the area.(11) Hooper, recognizing when a certain individual was in an area is a great help to untangling the web. Not all the evidence matches - see the final deed in Considering the deed and tax evidence, I submit the Virginia Deeds, which places Obadiah in Granville following timeline as most likely locations of County, South Carolina. Granville County had once Obadiah Hooper for his life after the American been the westernmost South Carolina county under Revolution: the proprietary county system. The county lay bet- in Alabama from about 1817-1839 ween the Combahee River and the Savannah River in Bedford County, Tennessee from 1810 to 1816 and ran from the coast up to the Indian lands. After in Franklin County, Georgia from late 1790 to reorganization in 1786, Granville County ceased to early 1810 exist. The Indian lands which were taken in the in Greenville District, South Carolina from 1784 Revolution had previously been unorganized as to to late 1790 county or parish. In 1786, Greenville County was in Lunenburg and Halifax Counties in Virginia formed from a part of those upper South Carolina from the end of the war to 1783 lands. In 1789, Pendleton County was created from the remaining lands.(12)
98 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Notes: 1. Martha Walters Acker's Franklin County, Georgia Court April 1840 probably identifies the ultimate cause of her of Ordinary Records [abstracts] 1787-1849: [self- death in its last statement. "It is desirable to hear from published, available from author at 2504 Watkins Circle, you as early as convenient as this old lady is now very Birmingham, Alabama 35223] 1989, p 26 cites records old & infirm, and has lately been crippled by a fall so available at the Georgia State Archives: Record Group that she is unable to walk." 159 [Franklin County], Sub-group 2 [Inferior Court] Series 6. Franklin County Deed Book M, pp. 176-7, sale to James 39 [Ordinary Court Minutes] and Series 1 [Loose Estate Hooper of Franklin County, 15 April 1798. Book N, pp. Papers]. Will presented 3 Aug 1804 (Minutes, vol. 5, p. 39, 126-7, sale by James and Elizabeth Hooper of Franklin, Book R). Will of Obadiah Hooper made 16 July 1800. The 11 September 1799. will mentions children Mary White, John, William, and 7. Acker, Martha Walters, 1989, Franklin County, Georgia Obadiah Hooper, Nancy Goodlet, Milla Munroe, Court of Ordinary Records 1787-1849: the author [2504 Susannah Perry, and Mathew Hooper. Two sons, James Watkins Circle] Birmingham [AL 35223], pp. 143-144, and John Hooper, were named as executors. Witnesses James Miller estate records. to the will were David Humphreys, William King, and Jos. 8. Acker, Martha Walters, 1976, Deeds of Franklin County, Humphreys. (Minutes, vol. 5, pp. 41-2, Book R). Original Georgia 1784-1826: the author, Birmingham [AL]. p. 242, will filed in loose papers, Box 05-113. A deed dated 1 292. [Deed book TT, pp. 81-82]. A deed dated 21 Feb March 1802 [Franklin County Deed Book O, p. 22] shows 1810 from Richard Hooper to John A. Miller, Sr. sold 5 that William King was next door neighbor to executor acres in Franklin County, adjacent land where said John Hooper. Hooper lives. Since John A. Miller was the father-in-law 2. Holcomb, Brent H., 1983, Marriage And Death Notices of Adenia (Mason) Miller, this transfer seems likely to be From The Up-Country Of South Carolina [As Taken From one involving Richard Brooks Hooper rather than one by Greenville Newspapers 1826-1863]: South Carolina a similarly named nephew. Another deed [Book RRR, Magazine of Ancestral Research [P. O. Box 21766], pp. 30-31] involved a sale by Zachariah White to John Columbia [SC], p. 118. Obituary from Greenville Adam Miller regarding land adjacent Richard Hooper, Mountaineer dated 31 March1843. and was dated 5 Sept 1808, but there is no proof 3. Completion of the first federal census had been slow in Hooper lived on that land in 1808.And a much earlier northwestern South Carolina. Dates of the enumerator's deed, apparently involving the same area, transferred certifications were 10 April 1791, 17 May 1791, and 15 land from Obadiah Hooper to Richard Hooper "of April 1791, respectively, for Greenville County, Pendleton Franklin" on 3 Nov 1800. District, and Spartanburg County. 9. The Georgia Constitution was adopted in 1787. Oba 4. See the discussion of Old Style/New Style dates on diah Hooper instead served from Franklin County in a page 60 of the previous issue. The fact that the old style constitutional convention to amend the constitution. date was recorded in Hooper's Bible suggests he had See May 1795 issues of Augusta Chronicle. copied the date from an older family record, perhaps 10. Elizabeth Carter Hooper was Obadiah's earlier wife. one made by Obadiah Hooper, Sr. and written near the Obadiah and wife Betsey sold land again on 28 July time of James Hooper's birth. In pension testimony, 1803, but on 2 September 1804, Obadiah sold land James Hooper in October 1832 stated he would be 86 without any provision for a wife's dower rights. These "the fifth of November next." A certified copy of the dates probably frame the limits between which she record, as well as the actual pages torn from the Bible, died. According to Obadiah's widow Sarah, she married are in the federal pension files because of the widow's him in Franklin County on 24 March 1805. later difficulty in proving the fact of her marriage. 11. Acker, 1976, pp. 13, 121, 186, 263, 279. Deeds cited 5. Pension documents reveal much about the spouse of appear in Franklin Deed Books C, pp. 95b-96; M, pp. 48- James Hooper. 49; P, pp3-4; T, pp. 31-32 and 170-171. The family Bible record sent as proof of the marriage 12. Until the Beaufort Convention of 28 April 1787, South also shows that "Elizabeth Hooper" was born 1 Jan 1753. Carolina and Georgia disputed which branch of the The pension office had written in 1840 to the Lunenburg Savannah River divided their respective territories. County, Virginia courthouse to try to confirm the fact of Thereafter, the most northern branch of the Tugaloo the marriage. The man who responded from the Clerk's River became the boundary, until that River joined the office was William H. Taylor. He stated that no bond was Keowee to form the Savannah River. Georgia governors found, but that he presumed the couple "married by already had signed nearly 50 known land grants for the Publication of ban[n]s as was often done about that region between the Tugaloo and Keowee. When time. That they were married I have no doubt, I knew Pendleton County was formed, its western half included Hooper, and always understood he married Elizabeth the former Georgia lands. A tiny part of northwestern Chambers." Anderson County and most of present Oconee A statement by her son James – when he was trying to Counties of South Carolina extend across this area that obtain the final pension payment owed to his mother – briefly was governed by Franklin County, Georgia gives her death date as 25 Apr 1840. A letter written 4 officials.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 99 Selected "Proprietors" from the 1783 Tax list, John P. Smith District, Halifax County, Virginia Slaves Slaves Taxpayer Polls Horses Cattle Names of free white polls, or of slaves over 16 under 16 John Pinson 1 1 4 2 10 Man, Will, Phill, David, Jack Reuben Jones 1 1 0 2 6 Dinah William Arrington 2 0 0 2 8 James Carland John Arrington 0 0 0 3 5 Ambrose 1 0 0 2 14 Griggory John Sizemore 1 0 0 2 11 John Griffin, Sr. 1 0 1 5 19 Phoebe Smith Griggory 1 0 0 1 2 Susannah Griffin 3 0 0 6 12 Jno. Griffin, Jr., Elijah Griffin, Elish Griffin William Wright 1 0 0 2 6 John Green 1 0 0 4 0 John Wall 1 0 0 1 6 Obadiah Overby 1 1 3 3 14 Bett, Ned, Rachael, Jacob Robert Jones 1 3 9 2 19 Charles White, Sam, Betty, Sarah, Will, Joseph, Moses, Nann, Sam, Fanny, Charity, Harry, Isaac Richard Greggory 1 0 0 4 12 Obadiah Hooper 1 0 1 2 8 Phillis John Liggon 1 1 0 3 8 Rachael Note: Tax list adapted from transcription in T.L.C. Genealogy, 1998, Halifax County, Virginia, Personal Property Tax Lists, 1782-1791: T.L.C. Genealogy, Miami Beach [FL], pages 56-7.
Virginia Deeds August 15, 1782 from John Garland, to James Hooper, for 12,000 lbs of inspected crop tobacco,…land in Halifax on Hico, known by the name of Buck Shoal Survey,…part of the land the said Garland purchased of Colo. Robt. Wooding, containing about 397 acres. Signed John Garland. Witnesses John Coleman, W. Wright, Wm. Thompson, Joseph Ligon. Deed Book 12, page 231. March 8 1784 from James Hooper of the County of Lunenburg, to Reuben Jones of Halifax, for 40£, about 200 acres in Halifax … south side of Hico … waters of Pinsons Shole bounded by Byrd's old order line. Signed James Hooper. Witnesses: Obadiah Hooper, Ambrose Gregory, Obadiah Overby. Deed Book 13, page 109. March 9 1784. from James Hooper of Lunenburg County to Ambrose Griggry of Halifax, for 40£, about 187 acres, … remaining part of the tract of land that Reubin Jones now lives on, known by the name of Buck Shole Tract, lying in Halifax on both sides of Buckshole, bounded by Burd's old order line. Signed James Hooper. Witnesses Obediah Overby, Martha + Overby, John x Wall. Deed Book 13, page 19. October 25, 1790 from James Hooper of Lunenburg County, to John Griffin Jr of Halifax, for 30£, about 300 acres in Halifax on the drafts of Pinsons Sholes & Stokes Creek, bounded by Byrd's line. Signed James Hooper. Witness William Yancey, Walker Fitts, Joseph Holt. Deed Book 15, page 137. February 25, 1794 from John Wimbish, D. Sheriff…to Daniel Goode of Halifax…in consideration of 3£/1 paid to sd. Wimbish, Wimbish grants to Goode, 45 acres in Halifax and sold from off the land of James Hooper for the non payment of the taxes due thereon from the year 1789. Signed J. Wimbish, DS. Deeds 1793-1796, Page 133. March 3, 1783 from Daniel Deens of Halifax to John Sizemore of Halifax, for 80£, about 9000 acres in Halifax, being all of the rest of that tract of land belonging to said Deens, which was granted by deed to him by William Byrd, and known by the name of the Habetate Tract, viz., all that was not sold to other persons before March 19, 1782. Signed Daniel Q Deen. Witnesses Obadiah Hooper, John +++ Green, Lues V Green. Deed Book 12, page 344. October 2 1787 from Obadiah Hooper of Granville County SC to Reuben Jones of Halifax, for 2500 pounds of tobacco, about 50 acres on the east side of Pinsons branch, bounded by Reuben Jones' low corner. Signed Ob Hooper. Witnesses Edmd Wade, David x Parish, John x Griffin, Richd Arrington. Deed Book 14, page 206.
Note: Deed transcriptions adapted from abstracts in T.L.C. Genealogy, 1989, Halifax County, Virginia Deeds: Miami, FL , volumes 4-71.
100 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Battle of Stono Although Richard B. Hooper failed to Carolina Continental Line during the war of the indicate whether he actually participated in Revolution, … well acquainted with the the Battle of Stono on 20 June 1779, no aforesaid Charles Stevens, who was a Sergeant doubt he was among the forces in that in Captain Letelys[?] Company of the Regiment called the Rangers, and that said Charles area. General Lincoln led patriot forces Stevens was afterwards taken out of said of about a thousand men against about half as many Company and placed under Captain Dogood British. Lincoln's men suffered about 50 deaths and who selected a Company of men out of the 100 casualties. Did Sergeant Hooper of Virginia ever Lines, and made a new Company of Infantry. talk with private Hooper of the Carolinas? This took place but a few days before the Battle Historian Edward McCrady described the of Stono in which Battle this said Charles Stevens engagement as "one of the hardest-fought battles of was wounded while bringing up his platoon before the British, deponent was in the next rank the war." The fight at Stono Ferry was clearly and saw said Stevens fall, who was after the imbedded in the memory of young Absalom Battle carried to the Hospital and in a short time Hooper (b. ca 1763-6; d. 1845). Private Hooper he was again on duty where he remained until served in the Sixth Regiment, South Carolina the Siege of Charleston at which time they were Continental Line under Captain Richard Doggett. all taken prisoners by the British where they The Captain was an experienced soldier, a Virginian remained for some few months together till deponent ran away and left the enemy. who had come to South Carolina in 1775 to enlist as a private. Through meritorious service, Doggett was Another casualty that resulted from the fierce Stono promoted to sergeant later that year. In December battle was Hugh Jackson, about 15, who died from 1777, Doggett received his commission as captain of heat stroke. Jackson served in the militia and came the Sixth Regiment. As was the expected custom, he from Waxhaw Creek, a branch of the Catawba River, promptly began recruiting additional soldiers for the near the border of the two Carolinas. The widow unit. One of these men was his younger brother, Elizabeth Jackson, mother of Hugh, died in 1781 who arrived in 1778. Joel Doggett later became while tending the sick in the British prison ships lieutenant of Hooper's company. Relatives of the after the Fall of Charleston. The only member of Doggett brothers lived in Tryon County. [See Tryon this family to survive after the war was Andrew Connections on page 109.] Perhaps Captain Jackson, future President of the United States. Doggett had recruited Hooper there, since Absalom The Absalom Hooper remembrance of Stono is testimony in the rejected pension application of his neighbor Hooper was born in an area under jurisdiction of Barbara Stevens [Mrs. Charles Stevens). Tryon County. The Doggett career information from website accessed Imagine, then, private Hooper's horror when a on 12/30/99 at musket ball wounded his Captain. Richard Doggett
Clemmons S. Hooper and Samuel Queen, Both Georgia Soldiers ... But When?
Samuel Queen came from a Patriot family. His older Wilkes County and received a soldier's bounty grant. brother Thomas enlisted in North Carolina and later (2) Soldier William briefly obtained a federal pension received a pension.(1) Another older brother, for his service. The father, William Queen, Senior, William L. Queen, served in the Georgia forces from had been outspoken in his Patriot opinions.(3)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 101 So why was Samuel Queen's pension application service and can state some facts which furnish denied? Two factors played a part. His initial testimony collateral evidence of my service and is pre inadequately named his regiment and his officers and sented to the court for examination and my brother William L. Queen can testify as to my ser exact dates of service. More important was the vices in part. Since the revolutionary war I have question of how long he served - was the duration(4) lived in Rutherford, Burke, Buncombe, and Hay long enough to qualify under the Act of 1832? wood counties. I now reside in Macon County, William L. Queen's declaration gave more specific North Carolina. information than had his younger brother's first ap Absalom Hooper had served in the South Carolina plication. William was a resident of Wilkes County, line; after the Fall of Charleston in 1780, he escaped Georgia in 1777. He served under officers Captain to Georgia where he also served under Colonel Eli James Buoy, John Stewart, Jr., John Dooley [Dooly], jah Clark.(5) These old men probably had shared George Duly [Dooly], James McFarland, and Antho campfires during their militia service, and must have ny Walton Hughes. His regiments were the 1st Geor recounted their adventures whenever the younger gia Regiment and those of Cols. Stewart and Elijah generation would listen. On 10 Oct 1832, Hooper Clark. He served in the two battles at Augusta and appeared before the Macon County Superior Court had been wounded at the first battle. In 1778, he had in behalf of his friend, declaring a belief that Samuel been a prisoner of Tories, held about five days. In Queen had been a soldier of the revolution. 1778 or 1779, he had been captured and held at He is confirmed in this belief the more from the Ninety-Six District for 72 days. The service finally fact that the manner of the death of this depon ent's messmate is accurately detailed by said ended in 1782. Samuel Queen. Samuel Queen in 1820, 1830 and 1840 lived near Even with the affidavit of service and confirming Absalom Hooper and the younger Hooper sons in statements of other soldiers, the War Department Haywood [now Jackson] County, North Carolina. In denied Queen's claim. The problem began in his de 1810, Samuel Queen Samuel Queen's file contains scription of his militia service that he "continued 3 had been listed in testimony by Absalom Hooper, years whenever called upon." Correspondence dated Buncombe County. He Enos Hooper, Milton Brown, 27 August 1834 from the Commissioner of Pensions had lived in Rutherford and Clemmons Hooper. to the Queen attorney shows the problem was in the County, North Carolina length of service claimed: "The applicant appears not in 1800. During the Revolution, he lived with his to have distinguished between the liability to serve and father William Queen in Wilkes County, Georgia. the service itself." Later testimony by the widow and a son show that Queen amended his declaration twice in 1834. Still, Samuel Queen had married Dicey Rolls in 1782 in he mostly failed to identify specific dates, saying he Rutherford County. But Samuel Queen is on neither "served not less than the period mentioned." In the 1782 nor the 1790 Rutherford tax and census lists. April, he described three months service in 1778 When Samuel Queen came before the court in under Colonel Clarke and Captain George Dooly. He October 1832, he made the following declaration: said that in 1780, while living in Wilkes County, he I was born in the state of NC 1759. Served under volunteered for two months and was at the Siege of Colonel Ely Clarke probably in 1775 and contin Savannah under Captain George Dooly, Colonel John ued 3 years whenever called upon. Served un Dooly, and General Lincoln. Then he served another der Colonel John Dooly and Major Smith and term under Captain George Dooly and Colonel Captain George Dooly at the Siege of Savannah 6 weeks. Resided in Wilkes County in the state of Clark until the close of war guarding the ferries, Georgia when I entered this service. At battle of keeping watch in town, and marching about after the Savannah I marched from Wilkes County Georgia Tories, Indians, and British army. to Savannah. I recollect General Lincoln of the In July 1834, Queen mentioned being a ranger under regular army. I was in another term under Col. Colonel Elijah Clarke. He said he marched to the Williamson and Captain Dooly on the Oconey Ogechee River and was garrisoned at Powal’s fort. River as a substitute for Timothy Queen. I also He also marched to Harlands Ferry and was garri guarded the place called Harbes ferry on Savan nah River under Captain Dooly. I served a great soned there 1779. Early in the the fall of 1779, he many little terms which from my extensive youth served under Captain George Dooly, Colonel John and want of learning I am totally unable to spe Dooly, and Major Smith and marched to Augusta cify the particular conditions under which I where they were commanded by Generals Lincoln served but I am confident that my constant and Williamson. service could not have amounted to less than A very dim document in the pension file was dated one year. Absolem Hooper was in the same 13 August 1829 and was attested by both Samuel
102 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Queen and William Queen. Before two Haywood Georgia who being by me cautioned and then County Justices of the Peace, the brothers swore that sworn in the form of the law deposith and saith they were enlisted in the State of Georgia as Ran each for himself that he was well acquainted gers in the Revolutionary War and that they sev with Samuel Queen and that he always heard it erally served three years and in the said enlistment said that he was a Revolutionary Soldier and that that they enlisted under Captain James Buoy & the community generally considered said Samuel afterward were transferred to Captain Geo. Dula's Queen to be a Soldier of the Revolution and that [Dooly's] Company & served under Col. Clark ... the said Lewis Queen named in the foregoing Although the government thought the Queens had declaration was always by him treated as and by the witnesses believed to be the son and heir of not served long enough to qualify for a full pension, the Said Revolutionary Soldier. there can be little question that these men did serve No evidence in the pension file suggests that Lewis in the militia during the American Revolution. Sam Queen was any more successful than were either of uel Queen had two credible witnesses who them his parents. selves received pensions. He claimed participation in Clemmons Hooper supplied problematic testi battles that occurred during the Revolution. He gave mony Two affidavits included in the pension file several officers known for their Patriot services. make it appear that in 1839 and 1840, while Samuel For example, in July 1780 the Royal Assembly (tem Queen still resided in North Carolina, Queen made porarily in power after the Fall of Charleston) pub one final attempt to prove his service. The tone of the lished an act banning certain patriots from holding testimony suggests that the old soldier – and those who any office in the King's government. "John Dooly, helped him – still could not comprehend that the prob rebel colonel," and "Andrew Williamson, rebel Gen lem was with duration of service rather than establishing eral" were among 151 citizens of Georgia named in the fact of service. Although Absalom Hooper was yet the list.(6) George Dooly, in 1783, applied for alive, he might not have been competent to testify.(10) Georgia bounty lands based on his service.(7) One can imagine the attorneys saying, "Well, old The rejection of Samuel Queen's claim, then, was for Hooper's brother Clemmons also lived in Georgia, insufficient proof of duration of service. He had been and is an old man – why couldn't he testify about a Patriot militiaman in the Revolution. Samuel Queen Queen's service?" So we picture Clemmons Hooper died in 1842, never having gotten the pension. going to court to talk about military service: After several years, his widow Dicey decided to try State of North Carolina, Haywood County} This again, this time to obtain a widow's pension. She had day Clemons Hooper of said county personally moved to Union County, Georgia to live with her appeared before John L. Dillard & Joseph Keener son Lewis. Because of "bodily infirmity," she was Two of the Justices assigned to keep the peace, in aforesaid county and after having been sworn unable to go to the regular meeting of the court, so according to Law saith That, during the time of her statements were given before a Justice of the the Georgia Rangers he said Hooper served Peace. Then she, too, died.(8) under Col. Larkin Cleaveland & Capt. Watts, & Samuel and Dicey's son Lewis just could not believe further saith that during that time Samuel Queen the government would deny that his father had been Bore Arms & Served under Col. Clarke in the State a soldier. He waited almost four years, then he began of Georgia as a volunteer Ranger and the said Hooper further swears that the aforesaid Samuel trying to reopen the case. He appeared on 23 Octo Queen is now living in the county of Haywood & is ber 1853 before the Union County court, identifying the identical same man which deponent seen himself as son and heir of Samuel Queen. He ex bearing arms under Col. Clark as a volunteer plained that Samuel Queen had been a private in a Ranger. company commanded by Captain George Dooley. Sworn to and subscribed this 2nd day of April 1839 He produced the family Bible, which showed that his Clemens Hooper parents were married on 8 Sept 1782.(9) He said his State of North Carolina Haywood County} This day parents had lived in Rutherford County, North Cleman S. Hooper came before me Joseph Carolina and that they resided there twenty years. Keener a justice ordained to keep the peace for said county & having been first duly sworn Then he called in some old family friends who had deposeth & saith that Samuel Queen of Said known his parents before the family moved to Union County now about Seventy 9 years of age was a County. Enos Hooper was a younger son of the Soldier in the old Revolutionary war under Colonel soldier Absalom Hooper; Milton Brown was Enos's John Clark of Georgia Bearing Arms under this Said brother-in-law: Col. John Clark a Georgia ranger this deponent At the same time and place personally appeared does not know what Captain Samuel Queen before me Enos Hooper and Milton Brown, res served under though this Samuel Queen is the idents of the County of Union and State of Identical man who served under the said Clarke.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 103 The above affidavit was sworn to & subscribed father General Elijah Clark reported that John Clark before me the Sixth day of March 1840. had distinguished himself against a large party of Clemens S. Hooper Indians in the Battle of Jack's Creek in 1787. At that We hereby certify that Clemen Hooper who assign time, the senior Clark identified his son as Major the above affidavit is a man of good Morral Clarke.(13) Only in the 1790s did John Clark attain Character & is Entitled to that Character from the rank of Colonel of the militia. He later rose to Long Standing in Society he is now about Seventy 5 years of age March 6th 1840. ... become a general before 1800. These affidavits, on the surface, seem to show Clem Clemmons identifies his own officer in the Rangers mons Hooper served in the Georgia militia during the as Col. Larkin Cleveland. Larkin Cleveland served in Revolution. The difficulty is with the significant the American Revolution, but not for Georgia. Lar inconsistencies with statements of other witnesses kin Cleveland was a Captain in Wilkes County, North and with other available evidence. Carolina in 1780. Both Larkin, and his brother Col onel Benjamin Cleveland, were at the Battle of King's The first question arises from the age given for the Mountain (October 1780). Cleveland did come to deponent. The judicial officials – not Clemmons Georgia - he had a headright granted by Georgia (later Hooper himself – said they thought Clemmons was adjudicated to be in western South Carolina) in 1785. about 75 years old in March 1840, suggesting he was By 1787, Cleveland was Clerk of Franklin County. born about 1765. Other records suggest Clemmons was younger by at least five years. Yet Larkin Cleveland did obtain the rank of Colonel in the Georgia militia - after the Revolution while Clemmons appears on four census records where Indian raids remained frequent. Georgia Executive age is indicated. In 1800, he was 16-26 (born 1774- Minutes for February 12, 1791, show that Franklin 84). In 1830, he was 50-60 (born 1770-80). In 1840, County's military organization then was headed by he was 60-70 (born 1770-80). In 1850, his age was 80 Larkin Cleveland, Esquire, Colonel. (b. 1770).(11) Clemmons Hooper also testified to help his sister-in-law Sarah (Salers) Hooper prove the All through the 1780s and 1790s, skirmishes with date of her marriage (for her widow's pension appli nearby Indians frightened settlers at Georgia's fron cation). In December 1852, Clemmons said he was tiers. Mandatory service in militia forces sometimes aged about 82 (born 1770).(12) gave the necessary protection. Still, numerous issues of the Augusta Chronicle in 1793 included broad Then, when describing his own Georgia Ranger ser sides calling for enlistments in more permanent vice as being at the same time as that of Queen, Clem forces. Col. Cleveland placed several advertisements. mons identified Queen's commander as Colonel He offered bounties for those who would join his Clark(e), but omitted the given name. In the later state regiment for reprisals against the Creek Indians. ment, Clemmons identified Queen as a Revolutionary soldier, said Queen served under Colonel John Clark, An official notice published by the Legislature in and implied Clark was a Georgia Ranger. The second 1793 shows that Col. John Clarke was empowered by statement, though, lacks reference to Queen's having the Legislature to raise up to five or six hundred served at the same time as had Clemmons in the men. Earlier, the Executive minutes had decreed the Georgia Rangers. When taken together as part of the creation on 25 June 1792 of a new Wilkes County Queen application, the statements appear to say that battalion commanded by Colonel John Clark, Lt. the Ranger service discussed by Clemmons Hooper Col. John Stewart, and Major Buckner Harris. was in the Revolutionary Period. Did Clemmons lie about Revolutionary service, But the wrong officer's names were cited for the ser having actually served post-Revolution? He never vice to have occurred during the Revolution. John applied for a pension for Revolutionary service. So is Clark was the son of Absalom Hooper's officer, Col there some other interpretation? Upon reflection, I onel Elijah Clark. The son, John, was only about four now think the two statements about Ranger service teen at the beginning of the Revolution. Due to his must be regarded separately from each other and father's influence, John Clark was first commissioned apart from the Queen pension application. Also, the as a lieutenant, and then as a captain in the Georgia lack of punctuation in the manuscripts may have dis militia. He served with his father at the Siege of Augus guised their intended meaning. ta. But he never rose to the rank of colonel during the The documents themselves lack any indication that Revolution. When he applied for bounty land, John the testimony by Clemmons Hooper was offered in Clark claimed Revolutionary service as a captain. support of the pension claim. Another explanation John Clark continued to serve in the local militia, for the existence of the documents might be that fighting in the local skirmishes with Indians. His Samuel Queen, anticipating a move to back to
104 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Georgia with his son Lewis, wanted to create document the "Good Citizen Petition," since it character references to ease his transition into Union describes Hooper as a man of good character and County social circles. The Clemmons Hooper testi was signed by several Haywood County citizens in mony might have been so intended. Before the days 1828. The endorsement added by John Fergus and of birth certificates and driver's licenses, travelers his stepson Holloman Battle is especially pertinent in and immigrants often carried with them certified showing that old soldiers often mentally connected testimonials and letters of introduction. Revolutionary service with later militia service: Perhaps what happened was that the loose papers We the subscribers were acquainted with Absa were found by Lewis Queen after his father's death. lom Hooper (whilst he lived in the State of Geor The younger man (born 1805), less familiar with the gia) from the close of the Revolution for a long conditions in post-Revolutionary Georgia, may have series of years and can testify that while he lived in that State he supported the character men mistakenly thought the statements lent even more tioned within; and in the time of the Indian war credence to his father's claims of Revolutionary which immediately followed the revolution in that service. Therefore, the papers could have arrived at state was a good soldier and was much the Pension Office many years after the original pur respected by the officers under whom he served. pose had been forgotten. This we certify from our own personal knowledge. Clemmons Hooper may have seen frequent duty in John Fergus J.P. the post-Revolutionary militias of Georgia. In 1800, and was such in the State of Georgia at the time when Mr. Hooper resided there. H. Battle (14) he had four children born 1790-1800, but none Finally, a near relative of Absalom and Clemmons older. This clue suggests he was unmarried through served in Georgia's Indian Wars.(15) In 1793, the the 1780s and the early 1790s. As a young single national government briefly federalized some state man, he would have been expected to render militia militia groups for service against Indians. Muster service whenever threats appeared. So, he easily Rolls for those militia groups therefore were turned could have served under Col. Larkin Cleveland over to the War Department and now are housed at during the Indian Wars that followed the British the National Archives. Within the index to compiled departure from Savannah and Charleston. Oral service records for 1784 to 1811 is a card for tradition about Clemmons Hooper is that he loved Andrew Hooper the outdoors so much that he was called “Boonie” 2nd Reg't, 1st Brigade, 3rd Div. Georgia Militia. after explorer Daniel Boone. Such a man would have The heading for this service record reads: been an excellent scout for Cleveland's regiment. Lt. Ebednego Moore, John Holmes, Captain. Perhaps the 1839 statement by Clemmons Hooper Muster Roll of Detachment of Militia of the First Bat merely indicated that Hooper had known Queen as a talion, Second Regiment, and First Brigade of the militia man in Georgia, and that the man known in third division, Commanded by Lt. Ebednego Moore Haywood as Samuel Queen was the identical indi to the Service of the United States from the 22nd vidual. To lend credence to his testimony, Clemmons day of May to the 30th day of June, Inclusively. added that he, himself, was a militia man of Georgia. The 1793 Wilkes County tax list for Captain John Holms' Company, Colonel John Clark's Battalion in In 1840, Clemmons again may have been giving a cludes Abednego More, so there is no doubt that the character reference in saying that Queen had been a men in Andrew Hooper's company came from ranger in the Revolution. Then he mentioned Col. Wilkes. The primary watercourse of this district was Clark, thinking of the Colonel under whom he Dry Fork Creek, which is the present boundary himself had served in the Indian Wars. This time, between Wilkes and Oglethorpe Counties. Andrew Hooper made no mention of his own militia duty; Hooper never appears in the Wilkes tax records. No instead, he probably was speaking as an old man one with the Hooper surname appears as a taxpayer in who could identify another old man. Holmes's district in the 1790s. However , descendants A similar character reference was carried by Absalom of Clemmons Hooper may find it significant that Hooper when he traveled to South Carolina to con John Clemments, Isham Clemment, and Martha duct important business. Many researchers term the Clemment all were listed in that tax district in 1793.
Notes: 1. Thomas Queen began receiving a pension on 2 June 2. On 27 April 1784, the new State of Georgia awarded 1833. On the Alabama list of federal pensioners in 1835, William L. Queen a soldier's bounty land grant of 287½ his age was 82. The 1840 census of pensioners showed acres. He left Georgia, however, and moved back to Thomas Queen lived in Morgan County, Alabama, and Rutherford County, North Carolina. Later he resided in gave his age as only 80 years. Burke County. Eventually, he moved to Macon County
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 105 where he applied for his pension. After two years, the Georgia. The rank probably represents his army rank. Commissioner of Pensions decided insufficient proof of Local militia ranks usually were higher than continental service was shown in the application and denied further line ranks. payments, pending receipt of additional affidavits. No 8. 13 Sept 1849 is the death date given in a family record such confirmations were forthcoming, probably that was transcribed and certified as part of Lewis because Queen died. Queen's application. 3. "For the Good of the American Cause Your Memorialists 9. Pension law in effect during Dicey's lifetime required therefore hope your Honorable Body will take the that pensionable widows had been married to their Premises into consideration and order as Soon as soldier husbands before 1 January 1794. Possible the removal of General McIntosh from among 10. See testimony about Absalom Hooper's mental status them as your Memorialists are thoroughly convinced it in Hooper Compass, p. 2. will highly discourage our Enemies in East Florida, and 11. 1800 Pendleton District, SC p. 7b, household 369 be a deadly stroke to torryism in this State than any Clemons Hooper 30100-10100. other can be and grant them such other relief as to 1830 Cocke County, TN p. 246, line 3: Clemman Hooper your Honorable Body may seem meet. Dated at Wilkes 00100001-0020001 County the fifth of August One thousand seven 1840 Haywood Co., NC p 111 Clemans Hooper hundred and seventy Seven." Signers included William 000000001-000011001 Queen, Sr. Petition in Continental Congress Papers, 1850 Haywood Co., NC p 186 (enumerated 9/16/1850) NARA M247, roll 87. #763-784 Clemmons Hooper 80 4. Two years required for full pension. Smaller pensions 12. Goodwin, ibid., page 73. were made for service of 6 to 24 months. 13. White, ibid., pp. 672-3. Letter headed "Long Creek, 5. See Goodwin, Anne C., 1999, Absalom Hooper Federal Sept 24, 1787" written by General Elijah Clarke to Pension File-Annotated Transcription: Logan [UT], A.C. Governor Matthews. Goodwin's Family Source Compass, 155 pages. Hooper 14. South Carolina Archives. Audited Account AA-3738-A, had much less difficulty establishing the fact and Folder 2, page 14 vv B. duration of his Continental Line service, since he Fergus himself had been a soldier, fighting for South already was a pensioner of South Carolina. When the Carolina. He had been at Ashe's Defeat at Briar Creek, Act of 1832 passed, he was required to apply for the Georgia (March 1779). In honor of his service, he was federal pension in lieu of the state pension. Although elected and served in January 1782 in the lower house Hooper alleged service from 1776 until 1783, the War of the South Carolina General Assembly from the New Department acknowledged only two years of service, Acquisition District. He next moved to Rutherford enough for the full pension. Existing payrolls show County, North Carolina in 1783 and 1784. There, he Hooper's enlistment date as February 1778; he escaped married the widow Ann Battle on 7 Jan 1783. In 1785, captivity in Charleston in the fall of 1780. His Georgia Fergus was listed in the same "Fork District" area [now militia service apparently was ignored by the War Madison County] as Absalom and Jesse Hooper. In Department because it was unnecessary to qualify 1786, John Fergus was the tax receiver for the adjacent Hooper for the full pension. district to the north, near the boundary with Franklin 6. White, George, 1854, Historical Collections of Georgia: County. An early map [probably created about 1815] New York, Pudney and Russell, pp. 98-105. shows Fergus Iron Works to have been in that district. 7. Ibid., pp. 111, 113. The land was a bounty "due them 15. An Andrew Hooper, probably born between 1760 and respectively for their services during the last war with 1770, lived near Absalom and Clemmons Hooper in Great Britain, in what was called the Georgia 1800 in South Carolina and near Clemmons Hooper in Continental Establishment." George Dooly applied as a 1830 Cocke County, Tennessee. In 1798, Absalom and second lieutenant. He also was included, as a Andrew Hooper jointly received a South Carolina land lieutenant, in a list of officers of the Continental Line of grant.
Broad River Thomas Hooper (Part 1)
The first record left by a Hooper in upper Georgia is a signature in a 1774 petition. Initially, the petition seems to be a Tory document of support for the British Crown. However, in no way did these colonists acquiesce to the "Intolerable Acts" used against the Port of Boston. Instead, like many later patriots, they felt their King had been misled by his Parliament. Unlike the more radical Sons of Liberty, they were not yet ready to partake in extralegal efforts to separate from the King. Creek Indians had attacked as recently as the previous winter. The local militias and Governor Wright's Georgia Ranger police force had been unable to reassure the settlers. Instead of despising the Redcoats, the frontier settlers wanted British Regulars to help protect them The Georgia Gazette in July 1774 published a notice that The critical situation to which the British Colonies in called for “all persons within the limits of this Province” America are likely to be reduced, from the ar to attend a meeting at Savannah a week later. The reas bitrary and alarming imposition of the late acts of on for the meeting was given in the preamble: the British Parliament respecting the town of Boston, as well as ... the raising of ...revenue
106 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 without the consent of the people or their rep that the Savannah resolutions were meant to render resentatives, … calculated to deprive the Amer ineffectual British Parliamentary acts that were ican subjects of their constitutional rights and liber intended to reduce the people of Boston to a ties, as a part of the British Empire. sense of their duty. Some citizens did meet at Savannah, but immediately But the St. Paul's document also made clear that they recognized that the remote parishes were unrepresented. would not accept the sanctions imposed on Boston... Merchants in Savannah feared the extension of the as the inhabitants of this Province have had no Boston reprisals. But they also knew their resistance hand in destroying any teas, the property of the needed at least the appearance of support from large East India Company, and therefore, are not involved in the same guilt as those of Boston, they numbers of the colonists. Thus, the first meeting ad can have no business to make themselves journed after resolving to postpone their meeting until partakers of the ill consequences resulting from further representatives could be chosen and sent in a such a conduct. fortnight. The second meeting occurred in August, Then, they noted that the lawful assemblies of the with results in the Gazette: province had asked Resolutions entered into at Savannah, in Georgia, on for assistance in case of an Indian war; and Wednesday, the 10th of August, 1774, at a General should we enter into any such resolutions, we Meeting of the inhabitants of the Province assembled could not in justice expect any such assistance. to consider the State of the Colonies in America. So here is the real cause of opposition to the resolves: Resolved …That his Majesty's subjects in American Because the persons who are most active on this owe the same allegiance & are entitled to the occasion, are chiefly those whose property lies in same rights, privileges, & immunities with their or near Savannah, and, therefore, are not immedi fellow subjects in Great Britain … ately exposed to the bad effects of an Indian war; Resolved …his Majesty's subjects in America have whereas, the back settlements of this Province, a clear and indisputable right …to petition the and our parish in particular, would most certainly Throne upon every emergency. be laid waste and depopulated, unless we receive Resolved …That an Act of Parliament lately passed, such powerful aid and assistance as none but for blockading the port & harbour of Boston, is Great Britain can give. For these ... reasons, we contrary to our idea of the British Constitution … declare our dissent to all resolutions by which his [and after addressing several other complaints] Majesty's favour and protection might be forfeited. Resolved …That we concur with our sister colonies in Thus, before the liberty meeting, residents of the every constitutional measure to obtain redress of northernmost parish protested against the actions in American grievances, & will by every lawful means Savannah. Among the signatures to this petition were in our power, maintain those blessings for which we men who later had a mixed collection of sentiments: are indebted to God & the Constitution of our John Dooly (Colonel under whom Absalom Hooper country … and Jesse Hooper later served), Resolved …That the Committee appointed by the Zachariah and Basil Lamar (from a staunchly patriot meeting of the inhabitants of this Province, on Wed family of Wilkes County), nesday, the 27th of July last, together with the dep Colonel James Grierson (of the Georgia Rangers and uties who have appeared here on this day from the later a hated Tory leader killed at Augusta), different parishes be a General Committee to act… Captain Edward Barnard (of the Georgia Rangers, he full power to correspond with the…Committees of died in 1775 at Fort Dartmouth), and Correspondence in the respective Provinces. William Goodgeon (militia captain who had recently Despite the wording, the meeting had involved neither suffered in fights with Indians). all the inhabitants – not even all the inhabitants of The representative of the St. Paul citizens did travel to Savannah – nor the representatives sent by outlying Savannah, but that delegate “thought it improper to parishes. Governor Sir James Wright promptly issued a deliver said protest to a few people met privately at a proclamation that the meeting had been illegal, since tavern.” Fewer than thirty people attended the August all assembling and meetings of the people which 10 meeting. Two petitions circulated after the event. may tend to raise fears and jealousies in the minds One petition, from the town and district of Augusta, of his Majesty's subjects…are unconstitutional, addressed the three duly elected Members of the As illegal, and punishable by law. sembly for the Parish of St. Paul's. This instrument As a result, many petitions circulated to refute the announced the protest and entire dissent from the pro General Committee's status. ceedings. Signers included Edward Barnard, William Three similar petitions expressed the views of citizens Goodgeon, James Grierson, Francis Begbee (Sergeant of St. Paul's, the northernmost parish of Georgia. The of the Georgia Rangers), John Lamar, and John Dooly. first appeal, dated 5 August 1774, expressed what the settlers wanted their representative to convey to the The other petition, dated 24 August 1774, was pre proposed meeting in Savannah. The wording clarified pared by the settlers at the most remote reaches:
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 107 Georgia, Parish of St. Paul Thirdly, Because we from the beginning entirely We, the inhabitants of Kyokee and Broad River disapproved of the said meeting, and in con settlements, do in this publick manner think proper sequence of our disapprobation, we sent to Sa to declare our dissent and disapprobation to a vannah a protest and reasons at large, which certain paper or handbill, published and dispersed would have been presented at said meeting, on throughout the Province, entitled and called Wednesday, the 10th inst., had not a number of Resolutions entered into at Savannah, on Gentlemen of honour and probity in Savannah Wednesday, the 10th day of August, 1774, at a been refused admittance; and it is denied by a General Meeting (as therein set forth) of the number that there were any deputies from the Par inhabitants of this Province, to consider of the State ish of Christ Church legally appointed. of the Colonies in America. Fourthly, Because we had no voice in said meeting, For the following reasons, viz., and because we think that the said paper carries First Because we look upon the said paper as a with it unnecessary and unjust reflections on the very improper treatment of the inhabitants of the honour and justice of King, Lords, and Commons. Province, and of this Parish in particular, for that we For these and other reasons, we do solemnly have been well informed that the said meeting protest against the proceedings had on the 10th was not a publick one, as before advertised, it ins., and do entirely dissent from them. being held at the house of Mr. Tondee, in [Signed by Thomas Hooper + 120 others.] Savannah, and that many respectible persons Who is this Thomas Hooper? An examination of the were refused admittance. other signers (see extract in St. Paul Signers) shows Secondly, That the meeting was by no means a many of them can be identified as among the very numerous one; for where a question of the most earliest settlers in the Ceded Lands. He seems almost serious concern was put, there were only twenty-six certain to be identical to the Thomas Hooper who persons that gave their voices. owned land on Pistol Creek. and later moved to Davidson County, Tennessee.
Sources: Davidson, Grace, 1932, Early Records of Georgia: Macon [GA] J.W. Burke. [Wilkes County Wills]. Davis, Robert S, 1979, Georgia Citizens and Soldiers of the American Revolution: Southern Historical Press, Easley [SC]. Davis, Robert S, 1981, "Lost Georgia Land Grants, 1775 and 1778," in Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly: Spring 1981, pp. 3-30. Hite, Alex M., 1956, "The Earliest Settlements in Wilkes County," in Georgia Historical Quarterly: Vol 40 [September 1956] pp. 260-280
St. Paul Signers Additional data about several who signed the 1774 Kyokee and Broad River Settlements Petition Name Records Sources Nathan Barnett Granted 200 acres in Fork District, 27 Jul 1784. Robertson Colonel of Georgia militia under whom Jesse and Absalom Hooper served. His 150 acre warrant for land Elijah Clark Hite along Red Lick Creek was dated 30 September 1773. John and Noah Cloud received pensions for service in South Carolina. John Cloud paid fees for headright Davis, 1979, p. 162 Noah Cloud grant on 17 April 1778, Noah Cloud paid fees on 3 June 1778. Davis, 1981
Will of Jacob Colson created 5 Nov 1777, probated 5 Feb 1778 “…trusty friends …John Coleman.” John Davidson, Folios Jacob Colson Coleman's will signed 22 Oct 1778. 500 acres on Savannah River, 200 acres adjacent to the widow 16, 58 Colson. (Both men were colonels of Jesse Hooper.) William Halliday William Holliday's pension application for service in Georgia was rejected. Davis, 1979, p. 215 John Hill From North Carolina. He warranted 150 acres -Broad River on 16 November 1773. Hite He had 500 acres on Falling Creek and 300 acres on Little River. He was a Tory whose land was sold by John Howard Hite the Commissioners of Confiscated Lands. Charles Hurd From South Carolina. Warrant, 200 acres on Falling Creek, issued 7 December 1773. Hite From South Carolina, warrant for 400 acres on Broad River granted 12 October 1773. As of 20 August 1777, Hite George Wells was colonel of the 4th Battalion of Militia, Wilkes County with Zachariah Lamar as Lt. Davis, 1979, p. 99 Zachariah LamarColonel, and Absolom Bedell as Major. On 8 July 1785, Ezekel Harling and Elizabeth Patterson, both of Wilkes Deed Book Granvil County, South Carolina sold Zachariah Lamar of Wilkes, 100 acres in Lamar's possession on A, p. 64 Savannah River and Pistol Creek, adjacent Gideon Chivers, east to Broad River. From South Carolina, warrant for 150 acres on Pistol Creek on 7 December 1773. His will, dated 26 Hite September 1777, was probated 1 November 1777. Witnesses were William Gent and wife. Alias (Alice) Davidson, folio 13 Alexander Mills Mills, executor. In October 1787, Churchell Hooper and Mary his wife sold to John Fullilove, all of Wilkes Deed Book Wilkes, for 100 £ on Pistol Creek, 200 acres adj. Alexr. Mills. DD, p. 115 Richard Woods From North Carolina. Warrant, 200 acres on Pistol Creek, issued 16 November 1773. Hite
108 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Tryon Connections The area of Tryon County inhabited by the Doggett rel Broad River in the area between Floyd's Creek and the atives (see Battle of Stono) is intensely interesting to re mouth of the Green River. searchers of Absalom Hooper and his younger brother The richest taxpayer listed by Captain Russell was a man Clemmons. According to testimony by Absalom, he “was who left before the 1790 census. In 1782, William Gilbert born and lived at the time of his en had owned 1880 acres, with 11 slaves, 5 listment on the Main Broad River horses, and 20 cattle. He was assessed for South [sic] Carolina near the mouth of 1125£. At first, Gilbert aided in the Patriot Green River.” The locale connected cause. In April and August 1778, he reported with siblings of his officers may, in to the Assembly as a Commissary of military fact, be where Absalom spent his supplies for Tryon County. He had been a boyhood. justice of the peace of Tryon County, but Among the younger children of resigned – under pressure – on 9 February Bushrod and Anne (Stipling) 1779. Then, on 27 June 1781, the Assembly Doggett of Virginia were Captain received reports of Gilbert's misconduct in Richard and Lieutenant Joel office. They resolved in November 1784 to Doggett. Their older sister Mary “Mollie” Doggett had strike William Gilbert from the list of Justices in Ruther married Joseph Suttle [or Settle] and moved to Tryon ford County. He was accused of being a Loyalist sym County. Her oldest son Bushrod Suttle was one of 85 pathizer since British troops had headquartered in his heads of household listed in the 1790 Rutherford home at Gilbert Town. By 1786, he had lost his land and County, North Carolina 10th Militia Company. This moved to Charleston. In 1789, when he petitioned the district encompassed the area between Floyd's Creek, the Legislature for recompense for “collecting prisoners for Main Broad River, the mouth of White Oak Creek, and General Morgan after King's Mountain,” the subcommit the mouth of Green River. tee rejected the claim “due to testimony presented to Another older sister, Sarah Ann Doggett, was the third them.” and last wife of Joel Blackwell. This Joel Blackwell had The same William Gilbert had hostile dealings with a gotten land patents near the Green River as early as 1767, Hooper family. The first action was brought in a criminal when the area had still been part of Mecklenburg County. case: In 1790, he too, with a household of 11, appeared in the Indictment. September 1784. That William Gilbert of 10th Company. Other 10th Company households in Rutherford County, esquire, on 10 July 1778 in Ruther cluded Isaac Suttle (perhaps a brother to Bushrod) and ford County, stole from Ennis Hooper one steer of red Nathan Bias (perhaps a son of William Byars). Mrs. color, value 6 pence, one steer of a red and white Sarah (Doggett) Blackwell's first husband William Byars color, value 2 pence, and one stear of a brindled color, value 2 pence. True bill. Pros.: Elizabeth had lived in Tryon in the early 1770s. A few other fam Hooper. ilies to note in 1790 are those of John Swan, John Mc Later, Elizabeth Hooper's case was called in the Ruther Keney/McKinny, William Robbins, and Thomas Camp. ford County common courts [April 1787]. The plaintiff All these 1790 heads of families had appeared on an (Hooper) failed to appear when called, so the case was earlier tax list, dated 1782, for Captain Russell's Company dropped. Her failure to prosecute cannot necessarily be of Rutherford County. taken to mean she had died or left the area. Gilbert was Sarah (Doggett) Byass, Joel Blackwell (soon to be hus gone, and there may have been no point in paying added band of Widow Byars), and his brother Isaiah Blackwell legal fees for a hopeless case. As Commissary, Gilbert (second husband of Molly Doggett Suttle) also appear probably had ordered that the Hooper cattle be among the 35 families listed on the 1782 list of Captain confiscated. In many areas, Loyalist officials confiscated Russell's district. Furthermore, the 1790 10th Company from Patriot families while Patriot officers confiscated included likely widows or sons from another six 1782 from Tory households. Since Gilbert's sentiments are households. Thus, Captain Russell's company of 1782 questionable, little inference is possible about which side apparently covered a similar area, one straddling the Enos and Elizabeth Hooper may have preferred. Edmondson, Eleanor Rogers, 1984, "Joel Blackwell Family 108" in Bynum, William B, editor, Heritage of Rutherford County, North Carolina: Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, Forest City [NC], vol. 1, pp. 107-108. Philbeck, Miles S., 1987, Tryon County, North Carolina Index To Land Surveys: Chapel Hill, self-published. Philbeck, Miles, "Morgan District Court Criminal Action Papers, 1783-1784", in Bulletin of the Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County: 15:2, p. 65. Newton, H. H., "Rutherford County North Carolina Abstracts Of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, in Bulletin of the Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County: 14:1, p. 7. The author has found no later record of either Enos or Elizabeth Hooper in this area. Other Hoopers (Thomas, of Granville County, South Carolina in 1767, and Andrew) appear in earlier land grants of Tryon. Records pertaining to these pre-Revolutionary Hooper families will appear in a later issue.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 109 Brown's Enmity Few men struck more fear in the hearts of Georgia patriot have his name taken from the association he had households than did Lt. Colonel Thomas Brown(e). He signed as aforesaid; and further that he would do all in had shortly arrived from England when he enunciated his power to discountenance the proceedings of a set his loyalty to King and Crown. Around Augusta, how of men in the Ninety-Sixth District in South Carolina, called Fletchall's party; upon which the said Browne ever, there was much movement towards independence. was then discharged, and complimented with a horse Brown considered such liberty men to be rabble-rousers. and chair to ride home. But this the said Thomas Others on the frontiers, supporting neither Tory nor Browne that time having publicly forfeited his honour, Whig positions, were terrified of Indian attacks. and violated the oath voluntarily taken as aforesaid is On Christmas 1773, a man named White had been killed therefore not to be considered for the future in the by Lower Creeks. Three weeks later, the Creeks attacked light of a gentleman, and they, the said Thomas Browne and William Thompson, are hereby published a community on the Ogechee, leaving only three of the as persons inimical to the rights and liberties of fourteen settlers alive and uninjured. Four months earlier, America; and it is hoped all good men will treat them Governor Wright had organized a police force - the accordingly. Georgia Rangers - to patrol the frontiers, but they and the The episode infuriated Brown. He became one of the local militia were ineffective in the early 1774 conflicts. most despised British Loyalists. He eventually fled to Residents of the Ceded Lands thus prayed the King would British East Florida, a colony still loyal to King George. send a garrison of British regulars to protect them. Governor Tonyn appointed Brown Lt. Colonel of the Thomas Brown played on those fears as he tried to pro East Florida Rangers. That guerilla band included mostly voke loyalty among his neighbors. Some were swayed to civilian settlers - some who had fled from Georgia and his thinking. As reported in the Georgia Gazette of 1774, South Carolina, others who had settled East Florida - the freedom men then took matters into their own hands: and often involved Creek and Seminole Indians. They hit This day a respectible body of the like lightening, then evaporated into Sons of Liberty marched from this William Hooper, the marshes where only the Indians place to New Richmond, in South knew the paths. The pillage by this Carolina, in order to pay a visit to Loyalist group of bandetti so offended the Thomas Browne and William Thomp The June 1779 Roster of Lt. Col. ethics of the Regular Army that they son, Esquires, two young gentlemen Thomas Brown's Company of King's were disbanded in 1779. Brown, re- lately from England, for their having Rangers includes the name of Private publicly and otherwise expressed formed the unit as the King's Georgia themselves enemies to the meas William Hooper. There is no indication Rangers, and marched to Augusta. By ures now adopted for the support of whether he was from Georgia, the then, Georgia's patriots hated him as of American liberty, and signing an Carolinas, or East Florida. When much as he loathed “the rebels.” Governor Tonyn removed his support, association to that effect; besides Brown's cohort at Augusta, Colonel their using their utmost endeavours the group reformed in Georgia. The to inflame the minds of the people next roster was made at Savannah on 29 Grierson, had been colonel of the and to persuade them to associate November 1779, but Hooper was no 1774 Georgia Rangers. Once a and be of their opinion. But upon longer listed. Whether he finished his protector from Indians, Grierson now their arrival they found the said term, was wounded or killed, deserted, sponsored Indian attacks on frontier Thompson, like a traitor, had run or was captured is unknown. homesteads. After retaking Augusta in away; and the said Thomas Browne ~Carleton Papers #10243, as cited by Clark, 1780, the two habitually sent raiding being requested in civil terms to Murtie June, 1981, Loyalists in the parties to the Broad River settlements come to Augusta, to try to clear Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary to terrify the patriots into submission. himself of such accusations, daringly repeated that he was not, nor would be answerable to them or any One group went at night to the home of Colonel John other of them for his conduct, whereupon they politely Dooly. The Tories murdered him in front of his family. escorted him into Augusta, where they presented him Dooly had surrendered himself and his men after the fall with a genteel and fashionable suit of tar and of Charleston. He supposedly was under the protection feathers, and afterwards had him exhibited in a cart of a British parole. from the head of Augusta to Mr. Weatherfords, where This incident festered in the minds of the militia. After out of humanity they had him taken proper care of for the fall of Forts Grierson and Brown in 1781, the two that night; and on the next morning, he, the said Thomas Browne, having publicly declared upon his colonels surrendered. While being guarded in a house in honour and consented voluntarily to swear that he Augusta, someone shot through a window and killed repented for his past conduct, and that he would for Grierson. Brown protested mightily and cited the killing the future, at the hazard of his life and fortune, protect as an example of the barbarous ways of the rebels. After and support the rights and liberties of America, and the peace treaty, Brown returned to London. saying that the said Thompson had misled him, and White, George, 1854, Historical Collections of Georgia: that therefore he would use his utmost endeavours to New York, Pudney and Russell, p. 606.
110 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Why So Much Genealogy Gets into Some Revolutionary Pension Applications
Congress enacted numerous laws to help former Revolutionary soldiers. With the passage of decades, many old soldiers died and the surviving veterans made ever more strident demands for relief. Congress became more generous to these remaining soldiers in the Pension Act of June 7, 1832. To prevent fraudulent claims under that act, the Commissioner of Pensions issued printed regulations describing form and content of testimony necessary for successful applications. First, the applicant needed to identify himself by name and current legal residence. Then he must state his service record, using the following suggested language: That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year ______, with ______and served in the ______regiment of the ______line, under the following named officers: [Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers, the time he left the service (and, if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank, and names of his officers;) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched — this form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers, navy, &c.] The soldier needed to give sufficient proof to establish the fact of his service. The most acceptable proof would have been an original discharge or commission. Frequently, soldiers had long since misplaced such documents. In lieu of those papers, the applicant's next best way to establish the service was by having a witness corroborate. Such a witness was expected to provide personal knowledge, with details of the alleged military service, and to give "such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light upon the transaction." Half a century after the war, many comrade soldiers already were dead. Migration removed others from their former neighbor hoods. Thus, witnesses might not be available. In such a case, the regulations stipulated that If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration, and he will also … proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person will be indispensable to a favorable action upon its case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected. All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County in which they reside… The War Department had copies of many of the muster rolls used by the Continental troops. Lists of the New Hampshire militia and of the Virginia state troops also were available for comparison with the statements of applicants. Other groups had been less formal in their records - in fact, many militia groups were so loosely organized that they never kept any written lists. So, for the applicants who had served in less formal outfits and for those without other documentation, the regulations required that the court ask: Where and in what year were you born? Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it? Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war, and where do you now live? How were you called into services were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom? State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 111 "Mislaid" Documents
Some years ago, the editor examined a database of legal cases appealed to the Tennessee superior courts. One "hit" turned out to be an inheritance case involving heirs of Samuel G. Chester. Several filings had been combined into a single appeal contested in Knoxville in 1844. No Hoopers were involved in the Tennessee legacies. Instead, the hit came because the Tennessee justices had cited "Didlake vs. Hooper" in their review of case law. Then, an old clipping republished in a Kentucky magazine revealed even more information about the family. Who would have thought that a Tennessee case, not directly involving any Hoopers at all, would connect Hoopers from Virginia to Kentucky to Alabama? The Tennessee chancery case (1) questioned whether an Initially, an injunction had prevented the sale of the slaves. individual can give a lifetime interest to valuable property, Then, at the lower court, the chancellor removed the injunc with full vesting in the property being dependent upon tion and found for Jeremiah Hooper, ruling that the will's distant future conditions. The court’s opinion summarized limitation of the gift was too remote. The Virginia Supreme a similar case in these words: Court considered the will's limitation to be good and We will, however, examine two cases which have reversed the lower court's decree while remanding the case been relied on as supporting a contrary position, for further proceedings. In its discussion of the case, the with the view of showing their inapplicability. Justices referred to the clause in the will of Unity Hooper: The 1st, is the case of Didlake vs. Hooper, 1st Virginia “Item, to my son Jeremiah Hooper during his life, one Rep. 194. The clause of the will out of which the hundred acres of land, to be taken off the tract I controversy arose in that case was as follows: bought of Benjamin Howard, adjoining Absalom “Item. To my son Jeremiah Hooper during his life, Melton; I also lend him three negroes, by name, one hundred acres of land: I do lend him three Hannah, Sukey, and Maria, during his life, and if he negroes during his life, and if he should have lawful should have lawful issue, I give the land and negroes issue, I give the land and negroes to them at his to them at his death. I also lend him one feather death; and if he should die without issue, I give the bed, and furniture, and one horse and saddle; and if whole of the property, that I have lent to him to he should die without issue, I give the whole of the Sarah and Judith Hooper.” property that I have lent to him, to Sarah Hooper, This was held to be a good limitation, and manifestly and Judith Hooper, daughters of my son William because it does not rest upon an indefinite failure of Hooper deceased.” issue, but a failure at the death of the devisee Jere The appeal failed to identify the county where the decedent miah Hooper. The property is loaned to him for life, lived, nor did it tell where the participants lived. However, and if he have lawful issue, it is given to them at his the more complete citation of the will adds a lot more death; if he died without issue, it is then limited over information, some of which helps to locate the Hoopers. to Sarah and Judith Hooper--his death then is the First, Unity Hooper had bought land and named a neigh period which is to determine whether the limitation is to vest or not. If he have issue, the property is absolutely bor. Second, the slaves involved in the inheritance were theirs; if not, it belongs to Sarah and Judith Hooper. Hannah, Sukey, and Maria. Besides the land, a horse was Thus, this abstract shows that some slave owner in Virginia also bequeathed to Jeremiah Hooper, who in 1821 was still died, leaving a son Jeremiah Hooper. The son apparently alive. Since Jeremiah's interest in the slaves was yet being was either unmarried or without legal offspring. The sur questioned in 1821, he probably still had no legal offspring. names of Sarah and Judith Hooper suggest they were rela The identities of the females also are much clearer–they tives, to some degree, of Jeremiah Hooper. How the indi were the granddaughters of Unity Hooper. Their father vidual with the surname Didlake got involved is unclear William Hooper had died sometime before the will was from the Tennessee citation. Abstracts, of course, can omit created. The will had to have been made before the 1821 many details, so obtaining the rulings from the Virginia case date of the appeal. Judith Hooper was a married woman by seemed important. 1821, so–if she was at least 16 when she married–she prob The Virginia appeal Didlake vs. Hooper (2) gives several more ably was born before 1805. If William Hooper had him details. Considered in March of 1821, the appeal revolved self been at least 16 when Judith was born, then William around the question of dying without issue, and the remote must have been born before 1789. If Unity Hooper had future consequences of the devisee dying without issue. been at least 16 when William was born, then Unity was Didlake brought the case for himself and wife and as attor born before 1773. ney in fact for Sarah Hooper. Thus, Didlake had married All these clues are sufficient to start a search for the county Judith Hooper by 1821, with the claim made in right of his where these Hoopers lived. The census taken closest to the wife. He originally filed in the Chancery Court of Richmond, time of the appeal is the best place to look. Indexed census after he learned that Jeremiah Hooper proposed to sell the records show just two Jeremiah Hoopers–one in Hanover bequeathed slaves to non-Virginians. Had those slaves been County, and another in King William County–in 1820. An taken to another state, they would have been removed from Elizabeth Hooper was on the same page as Jeremiah in the jurisdiction of the Virginia courts. Since Judith Hooper 1820 Hanover County. A William Hooper was some fifteen Didlake and Sarah Hooper had interests in the slaves, the pages distant from them. Your editor has not yet examined suit requested an order of ne exeat (3) and a security bond the actual 1820 entries for these Hoopers. guaranteeing the slaves would be handed over should Transcriptions of the 1810 census are widely available, Jeremiah Hooper die without issue. since that is the earliest federal census still existing for
112 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Virginia. Not just one, but two Jeremiah Hoopers appear. Joseph Merrill was born in Maryland in 1777. He in Hanover. Jaremiah Hooper on page 54 shows 21010- came to Louisville, Kentucky, when he was 17 years 10010. The presence of children here suggests this Jare old. He married, in 1800, Mildred Hopper. She was miah may be someone other than the heir. The other man, born in Virginia in 1781. Mildred's sisters married an “Jeremiah Hooper, Sen.” was on page 64, 00001-00010. Overstreet, a Didlake and John W. Taylor, of Ah, no children there! What seems even more convincing Shelbyville. Overstreet and Didlake were once is that a Jonathan and a Rubin Howard were on the same merchants in Louisville. Mildred's father was William Hooper. William Hooper was living in Louisville at the page. Could they be relatives of the Benjamin Howard time of the dreadful earthquake of 1811-12. He who sold the land Unity had bequeathed? Even more subsequently moved to Alabama. interesting is the Absalom Melton (aged 26-45) listed on Here we learn much more, if the clipping reports correctly. page 68. Was this the neighbor when Unity had purchased “He” in the final sentence might refer to William Hooper, the land? Surely, with all these names, Hanover County but more likely indicates Merrill went to Alabama. must be the home of the Unity Hooper who left the will. William Hooper, father-in-law of Mr. Didlake, had at least There is also a William Hooper on page 60, of the four daughters. William seems to have been alive when the Hanover 1810 census - 10001-00101. Two other Hooper New Madrid earthquakes (8) struck, but deceased when households - Edmund, Daniel - also appear in Hanover Unity made the will. Thus, Unity Hooper's will may have County in 1810. been created sometime between the winter of 1811/1812 So, these census records might indicate that the will of and the 1821 appeal. Harrison County, Kentucky marriage Unity Hooper was filed in Hanover County. Finding that records show that Joseph Merrill married Mildred Hooper will could add to the understanding of the Unity Hooper on 27 March 1800. A census index for Franklin County, family. Unfortunately, public documents for that county Alabama shows a Joseph Merrill there in 1830 (page 51) are fragmentary due to record losses in 1865. A 1912 and a Mildred Merrill there in 1850 (page 169).(9) article on records of Hanover County (4) indicates that The birth year given for Mildred allows some refinement in only two old books survived - one, the “small book” guessing the birth years for her forebears. Even if Mildred covers 1734 and 1735. The other “larger book” contains was the oldest child, William must have been born before deeds for 1780-1790. The only Hooper in the older book 1765, and Unity before 1749. The Didlake vs. Hooper appeal was a James Hooper who witnessed a will. The larger book already has shown that Mildred's sister who married Mr. Did mentions lake was Judith Hooper. Judith's age, husband's given name, 1) a Richard Hooper of Henrico County in 1786, and later residency remain unknown, but there was a Wil 2) an Elizabeth Hooper, 1791, who may have been the liam Didlake living in Lowndes County, Alabama in 1840. widow or other heir of Richard, and 3) a Jeremiah Hooper, 1791 purchaser of about 6 acres The sister who married Mr. Overstreet remains unidentified. from John M. Walker. Many Overstreets lived in Kentucky. Among them was a Searching through old notes taken from Amelia County, Vir Samuel Overstreet living in 1810 Jefferson County (Louis ginia deeds, the editor noticed that she had recorded that a ville), KY (page 28, 10010-30100). However, a family group “Jeremiah Hooper of St. Paul's Parish of Hanover County” sheet submitted to the LDS Ancestral File suggests this man in 1784 was identified as “of Amelia County” in 1785.(5) married Elizabeth Hawkins in 1804. There is also a John A cursory search for newspaper references to Unity Overstreet, 20010-20100, with two slaves, listed on page 204 Hooper found only this one from The Examiner of 17 of the 1810 Shelby County, Kentucky census. His wife is September 1799, which again is evidence tying Unity shown in Ancestral File as Elizabeth Prewhitt, whom he had Hooper to Hanover County: married in 1804. Basco, John, aka Basco, mulatto, ran away from The sister Sarah Hooper, unmarried at the time of the Unity Hooper near Cold Harbor, Hanover Co. He was 1821 appeal, became the wife of John Wesley Taylor in purchased from Mr. Foster, King William Co.(6) Kentucky early in 1823.(10) This family likely moved to A second Mislaid Document is what really helps provide Alabama, too, since a John W. Taylor is listed in 1840 detail about this family. An old clipping recently was Lowndes County census on the same page as William republished in a modern journal:(7) Didlake. Neither family remained in that county in 1850. The following is the editor's current best guess of the Hanover County, VA family: 1. Unity _____ Hooper (b. before 1749; d. 1812-1821 VA) ├2.William Hooper (b. before 1765; d. 1812-1821) │ ├3. Mildred Hooper 3. Mildred Hooper (b. 1781; md. 27 Mar 1800 Harrison Co., KY, d. after 1850, probably AL) │ │ spouse: Joseph Merrill (b. 1777 MD; d. 1830-1840 AL) │ ├3. Judith Hooper (b. before 1805; md. before 1821, d. after 1821) │ │ spouse: Mr. Didlake (maybe William Didlake) (b. before 1800, d. after 1821, probably after 1840) │ ├3. Sarah Hooper (b. probably 1784-1794; md. 1823 Jefferson Co., KY) │ │ spouse: John Wesley Taylor (b. 1790-1792; died after 1840, probably AL) │ ├3. Miss Hooper │ │ spouse: Mr. Overstreet └2. Jeremiah Hooper (b. before 1770; d. after March 1821
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 113 Notes: 1. Chester et al. vs. Greer et al., Greenway 6. Headley, Robert K. Jr., 1987, Genealogi et al, 1999, “New Evidence for a Large et al. vs. Greer et al.; Supreme Court Of cal Abstracts From 18th Century Virginia Earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Tennessee, Knoxville 24 Tenn. 26; 1844 Newspapers: Baltimore : Genealogical Zone between A.D. 1400 and 1670,” in Tenn. Lexis 5; 5 Hum. 26. Publishing Company. Geology 27:9, pp. 771-774. For a 2. Didlake vs. Hooper, Supreme Court of 7. “Genealogy From The Long Ago” The complete study, see Fuller, M. L., 1912, Virginia, 21 VA 194; 1821 Va. Lexis 3; Kentucky Explorer, July-August 2000, p. The New Madrid Earthquakes: USGS Gilmer 194 79. Article consists of reprints from Bulletin 494, 119 pp. 3. Ne Exeat means literally "let him not go clippings in an old scrapbook dating 9. A possible relative named E. W. Hooper, out" and is a term for a writ forbidding from over 100 years ago. (born about 1815 in Virginia, occupation the subject from leaving the court's 8. The massive New Madrid earthquakes - boot maker) was enumerated in the jurisdiction. largest historical earthquakes that have Franklin County (District 6, 23 November 4. Southall, S. O.,.1912, “Records of occurred in the 48 states - changed the 1850, household #17] home of Thomas Hanover County” in William and Mary course of the Mississippi River. The dates G. Davidson, a blacksmith from College Quarterly Historical Magazine, were 16 December 1811, 23 January Tennessee. First Series, 21:1, p 47. Hooper deed on 1812, and 7 February 1812. The United 10. LDS Temple Records twice report the page 50. Article continued in 21:3, with States Geological Survey has estimated marriage of Sarah Hooper to John Hooper deeds on pp. 147, 151, and 158. the magnitudes of the quakes at 8.0, Taylor. One source gave the date as 2 Article continued in Vol. 23, 1 with 7.7, and 8.2, respectively. Contemporary February 1823 in Jefferson County, Hooper deed on p. 30. Final reference in accounts reported bells ringing in Kentucky. The other supplied a date of 2 Vol.23:2, p. 125. churches as far away as Boston and March 1823, and identified the couple 5. Amelia deed book 16, page 372 and Philadelphia. A brief description of the as “of Shelby County, Kentucky.” deed book 17, page 193. historical events appears in Tuttle, M.P. Why Didn't You Tell Me? Did you hear the one about the family researcher who finally determines her great-grandmother's maiden name. Ecstatic from the discovery, she punches her aunt's telephone number. The aged matron's terse response is merely, "why, I could have told you that." Sometimes, though, the relatives don't know many facts. Our country's third president wrote that "the first particular information I have of any ancestor was of my grandfather."* Imagine - even so public and literate a man as the creator of the Declaration of Independence could not tell his own ancestry! Why should we expect our often illiterate, impoverished forefathers to provide accurate roadmaps for our less notable lineages? The good news is that scholars have rummaged in the many writings of Jefferson, then tramped past piles of public records. They - the methodic scholars - have managed to decipher the president's lineage. A Jefferson had been in Virginia as early as 1619, sitting in the House of Burgesses. Several other ancestors likewise served in the House of Burgesses, one as Speaker. Jefferson's paternal great-grandfather (also named Thomas) had been estate executor for his neighbors, served on juries, and surveyed public roads for Henrico County. Yet of them, Jefferson knew nothing. As family researchers, let us use the efforts of the Jeffersonian biographers as an example. Let us record all the remembrances our parents and grandparents provide. Then we need to check the personal papers and testimonies of the older relatives. Like the laconic aunt, who could have supplied that maiden name, these family stories might omit enlightening details. So we must see what the public records - created in the lifetimes of our subject - may tell us about when, where, and how our ancestors lived. If the public records are silent about our ancestors, we can at least learn about their neighbors and the forces that shaped them. Then we can tell about those who preceded us. Many early Hoopers, like Jefferson, actively supported colonial efforts to separate from Britain. In this spirit, this February issue features the testimony of several Hoopers who were soldiers around the time of the American Revolution. Each of the affidavits concerns a Hooper with some sort of Georgia connection. This emphasis on early Georgia prepares the background for an ongoing series studying Hoopers with middle Tennessee associations between 1800 and 1850. The issue also continues with the theme of “Mislaid” Documents - information that creeps in from totally unexpected locations.
*Those with internet access may study the pedigree of Jefferson at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/presidents/prez3.htm The early chapters of many Jefferson biographies describe his adolescence and family life in Albemarle County. For example, a comprehensive tome in your editor's library is Willard Sterne Randall's 1993, Thomas Jefferson, A Life: New York, Henry Holt and Company, 708 pages. Those with slave or slave-owning Hooper ancestry might appreciate the insights about slavery and plantation life in Virginia as given in Fawn M. Brodie's 1974, Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History: New York, Bantam Books, 811 pages [paperback edition]. The quotation about Jefferson's ancestry comes from Douglas L. Wilson, editor, 1989, Jefferson's Commonplace Book: Princeton, Princeton University Press, p. 6.
114 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 HOOPER COMPASS VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 FEBRUARY 2001 Hanover Hoopers: Part 1, Thomas Hooper
Wars claimed many of the earliest county records in Virginia. Lord Cornwallis and General Washington both headquartered at Hanover Tavern at times during the American Revolution. Later, some of the most horrendous conflicts of the Civil War —the Battles of Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, and Seven Days — occurred in Hanover County. As a result, Hanover is what genealogists term a burnt county, lacking many original documents. Loss of the Virginia federal census of 1790 and 1800 further complicates matters. When census, deeds and probate records are missing, family searchers have to rely on less informative county records like tax and voter lists. Early newspapers may be available with marriage announcements or legal notices; sometimes records created on a state level will survive even when the county records have burnt. Frequently, records in far-flung locales mention descendants of a family and include personal information to shed light upon the family in the burnt county. The problem, of course, is figuring out where such distant family members might have settled The scant surviving records from Hanover County reveal that several Hoopers had lived in the county before the Revolution. A few existing land and personal tax records show that between 1782 and 1792, the following indi viduals owned land in Hanover County: Edmond Hooper, Elizabeth Hooper (probably a widow), another Eliza beth Hooper, James Hooper, Jeremiah Hooper, Joseph Hooper, Thomas Hooper, another Thomas Hooper, William Hooper, and co-owners William and Obadiah Hooper. Part 1 of this series focuses on the older Thomas Hooper. In future issues, Part 2 will examine Jeremiah and Joseph Hooper more completely, and contemplate whether they connect to the Joseph and Jeremiah Hooper (grandfather and grandson) who were in Cumberland County, KY in 1820 and moved to Hardeman County, Tennessee. Part 3 will discuss the widow Elizabeth Hooper — who might tie to the Caswell County, North Carolina Hoopers — and her sons Obadiah and Thomas Hooper. Part 4 will consider how Obadiah Hooper, Sr. (later of Franklin County, Georgia) might tie into the Hanover Hoopers. Hanover Courthouse has little remaining evidence INSIDE THIS ISSUE about early planter Thomas Hooper. He paid taxes, in Hanover Hoopers: 1782 and again in 1783, on 481 acres of land. The 115 Part 1, Thomas Hooper only other landowners with the Hooper surname who paid land taxes those years were the two Elizabeth Broad River Thomas Hooper (Part 2) Hoopers.(1) After 1783, the next available land tax 120 records are for 1787. In that year and later, Thomas Hooper – with his 481 acres – is nowhere to be found. Learning from Georgia’s Land Records 126 Other adult Hoopers, not on the real estate lists, did reside in Hanover County between 1782 and 1785. Update: Savannah’s Thomas Hooper 128 Virginia's males over the age of 21 were subject to poll Update: Mary Hooper taxes (tithes). Other taxes covered such personal 129 Wilmington, North Carolina property as cattle, horses, slaves, number of wheeled carriages, billiard tables, and special licenses.(2) By Reunions 1783, William, Edmond, and Jeremiah Hooper were 130 liable for personal taxes. Quite possibly, all three could A Quarterly Publication, © 2001, 2009, 2011 of have been sons or brothers of Thomas Hooper. The 1782 personal tax list is especially valuable, because it identifies William Hooper as "son of Thomas." A NNE G OODWIN William was liable for 2 slaves, 1 horse, and 5 cattle. For the 1788 and 1789 personal taxes, this William Hooper was identified as Senior, indicating he was the WEBSITE older of the William Hoopers in the county. From www.HooperCompass.com 1792 to 1803, another William Hooper was designated Junior, suggesting that as late as 1803, there was a need to distinguish between the two men with identical names.(3)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 115 So if William Hooper was at least 21 in 1782, if he continued to own land in Hanover County into the 1790s and beyond, why did his father Thomas Hooper disappear from the land tax lists? A legal announce ment in the Virginia Gazette & Weekly Advertiser of 25 Sep 1788 proves that Thomas had died sometime between the 1783 tax payment, and 1788: was assessed for two carriages, two slaves, and six Thomas Hooper of Hanover County, dec'd. horses. From 1789 to 1803, and again in 1805 and Estate Accounts with his executrix Unity Hooper 1807, she was always assessed for the carriages. The and executor Edmund Hooper.(4) number of slaves varied from five to ten (slaves under Because the courts already had named estate admin 12 were not taxed), and horses ranged between three istrators, Thomas Hooper probably had died some and six. The next available personal tax list is that of months or even years before September 1788. 1815 – Unity Hooper does not appear. there. Thus, Executor Edmund Hooper - Edmund the death date for Mrs. Unity Hooper probably was Hooper must have been a relative to the decedent between 1808 and 1815. Thomas Hooper. From 1787 to at least 1796, Edmund Son Jeremiah Hooper - Unity Hooper 's will Hooper paid taxes for 238 acres of Hanover lands. gave 100 acres to her son Jeremiah Hooper. She also Only one Edmund Hooper appears through this time allowed him three slaves, some furniture, and a horse. in the land and personal tax lists. In 1800, Edmund Her will stipulated that she merely lent these to him, Hooper paid the land tax for a tract of 238 acres and unless “he should have lawful issue.” The phrasing for another tract of 209 acres. The second tract might suggests that Jeremiah, at the time the will was written, include the dower land from Thomas Hooper's estate. did not yet have any children, or at least none born in Virginia law provided that upon marriage, a wife ob wedlock. tained a dower right to a third of the husband's real Between 1783 and 1815, the personal tax lists consist estate. Perhaps in 1800, Edmund Hooper – in his ently show a Jeremiah Hooper. In 1799, for example, capacity as executor of the Thomas Hooper estate – this Jeremiah reported only one horse and no slaves. reported the second tract because it included the No real estate taxes were paid until 1792, when a dower part of that estate. Even the first tract, of 238 Jeremiah Hooper began reporting 36½ acres. acres, might once have been part of the Thomas Another Jeremiah Hooper began paying poll taxes in Hooper land. Lacking complete deeds, court, and 1805. In that year, and again in 1807 and 1812, he was probate records between 1783 and 1787, there is no identified as Jeremiah Hooper, Jr., but in 1815 was way to tell how Edmund Hooper acquired his lands identified only as Jeremiah Hooper. Perhaps the poll nor how Thomas Hooper's estate was divided. tax for this younger Jeremiah had previously been paid The 1790 and 1800 Virginia census lists are lost, but by another taxpayer. However, if Jeremiah, Jr. first an Edmund Hooper does appear on the 1810 Han became subject to the poll tax in 1805, then he prob over census. His household included a male and three ably was born about 1784. Thus, with the present females under 10, 2 females aged 10-16, another knowledge, there is no way to tell which of these two female between 26 and 45, and Edmund, aged over Jeremiah's might be the son of Thomas and Unity 45. He was listed in Hanover in 1820.(5) Hooper. In contrast to Jeremiah, very much is now Executrix Unity Hooper - The name Unity evident about his brother William Hooper. Hooper should be familiar. Remnants of her will Son William Hooper - As shown above, appear in the Virginia court case Didlake vs. Hooper, William Hooper paid personal (poll) taxes in 1782 which was in the "Mislaid" Documents article (pages and continued doing so until 1800. Since Virginians 112-113). As was shown there, Unity Hooper was the paid the poll tax (or tithe) in the county of legal mother of at least two sons, William and Jeremiah residence, we can be sure that William Hooper Hooper. Additional evidence shows that Unity was the remained in Hanover County, Virginia until around widow of Thomas Hooper. Between 1782 and 1800, 1800. However, his daughter Mildred married Joseph Unity Hooper never appears on the tax lists as a land Merrill in Harrison County, Kentucky in 1800. owner. even though she had dower rights; besides, her William and the rest of his children must have moved will mentioned 100 acres, part of a tract she had slightly south, to Fayette County, Kentucky.(6) William bought (date unknown). probably died near Lexington sometime in the first The widow Unity Hooper does appear on Hanover half of 1808. Three of his children were unmarried County personal tax lists. For example, in 1788, she minors; thus, the courts ordered that a guardian be
116 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 appointed to protect their interests. To assure proper vided among testator's nephews Thomas Merrell performance, the guardian made a bond: and Gabriel Overstreet, or in case of the death of either of the nephews, the whole amount to be Robert Dudley, with George Mansell and Richard given to the survivor. As soon after the testator's Sharpe, securities, bound as guardian for William death as possible, executors to deliver the negro Hooper, Sally Hooper, and Judah Hooper, orphans man Jupiter to testator's beloved brother William of William Hooper, dec'd, October 10, 1808. Hooper, for his own benefit forever, but if William No relationship between guardian Robert Dudley and should die prior to the testator, the same negro to William Hooper is immediately apparent. Perhaps he go to the beloved sisters Sarah Hooper and Judith was appointed merely as a temporary custodian for Hooper as joint proprietors, share and share alike. children. As will be shown later, they were fatherless, All the rest and residue of the estate to go to but their mother was alive. So Dudley probably was beloved sisters Sarah and Judith, share and share chosen as a responsible caretaker who could oversee alike. Friend Joseph Merrill as sole executor.(10) investments and other assets. William Hooper's estate The will and guardianships reveal much about the fam undoubtedly included slaves. Both Dudley and his ily: Thomas Hooper's mother Mary was alive and had security Sharpe were slave owners when enumerated not remarried as of August 1812. One sister (Mildred) on the 1810 Fayette County census (page 45). had married and had a son Thomas before 1812. One The next fall, the courts appointed a different guardian sister had become the mother of Gabriel Overstreet for the children. This time, their brother-in-law Joseph before 1812. The brother named William Hooper (Jr.) Merrill was selected: and unmarried sisters Sarah Joseph Merrill, with James and Judith – all of whom had McCann and James H. been minors (i.e., born 1788 or Overstreet securities, later) in 1809 — were still alive bound as guardian to in 1812. Since he failed to William Hooper, Sarah name a wife, Thomas probably Hooper, and Judy was single. Hooper, orphans of William Hooper, dec'd, William Hooper (Jr.), on the November 14, 1809. other hand, married soon after James H. Overstreet possibly was another brother-in- his brother Thomas had law, because one of Mildred Hooper Merrill's sisters prepared the will. The Fayette County marriage bond is thought to have married an Overstreet who once for William Hooper to Nancy Ellis bears the date 14 lived in Louisville.(8) Even James McCann may Dec 1812. The parents of the bride gave their consent somehow be a family member.(9) (suggesting the bride was a minor). In January 1820, Joseph Merrill in 1810 was enumerated in Pendleton another member of the Ellis family (Wm. Smith to County, which is adjacent to the county where he had Agnes C. Ellis) married, and William Hooper was one married in 1800. Besides the adults (Joseph and Mil of theor witnesses.(11) This fact implies that William dred), his household included 4 males born 1800-1810, Hooper remained in Fayette County, nearer his wife's one female born 1800-1810, and another female born family, when most of his sisters moved to Louisville 1794-1800. These two younger females likely were (Jefferson County). He does, indeed, appear later on Sarah and Judith Hooper. the census: The guardianship documents prove the relationships 1820 KY Fayette County William Hooper 200010-20100- 3 slaves of the three youngest offspring to their father William 1830 KY Fayette County Hooper. Another Fayette County record discloses William Hooper 1011001-102001-2 slaves more about composition of the family. Will Book C Census indexes give a William Hooper (who owned contains Thomas Hooper’s will, written 20 August slaves) in Louisville in 1840 (page 66) and 1850 (page 1812 and probated at the July court in 1814. In his last 98). Although the author has not checked these testament, Thomas Hooper listings, they likely do concern this former Virginian. A bequeaths all his estate and effects, real and per sonal, whatsoever and wheresoever, to his worthy search of Jefferson County probate records between friend Joseph Merrill of Jefferson County, Ken 1850 and 1900 might yield estate records for this man. tucky, in trust to be disposed of by him as follows The sisters Judith and Sarah Hooper probably moved (after just debts and funeral expenses are paid): to the Louisville area with their elder sister Mildred and the negro man Peter to be delivered to testator's her husband Joseph Merrill. Newspaper abstracts show beloved mother Mary Hooper to have and possess letters awaited Joseph Merrill at the post office in Jeffer during her natural life and after her death, Peter to son County in 1814-1817.(12) Sisters Judith and Sarah be sold and the money arising to be equally di
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 117 married in Jefferson County. Judith Hooper's license to Paulina Taylor. If this family is that of Sarah Hooper George B. Didlake bears the date 28 Feb 1815, while Taylor, then she may have died before the 1850 census. Sarah's license (to John Wesley Taylor) bears the date 2 Notes: Mar 1823.(13) 1. Sparacio, Ruth, and Sparacio, Sam, 1997, Hanover County, Joseph Merrill is missing from the Jefferson County, Virginia Land Tax Books: Antient Press, McLean [VA], Vols 1- 3. Kentucky 1820 census. A Joseph Merrill is listed on 2. The definition of tithable changed several times in colonial the Franklin County, Indiana 1820 census (page 173), Virginia and during the earliest days of independence. For but the author has not yet checked that entry. Deeds much of the 18th century, white males over 16 were tithed. White males over 21 always were tithable, unless an act of might confirm the times of arrival and departure of the county courts gave an exclusion for age or disability). the Merrills. (Franklin County, Indiana has complete 3. Cocke , William Ronald, 1956, Hanover County taxpayers, records from 1811.) Saint Paul's Parish, 1782-1815: W.R. Cocke, Columbia [VA]. 4. Headley, Robert K., Jr., 1987, Genealogical Abstracts from By 1830, Joseph Merrill and family moved to Alabama, 18th-Century Virginia Newspapers: Genealogical Publishing to the area then Franklin County, now Colbert County. Co., Baltimore, p. 169. He died before 1840. Unfortunately, Franklin County, 5. Cocke , William Ronald, 1940, Hanover County Chancery Wills and Notes: W.R. Cocke, Columbia [VA]. An 1854 Alabama is another burnt county. Mildred Hooper Mer chancery court case (Jones et al vs. Hooper's administrator) rill survived her husband, later moving to Memphis. She mentions the reversionary right of Elisha Yarbrough may be buried in the Branham Merrill plot there.(14) regarding the 1 Oct 1826 estate of Edmund Hooper, probably referring to the same man who was the 1788 George B. Didlake was from Clark County, Kentucky, executor. A message to the [email protected] and was enumerated there in 1820. Later, he moved to mailing list by Ann Avery Hunter
118 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 13. Microfilm of the marriage licenses is available in Frankfort at 15. Shelby County, Kentucky Deed Book H-2, pages 112-113. the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives and at 16. Estelle was listed with her father in 1850. Both Kate and Salt Lake City at the LDS Family History Library. See FHL Estelle have double listings in 1860, since they also appear in US/CAN films #817,862 and 817,865. the John and Mildred Didlake household. In 1870, they 14. Email of 26 April 2001 from Ginny North
The following is the editor's revised (compare with page 113) best guess of the Hanover County, VA family: 1. Thomas Hooper (b. before 1745; d. 1783-25 Sept 1788, Hanover Co., VA) spouse: Unity _____ (b. before 1745; d. 1808-1815 VA, probably Henrico or Hanover Co.) ├2.William Hooper (b. before 1761; d. before 8 October 1808, Fayette Co., KY) │ spouse: Mary _____ (b. before 1772; alive 1812) │ ├3. Mildred Hooper (b. 1780-1781 VA; md. 27 Mar 1800 Harrison Co., KY, d. after 1860, probably Shelby Co., TN) │ │ spouse: Joseph Merrill (b. 1777 MD; d. 1830-1840 Franklin Co., AL) │ │ ├4. Branham Hooper Merrill (b. 8 Dec 1800 KY; alive 1870) │ │ │ spouse 1: Catherine Ann Sevier (b. 1800/1810; d. 14 Dec 1838 Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., AL) │ │ │ ├5. Mildred Jane Merrill (b. 14 Mar 1827 Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., AL; d. 1860/1870) │ │ │ │spouse: John Goff Didlake (b. 26 Jan 1818Clark Co., KY; md. 18 Nov 1846 Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., AL; alive 1870) │ │ │ │ ├6. Estelle Didlake (b. 22 Sep 1846/1847 Decatur, Morgan Co., AL; alive 1870) │ │ │ │ │spouse: Mr. Phillips │ │ │ │ │├7. Katie Estelle Phillips │ │ │ │ │└7. Branham Merrill Phillips │ │ │ │ ├6.Branham Merrill Didlake (b. 2 Aug 1847/1849 Tuscumbia, Colbert, AL; alive 1860) │ │ │ │ ├6.George Brook Didlake (b. 30 Sep 1850 Hamilton Co., TN; alive 1870) │ │ │ │ └6.John Goff A. Didlake (b. 17 Jul 1854 Chattanooga, Hamilton Co., TN; alive 1870) │ │ │ ├5. Joseph Merrill (b. 6 Dec 1828; alive 1840) │ │ │ ├5. John Merrill (b. about 1835 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5. Branham Levi Merrill (b. 1838/1840 AL; alive 1870) │ │ │ │spouse: Abbie _____ (b. about 1844 AR; alive 1870) │ │ │ │ ├6. Joseph Merrill (b. about 1867 TN; alive 1870) │ │ │ │ └6. Ada Merrill (b. about 1869 TN; alive 1870) │ │ │ spouse 2: Mrs. Susan Sample (md. 17 May 1870 Lee Co., MS; survived husband) │ │ ├4. Thomas (Hooper?) Merrill (b. about 1808-KY; alive 1850) │ │ │ spouse: Ann E _____ (Rhea?) (b. about 1815 TN; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5. Angeline Merrill (b. about 1835 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5. Olander Merrill (b. about 1837 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5.Edwin Merrill (b. about 1839 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5.E Merrill (female)(b. about 1841 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5.William Merrill (b. about 1843 AL; alive 1850) │ │ │ ├5.Thomas Merrill (b.1848-AL │ │ ├4. male Merrill (b. 1800/1810; alive 1810) │ │ ├4. male Merrill (b. 1800/1810; alive 1810) │ │ ├4. male Merrill (b.1815/1820; ; alive 1830) │ │ └4. female Merrill (b.1815/1820; alive 1830) │ ├3. Miss Hooper (b. probably before 1787) │ │ spouse: Mr. Overstreet (probably James H) (md. before August 1812) │ │ └4. Gabriel Overstreet (alive 20 Aug 1812) │ ├3. Thomas Hooper (b. before 1788 d.1812/1814) │ ├3. William Hooper (b.1788/1790 d. after 1830) │ │ spouse: Nancy Ellis (b.1794/1800, md. 14 Dec 1812; alive 1830) │ ├3. Judith Hooper (b. 1796 VA; alive 1860) │ │ spouse: George Baker Didlake (b. 1797 Clark Co., KY; md. 28 Feb 1815 Jefferson Co., KY; alive 1850) │ │ ├4. John Goff Didlake (b. 26 Jan 1818 Clark Co., KY, alive 1870) │ │ │ spouse: Mildred Jane Merrill (b.14 Mar 1827 Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., AL; md.18 Nov 1846; d.1860/1870) │ │ │ [offspring given above as sixth generation under Mildred Hooper Merrill] │ │ ├4. George Didlake (b. about 1828 KY; alive 1860) │ │ └4. Kate Didlake (b. about 1841 KY; alive) │ ├3. Sarah Hooper (b. probably 1784-1794; md. 1823 Jefferson Co., KY) │ │ spouse: John Wesley Taylor (b. 1790-1792; died after 1840, probably AL) │ └ └2. Jeremiah Hooper (b. before 1770, Virginia resident n 1821)
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 119 Broad River Thomas Hooper (Part 2): His Pistol Creek Neighborhood Thomas Hooper, who in August 1774 signed the Kyo Tennessee. In November 1807, Church Hooper kee and Broad River petition (see page 107) is almost prepared a will which names his “brother Thomas certainly identical with the Thomas Hooper who was Hooper,” as executor. Thus, the Thomas of Broad an early (1783) grantee of on land along Pistol Creek River seems identical with the brother Thomas who just south of the Broad River in what then was Wilkes survived Church Hooper in Tennessee. County, Georgia. One South Carolina record–Thomas Another Hooper with strong connections nearby is Hooper's enlistment with William and Church Hooper Jesse Hooper. He was taxed in the same district as in the 5th SC regiment on 11 June 1776 – has been Church and Thomas Hooper in 1785, then moved found.* No other Georgia record regarding Thomas west to the Fork District between the two branches of Hooper and dating between 1775 and 1782 is known the Broad River (now in Madison County). His pen to the author.. Despite the fact that the early (1784- sion testimony reveals that Jesse Hooper lived near the 1806) Wilkes deed books have been transcribed and mouth of the Broad River in 1776. indexed, there are no known deeds involving Thomas Absalom Hooper also paid taxes in this fork area for Hooper as either buyer or seller, but deeds do mention several years. The same Absalom Hooper reported a him otherwise. Thomas Hooper also managed to es connection to the Pistol Creek neighborhood in his cape notice in most court records, but did appear pension testimony. In 1780, Absalom fled British rarely on jury lists. captivity at Charleston to the home of an (unnamed) Georgia tax lists show that Thomas Hooper lived next uncle who was on “the frontier of Georgia.” Absalom's to Church Hooper. The two disappear from Georgia wife, Sarah (Salors) Hooper, and her brother-in-law at about the same time, then reappear as neighbors in Clemmons Hooper also mentioned the uncle, who lived on Pistol Creek when Absalom marred Sarah in the 1780s. All of these Hoopers – Thomas, Churchwell, Jesse, Absalom, and Clemmons – must be connected, but how each is related to all of the other four is unclear. For their descendants, though, all five are brickwalls, beyond which no earlier ancestry has been deciphered. Yes, there are hints, but no clear documentation has surfaced so far. When the obvious records Pistol Creek area map reproduced from the 1906 United States Geological (census, wills, deeds) fail to Survey (USGS) Georgia - South Carolina Crawfordville Quadrangle. reveal origins of brickwall This map shows the stream courses decades after settlers had dredged the Broad and ancestors, dedicated Savannah Rivers for barge traffic. They also changed the landscape by clearing trees researchers need other and planting crops. Rapid flooding and sedimentation after those human activities would methods of study. A necessarily cause some changes in stream paths from their pre-settlement courses. In the 1950s, damming of the Savannah River flooded almost all the eastern part of the neighborhood approach, Broad River and Pistol and Newford Creeks. Thus, Lisbon in Lincoln County (south of the wherein a researcher Broad River) and Petersburg in Elbert County (north of the Broad River) have disappeared examines the most likely from the more recent USGS topographic maps. A surveyed line (marked Boundary Line associates of the person of here) divides Wilkes and Lincoln County. The Pistol Creek area of interest to Hooper researchers is on the creek in the area where the boundary line crosses the creek. interest, can help to suggest
* There are land transactions by a Thomas Hooper in Granville District (what now would be Abbeville and McCormick Counties) in the 1760s. While quite suggestive, these records cannot prove that the Thomas Hooper of Broad River and Pistol Creek is the identical man. The Granville District records will be the subject of a future article in Hooper Compass, Volume 3.
120 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 names who could prove to be relatives, business af enough clues to surmount the brickwall. What fol filiates, military and political leaders. Research about lows is tract-by-tract information for Thomas these neighborhood individuals may eventually give Hooper and his nearest neighbors.
This map is redrawn from the 18th century grant surveys, the USGS 1906 Crawfordville map, and the USGS 1955 (photo– revised 1987) Chennault and Broad 7.5' topo graphic maps. Location of the grants is inexact because of changes in the path of Pistol Creek and the approximations made in the surveys. Red marks plats. Blue shaded areas represent the reservoir waters now backed up by dams on the Savannah River. Brown dashed lines show highways and state roads visible on the 1955 map. Dotted lines represent the roads marked on the 1906 map.
Thomas Hooper In 1785, and 1790-1794, Thomas Hooper paid taxes 1796, James Wade paid taxes for a total of 570 acres, for 200 acres in the same district. The district covered but this seems not to include Hooper's lands. In 1797, lands in northern Wilkes [now mostly Lincoln] County William Wade was listed in the district, with no lands south of the Broad River and south to about halfway given. The elderly William Wade probably got an between Pistol and Newford Creeks. In 1787, Churchell exemption from paying land taxes that year. Hooper (200 acres, 2 slaves) and his neighbors Zacha The 1798 district taxlist also is lost. The county may riah Lamar and James Giles appear, as do Thomas have removed Wade's age exemption in 1799, because Hooper's neighbors Robert McGary (200 acres), and William Wade paid for 200 acres, on Pistol Creek, Daniel Reaves (300 acres). Yet Thomas Hooper's adjacent Armistead Stokes, and originally granted to name is missing. John Gamble's lands were reported Ths. Hoope. Son James Wade then got the land as part by Thos. Gamble who never again reported those of a maintenance agreement, dated 30 Dec 1799, to lands. Alice Mills and her minor sons, her older son support William Wade for the rest of his life. In 1800, Charles Gent, Robert Gutery, and Briant Ward all are James Wade paid taxes for 620 acres on Pistol Creek, missing in 1787. Thus, there may be a lost page. reflecting the increase in lands gained from William In 1794, Thomas Hoopper (2 slaves, 200 acres) and Wade. In 1801, James Wade's various tracts included Church Hoopper (400 acres, 3 slaves) were the 31st one of 200 acres on Pistol Creek, now adjacent Elijah and 32nd names in their district. Both were identified Lindsy, originally granted Thos. Harper. as adjacent to Richard Woods. Neither Hooper From 1803 to 1805, James Wade's 200 acre tract on appears again in the district as a taxpayer. Despite a Pistol Creek, always adjacent to Lindsey, was described search of Wilkes and Lincoln County deed indexes as having been granted to Thos. Hooper. or Thos. and abstracts to 1805 for any transfer of the 200 acres Hoopper. Perhaps, even though the transfer from from Thomas Hooper, no such transaction has Thomas Hooper to William Wade must have occurred appeared. That the land was transferred, first to between 1794 and 1799, it was recorded at a much William Wade, and then by him to his son James later date. If the deed ever was recorded, it might have Wade, is shown by tax records and an 1800 bond been registered as part of the probate affairs for between the two Wades. William Wade, perhaps many years after the Hoopers Neither William nor James Wade was on the 1794 had left. Pistol Creek tax list. The district's 1795 list is lost. In ~Wilkes Deed Books RR, p. 349, and H, p. 86.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 121 Thomas Little The plats for Thomas Hooper and for Churchill Absalom Little and Michael Saylors both had land near Hooper's headright show that Thomas Little's land Deep Creek (now in Elbert County, the area was just was adjacent. Little would have been well-known to across the north fork of the Broad River from the the Hoopers, because Church, Thomas, and William Fork District). In 1790, Michael Saylors, Christopher Hooper had joined the 5th South Carolina Regiment Saylors,* and Daniel Reives all had paid taxes in the on 11 June 1776 and two Thomas Littles (one a same district where Thomas Scott was a Justice of the private, the other a corporal) joined the next month. Peace. That same year, Thomas Little was listed as a The size and date of the Little plat are known from defaulter there. the 1785 tax list (when widow Mary Little reported Charles and David Little also were heirs of Thomas 250 acres) and from the deeds when the estate was Little. Charles, David, and Thomas, Jr. probably were settled in 1792. On 1 Oct 1792, unavailable for the prior deed because they had left the Absalom Little, Thos. Little, Mary Little, Michael Say area. Their shares were sold at a sheriff's sale in Dec lors & Christopher Saylors, heirs of Thos. Little, decd., ember 1792. Daniel Reaves was the highest bidder for and all of Elbert County, Georgia, sold all the land the land, described as granted to the heirs of Thos. Little on Pistol Creek, 250 acres on Pistol Creek, granted 22 Mar 1785. 250 acres, adj. Thomas Hooper and Robert McGary, Proceeds of the sale went to Isaiah Willis and Thomas to Daniel Reaves of Wilkes County. Thomas Little Hooper, who had judgments against the heirs. (Jr.) failed to sign the deed. The witness was Thomas Scott, Justice of the Peace. Reaves later sold the land to Armistead E. Stokes. In 1804, Stokes reported the land as “adj. Jos. Anthony, During the 1780s, Michael and Christopher Saylors granted Thomas Little.” In 1805, he described the land lived in the Fork District (now Madison County). as adjacent Wade, granted heirs of Little.
~Wilkes Deed Book MM, pp 235 and 254. * Two of these Little heirs are probable in-laws of Absalom Hooper. Christopher and Michael Saylors obviously must have inherited the land in right of their wives. Michael Saylors was a former Revolutionary War who had married Lurany Little. They settled in the 1780s in the Fork District. Pension testimony shows Michael Sailors was born (about 1756-8) in Pennsylvania, then moved to Burke County, North Carolina when young. After the war, he moved to Georgia, then to Blount County, Tennessee, and later to Jackson County, TN. Absalom Hooper also lived in the Fork District in the 1780s, but he had married at the home of an uncle who lived on Pistol Creek. The bride was Miss Sarah Salors. Perhaps Jesse Hooper and the Saylors brothers joined the happy couple when they rode the 25 miles to Pistol Creek. How convenient it must have been to celebrate the ceremony at the home of the Hooper uncle, while some of the bride's family had relatives next door! Mary Eades (Eads, Eddes, Edes) Mary Eades had two grants: the first (December 1784) Hooper, and Christopher and Michael Sailors (sons-in- was for 150 acres on Pistol Creek adjacent John Gam law of Thomas Little, of Pistol Creek). She probably bell and Thomas Hooper's land, other sides vacant. In moved to Franklin County. A deed there, dated 1 April the 1785 taxes, Mary Eades had 250 acres and was 1787, conveyed 50 acres of Edward Rice of Franklin just after widows Alice Mills and Mary Little. On 10 County “to Mary Eads of same.” Eades sold her Nov 1785, Mary Eads gave her “Lease and Release” to Cedar Creek tract early in 1788. Churchwell Hooper for 150 acres, bounded south by The 1787 and 1788 transactions by Mary Eades negate John Gambol and west by Thomas Hooper. No other the possibility that she might be Church Hooper's wife sale of this land has been found and it is not obvious Mary of 1787. Possible connections of some future on any later Wilkes tax list. Hooper relatives, however, may have lived along the The second grant was on Cedar Creek (present Elbert same Cedar Creek where Mary Eades chose her County), just southeast of the Fork District where second grant. Elbert County deeds include the 1789 Jesse Hooper and his wife Elizabeth (Eades) Hooper sales by "John Lovell of Granville County, SC" of had moved in 1786. The Cedar Creek plat was for 250 parts of his 400-acre grant on Cedar Creek in [former] acres based on a warrant executed 10 Nov 1785, the Wilkes County. In early middle Tennessee, several same day as the lease/release to Church Hooper. Her Lovells married Hoopers. survey was by Basil Lamar, who likewise had per ~Wilkes County Plat Book B, pp. 13, 122 formed the Thomas Hooper, first Church Hooper , ~Wilkes County Deed Books "CC" p. 28, and DD, p. 172. and Allice Mills surveys along Pistol Creek. In 1786, ~Elbert County Deed Book A, pp. 128, 148. Mary Eades again reported 250 acres, but was in the ~Acker, Martha Walters, 1976, Deeds of Franklin County, same Fork District tax list as were Absalom and Jesse Georgia 1784-1826: Birmingham, Deed Book C, p.15.
122 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Churchill Hooper 250 acre tract notifying the militia captain) in the area around By deed dated 4 April 1796, Churchwell Hooper and Washington. Also, in 1797 in the Pistol Creek area, he Mary, his wife, sold 250 acres to William Ford,* for reported his 250 acres on Broad River, adjacent Joseph £50, including where Churchwell Hooper and William Anthony, originally granted Church Hooper. Ford lived. Ford kept the land only briefly. On 14 Sept Tax records of Captain William Williams’ district of 1797, William Ford, saddler, sold the tract to Armsted 1801 show a Susanah Ford had 115 acres on Pistol E. Stokes, planter, both of Wilkes Co., for $220. The Creek, adjacent A. Stokes and originally granted to land was described this time as being part in Wilkes Ann Willis. Armsted Stokes, in turn, had 221 acres on County and part in Lincoln County on Broad River Broad River, adjacent Jos. Anthony, originally granted waters, 250 acres, the tract “Ford now lives on.” The Church Hooper, lying in Wilkes and Lincoln counties. deed was signed by William Ford, and “Hezekiah x * William Ford might be a son-in-law of John Fullilove. In 1801, Elizabeth Fullilove, widow of John Fullilove, deceased, Ford, her mark.”† and other heirs of said deceased, sold 130 acres in Oglethorpe Ford appeared only three times on the Wilkes County County to William Ford and Thomas Fullilove, all of Ogle tax lists. In 1796, he reported his 250 acres on Broad thorpe County. † The transcription gives the name as Hezekiah, which is most River adjacent James Cade. In 1797, he was listed as a unusual as a feminine name. Perhaps the given name was defaulter (likely meaning he had left that are without Elizabeth or maybe Keziah instead. ~Wilkes Deed Book RR, pp. 120, 150. Allice Mills Alexander Mills died in the fall of 1777. He left a will naming wife Alice (Alis, Ellis, Alais)and making her and William Gent his executors. William and Charles Gent (see page 90) were the sons of the widow Mills by her prior husband Charles. (See page 127 for further discussion of the Mills family.) The widow eventually split the property and transferred the parcels to her youngest sons. The order of the 1790 tax list–line 26 William Mills, 100 acres; line 27 Charles Gent, 200 acres; line 28 James Mills 300 acres; line 29 Thomas Hooper (no land)–sug gests that the individuals all reported their lands at the same time. Perhaps this is a further indication of interac tions among the neighbors. The Mills lands appear on Lincoln tax rolls after the 1796 split from Wilkes County. Churchill Hooper 200 acres Churchell and Mary Hooper of Wilkes County sold to son Ludwell remained closer to the Savannah River John Fullilove, for 100 £ State money, about 200 acres and managed the lands there. Thus, in 1797, Ludwell on Pistol Creek, bounded Fullilove paid the taxes for the land in Lincoln County, beginning at a corner Black Oak in Alex'r Mills line described as adjacent John Gambel, and originally running south twenty east 45 chains to a corner Black granted Church Hooper. When John Fullilove and his Oak, thence S 70 W 45 chains to a Hiccory Corner till wife Elizabeth of Oglethorpe County sold the 200 thence N20 W45 chains to a Black oak corner, thence acres in December 1799, the deed was recorded in N70 E45 chains to beginning Black Oak. Lincoln County. The buyer was Thomas Commander The deed was signed by Churchell Hooper and Mary Russel, and the land on Pistol Creek was adjacent. on Hooper in October 1787. north Alexander Mills, part of a grant to Churchill For many years, John Fullilove continued to pay taxes Hooper. for this tract and others in Wilkes County. After he ~Wilkes Deed Book DD, pp. 115-6 moved to the area that became Oglethorpe County, his ~Lincoln Deed Book 8, pp. 247-8.
Other Pistol Creek Neighbors Zachariah Lamar By 1791, Zachariah Lamar had relocated closer to Augusta, for when he sold a tract 250 acre tract in Wilkes County, the deed was by “Zachariah Lamar and Sarah, his wife, of Richmond County, Georgia.” Lamar had been Charles Gent’s Lieutenant Colonel during part of Gent's Revolutionary War service. In 1797, Joseph Anthony paid taxes for 800 acres on Broad River adjacent James Wade. The land had originally been granted to Zachariah Lamar. Many years later, Robert Norris, who had known Absolam Hooper for at least 25 years, stated by affidavit that in 1800, Hooper was acknowledged as a "brother soldier" by Col. Lemair. [Robert Norris was at household #1614 in 1800 Greenville District, South Carolina while Absolam Hooper was at household #1612.] ~Wilkes Book HH, p. 343. ~Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution in South Carolina, #3738A
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 123 Robert McGary James Giles In 1789, Robert McGarry sold 83 acres on both sides of Pistol Creek to As early as 1787, James Giles appears James Wade. Then in 1791, Robert McGary sold 170 acres to James Wade, on deeds as a Justice of the Peace. In on both sides of Pistol Creek, 83 acres of which had already been deeded 1787, James Giles had 550 acres in to James Wade. William Wade was a witness. Taxes show the McGary Wilkes County, some of it along land later came into possession of Sarah Salmon and Major Pullin. Pistol Creek. He witnessed the sale ~Wilkes Deed Books HH, p. 36 and II, p. 86. of his neighbor Church Hooper's 250 acre headright in 1796. ~Wilkes Deed Book CC, p. 11. DD, p. 115
Robert Guttery Eager to claim land, Robert Guttery paid fees over 900 acres in 1778. He had an early 200 acre grant dated July 1784, no watercourse given, and all sides vacant. The surveyor was Thomas Scott, suggesting the possibility that this tract lay nearer the Fork District, perhaps in Elbert or Madison County today. In 1785, Jesse Hooper (240 acres), Benjamin Hubbard Absalom Hooper (no land), and Robert In 1785 to at least 1792, Benjamin Hubbard reported taxes (600-800 Guttery (334 acres) all reported taxes acres in Wilkes) in the district north of present Tignall, and mostly there to tax collector Thomas Scott. between Chickasaw Creek and Clark Creek. The part of Pistol Robert Guttery had another grant Creek that today lies in Wilkes County probably defined the dated 13 October 1785 on the Broad southern end of Hubbard's district. The area today is the northern River. When sold in 1795, that tract lay tip of Wilkes County. This is the same district where Charles and in Elbert County. Robert Gutery and Nathaniel Bennefield lived. In 1792, Benj. Hubbard and wife Caty wife Betsy were “of Elbert County,” (Catren) of Wilkes County sold 200 acres in Elbert County. when they sold land there in 1792. In ~Elbert Deed Book A, p. 103 1792, Elizabeth Saylors sold 33 acres in John Gambel Elbert County that had originally been granted to her in 1785. She sold this John Gambel must have been well known to his Hooper neighbors. land, adjacent to said Saylors and Gut He had a survey done on 20 Mar 1784, for 200 acres on a branch of trey, to Robert Guttrey. Elizabeth Say Butteroms (Buttrom's, Bertrams's) Creek. The land was north of the lors sold another 80 acres from this Broad River in present Elbert County. This land was granted in lieu of same grant to Jesse Hooper (which he an old warrant of William Hooper. Gambel and his wife Elizabeth sold in 1794). Thus, Robert Guttrey sold this land on Buttrams Creek to William Thomason in 1787. and Jesse Hooper owned adjacent lands In addition to his lands on Pistol Creek near the Lincoln/Wilkes for a time. boundary, John Gambel had other lands nearer the headwaters. Daniel In 1794, Robert Guttery and wife Reaves, who later bought the Thomas Little land next to Thomas Betsy, of Elbert Co, sold 233 acres, Hooper, had a 200 acre grant in October 1784 on Gambell's branch, including Guttery's Mill, to Charles adjacent to John Gamble. This grant probably was south of Chickasaw Bedingfield of Wilkes County, and also Creek, and within a mile east of old Mallorysville. On the 1796 tax list, sold him another 200 acres tract John Gammell reported 250 acres on Pistol Creek adjacent Jno. Fuller granted 4 Feb 1785. When this tract love. In December 1804, Elizabeth Gamble (elder), widow of John was sold again in 1802, the mill was Gamble, dec'd and five other heirs sold this land to John Russell. In called Benefield's Mill. June 1805, George Keith, “a legatee of John Gamble, decd. of Jackson ~Davis, Robert S., Jr., 1981, "Lost Georgia County,” sold Russell his tenth interest in the land. Land Grants, 1775 and 1778," in Georgia ~ Wilkes County Plat Book B, p. 163. Genealogical Society Quarterly: Spring ~Wilkes County Deed Book CC, p. 36 1981, pp. 12, 22. ~Mathews, Nathan and Kaydee, 1995, Abstracts of Georgia Land Plat Books ~Wilkes County Plat Book B, p. 320. A & B 1779-1785, vol. 1: Fayetteville, GA, pp. 19, 88. ~Elbert County Deed Books B, p. 99; C, pp. ~Lincoln County Deed Book E, p. 132-133. 44, 116; E, p. 142, and H, p. 271.
124 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 William and Richard Aycock Book TT, p. 244. 5 Aug 1802. Charles Bedingfield Richard Aycock was the son of William Aycock, and and Sarah, his wife, of Severe Co., Tenn. to William Thurmond of Wilkes, for $300, land in was born about 1739 in Virginia. He probably came to Wilkes Co, GA on Chickesaw Creek waters, 100 Georgia by 1774, from Johnson County, North Caro acres, adj. Absalom Thurmand, William Thurman. lina, where he and his father had lived in April 1760. [Signed] Charles Bedingfield, Sarah Bedingfield. Richard's first grant, for which he applied on 27 Sep Test: John Thurmond, Benjm. Thurman, Charles tember 1773, was on Chickasaw Creek adjacent to Thurman. Wilkes Co., GA. Proved by Benjamin Holman Freeman. In December 1774, a legal writ iden Thurmond and Charles Thurmond. tified Richard Aycock as “planter of St. Paul Parish.” Together, the two deeds leave little doubt of the In August 1774, Richard Aycock signed the Kyokee identify of the 1797 and 1802 Charles Bedingfield/ and Broad River petition (see Hooper Compass, pp. 107- Benefield. There are two significant points here. 108) just four names after that of Thomas Hooper. In First, residents of Wilkes County in a tax district near 1778 and 1780, Aycock administered oaths (renouncing the Hoopers were moving to east Tennessee between allegiance to England) to Wilkes County militia groups. 1795 and 1805. Sevier County, Tennessee has few Aycock fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek, as did public records prior to 1842, and lacks a federal census Charles Gent and Jesse Hooper (see Hooper Compass, before 1830. In 1830, Sevier County was home to p. 90). A casualty at that fight was Dempsey Hinton, several Hoopers whose parentage is unidentified: owner of land next to Aycock on Chickasaw Creek. Thomas, Isaac, Jacob, John , and Hiram Hooper. (The Thus, Richard Aycock, widow Mary Hinton, and last had married Dorcas Pearce and by 1840 had Charles Benefield [or Bedingfield] became executors of moved to Monroe County, Tennessee [see Hooper the Hinton estate. After Aycock's first wife Rebecca Compass pp. 10-12 and 32].) Researchers have had few (Thurman) died about 1783, he remarried to this hints about possible prior residences of these families. widow Mary (Benefield) Hinton, daughter of John The second significant point is the association with the and Martha Benefield. In 1785, Zachariah Lamar Benningfield surname. In Wilkes County, Nathaniel served as Aycock's trustee, reporting 100 acres of Bedingfield also appears for poll taxes from 1785 to Savannah River land, and 400 additional acres in the 1793. His district was in the northwestern part of the Pistol Creek district. Richard Aycock’s estate inventory county, around Clark Creek and present border with was recorded in September 1786. By 1794, his estate Oglethorpe County. Some of the lands were only involved over 2,400 acres in what are now Lincoln, about 10 miles south of the area where Jesse and Wilkes, and Oglethorpe Counties. Absalom Hooper were living in the later 1780s. The Charles Benefield above had 287½ acres in Wash Why is this Bedingfield/Bennefield surname notable? ington County (probably a soldier's grant) but from In Tennessee, Jesse Hooper's daughter Martha (Patsy) 1785 to 1794 reported his taxes from his home on Hooper married James Benningfield on 13 January Chickasaw Creek. The 1795 taxlist is missing. In 1796, 1808. The Hoopers and Benningfields may have Charles Benefield, Jr. and Charles Bennefield, Sr., were known each other in Georgia and continued their listed as defaulters (probably meaning they had left the contacts once in Tennessee. district). Deeds and tax records allow tracking of the ~Documentation by Bill R. Linder of Arlington, VA, accessed lands originally granted to Benefield to at least 1804. on 23 April 2001at http://www.familyhistoryhouse.com/ Two Wilkes County deeds are quite interesting: Research/ Research%20A-G/Aycock/richard.htm Mr. Linder died in June 2000, so his website is no longer available. Book PP, p. 126: 9 May 1796, Charles Bedding Parts were reproduced (without documentation) in the field and Sarah, his wife, to Absalom Thurmond, Rootsweb Christopher-L mailing list in 2001. The exerpts were all of Wilkes ... on Chickasaw Creek waters, 250 available 2009 at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ acres, adj. William Thurmond, Sen., ... [signed] CHRISTOPHER/2001-03/0984584056 Charles Beddingfield, Sarah x Beddingfield. ~Davidson County, Tennessee Marriage Book 1( French Witnesses: Holman Freeman, JP, Phillip Thurmon, Lick Chapter NSDAR, trans.), p. 90. Charles Beddingfield, Jr. ~Sevier County, Tennessee census, pp. 96, 107, 111.
General Sources: Cited tax records are from Hudson, Frank Parker, 1996, Wilkes County, Georgia Tax Records, 1785-1805: Atlanta, the author. Wilkes County deeds were filmed in 1958 by the Genealogical Society of Utah, with the earliest records indexed in US/CAN film #163600, and deeds to about 1805 on rolls 163603-163609. Wilkes County deed abstracts quoted herein can be found in Farmer, Michal Martin, 1996, Wilkes County, Georgia Deed Books A-VV, 1784-1806: Dallas [TX], Farmer Genealogy Company. Corresponding abstracts for Elbert County deeds are in Farmer, Michal Martin, 1997, Elbert County, Georgia Deed Books A-J, 1791-1806: Dallas [TX], Farmer Genealogy Company. Lincoln County abstracts are from Davis, Robert S., Jr., and Dorsey, James E., 1987, Lincoln County Genealogy and History: Swainsboro [GA], Magnolia Press.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 125 Learning from Georgia's Land Records
Researchers often ignore local land records unless someone has already transcribed and indexed them. Grants, deeds, and plats may not be so easy nor obvious as census enumerations are. Still, snippets of information from land records can help to assign dates and decipher relatives and family associates. In Wilkes County, Georgia, deterioration of the earliest land books began within a half century of their creation; thus a clerk recopied plats into new books about 1820 or 1821. Fortunately, the Georgia Surveyor General also required his own copy of these plats. Comparing the differing versions can give new insight. The case of Church Hooper provides an example of what can be gleaned from even a few records. From later records in Davidson County, Tennessee, was that a man “would be entitled to 200 acres as his researchers know that Church Hooper's oldest off own headright, plus an additional 50 acres for his wife, spring were born in Georgia, that Church lived his last each child, and each slave,” so long as the total was dozen years in middle Tennessee, and that Thomas under 1,000 acres.(2) Hooper was his brother. Church Hooper left few land The Assembly understood the difficult wartime records from his two decades in Georgia. He did pay conditions, so they offered confirming grants to all taxes regularly from 1785 to 1795 in the tax district who could show some kind of proof of application covering Pistol Creek, in what is now upper Lincoln for survey, agreement to purchase, or settlement. County and northeastern Wilkes County, Georgia. Perhaps Church Hooper never actually settled on his The 1780s tax lists identify only the acreage. Beginning first choice of land. Perhaps he lost all his documenta in 1792, the tax lists include a column for "Who land tion. Whatever the cause, the land for which Church joins," and another for the watercourse. In 1796, a few Hooper paid in 1777 has not been identified. lists include the name of the original grantee, and later However, he did obtain some land by entitlement lists commonly identify an adjacent landowner, the under the 1777 act. In March of 1784, Church watercourse, and the original grantee's name. Hooper obtained a warrant, and in April of that year Other than such indirect references in tax lists, just six Basil Lamar surveyed 200 acres for him. The person Georgia land records have been located so far for who had paid the fees for this land was William Gent. Church Hooper. Three records concern land grants; Pistol Creek ran along the north border of the tract, three records involve purchase or sale. Together, the and across the creek was “Alexr. Mills old survey.” As six documents generate new questions. shown on a plat of the adjacent grant and by later land None of Church Hooper's land transactions occurred sales, the land north of Church Hooper's 200 acres under colonial laws. The first appearance of his name was occupied by the widow Alice (Alis, Alise, Ellis) in a land document came when he, along with Jesse Mills. The reference to the old Alexander Mills survey Hooper, William Hooper and a future neighbor might indicate that Church Hooper had been named Elizabeth Ford, paid his fee to Mr. Gregg acquainted with the area and with the Mills family towards a grant for 200 acres, all on 19 May 1778. from a time before the Revolution. Other acquaintances and neighbors, such as John Alexander Mills, listed as from South Carolina, is Gambell, William Gent, the Eades family, Zachariah thought to have moved to Georgia when he had his Lamar, Richard Aycock, and Elizabeth Ford (again) first warrant for 150 acres on Pistol Creek in Decem paid further fees, probably after the next sitting of the ber of 1773. Mills, though, had died in the fall of land court, on 3 June 1778.(1) 1777. His will and first estate records, all loose papers, The settlers paid these fees under the first land act were abstracted by Grace Davidson.(3) One of the passed by the Georgia General Assembly. An act to administrators appointed for the Mills estate was a open land offices (June 1777, amended September stepson, William Gent. 1777) provided the pattern for survey and granting of The other Mills stepson, Charles Gent, was unavail lands. Another similar act passed in 1780. However, able as estate administrator because he was serving in the wartime urgencies slowed maturation of land the Georgia militia, with his friend Jesse Hooper (see grants based on these laws. “Jesse Hooper, Pioneer of Georgia,” in Hooper The Georgia Secretary of State's office believes that Compass on page 88). Jesse Hooper and Charles Gent the first grant from these earliest state surveys was both claimed they had been citizens of Georgia at the issued 22 October 1783. Both acts required that the start of the Revolution, and that they had known each land be occupied and cultivated by the owner within other from youth. As had Church and Thomas nine months, much as the Colonial laws had stipu Hooper, both Charles Gent and Jesse Hooper later lated. Another provision of the 1777 and all later acts moved to Davidson County, Tennessee.(4)
126 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 The Mills executor, William Gent, disappears after number of slaves. The court issued a warrant, then the the 1777 probate actions. Although charged with surveyor platted the land. A copy of the plat went to preserving the interests of the estate and of his the Surveyor General. Then, under the 1783 act, the minor half-siblings, William Gent was replaced as settler must live on the land and cultivate at least three trustee by step-brother William Mills (before 1789) percent of it before he could obtain the grant itself. (5) and later by Charles Gent. Perhaps both William The 1785 act removed the cultivation provision. So and Charles Gent returned to South Carolina to the when Church applied for land in 1786, he no longer lands left them by their father (6) – neither Gent needed to clear part of the land before he could ob appears on the 1785 or 1787 tax lists for the Pistol tain complete title. Creek district. This time, however, Church claimed the land as a The warrant used by Church Hooper in March of headright. The amount surveyed was only 250 acres. 1784 is what raises the question about what had Thus, Church was claiming in January 1786 as a head happened to William Gent. Neither the county copy of household (200 acres) and for one other (50 acres). (recorded in Plat Book B, page 153) nor the copy That is, he had a wife, or a child, or a slave. For his made for the state's plat books notes the derivation 1785 taxes, Church had claimed 150 acres and 1 slave. of the claim for the land. However, the original plat Unless he sold the slave and then married, his drawn by Basil Lamar includes this note: State Georgia Pursuant to a warrant from the Court of Justices of wilkes County, I have Measured & Laid out unto Churchwell Hooper Two Hundred acres of Land in wilkes County on pistol Creek Bounded Northeast by Alexr. Mills old Survey Northeast part by Robert Gutrey's land all other parts by vacant Land having such form & marks as the above plat represents a plat of which together with the Precept was returned to the Surveyor Genls Office in the name of William Gent June 3d 1778. Here arise more questions ... how did Church Hooper come into possession of this precept from William Gent? Did he buy it? Could the Hoopers and Gents have been more than neighbors, perhaps even relatives? Church Hooper's next real estate transaction was his purchase from Mary Edes, in November of 1785. The Edes 150-acre tract lay between lands of Alice Mills and Church's brother Thomas Hooper. Because Jesse Hooper – who seems so intimately connected to Church and Thomas Hooper – married Betsy Eades near this time, there could be some sort of family association in this deal between Mary Edes and Church Hooper. Not yet satisfied with his land ownership, and encouraged by land acts of 1783 and 1785, Church Hooper petitioned in January 1786 to John King of the land court for another grant.(7) The 1783 act had offered land under several categories – bounties were available for the state's soldiers and others who had remained in the state without molesting their neighbors, or to refugees who had served in militias elsewhere. The old headrights remained available, too. The procedure called for the applicant to appear at court and testify about the size of his family and
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 127 household in January 1786 seems unlikely to have Lincoln County (which had been created from Wilkes included either a wife or children. The 150 acres taxed in 1796). in 1785 almost certainly was the purchased Edes land, The final real estate matter by Church Hooper in because the plat for Church's headright grant shows Georgia tells exactly when he departed for middle land adjacent to the new tract already was owned by Tennessee. The deed was a sale, by Churchwell Hooper Churchwell Hooper (to the south). The new grant was and Mary, his wife, to William Ford, including plantation bounded by land of Thomas Little's heirs to the west. where said Churchwell Hooper and William Ford now live. Church Hooper must have married soon after he Thus, in April 1796, the family remained at their home made his headright application. His next real estate in Georgia. After the sale, the Hoopers must have record was created in October 1787, when he and his begun the migration to middle Tennessee almost wife Mary sold his 200 acres (the Gent tract) to John immediately. In Tennessee, Davidson County Deed Fullilove. When that tract again was sold in 1799 by Book D, page 118 Robert Slaughter sold 200 to the Fullilove family, it was described as being in Churchill Hooper, both “of Davidson County” on 18 July 1796. Notes: 1. Robert S. Davis, Jr., 1981, "Lost Georgia Land Grants, 1775 5. “State of Georgia, Wilkes County. I do hereby certifie that and 1778" in Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Absolem Mills, Jesse Mills and David Mills, are not subject Spring 1981, pp. 3--30. to a poll tax for the year 1789 being minors in Capt. 2. “Georgia Headright and Bounty Grants,” Georgia Joseph Burks district. Given in by William Mills agent. Given Secretary of State, webpage accessed 26 April 2001.at under my hand the 20th day of April 1790. Thomas www.sos.state.ga.us/archives/rs.hbg.htm, which no Wootten, Receiver.” See Warren, Mary Bondurant, editor, longer is available. Similar information is at 1978, Chronicles of Wilkes County, Georgia from http://content.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/looseplats_info.php Washington’s newspapers 1889-1898: Heritage Papers, [as accessed May 2009]. Danielsville [GA], p. 301 (in an illustration reproduced from 3. Records pertaining to the earliest years of Wilkes County, Telamon Cuyler Collection, Special Collections, University Georgia are spotty, at best. In her 1932 two-volume set of Georgia Library.) Early Records of Georgia - Wilkes County, Grace Gillam 6. Holcomb, Brent, 1974, “Early Wills of Camden District,” Davidson published abstracts of some, but not all, of the South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, II:2 probate and intestate records she had found at the [Spring, 1974], p. 98. Charles Ghent's 27 Jan. 1761 will left courthouse. Thank goodness for her efforts - a 1935 fire half of his personal estate to his “loving Wife Alice,” and destroyed some of the very records she had transcribed. left to “ my Son William, all the Land above the Branch, 4.”Declaration by Charles Gent in order to obtain the only His Mother to live on it during her pleasure, and to my benefit of the act of Congress of the 7th of June 1832” Son Charles, all the Land that is below the Branch.” and corroborating testimony of Jesse Hooper in the 7. Dates of appearance in land court and issuance of Charles Gent Revolutionary War pension application file. warrant from the copy recorded on page 76 in the Surveyor General's copy book.
Update: Savannah's Thomas Hooper Genealogy gives its researchers a mobile target - the arrival of babies necessarily requires additions to family group records. Meanwhile, new research continues adding details to extend pedigrees or otherwise supplement prior family records. The parsimonious details provided by governmental estate nor settled his mercantile accounts before clerks gave little information about the death and rel departing. His plan likely involved crossing the ocean atives of merchant Thomas Hooper (see “Savannah to arrange in person for shipping of finished products Merchant - Thomas Hooper” on page 87). Fortu to his colonial partners. Shortly after learning of the nately, a few of the earliest Georgia newspapers sur death, Hooper's partner submitted an announcement vive to reveal more about this gentleman. Hooper was to the Georgia Gazette, wherein he sought immediate sufficiently prominent that his death was noted as payment of debts and notice of any liens against soon as sailing ships could spread the word. The Hooper (January 1765). Georgia Gazette repeated in the “Charleston News” By September of that year, partner John Morel had section of its edition of 2 August 1764 that the mer begun to threaten suit against the remaining debtors. chant Thomas Hooper had died “on his passage for The decedent had had very powerful connections - his England from this port.” Honor, Georgia Governor James Wright took a Hooper must have intended to return to Georgia after personal interest in the estate settlement. On the last his trip home to England. He neither sold his real day of October 1765, the governor removed Morel as
128 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 sole administrator and substituted himself as a co- If Merchant Hooper's wealth was at all comparable to administrator of the Hooper estate. A fortnight later, that of his partner Morel,* then the heirs must have the Georgia Gazette published the following proclama expected a significant inheritance. In addition to tion by His Excellency James Wright: Hooper's commercial wharf lots (mentioned on page Whereas letters of administration of the estate 87 previously), legal notices show that his estate in and effects of Thomas Hooper, late of this cluded at least 800 acres of lands along the Ogechee province, merchant, deceased, were heretofore River. Selling the lands and otherwise settling the af granted to John Morel as his surviving copartner; fairs took four more years. At some point, co-admin and whereas the said letters of administration granted to the said John Morel have been since istrator John Barell died. Then, in August of 1769, revoked by his Excellency the Governor of this Governor Wright published an announcement that he province, and letters of administration of the es had issued to himself letters of discharge from admin tate and effects of the said Thomas Hooper have istration on the Hooper estate. been granted to us the subscribers, as next of kin; Although the newspaper reports help refine the death these are therefore to advertise all persons in date and prominence of merchant Hooper, they debted to the estate to make immediate pay produce a new and significant question. How was ment. ... For further particulars, enquire of James Wright and John Barell, administrators, or of Governor James Wright related to Mr. Hooper? The Thomas Burrington, their attorney answer probably lies somewhere in English records.
* The 1777 inventory and appraisal of the property of John Morel of Christchurch, Georgia included a list of 155 slaves. A typed copy of the original record is available in the Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the Southern Historical Collection folder #1279-Z. ~Kilbourne, Elizabeth Evans, 1999, Savannah Georgia Newspaper Clippings (Georgia Gazette) Volume 1, 1763-1770: Savannah [GA], [published by] the author. Pages 67-8, 92, 137, 147, and 388. Update: Mary Hooper, Wilmington, North Carolina Previously, little was know about to George Hooper, now dec'd. plying that Miss Shaw had not yet Mary Hooper (niece of the Signer) and descended from him to said attained her majority. The bride, other than that she was identified as AM Hooper and Mary Fleming even before her marriage, was a Mrs. Shaw when she remarried to his only children and heirs at law. slave owner. Four years earlier, her James Fleming on 1 June 1806. In James Fleming (husband of Mary) uncle AM Hooper had reported “as 1799, George Hooper “merchant, of already was dead before this deed. guardian of C. Shaw, 3 black polls” Wilmington, North Carolina, sur Back in North Carolina, church for the 1815 taxes. Mrs. Mitchell viving partner of Ingram & Hooper” records do show he was alive as late died almost exactly seven years after had received a deed for middle as 1813. James Fleming was a her marriage. Gravestone records Tennessee lands. The several tracts subscriber at Wilmington's St. of the cemetery plot at St. James on the east fork of the Harpeth James Church for 1811 to 1813. In Episcopal Church [Wilmington] River probably had been transferred 1820, though, widow Mary Fleming show that plot 37 was assigned to was the head of household. to Hooper in settlement of a debt. Catherine Mitchell departed this After George Hooper's 1821 death, Two daughters of James and Mary life 19 Jan 1826, age 38 years. this land remained in his estate sev Fleming had been christened at that The age probably was mistran eral more years. In 1829, three docu church on 26 March 1812. Their scribed, for a woman born in 1788 ments show how the heirs disposed cousin - John DeBerniere Hooper - would not have been a minor in of the distant land. First, Archibald had also been christened the same 1815 or 1819. More likely, Catherine Maclaine Hooper and Mary Fleming day. The priest recorded the names Shaw Mitchell was closer to 28, “of New Hanover County and and births as Elizabeth H. Fleming, born between 1797 and 1799. State of North Carolina,” trans born 20 September 1810, and her Mary (Hooper) (Shaw) Fleming, the ferred Power of Attorney regarding sister Charlotte Isabella Fleming, mother of Mrs. Mitchell, was buried the tracts. The land fell under juris born 12 October 1811. There was in the adjacent plot, #38. The stone diction of both Williamson and also an older half-sister. lacks dates, but gives her age as 52. Davidson Counties. In two January On 11 January 1819, James W. Officials at St. James Church 1829 deeds, AM Hooper and Mary Mitchell obtained a bond to marry recorded her death in a parish Fleming sold the tracts at an Catherine Shaw of Wilmington. register on 4 May, 1831: average price of 50¢ per acre. The The document identified Miss Shaw Mrs. Mary Fleming, 51, a com deeds specify that the lands passed as daughter of Mary Fleming, im municant, of cancer.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 129 These few additional records allow a revision to the descendants' chart for Mary Hooper, granddaughter of Reverend William Hooper and child of George Hooper. [Compare previous information on page 77 of the Hooper Compass.] │ ├3. Mary Hooper (b. 1779-1780; d. 4 May 1831, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC) │ │ spouse 1: Mr. Shaw │ │ ├4. Catherine Shaw (b. about 1798 buried 19 Jan 1826, St. James Episcopal Cemetery, Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC) │ │ │ spouse: James W. Mitchell (m. 11 Jan 1819 Wilmington, New Hanover Co., NC) │ │ │ └5. George Hooper Mitchell (b. 20 Jun 1821 Wilmington, New Hanover, NC, buried 9 Dec 1821 St. James Episcopal) │ │ spouse 2: James Fleming (m. 1 Jun 1806) │ │ ├4. Elizabeth H. Fleming (b.20 Sep 1810) │ │ └4. Charlotte Isabella Fleming (b.12 Oct 1811) │ └ ~Marsh, Helen C, and Marsh, Timothy R., 1992, Land Deed Genealogy of Davidson County, Tennessee 1797-1803: Southern Historical Press, Greenville [SC], Vol. 3., p. 135.[Davidson Deed Book E., p. 143] ~Davidson County Register of Deeds, Book S, pp. 91, 180, 183 [available on LDS Film #332,665]. ~Kellam, Ida Brooks, and McKoy, Elizabeth Franceina, 1965, St. James Church Historical Records, 1737-1852: Wilmington [NC], I.B. Kellam, Vol. 1, pp. 66-67, 76, 111. ~Bond posted by Archibald M. Hooper, marriage of James W. Mitchell to Catherine Shaw, New Hanover County Deed Book Q, p. 301. ~Haskett, Delmas D., abstractor, 1989, New Hanover County, North Carolina, 1815 And 1845 Tax Lists: Wilmington, North Carolina Room, New Hanover County Public Library. Reunions
Absalom B. Hooper, Jr./Mary Kate Smith Family Reunion on Memorial Weekend Thomas Senior Citizen's Center (101 ½ N. Missouri), Thomas, Oklahoma Noon, 26 May 2001 Bring a lunch and enjoy genealogical entertainment, which includes a speech: Historical Perspective on the Hooper Family, by Gary Hooper A video record is planned. If interested in the details, check with organizer R. Clayton Hooper, 899 14th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114-1211 or email him at
Hooperfest 2001 Hiawassee, Georgia July 21, 2001 10 am - ??? Upper Pavilion Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds Besides the fun, help to plan and organize for newsletters and new officers Please sign if when you arrive - correct addresses are needed for the reunion newsletter! Contact: 770-941-0328 John T. Hooper, 467 Tamwood Drive, Mableton, Georgia 30126 Friday Night Meeting at Senior Citizen Center in Hiawassee, Georgia, 6:00 p.m., July 20 for fellowship, comparing records, sharing pictures Mary Crocker, author of "A Glimpse into the Past," will attend both events. Now's your chance to get one of the last reprinted copies. If you descend from the Revolutionary War soldier Absalom Hooper, then you need this book. This reunion was first organized by descendants of soldier Absalom Hooper. Those interested in all southern Hooper lineages are welcome.
130 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 HOOPER COMPASS VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4 AUGUST 2001
Editor's Message
Lost Issues? This issue, with its annual index, completes Volume 2. A few changes with formatting and lineage identifications will occur in volume 3 and later issues. When a volume is completely written – that is, when all four issues have been mailed to that volume’s subscribers – the complete volume becomes available as a plastic comb-bound book. The publisher's intent is to reprint these complete volumes whenever necessary to meet the needs of non-subscribers and of subscribers who have lost pieces of their quarterly issues. As soon as the bound volumes are for sale, individual issues no longer are available. To purchase earlier volumes, please use the most recent order form at http://www.fscompass.com/pubs/orderfrm.pdf Using the curent order form is particularly important – the editor moves frequently, so the only way to be certain of the current mailing address is to use whatever order form version is currently available online. Some of What's Coming in Future Volumes: ■ Caswell County, North Carolina Hoopers ● Samuel Hooper moved from Virginia to ● Charles H. Hooper fought in the Mexican War, Caswell County, then to Tennessee and finally then returned to marry in Caswell County to Greene County, Missouri before moving to Rockingham County. ● Spencer Hooper, a son of Woodlief Hooper, left his Caswell County home and his first INSIDE THIS ISSUE family for Greene County, Missouri. ■ Pre-Revolution Hoopers in the area of old Tryon County, North Carolina Editor's Message 131 ■ Hoopers in Granville District, South Carolina 132 Reunion Report ■ Middle Tennessee Hoopers ● Descendants of Revolutionary soldier Jesse 133 Hooperfest Preliminary Report Hooper ● Descendants of Churchwell Hooper Salena of Many Names 133 ● Natchez Absalom Hooper and his family
Annual Name Index ■ Continuing series on Hanover County, Virginia 136 Hoopers ● Part 2: Jeremiah and Joseph Hooper of A Quarterly Publication, © 1999, 2009 of Cumberland County, Kentucky and Hardeman County, Tennessee A NNE G OODWIN ● Part 3: Elizabeth Hooper and her sons Obadiah and Thomas ● Part 4: Obadiah Hooper, Sr. and his ties to WEBSITE Hanover County. www.HooperCompass.com
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 131 Reunion Report by R. Clay Hooper Subscriber Clay Hooper organized one of the Hooper Reunions announced in the previous issue (page 130). The summary below is from material he submitted for publication in the local Thomas, Oklahoma newspaper. History: In 1900, after the Absalom B. Hooper Many old stories and pictures were shared. Dinner family was enumerated on the Polk County, was catered by BBQ Joe's of Thomas and the Tennessee census, they moved to Oklahoma opening prayer was said by Theo Gripe of Territory. Two of A.B.'s sons (Bill and Greene Weatherford, OK. There was a touching historical Hooper) and one of their perspective given by Gary Hooper mother's brothers had previ of Enid, OK. A family video and ously been recruited to Oklahoma Territory a portrait were created by Becky in 1898 to teach school. Along with A.B. Christensen of Thomas. A small Hooper and his wife, Mary Catherine Smith auction raised $410 for the next Hooper, came their twelve children along reunion and was conducted by with their respective families and many aunts, Bryan Potter of Elk City, OK. uncles, cousins and associated extended families. It Organizers of the Hooper Family was a huge migration of family that settled in and Reunion were Vicki Litsch of Thomas, OK and Clay around the new settlement of Thomas. Hooper of San Francisco, CA. Those in attendance, Some of the family moved back to Tennessee when 72 in all, from nine states, were: they discovered the dust in Western Oklahoma Arizona – Janice Potter Territory was thicker than sugar, but A.B. Hooper, Arkansas – Terri and Brian Lowther wife and children all stayed on, lived in dugouts, farmed, taught school, and raised families. Mary California – Clay Hooper Smith Hooper's half nephew, Greenberry Smith Jr., Florida – Sam and Paula Harris founded the First Baptist Church in Thomas in a Kansas – Susie and Gary Cobden half dugout south of Thomas. The A.B. Hooper Mississippi – Kelli Dickerson family were charter members. Hooper Campbell was the first Pastor of the present First Baptist Church. Missouri – Bill and Jan Hooper The children of Absalom B. and Mary Catherine Oklahoma – Sydney Aldag, Amanda Brown, Claire and Stanley Cotts, Grace Dickerson, Smith Hooper were: Sarah Martha (Harris), William Maxine and Wilson Dunn, Ethel and Theo Gripe, Henry, John Greenberry, Isaac Absalom, James Ron, Nancy and Amanda Gripe, Beverley Enos, Temperance Elizabeth (Potter), Maude Helen Hooper, Gary and Joyce Hooper, Jimmy, Sue, (Campbell), Amanda (Ryan), Bertha, Ruth, Samuel Jim and Christina Hooper, John and Gayle Arthur and Jennings Bryan Hooper. Absalom B., Hooper, Mary Belle Hooper, Nellie Hooper, Tony, Mary Catherine Smith Hooper and all their children Debbie and Kent Hooper, Sid and Stacy Litsch, are buried in the Mound Valley Cemetery of Slade Litsch, Vicki, Bill and Marcus Litsch, Betty Thomas, Oklahoma. Pike, Allison, Meredith and Michael Potter, Barbara Potter, Bruce, Kim and LaCee Potter, Reunion: On Saturday, May 26, 2001, many Don Potter, Twila Ryan, Cyndee, Keith and descendants of Absalom B. and Mary Catherine Dylan Sampson, Lois Simpson, Eithel Simpson, Smith Hooper held a Family Reunion in Thomas to Max, Diane, Sara, Emily, Natalie and Mary celebrate their connection of family and love. Three Simpson, Lois, Robert and Ashley Towler, Leslie of A.B. and Mary's children had no descendants, but Wright at the reunion there were representatives from all the Texas - Dot and John Cooke. other nine children.
Please note: By including the names of the above attendees, the editor has purposely violated her own rule against publishing information about living persons. However, such reunion reports will prove to be invaluable assets for future researchers trying to determine relationships within our present mobile population. The editor accepts announcements of upcoming reunions and similar reports on recent gatherings at the email and postal addresses listed at the bottom of the Inside this Issue box used on current issues.
132 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Hooperfest Preliminary Report This summary is based on a telephoned report received at press deadline. About 1990, Faye (Hooper) Twiggs – a descendant of his severe accident in Blairsville a few years ago will be Absalom Hooper through his son James – organized a happy to hear that J.T. Crocker was looking good. He “Family Get Together.” Her event evolved into the annual was actively taking photos of the Hooperfesters. His Hooperfest held at Hiawassee, Georgia. She again joined wife, Mary (Hooper) Crocker, introduced many of the the fun at this year's meeting at the Georgia Mountain attendees and explained their lineages. Several out-of- Fairgrounds on July 21. The weather was breezy and sur towners arrived early on Friday and overnighted in prisingly cool. A preliminary guess is that over a hundred lodging nearby. About twenty of them met at the Hia people participated, slightly more than last year's atten wassee Senior Citizen Center to enjoy fellowship the dance. A better guess of the actual numbers will be pos night before the larger reunion. Thanks go especially to sible when the guest register – kept by John Hooper of the Crockers and to John Hooper for all their work to Mableton, Georgia – is analyzed. Those who knew about organize and publicize these gatherings.
Salena of Many Names Late in the summer of 1850, a child was born in east Monroe County listing is published on the website at Tennessee, probably in the area of Coker Creek in http://www.fscompass.com/census/tn1850monroe.html Monroe County. The mother chose to name the girl Circumstantial evidence suggests that after Salena's Salena. Or at least, the mother called her something birth and before 1853, Enos resettled Polly and the like Salena, because the name appears variably in children across the mountains to the Cheoah area of documents as Salina, Selena, Celina, and Seelina. Cherokee County – an area that became Graham But what surname did the child use? By nearly all County in 1872 – in North Carolina.(4) There is little accounts, Salena Hooper was the daughter of Dr. Enos to indicate what surname Polly used when she first C. Hooper a nd Mary “Polly” Monroe. She had five arrived in North Carolina, so there is likewise scant older full siblings: brothers Lorenzo Dow, Enos indication of what surname her daughter Salena used. General, twins Jeptha and Jethro, and sister Elizabeth By 1858, however, Salena had gained a stepfather.(5) Parazaide – all born in Tennessee according to census She was living in his household in 1860 reports. The older brothers seem to have used the 1860 Cherokee Co., NC, Cheoah District, Fort Monroe surname in the earlier years, but switched to Montgomery P.O., 27 July, page 220b, #716/716 Hooper sometime after the move to North Carolina. (1) Salena's younger full brother John R. always seems Gibson, Joshua 50 Burke Co., NC Polly 45 Pickens District, SC to appear with the Hooper surname.(2) Nancy 23 Jackson Co., NC Salena's mother Polly was known by the Monroe Samantha 1 Cherokee Co., NC surname in Tennessee. Probably, this was because Dr. William 2/12 Cherokee Co., NC Enos Hooper already had a legal wife – Margaret Hooper, Selena 12 Monroe Co., TN (Harbison) Hooper – whom he had married in Cocke Hooper, John 7 Cherokee Co., NC County, Tennessee on 10 December 1818.(3) Dr. Enos This census listing suggests that the teenaged Salena and Margaret Hooper moved to Monroe County, called herself by her father's surname. Tennessee before the 1830 census. Enos and Margaret How many husbands, how many names? The again were living there for the 1840 census. question of what surnames Salena used during her Mary Monroe also was a head of household in 1840. adulthood is baffling. Oral history among Graham She is listed on the next page, only 16 households after County families suggests that Salena married a total of Enos Hooper. She had two sons aged 0-10; she herself three times. Unfortunately, the oral tradition seems to was between 30 and 40. have confused the order of the husbands.(6) When the enumerator visited late in October, 1850, he About 1866, Salena had married – probably her first found Mrs. Margaret Hooper, who continued to live in marriage – to John Millsaps. Fire losses meant that Monroe County with her younger children. He did not no marriage record remains in Cherokee County, so list Enos C. Hooper there with her. Nor did he find there is no way to know what surname she was using Polly Monroe or any of her children. Nor do Dr. before the wedding occurred.(7) However, Salena Enos Hooper and his Monroe family appear on the more likely called herself Hooper before this 1850 North Carolina census. Margaret Hooper's 1850 marriage.
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 133 On the 1870 Cherokee County census on page 267, Not long after the 1880 census was taken, Union her household in Cheoah district consisted of husband County records show there was another marriage John Millsaps, age 23, Salena Millsaps, age 20, and two recorded for John Millsaps, this time to Amanda young children – Enos (born 1867) and Hettie (born Garland, on 7 November 1880 by Justice of the 1869). Her father Enos Hooper and his legal wife Peace B. A. Harkens. The identity of this woman is Margaret were just two households earlier. Between unclear. In 1870, there had been an Amanda Garland, her father's and her own home was that of her full born about 1854, in Caroline Garland's home. Ten brother Enos Hooper. Immediately after her house years earlier, there was no Amanda. In her place was were homes of her half-brothers Riley and Jefferson, a female named Levina, born about 1854, in the who were sons of Margaret (Harbison) Hooper. household. Neither Amanda/Levina, nor Surely this close association means both that her Armenda/Malenda Garland appears in Caroline father had acknowledged her and that Margaret (Har Garland's 1880 Union County census. Thus, John bison) Hooper had come to accept Salena by this time. Millsaps’ November 1880 marriage might have been Salena's own marriage to John Millsaps must have to an older sister of his 1878 wife. been turbulent. The two separated before 1878. However, there could be another explanation for the Nevertheless, three more children – Estelle, born two ceremonies. Perhaps Millsap's 1878 marriage to 1871, William Clinton, born 1873, and Lewella, born Sarah Armenda was in fact a bigamous marriage, about 1875 – had joined the family. Sometime after made after his separation from Salena, but before the the birth of Lewella, John Millsaps moved to Union first marriage had been dissolved. Could his County, Georgia. If Salena went with him, then she November 1880 marriage to “Amanda” have been a must have fled back to the safety of her mother's second ceremony, intended to quell any legal home by 1878. Two years later, her census listing was problems from the earlier, premature marriage to as follows: “Armenda”? The fact that Salena Millsaps was 1880 Graham Co., NC, Cheoah, 12 June, page “married” on the census hints that the divorce of 248c, #70/70 Salena from John may not have become final until Gibson, Joshua 75 married, NC NC NC, farmer after June 1880. Mary 65 wife, married, TN AL VA Samantha 22 daughter, single, NC NC TN What does that string of state abbreviations mean? Lucy 1 granddaughter, NC NC NC Beginning in 1880, census takers asked for the Adora 1/12 (May), granddaughter, NC NC NC Millsaps, Salina 30, daughter, married, TN NC TN birthplace (state) of the individual, of the Salena obviously still considered herself a married individual's father, and of the individual's mother. woman in June 1880, and still used her married Thus, NC TN GA means the person was born in surname of Millsaps. However, her husband already North Carolina, the father was born in Tennessee, had participated in a marriage ceremony in Union and the mother was born in Georgia. County, Georgia. The marriage register there shows that William Davis, Justice of the Peace, had Oddly, Salena's children seem to have remained with performed a marriage of John Millsaps to Arminda their father. The oldest two may have disliked their Garland on 9 November 1878. John, the new wife, stepmother(s), for they both married at a young age Salena's five children, and the new wife's child were in Union County in 1886. Hettie married John Jones all listed as follows on 3 June 1880: on 18 Feb 1886 and her older brother married 1880 Union Co., GA, Coosa, page 130B, #34/34 Adaline Long on 10 Nov 1886. Justice of the Peace J. W. Queen officiated for both ceremonies.(8) Also in John Millsaps 28 married, TN TN TN 1886, John Millsaps sold some of his Union County Sarah A. 21 wife, married, GA GA GA Enos 13 son, NC TN GA lands, so he may have left the Georgia mountains Hetty 11 daughter, NC TN GA then. Several different sources have indicated that Estell 9 daughter, NC TN GA John Millsaps died 5 Dec 1922 in Marietta, with William C. 6 son, NC TN GA burial at the Midway Presbyterian Church Cemetery Lewilla 5 daughter, NC TN GA in Cobb County, Georgia.(9) Tennessee A. 10/12 daughter, NC TN GA Sarah A. Millsaps above appears to be the Armenda Back in North Carolina, Salena began to identify or Malenda Garland, born 1857 or 1858 in Georgia, herself again as Salena Hooper. Her second marriage who had appeared within the 1860 and 1870 Union occurred in the fall of 1881. Graham County County, Georgia household of Caroline Garland. marriage licenses show:
134 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Richard Cox, age 23, to Seelina Hooper, age 25, had moved north from Cheoah and was listed as on 7 November 1881, by J.E. Morgan, Minister. follows in the next census: Witnesses: F.M. Carringer, A.C. Adams, and J.E. Colvard. (10) 1900 Graham Co., NC, Yellow Creek, page 151A, Mr. Cox may have died, divorced, or deserted his 4&5 June,#7/7 wife. In 1900, the year of the next available census, a Hall, Thomas 20 b. March 1880, md. 3 years, daughter born after the Cox marriage remained farmer, NC NC NC, owns farm within her mother's home, but was using the Salena 49 wife, b. Aug 1850, md. 3 years, surname Hooper. mother of 7, 7 living, TN TN TN, Hooper, Maggie13 stepdaughter, b. Feb 1887, For some reason, Salina herself had returned to using single, NC NC TN, attended school 4 months the Millsaps name. Perhaps she switched because Perhaps the family moved again, because in 1910, some of her five Millsaps children came back to they were enumerated back in the Cheoah district: North Carolina to visit. [Although her son William married in Graham County in 1904, none of her 1910 Graham Co., NC Western part, Cheoah, Millsaps children appeared in the county on the 1900 page 15A, 18 April, #9-9 census.(11)] Or maybe, somehow, the death of her Hall, Tom 35 TN TN TN, md. 12 years mother in 1885 influenced Salena's name choices.(12) Salena 59 wife, NC NC NC, md. 12 years, mother of 7, 7 living In 1896, Salena Millsaps married the third time, to a Phillips, Lillie 26 stepdaughter, NC NC NC, much younger man who was not even half her age. widow, mother of 2, 2 living According to the marriage register, she was 45 when Sherrill, Maggie 23 stepdaughter, single NC NC NC she married W. T. Hall, a youth of 18.(13) The family Phillips, Arnold 6 stepgrandson, NC NC NC Phillips, Ella 4 stepgranddaughter, NC NC NC
Recommendations for further research: The author searched for records only to the beginnings of the twentieth century. However, both Salena and Tom Hall both may have lived long past 1910. Further study of the 1910 and 1920 census might reveal added details about the family. Perhaps an obituary exists for Salena - it might delineate the names of her offspring and reveal all her husbands. Other research into her family probably should include study of the land and court records in Graham and Union Counties. An obituary for John Millsaps might list all of the Millsaps offspring. A summary of this family is available by a link at the website http://www.fscompass.com/hooper/families/Salena.html
Notes: 1. The 1860 Cherokee County, NC Dr. Jeptha M. Hooper and Dr. Mathew her name before her said marriage census lists Lorenza D. Monroe in Hooper, both age 37, lived with their was Margaret Harbison; and she Cheoah township. Muster rolls of the families in Sebastian County, Arkansas. further states that – neither her, nor her 25th NC Infantry (Confederate) in Elizabeth Parazaide has not been said husband were ever married prior clude Private Lorenzo D. Munroe, age located in 1860. About 1865, she had to their said marriage with and to 23 upon enlistment on 1 June 1861. The married Isaac VanVirt Hooper (son of each other.” [Italics added.] 1880 Graham County, NC census Enos M.). 4. Enos may have been missing because shows Loranza Hooper in Cheoah 2. Both John and Salena are listed as he was moving his unofficial family to township. In the same township in 1900, Hoopers in their stepfather's 1860 North Carolina sometime after Salena's he is Dow L. Hooper. household; John still lived with the birth. NC Secretary of State Land In 1860, E. G. Monroe, age 24, is on the Gibsons in 1870 when he was listed as Office records (folder 12.14.45.1743) Cherokee County census three doors John Hooper. His Graham County, NC show that E. C. Hooper received a after his full brother Lorenzo, and two marriage record, dated 16 Dec 1876, patent for 342 acres that was entered households after his half-brother Riley shows “John R. Hooper of Graham on 30 June 1853 (Grant number 3232). Hooper. Then in August 1867, Enus County, age 22, to Sarah J. Wilson, of The locale was described as "Waters of Monroe signed the bastardy bond for Graham, age 20.” John was buried in Mountain Creek taked up as an the child Armider Hooper. In 1870, Enos the Robbinsville Cemetery, Graham occupant," suggesting that Enos had Hooper, age 25, lived with Jane Gash, County, where his tombstone reads previously lived on the site. The also 25, and a male child Monroe. He “Dr. John R. Hooper April 20, 1853 - patented land lay about a mile or two was only two households separate April 1, 1904.” See “1941 Historical north of Robbinsville, NC. Polly Monroe from Riley Hooper. Records Survey of NC”, Southwestern likely kept house for Enos at this site. Twins Jeptha and Jethro appeared in North Carolina Genealogical Society Their last son John R. Hooper was born separate households in 1860, with Quarterly 6:2 [Spring] 1989, p. 97.) on 1 April 1853. Census records identify different surnames. Jethroe Monroe, 3. Date of marriage from testimony for John's birth state as North Carolina. age 16, lived in the Levi Chambers bounty land: “She further states that Within the bounty warrant file are home in Cheoah township. Jeptha she was married to the said Enos C. papers from applications by Enos C. Hooper, age 16, lived in Stecoah Hooper, in the County of Cocke Hooper regarding his 1852 and 1860 township with his stepbrother Wesley Tennessee on the 10th day of Dec. efforts to obtain free land. Hooper was Gibson. Family stories suggest the twins 1818, by one Jackson Natherton who identified as “of Monroe County, went west to Indian territory. In 1880, was a Justice of the Peace; and that Tennessee” on 25 October 1852. A
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 135 court case filed 23 August 1854 from Salena married first to Tom Hall (no Co....Later they moved to the Mt. Monroe County, TN (Babington vs. children), then John Millsaps (two Pleasant community where they Glenn, et al) identifies defendant E. C. children), and third to _____ Sherrill purchased a farm... buried in Duncan Hooper as “of North Carolina.” Thus, (and with him had two daughters, Cemetery.” A transcription from that Enos C. Hooper had resided in NC in Maggie and Lillie). Having the wrong cemetery has John E. Jones April 7, 1853 and 1854. He did briefly return to spousal order — and thus the wrong 1865 to December 20, 1939, and Hettie Tennessee. sequence of surnames — increases Jones, February 25, 1869 to May 6, On 21 January 1860, Enos Hooper the difficulty of tracking Salena 1948. again identified himself as “of Monroe through the written records. Nance, Elma Farley, 1994, “John Erwin County, Tennessee,” and referred to Oral traditions within collateral Millsaps Jones” in Heritage of Union County, his earlier application, stating that “he families of Graham County were also Georgia: Blairsville [GA], Union County has not received no bounty Land inaccurate. One researcher wrote: Heritage Book Committee, Article 632, Warrant nor has any other Person for “The following children of Jesse and pp. 212-213. Him to his Knowledge.” [Italics added.] Polly's [Millsaps] family is given Elliott, Dale, and Wimpey, C. T., editors, That is, if Margaret (Harbison) Hooper because so many of our Graham 198?, Cemetery Records of Union or another legal agent had obtained County natives descended from County, Georgia: Blairsville [GA], Union the land warrant, Hooper was them.... Jonathan, (born) 1809-1811 County Historical Society, p. 223. unaware of it. Accompanying this 1860 (died-blank) (married) One wife was 9. A death certificate, #31700-D, was application was a letter to the Pention Salena Hooper.” filed in Cobb County, Georgia upon Agent stating “the reason that Mr. Here, the Millsaps tradition mistakenly the 5 December 1922 death of John Hoopers declaration was kept back so assigned Salena to the wrong Millsaps. The author has not examined long was that he was out of the generation. Fortunately the tradition the certificate to assure that the country.” For the 1860 census, Dr. Enos did consider her a Hooper, again decedent is identical to the individual Hooper was counted twice. He was Dr. suggesting that the Millsaps marriage discussed in this article. E. C. Hooper, living alone, at was her first. 10. Richard Cox does not appear on the household #833 in Cheoah district of Crocker, Mary Hooper, 1993, A Cherokee County 1860 or 1870 census, Cherokee County, NC. He also was Glimpse Into the Past" of Hooper and nor is he listed on the Graham County the head of household in Monroe Related Families (1763-1993): Gene 1880 census. The 1880 Graham census County, TN (p. 318) with Margaret and alogy Publishing Service, Franklin [NC] shows no S. or C. Hooper who could their son Napoleon B. pp. 619, 630. have been the bride, other than In the 1861 Monroe County case of “Tennessee River Baptist Association Salena Millsaps. The officiant in the Roberts vs. Hooper, testimony was History 1830-1892” in The Bone Rattler: ceremony was the minister of the taken on 20 February 1861. Defendant Swain County Genealogical and Choeah Baptist Church, where Hooper was described as “in North Historical Society: 5:3 [Winter] 1989, Salena's stepfather Joshua Gibson Carolina, not Monroe County.” Another p. 7.) worshipped. Witness F[rancis] M[arion] case, that of Camp vs. heirs of Jean Millsaps, 1986, “Gone but not Carrenger probably was a relative of McDermott, was filed in 1860 but Forgotten by Jean Millsaps, Millsaps- Gibson's first wife Rachel Carrenger. continued for several years in Monroe Williams - Part II” in Southwestern North Marion Carrenger was listed only two County. Testimony in 1866 stated that Carolina Genealogical Society doors after Joshua Gibson in 1880. “witness Enos C. Hooper moved his Quarterly, III:iii [Summer], p. 161. Witness A. C. Adams, as “Ace” Adams, family to N.C. in 1861.” 7. Salena’s stepfather Joshua Gibson also was listed on the same 1880 5. Loss of many Cherokee County, North had local prominence in the Baptist census page. Carolina marriage records makes the Church (see note 5). Therefore, the 11. “Graham County, NC Marriages 1872- marriage date uncertain. Samantha Cheoah Church minutes might 1925,” in Southwestern North Carolina and William Gibson, living in the same contain some reference to Salena's Genealogical Society Quarterly, X:iii home with Polly in July 1860, seem to marriage. Whether such minutes still [Spring] 1993, page 124. “Wm. C. be Polly's children. Thus, Polly probably exist, and who might possess them, is Millsaps, of Graham, age 28, to Mary had married Joshua Gibson by 1858. unknown. Also unknown is whether D. Sawyer, of Graham, age 16, by A. The fact that Cheoah Baptist Church John Millsaps's and/or Salena's Wall, JP, on Jan 1 1904 at Joe Sawyers. sent Joshua Gibson as a delegate to descendants have a family record of Witnesses W. H. Carringer, W. B. the Friendship Baptist Association the marriage. Researcher Carollyn Ann Millsaps, F. M. Carringer.” implies that Joshua and Polly had a Thomason Millsapp has given the 12. According to Bill and Wilma Millsaps's legally recognized marriage by 1868. marriage date as 2 April 1866 – see transcription, Mary [Monroe] Gibson “Minutes of the 7th Anniversary of the FamilySearch Pedigree Resource File (15 March 1815-17 Oct 1885) and Friendship United Baptist Association Disc #27, Pin#318811, available via the Joshua Gibson (1 Mar 1810-15 Apr held with New Prospect Church, website www.familysearch.org. 1902) are buried at the Old Mother Cherokee County, NC October 2-3, 8. The Union County marriage register Church Cemetery, Graham County, 1868” in Southwestern North Carolina shows the brother's marriage as Amos NC. Graham County Historical Society, Genealogical Society Quarterly: I:i, G. Millsaps to Adline Long. A 1992, Graham County Heritage Book: [Winter] 1984 , p. 8. descendant of John Jones and his wife Vol. 1, appendix. 6. When expert family historian Mary Hettie wrote that John Jones was 13. “Marriages of Graham County, Hooper Crocker first visited Graham “born April 6, 1865, married Hettie NC,” in The Bone Rattler, VI:2, [Fall] County for research, she learned the Millsaps of Robbinsville, NC, who was 1989, p. 41, “W. T. Hall, Graham, 18 traditions about Enos Hooper there. born February 25, 1869. He died W, to Salena Millsaps, Graham 45 W, Much of the story had become con February 20, 1938 and Hettie died 6 by W.M. Barnes, J.P., Nov 3, 1896, at fused through the years. Crocker was May 1948. After getting married, they res. of bride. Wit: WT Carver, John told that Dr. Enos Hooper's daughter moved to Cooper's Creek in Union Stratten, and BC Carver.”
136 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Annual Name Index
Acock, see Aycock Benningfield, Sarah (Mrs.)...... 125 Clark, John (Colonel)...... 103-105 Adams, A. C...... 135-136 Benton, A...... 78 Clark, John Innes...... 62 Adams, Abigail...... 68 Benton, Jesse...... 66, 78 Clark, Thomas, Sr...... 62, 66 Adams, Ace, see Adams, A. C. Benton, Samuel...... 78 Clark, Thomas, Jr. (Colonel, General).....62, 65 Adams, Elizabeth ...... 97 Bias, see Byars Clark, William...... 61 Adams, John...... 62, 65, 67-68 Black, _____ (Captain)...... 92 Clarke, see Clark Adams, Samuel...... 62 Blackwell, Isaiah...... 109 Cleaveland, see Cleveland Aldag, Sydney...... 132 Blackwell, Joel...... 109 Clemons, Samuel L., see Twain, Mark Alexander, Alexander (Captain)...... 90 Blackwell, Sarah Anne (Doggett) (Byars)....109 Clemment, Isham...... 105 Alexander, David...... 70 Bois, _____ (Colonel)...... 102-103 Clemment, Martha...... 105 Allen, John W...... 118 Boone, Daniel...... 105 Clemments, John...... 105 Allen, Mrs...... 64-65 Boyd, _____ (Colonel)...... 90 Cleveland, Benjamin (Colonel)...... 104 Allen, Nancy M. (Hooper)...... 118 Buoy, _____ (Colonel)...... 102-103 Cleveland, Larkin (Colonel)...... 103-105 Allen, William...... 118 Bradley, John...... 71 Clinton, Henry (Sir)...... 64 Alston, Benjamin Crowell...... 76, 85-86 Brantley, Mary Mildred...... 72, 77 Cloud, John...... 108 Alston, Bernadene...... 76, 85 Britton, Garland...... 87 Cloud, Noah...... 108 Alston, Bettie R...... 76, 85 Broadfoot, Margaret S...... 76, 80, 83 Cobb, Collier...... 74, 78, 83 Alston, Charlie Cooke...... 76, 85 Brown, Alexander...... 87 Cobden, Gary...... 132 Alston, Charlotte Elizabeth(Hooper).76, 81, 85-86 Brown, Amanda...... 132 Cobden, Susie...... 132 Alston, DeBerniere Hooper...... 76, 85 Brown, Milton...... 102-103 Cobia, Daniel (Reverend)...... 72, 77 Alston, John Crawell...... 76, 85 Brown(e), Thomas (Tory Lt. Colonel,)....90, 110 Cobia, Daniel, Jr. (1836/7-1838)...... 72, 77 Alston, Josephine...... 76, 85 Burgoyne, General...... 67 Cobia, Louisa (Hooper)...... 71-72, 77 Alston, Lillian Mayfield...... 76, 85 Burk(e), Joseph (Captain)...... 128 Cochran, William...... 74 Alston, Marian Loucretia Bradford...... 76, 85 Burke, Thomas (Governor)...... 75 Coe, Marie...... 118 Alston, Mary Lucy Ellen...... 76, 85 Burrington, Thomas...... 129 Coleman, John (Georgia Colonel)...... 90, 108 Alston, Robert Mumford...... 76, 85 Byars, Nathan...... 109 Coleman, John (Virginia)...... 100 Alves family...... 80, 83 Byars, Sarah Anne (Doggett)...... 109 Collier, Buckner Killebrew...... 77 Alves, Anne McDowal...... 79 Byars, William...... 109 Collier, Charlotte Isabella (Hooper)...... 77 Alves, Gavin...... 79 Byass, Byers, see Byars Colson, Jacob (Captain)...... 88, 108 Alves, McDowal see Alves, Anne McDowal Byrd, William...... 100 Colvard, J. E...... 136 Alves, Walter...... 79-80, 83 Cooke, Dot...... 132 Cade, James...... 123 Anthony, Joseph...... 122-123 Cooke, John...... 132 Caldwell, Helen (Hogg) (Hooper).76, 78-80, 82, 84 Arrington, John...... 100 Cornwallis, Lord...... 115 Caldwell, John (Captain)...... 89 Arrington, Richard...... 100 Cotts, Claire...... 132 Caldwell, Joseph (Reverend)...... 80-83 Arrington, William...... 100 Cotts, Stanley...... 132 Camp, Thomas...... 109 Ashe, John (General)...... 71 Coulter, Charles...... 94 Campbell, Hooper...... 132 Ashe, Samuel...... 78 Cox, Richard...... 135-136 Campbell, Maude Helen (Hooper)...... 132 Autry, Alexander (Captain)...... 90 Cox, Salena (Hooper) (Millsaps)...... 133-136 Carland, James...... 100 Autry, John (Captain)...... 90 Craig, James H. (Major)...... 64 Carpenter, Stephen...... 95 Aycock, Rebecca (Thurman)...... 125 Creswell, Samuel...... 91 Carrenger, Francis Marion...... 135-136 Aycock, Richard...... 125-126 Crocker, Mary (Hooper)...... 130, 133, 136 Carrenger, Rachel...... 136 Aycock, William...... 122, 125 Crocker, J. T...... 133 Carter, John...... 98 Cunningham, David...... 87 Barell, John...... 129 Carter, Nancy (Mrs.)...... 98 Cunningham, John (Colonel)...... 90, 92 Barker, Thomas...... 75 Carter, Elizabeth...... 98-99 d'Estaing, Count [Compte]...... 90 Barnard, Edward (Captain)...... 89, 107 Carver, B. C...... 136 Barnes, W. M...... 136 Carver, W. T...... 136 Daughtry, Frances...... 76, 85 Barnett, Nathan ...... 94, 108 Cassron, see Cauron Davenport, Addington (Rev.)...... 60 Battle, Ann...... 106 Caswell, Richard...... 63-64 Davidson, Thomas G...... 114 Battle, Holloman...... 105 Cauron, John...... 94 Davis, William...... 134 Bedell, Absolom (Major)...... 108 Chambers, Elizabeth...... 96, 99 De Bernier, De Berniere, De'Berniere, Debernia, Bedingfield, see Benningfield Chambers, Levi...... 135 see DeBernier Begbee, Francis (Sergeant)...... 107 Chent, see Gent DeBernier family...... 75 Benefield, Bennefield, Beningfield, see Benningfield Chester, Samuel G...... 112 DeBernier, Anne (Jones)...... 71, 74, 77, 81 Benningfield, Charles, Sr...... 124-125 Chevers, Matthew...... 89 DeBernier, Charlotte Jones...... 71, 75, 77 Benningfield, Charles, Jr...... 125 Chivers, Gideon...... 89, 108 DeBernier, John Antony (Col.)71, 74-75, 77, 81 Benningfield, John...... 125 Christensen, Becky...... 132 DeBerniere DeBurner, see DeBernier Benningfield, Martha (_____)...... 125 Clark, Anne...... 62, 64-5, 67, 69, 76, 78-9, 83-4 Dedlink, Dedrich, see Didlake Benningfield, Martha "Patsy" (Hooper)...... 125 Clark, Barbara (Murray)...... 62 Deens, Daniel...... 100 Benningfield, Mary...... 125 Clark(e), Elijah (Col., Gen.).....90, 102-106, 108 Dennie, John...... 59, 62, 80 Benningfield, Nathaniel...... 124-125 Clark, James...... 62 Dennie, Mary...... 59, 61-62, 66-69, 73, 76
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 137 DeRossett family...... 65, 68 Ford, Keziah?...... 123 Griffin, John, Sr...... 100 Dickerson, Grace...... 132 Ford, Susanah...... 123 Griffin, John, Jr...... 100 Dickerson, Kelli...... 132 Ford, William...... 123, 128 Griffin, Susannah...... 100 Didlake, _____...... 112 Forgus, see Fergus Griffin, Thomas...... 86 Didlake, Branham Merrill...... 119 Foster, _____...... 113 Griggory, see Gregory Didlake, Estelle...... 118-119 Franklin, Benjamin...... 65 Griggs, Elizabeth (Mrs.?)...... 61 Didlake, George Brook...... 116, 118-119 Freeman, Holloman...... 125 Griggs, John...... 61 Didlake, John Goff...... 118-119 Fullerlove, see Fullilove Griggs, Susanna...... 61 Didlake, John Goff A...... 119 Fullilove, Elizabeth (_____)...... 123 Gripe, Amanda...... 132 Didlake, Judith (Hooper)...... 112-113, 117-119 Fullilove, John...... 123-124, 128 Gripe, Ethel (Mrs.)...... 132 Didlake, Kate...... 118-119 Fullilove, Ludwell...... 123 Gripe, Nancy...... 132 Didlake, Mildred Jane (Merrill)...... 118-119 Fullilove, Thomas...... 123 Gripe, Ron...... 132 Didlake, William...... 113, 118 Gamble, Gambel, see Gambol Gripe, Theo...... 132 Dillard, John L...... 103 Gambol, Elizabeth (Mrs.)...... 124 Guest, Moses...... 97 Dobbs, Arthur (Governor)...... 75 Gambol, John...... 93, 121-124, 126 Gunnel(s), Daniel (Captain)...... 90 Dogged, see Doggett Gambol, Thomas...... 121 Guttery, Robert...... 121-122, 124, 127 Doggett, Anne (Stipling)...... 109 Gant, see Gent Guttery, Betsy (_____)...... 124 Doggett, Bushrod...... 109 Garland, Amanda/Levina...... 134 Gwinnet, Button...... 88 Doggett, Joel (Lieutenant)...... 101, 109 Garland, Armenda, see Garland, Sarah Habersham, James...... 88 Doggett, Mary "Mollie"...... 109 Armenda Garland, Caroline (Mrs.)...... 134 Habersham, John...... 88 Doggett, Richard (Captain)...... 101, 109 Garland, John...... 100 Habersham, Joseph...... 88 Doggett, Sarah Ann...... 109 Garland, Levina, see Garland, Amanda/Levina Hall, _____ (Captain)...... 92 Dooley, see Dooly Garland, Malenda, see Garland, Sarah Armenda Hall, Salena (Hooper) (Millsaps)...... 133-136 Dooly, George (Captain)...... 102, 103, 106 Garland, Sarah Armenda/Malenda...... 134 Hall, Thomas, Tom, see Hall, W. Thomas Dooly, John (Colonel)...... 90, 102-103, 107, 110 Garrett, Mary Frances...... 86 Hall, W. Thomas...... 135-136 Donaldson, Eliza...... 76, 80, 83 Gash, Jane...... 135 Hall, William, Sr...... 83 Donaldson, James...... 80, 83 Gent, Alice (_____)...... 108, 121-123, 128 Halliday, William...... 108 Donaldson, Robert...... 80, 83 Gent, Charles.....88, 90, 121, 123, 125, 127-128 Harbison, Margaret...... 133-136 Dowse, Joseph...... 67 Gent, William...... 108, 123, 126-128 Harkens, B. A...... 134 Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen...... 82, 83 Ghent, see Gent Harlan, Ezekiel...... 89, 108 Du Ponceau, Pierre Etienne, Gibson, Adora...... 134 see Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen Harling, see Harlan Gibson, Joshua...... 133-134, 136 Dudley, Robert...... 117 Harper, Absalom see Hooper, Absalom Gibson, Lucy...... 134 Dudley, William...... 94 Harper, Samuel (Captain)...... 90 Gibson, Mary "Polly" (Monroe)...... 133-136 Dula, Duly, see Dooly Harper, Thomas, Gibson, Nancy...... 133 see Hooper, Thomas (brother of Church) Dunbiber, Jonas...... 75 Gibson, Samantha...... 133-134, 136 Harris, ____ (Colonel)...... 88 Dunn, Maxine...... 132 Gibson, Wesley...... 135 Harris, Buckner (Major)...... 104 Dunn, Wilson...... 132 Gibson, William...... 133-134, 136 Harris, Paula...... 132 Eades family...... 126 Gilbert, William...... 109 Harris, Sam...... 132 Eades, Elizabeth "Betsy"...... 93-95, 122, 127 Giles, James...... 108, 121-122, 124 Harris, Sarah Martha (Hooper)...... 132 Eades, Mary (Mrs.)...... 93, 122, 127 Gloucester, Martyn (Bishop of Gloucester)....61 Hawkins, Elizabeth...... 113 Eads, Eddes, Edes, see Eades Goode, Daniel...... 100 Henderson, Joseph...... 61 Eccles family...... 83 Goodgeon, William (Captain)...... 107 Henderson, Mary...... 61 Edmund (Lord Bishop of London)...... 61 Goodlett, Nancy (Hooper)...... 95, 99 Henderson, Susanna (Sever)...... 61 Elizabeth (Queen)...... 60 Goodlett, William...... 95 Henderson, William...... 64 Ellis, Agnes C...... 117 Granville, Earl [of]...... 98 Herd, Richard (Captain)...... 90 Ellis, Nancy...... 117, 119 Graves, Julia De'Berniere (Hooper).76, 81-2, 84 Herd, see also Hurd Estaing, see d'Estaing Graves, Mary...... 76 Heron, Benjamin...... 75 Ewing, Henry...... 90 Graves, Ralph Henry...... 76, 81 Heron, Edward...... 73, 75 Graves, Ralph Henry (Jr.)...... 76 Heron, Mary...... 72-73, 75, 77 Fanueil, Benjamin...... 67 Green, John...... 100 Hewes, Joseph...... 63-64, 68 Fanueil, Mrs. Ben...... 67 Green, Lues [Lois?, Lewis?]...... 100 Hill, John...... 108 Fergus, Ann (Battle)...... 106 Green, William M. (Reverend)...... 72 Hill, Miles...... 123 Fergus, John...... 92, 105-106 Greenleaf, Mrs...... 67 Hinton, Dempsey...... 125 Fergus, William...... 92 Greenleaf, Stephen...... 67 Hinton, Mary (Benningfield)...... 125 Fitts, Walker...... 100 Gregg, Thomas...... 91-92, 126 Hodge, Alexander...... 95 Fleming, Charlotte Isabella...... 129-130 Greggs, see Griggs Hodge, William...... 94-95 Fleming, Elizabeth H...... 129-130 Gregory XII (Pope)...... 60 Hogg family...... 65, 78, 80, 83 Fleming, James...... 71, 77, 129-130 Gregory, Ambrose...... 100 Hogg, Anne McDowal (Alves)...... 79 Fleming, Mary (Hooper) (Shaw) ...... 69, 71, 74, 77, 129-130 Gregory, Richard...... 100 Hogg, Elizabeth "Betsy"...... 79 Fletchall, _____...... 110 Gregory, Smith...... 100 Hogg, Gavin see Alves, Gavin Ford, Elizabeth (Mrs.)...... 122-123, 126 Grierson, James (Tory Colonel)...... 107, 110 Hogg, Helen...... 76, 78-80, 82, 84 Ford, Hezekiah (Mrs.)...... 123 Griffin, Elijah...... 100 Hogg, James, Jr...... 79 Griffin, Elish...... 100 Hogg, James D...... 74, 78-80, 83
138 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Hogg, John...... 79, 83 Hooper, Edmond (Hanover)...113, 115-116, 118 Hooper, Jefferson, see Hooper, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, Robert...... 75, 78 Hooper, Edward DeBerniere (1846-47)....76, 84 Hooper, Jennings Bryan (son of Absalom B)..132 Hogg, Robina...... 79 Hooper, Edward Jones (1818-1850)76, 81, 84-85 Hooper, Jeptha (Doctor)...... 133, 135 Hogg, Walter, see Alves, Walter Hooper, Edward William (b. 1854)...... 76, 85 Hooper, Jeremiah (son of Unity) (Hanover) Holliday, see Halliday Hooper, Eliza (Donaldson)...... 76, 80, 83 112-113, 115-116, 119 Holmes, John...... 87 Hooper, Elizabeth (Hanover) (Mrs.?)....112, 115 Hooper, Jeremiah (Hanover, 1810)...... 113 Holmes, John (Captain)...... 105 Hooper, Elizabeth "Betsy" (daughter of the Hooper, Jeremiah, Jr. (Hanover)...... 116 Holt, Joseph...... 100 signer)...... 64-5, 68, 71, 76, 78, 81, 83-4 Hooper, Jeremiah (King William Co., VA)...112 Hoope, Thomas, Hooper, Elizabeth (___) (widow of Richard?).113 Hooper, Jeremiah (grandson of Joseph)...... 131 see Hooper, Thomas (brother of Church) Hooper, Elizabeth (_____) (Hanover) Hooper, Jesse (1758-1839) Hooper family (Marblehead, MA)...... 66 (mother of Obadiah and Thomas). 115, 131 ...... 88-95, 107-108, 120, 122, 124-128, 131 Hooper, _____ (Miss) (Hanover)...... 113, 119 Hooper, Elizabeth (_____) (widow of Enos)..109 Hooper, Jessie (Wright)...... 76 Hooper, Absalom (Natchez) (d. 1812/13 TN). 131 Hooper, Elizabeth (Adams) (Ward)...... 97 Hooper, Jethro...... 133, 135 Hooper, Absalom, Sr. (d. 1845 NC) Hooper, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Carter)...... 98 Hooper, Jim...... 132 86, 92-93, 95, 101-109, 120, 123-125, 130, 133 Hooper, Elizabeth (Chambers)...... 96, 99 Hooper, Jimmy...... 132 Hooper, Absalom (b. 1806 TN)...... 130 Hooper, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Eades). 93-5,122,127 Hooper, John (1710-1790 Boston)...... 61 Hooper, Absalom B...... 130, 132 Hooper, Elizabeth (Griggs) (1725-1781)...... 61 Hooper, John (chr. 1744) (signer's brother) Hooper, Absalom B, Jr...... 130 Hooper, Elizabeth (Rymer)...... 130 ...... 59-60, 68-69, 77 Hooper, Adenia (Mason) (Miller)...... 96, 99 Hooper, Elizabeth Parazaide...... 133, 135 Hooper, John (son of Obadiah, Sr.)...... 99 Hooper, Adolphus S. (b. 1847) (son of Johnson Hooper, Elizabeth Parazaide (Hooper) 133, 135 Hooper, John (1830 Sevier)...... 125 Jones Hooper)...... 77 Hooper, Elizabeth Watters (b. 1824)..76, 81, 84 Hooper, John (descendant of Absalom B)....132 Hooper, Amanda (daughter of Absalom B)..132 Hooper, Elspeth (chr. 1695 Scotland)...... 66 Hooper, John De Berniere (son of Archibald Maclaine Hooper) ..71-2, 74-7, 81-4, 129 Hooper, Amelia (Massy)...... 76, 85 Hooper, Enos (of Rutherford Co., NC, Hooper, Amelia (daughter of Obadiah)...... 99 d. by Sept 1784)...... 109 Hooper, John De Berniere (son of George Debernier Hooper)...... 77 Hooper, Andrew (landowner, Tryon area)....109 Hooper, Enos C. (Doctor) (b. 1796 SC)..133-136 Hooper, John Greenberry...... 132 Hooper, Andrew "Andy" (b. 1760-70)....105-106 Hooper, Enos General...... 133-135 Hooper, John M. (son of Obadiah, Jr.)...... 97 Hooper, Andrew (b. 1805 TN)...... 130 Hooper, Enos M. (son of Absalom) 102-103, 135 Hooper, John R...... 133, 135 Hooper, Ann Louisa see Hooper, Louisa Hooper, Faye (descendant of Absalom)...... 133 Hooper, John T...... 130, 133 Hooper, Anne (Clark) Hooper, Florence Antoinette (b. 1858).....76, 85 Hooper, Johnson Jones (1815-1862) (son of ...... 62, 64-65, 67, 69, 76, 78-79, 83-4 Hooper, Frances (Daughtry)...... 76, 85 Archibald Maclaine Hooper)....71-2, 75, 77 Hooper, Annie Brantley (ca 1845-ca 1850)....77 Hooper, Frances DeBerniere (b. 1842).....76, 84 Hooper, Joseph (Hanover)...... 115 Hooper, Archibald Maclaine (1775-1853) (son Hooper, Frances Pollock (Jones)....76-77, 80-82 of George Hooper)..69, 71, 74, 77, 81, 83, 129 Hooper, Joseph (d.1842 Hardeman Co,TN).131 Hooper, Gary...... 130, 132 Hooper, Archibald Maclaine (son of George Hooper, Joseph Caldwell (b. 1821).....76, 81, 84 Hooper, Gayle...... 132 Debernier Hooper)...... 77 Hooper, Joyce...... 132 Hooper, George (1747 Boston-1821 NC) (brother Hooper, Armider...... 135 Hooper, Judith (daughter of William) of the signer) . 61-62, 67-75, 77, 80, 81, 129 Hooper, Asa Newton...... 86 (Hanover)...... 112-113, 117-119 Hooper, George (prisoner at Camden)...... 74 Hooper, Bertha (daughter of Absalom B).....132 Hooper, Julia De' Berniere (b.1856)76, 81-2, 84 Hooper, George Beatty Hooper, Katherine (Maclaine)....69-71, 74-5, 77 Hooper, Beverly...... 132 (son of George William Hooper)...... 77 Hooper, Kent...... 132 Hooper, Bill...... 132 Hooper, George DeBerniere (1809-1892) (son Hooper, Bill, see also Hooper, William Henry of Archibald Maclaine Hooper) 71-72, 75, 77 Hooper, Kitty see Hooper, Katherine (Maclaine) Hooper, Boonie, see Clemmons S. Hooper, Sr. Hooper, George William (1839-1883) (son of Hooper, Louisa (1813-1846)...... 71-2, 77 Hooper, Carolina Alice George Deberniere Hooper)...... 75, 77 Hooper, Lorenzo Dow (Doctor)...... 133, 135 (daughter of George Debernier Hooper)...77 Hooper, Greenberry, see Hooper, John Greenberry Hooper, Maclaine (1826-1841) Hooper, Caroline Eliza (Mallett)...... 71, 75, 77 Hooper, Helen (b. 1838)...... 76, 83-4 (son of Archibald Maclaine Hooper)....71, 77 Hooper, Charles H. (Caswell) (d. 1864)...... 131 Hooper, Helen (Hogg)...... 76, 78-80, 82, 84 Hooper, Maggie...... 135 Hooper, Charles Mallett (son of George Hooper, Henry De Berniere (b. 1849)...... 76, 84 Hooper, Margaret (Harbison)...... 133-136 Debernier Hooper)...... 77 Hooper, Hiram (1812 soldier)...... 125 Hooper, Margaret S (Broadfoot)...... 76, 80, 83 Hooper, Charlotte Elizabeth (b.1859). 76, 81, 85-86 Hooper, Isaac (1830 Sevier)...... 125 Hooper, Margrat (chr. 1698 Scotland)...... 66 Hooper, Charlotte Isabella (b. 1868)...... 77 Hooper, Isaac Absalom (son of Absalom B)..132 Hooper, Martha “Patsy” (daughter of Jesse).125 Hooper, Charlotte Isabella (Waddell)...... 77 Hooper, Isaac Van Virt (son of Enos M.)...... 135 Hooper, Mary (chr. 1741 Boston)...... 59 Hooper, Charlotte Jones (DeBernier) 71, 75, 77 Hooper, J. D. B., see Hooper, John De Berniere Hooper, Mary (chr. 1748) (sister of the signer)...... 61-2, 66-9, 74, 77 Hooper, Christina...... 132 Hooper, Jacob (1830 Sevier)...... 125 Hooper, Mary (daughter of George Hooper and Hooper, Church [Churchwell, Churchill] Hooper, Jan...... 132 ...... 91-93, 95, 108, 120-123, 126-128, 131 niece of the signer). 69, 71, 74, 77, 129-130 Hooper, James (Hanover, 1730's)...... 113 Hooper, Clay, see Hooper, R. Clayton Hooper, Mary (daughter of Obadiah, Sr.)...... 99 Hooper, James (Hanover, 1780's)...... 115 Hooper, Clemmons S., Sr. "Boonie" Hooper, Mary (Mrs. Mary Crocker)...... 130, 133 Hooper, James (SC/KY, Indian fighter)...... 96 ...... 88, 101-106, 109, 120 Hooper, Mary (____) (widow of William) (Hanover) Hooper, James, Sr. (b. 1746, son of Obadiah) Hooper, D. B., see Hooper, John De Berniere ...... 117 ...... 95-96, 99, 100 Hooper, Daniel...... 113 Hooper, Mary (____) (wife of Churchill) Hooper, James, Jr (son of James, Sr). 96, 98-99 ...... 108, 123, 128 Hooper, De Berniere, see Hooper, John De Berniere Hooper, James (son of Absalom)...... 133 Hooper, Mary (Dennie).....59, 61-2, 66-9, 73, 76 Hooper, Debbie...... 132 Hooper, James Enos (son of Absalom B)...... 132 Hooper, Mary (Heron)...... 72-3, 75, 77 Hooper, Dorcas (Pearce)...... 125 Hooper, James Havelock (b. 1858)...... 76, 85 Hooper, Mary (Jaffray)...... 66 Hooper, Dow L, see Hooper, Lorenzo Dow Hooper, James Hogg (b. 1797) ..76, 79-80, 83-4 Hooper, Mary Belle...... 132 Hooper, DuPonceau (1833-1862)...... 76, 82, 84 Hooper, Jane (Lesco)...... 61 Hooper, Mary E. (Stephenson)...... 76 Hooper, E. W. (b. 1815 VA)...... 114
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 139 Hooper, Mary Elizabeth (1819-1894) (daughter of Hooper, Tony...... 132 Jefferson, Thomas (President)...... 114 Professor William Hooper) ...72, 76-7, 81-2, 84 Hooper, Unity (____) (Hanover).112-113, 116, 119 Jent, see Gent Hooper, Mary Frances (Garrett)...... 86 Hooper, William (chr. 1699 Scotland)...... 66 Johnston, Hannah...... 67-68, 70, 73-74 Hooper, Mary Jane (Kearney)...... 76, 85 Hooper, William (Reverend) (d-1767 Boston) Johnston, Samuel (Governor)...... 66, 69 Hooper, Mary Kate (Catherine) (Smith)..130, 132 ...... 59-62, 66-69, 71, 76, 78, 84-85, 130 Jones family...... 71, 75 Hooper, Mary Louisa (1851-1853)...... 76, 84 Hooper, William (1742-1790) Jones, _____...... 118 (Signer, Declaration of Independence) Hooper, Mary Mildred (Brantley)...... 72, 77 Jones, Anne...... 71, 74, 77 ...... 59-66, 69-73, 75-76, 78-79, 83-84, 86 Hooper, Matthew (son of Obadiah, Sr.)...... 99 Jones, Conway...... 74, 77 Hooper, William (1768-1804) (son of the Signer) Hooper, Maude Helen (dau. of Absalom B)..132 ...... 65, 76, 78-80, 83-84 Jones, Edward...... 74-75, 77, 80-83 Hooper, Mildred (daughter of William) Hooper, William (Professor, Reverend) Jones, Frances Pollock...... 76-77, 80-82 (Hanover)...... 113, 116, 118-119 (1792-1876)...... 74, 76-77, 81-84 Jones, John Erwin...... 134, 136 Hooper, Milla see Hooper, Amelia Hooper, William (Hanover County, 1810-20) Jones, Hetty (Millsaps)...... 134, 136 Hooper, Napoleon B "Nimrod"...... 135 ...... 112, 113 Jones, Mary Elizabeth (Mallett)...... 75, 77, 80 Hooper, Nancy (b. 1762, daughter of Hooper, William (son of George Debernier Jones, Reuben...... 100 Obadiah, Sr.)...... 95, 99 Hooper)...... 77 Jones, Robert...... 100 Hooper, Nancy (Ellis)...... 117, 119 Hooper, William (SC,GA 1770s).91, 120, 124, 126 Hooper, Nancy M. (Hanover)...... 118 Hooper, William (Tory private)...... 110 Kearney, Mary Jane...... 76, 85 Hooper, Nellie...... 132 Hooper, William (b. 1846)...... 76, 85 Keener, Joseph...... 103 Hooper, Obadiah (Hanover)...... 115, 131 Hooper, William (son of Absalom)...... 101 Keith, George...... 124 Hooper, Obadiah, Sr. (d. 1802?)...... 95, 99, 131 Hooper, William (son of Obadiah, Sr.)...... 99 King, John...... 127 Hooper, Obadiah, Jr...... 95, 97, 98, 99, 100 Hooper, William, Sr. (son of Unity) (Hanover) King, William...... 99 Hooper, Parazaide, see Hooper, Elizabeth Parazaide ...... 112-113, 115-116, 118-119 Lamar, Basil...... 107, 122, 126-127 Hooper, Pernicy (b. 1857)...... 86 Hooper, William, Jr. (b. before 1771) (Hanover) Lamar, John...... 107 Hooper, R. Clayton...... 130, 132 ...... 115 Lamar, Sarah (_____)...... 123 Hooper, Richard (Henrico County, 1786).....113 Hooper, William, Jr. (son of William) (Hanover) ...... 117, 119 Lamar, Zachariah .89, 107-8, 121-123, 125-126 Hooper, Richard (Texas)...... 86 Hooper, William De Berniere (b. 1844) (son of Lancus, Jane...... 61 Hooper, Richard Brooks (son of Obadiah, Sr.) Johnson Jones Hooper)...... 77 ...... 96-97, 99, 101 Lancus, Mary (Mathews)...... 61 Hooper, William Henry...... 132 Hooper, Riley...... 134-135 Lancus, William...... 61 Hooper, William T. (son of Jesse)...... 93 Hooper, Robert(father of Rev. William Hooper) 66 Lesco, Jane...... 61 Hooper, William Wilberforce (1816-1864) (son Hooper, Ruth (daughter of Absalom B)...... 132 Letely, _____ (Captain)...... 101 of Professor William Hooper).76, 81, 84-85 Hooper, Salena...... 133-136 Ligon, John...... 100 Hooper, Woodlief (Caswell) (b. 1779, VA).....131 Hooper, Samuel (Caswell) (b. 1769 VA)...... 131 Lincoln, Benjamin (General)...... 96, 102 Hopper, Mildred, see Hooper, Mildred Hooper, Samuel Arthur (son of Absalom B).132 Lindsey, Elijah...... 121 Howard, Benjamin...... 112-113 Hooper, Sarah (b. 1795)...... 130 Litsch, Bill...... 132 Howard, John...... 108 Hooper, Sarah "Sally" (daughter of William) Litsch, Marcus...... 132 Howard, Jonathan...... 113 (Hanover)...... 112-114, 117-119 Litsch, Sid...... 132 Howard, Rubin...... 113 Hooper, Sarah (Saylors)...... 94, 104, 120, 122 Litsch, Slade...... 132 Hubbard, Benjamin...... 122, 124 Hooper, Sarah "Sally" (Saunders)...... 98-99 Litsch, Stacy...... 132 Hubbard, Catron (or Caty) (Mrs.)...... 124 Hooper, Sarah Jane (Wilson)...... 135 Litsch, Vicki...... 132 Hughes, Anthony Walton...... 102 Hooper, Sarah Martha (dau. of Absalom B) 132 Little, Absalom...... 122 Humphries, David...... 97, 99 Hooper, Sophia B. (1837-1838) ...... 77 Little, James (Captain)...... 90 Humphries, Jos...... 99 Hooper, Sue...... 132 Little, Lurany...... 122 Hunt, R____ ...... 94 Hooper, Spencer (son of Woodlief) (Caswell)...131 Little, Mary (Mrs.)...... 122 Hurd, Charles...... 108 Hooper, Susannah (dau. of Obadiah, Sr.) 97, 99 Little, Thomas...... 122, 124, 128 Hurd, see also Herd Hooper, Temperance Elizabeth (daughter of Little, Thomas, Jr...... 122 Huske, Anne Alves...... 80 Absalom B)...... 132 Lovell, John (SC 1780's)...... 122 Huske, Elizabeth (Hogg)...... 79 Hooper, Theresa (b. 1846/51)...... 76, 85 Lowther, Brian...... 132 Huske, John...... 79 Hooper, Thomas (b. 1751 Boston) (brother of Lowther, Terri...... 132 the signer)...... 61, 62, 66-70, 72-3, 75, 77 Hyrne family...... 78 Hooper, Thomas (Savannah)...... 87, 128-129 Hyrne, Edward...... 78 MacCaun, see McCann Hooper, Thomas (SC landowner in 1767)....109 Hyrne, George...... 78 Maclain, Archibald (1695-1740)...... 74 Hooper, Thomas (d. 1783/8) (husband of Hyrne, Henry...... 78 Maclaine, Archibald (b.1728) 63, 65-66, 69, 74-75 Unity) (Hanover)...... 115, 116, 119 Maclaine, Elizabeth (Rowan)...... 74 Ingram and Hooper...... 74 Hooper, Thomas (son of Elizabeth) (Hanover) Maclaine, Katherine (Kitty).....69-71, 74-75, 77 Ingram, John...... 71, 74 ...... 115, 131 Mahan, Joseph...... 74 Hooper, Thomas (brother of Church) Iredell, Hannah (Johnston)...... 67-8, 70, 73-74 Mallett, Caroline Eliza...... 71, 75, 77 ...... 92-93, 106, 108, 120-126 Iredell, James, Sr. (Governor, Senator)...... 67 Hooper, Thomas (d. 1813 KY) (Hanover).117, 119 Mallett, Charles Beatty...... 75 Iredell, James (1751-1799)...... 63-70, 72-75 Hooper, Thomas (1830 Sevier)...... 125 Mallett, Charles Peter...... 77 Hooper, Thomas Clark (1827-1884) (son of Jackson, Andrew...... 101 Mallett, Mary Elizabeth...... 75, 77, 80 Professor William Hooper)....76-7, 79, 81-4 Jackson, Hugh...... 101 Mallett, Peter...... 75, 77, 81 Hooper, Thomas Clarke (b. 1794) (grandson of Jackson, Elizabeth (Mrs.)...... 101 Mallett, Sarah (Mrs.)...... 81 the signer)...... 76, 80, 84 Jaffray, Mary...... 66 Mansell, George...... 117 Hooper, Thomas Hogg (son of the signer) Jay, John...... 65 Marion, Francis (Colonel)...... 64 ...... 65-6, 74, 76, 78, 83-84 Jefferson, Thomas...... 114 Marshall, Samuel...... 75 Hooper, Thomas Jefferson...... 134
140 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011 Martyn (Lord Bishop of Gloucester)...... 61 Millsaps, Salena (Monroe/Hooper)...... 133-136 Phillips, Estell (Didlake)...... 119 Mason, Adenia...... 96 Millsaps, Tennessee A...... 134 Phillips, Katie Estelle...... 119 Massy, Amelia...... 76, 85 Millsaps, W. B...... 136 Phillips, Lillie (Hooper? Cox? Sherrill?)...... 135 Mathews, Mary...... 61 Millsaps, William Clinton...... 134-136 Phillips, Zachria (Captain)...... 90 Matthews, _____ (Governor)...... 92, 106 Millsaps, Wilma (Mrs.)...... 136 Pickens, _____ General...... 90 Mayhew, Jonathan...... 66 Mitchell, Catherine (Shaw)...... 129-130 Pike, Betty...... 132 McCann, James...... 117-118 Mitchell, James W...... 129-130 Pope Gregory XII...... 60 McCrady, Edward...... 101 Monroe, Amelia "Milla," "Millie" (Hooper)....99 Pope, Burrel [or Burwell, Burl]...... 123 McCulloh, Henry E...... 75 Monroe, Armider, see Hooper, Armider Pope, Wilie (Captain)...... 92 McDooly, see Dooly Monroe, Enus, see Hooper, Enos General Potter, Allison...... 132 McFarland, James...... 102 Monroe, Jeptha, see Hooper, Jeptha Potter, Barbara...... 132 McGahn, see McCann Monroe, Jethro, see Hooper, Jethro Potter, Bruce...... 132 McGary, Robert...... 121-122, 124 Monroe, John R. see Hooper, John R. (Doctor) Potter, Bryan...... 132 McIntosh, Lachlan (General)...... 88-89, 105 Monroe, Lorenzo Dow, see Hooper, Lorenzo Dow Potter, Don...... 132 Monroe, Mary "Polly"...... 133-135 McKeney, see McKinny Potter, Janice...... 132 Monroe, Salena, see Hooper, Salena McKinny, John...... 109 Potter, Kim...... 132 Morgan, J. E...... 135 Mallory, William...... 125 Potter, LaCee...... 132 Munroe, see Monroe Melton, Absalom...... 112-113 Potter, Meredith...... 132 Moore, Abednego (Lieutenant)...... 105 Merrill, Abbie (_____)...... 119 Potter, Michael...... 132 Moore, Alfred...... 66 Merrill, Ada...... 119 Potter, Temperance Elizabeth (Hooper)...... 132 Moore, Jo___...... 94 Merrill, Angeline...... 119 Prewhitt, Elizabeth...... 113 Morel, John...... 128-129 Merrill, Ann E. (Rhea?)...... 119 Price, Mr...... 61 Moultrie, William (Colonel)...... 64 Merrill, Branham Hooper...... 118-119 Pullin, Major...... 124 Murray, Barbara...... 62 Merrill, Branham Levi...... 119 Murray, James...... 62, 65 Queen, Dicey (Rolls)...... 102-103, 106 Merrill, Catherine Ann (Sevier)...... 119 Queen, J. W...... 134 Merrill, E...... 119 Nail, Thomas (Captain)...... 92 Queen, Lewis...... 103-106 Merrill, Edwin...... 119 Nash, _____ (General)...... 68 Queen, Samuel...... 88, 101-105 Merrill, John...... 119 Naylor, James...... 95 Queen, Thomas...... 105 Merrill, Joseph...... 113, 116-119 Nelson, Samuel (Captain)...... 92 Queen, Timothy...... 102 Merrill, Joseph, Jr...... 119 Nielson, Mrs. C. W...... 84 Queen, William, Sr...... 102, 106 Merrill, Joseph (b. 1867)...... 119 Norris, Robert...... 123 Queen, William L...... 101-103, 105 Merrill, Mildred (Hooper)...... 113, 116, 118-119 North, Ginny...... 119 Merrill, Mildred Jane...... 118-119 Norwood family...... 83 Ralls, Rawls, see Rolls Rawson, Elisabeth...... 61 Merrill, Olander...... 119 Norwood, Robina (Hogg)...... 79 Merrill, Susan (_____) (Sample)...... 119 Rawson, Susanna (Sever)...... 61 Oliver, Thomas...... 94 Merrill, Thomas Hooper?...... 117, 119 Rawson, William...... 61 Olyphant, David...... 75 Merrill, Thomas...... 119 Reaves, Daniel...... 121-122, 124 Otis, James...... 62-63, 67-68 Merrill, William...... 119 Reid, Barbara...... 101 Otis, Mercy...... 67-68 Miller, Adenia (Mason)...... 96, 99 Reid, Charles...... 74 Overby, Martha (Mrs.)...... 100 Miller, Martha M...... 96 Rhea?, Ann E...... 119 Overby, Obadiah...... 100 Miller, Henry F...... 96 Rice, Edward...... 122 Overstreet, Elizabeth (Hawkins)...... 113 Miller, John A., Sr...... 99 Rimer, see Rymer Overstreet, Elizabeth (Prewhitt)...... 113 Miller, John Adam...... 99 Robbins, William...... 109 Overstreet, Gabriel...... 117, 119 Miller, James...... 99 Roberts, John J. (Reverend)...... 72, 77 Overstreet, James H...... 117-119 Miller, William...... 94 Roberts, Louisa (Hooper) (Cobia)...... 71-72, 77 Overstreet, John...... 113 Mills, Absolem...... 128 Rockimore, Peter (Captain)...... 90 Overstreet, Mr...... 113 Mills, Alexander...... 108, 123, 126 Rolls, Dicey...... 102-103, 106 Overstreet, Mrs. ____ (Hooper)...... 113, 119 Mills, Alice (_____) (Gent)...... 108, 121-123, 126 Rowan, Elizabeth...... 74 Overstreet, Samuel...... 113 Mills, David...... 128 Russell, _____ (Captain)...... 109 Russell, John...... 124 Mills, James...... 123 Parish, David...... 100 Russell, Thomas Commander...... 123 Mills, Jesse...... 128 Patten, see Patton Rutherford, John...... 62 Mills, William...... 123, 127-128 Patterson, Elizabeth...... 108 Ryan, Amanda (Hooper)...... 132 Millsaps, Adaline (Long)...... 134, 136 Patton, James...... 94 Ryan, Twila...... 132 Millsaps, Amos G, see Millsaps, Enos G. Patton, William...... 94 Rymer, Elizabeth...... 130 Millsaps, Bill...... 136 Pearce, Dorcas...... 125 Millsaps, Enos G...... 134, 136 Penn, John...... 63, 68 Sailor, Sailors, Saler, Salers, see Saylors Millsaps, Estelle...... 134 Pennington, Abel...... 93 Salmon, Sarah (Mrs.)...... 124 Millsaps, Jesse...... 136 Pinson, John...... 100 Sample, Susan (Mrs.)...... 119 Millsaps, John...... 133-136 Perry, Nathaniel...... 97 Sampson, Cyndee...... 132 Millsaps, Jonathan...... 136 Perry, Susannah (Hooper)...... 97, 99 Sampson, Dylan...... 132 Millsaps, Lewella...... 134 Phillips, _____...... 119 Sampson, Keith...... 132 Millsaps, Hetty...... 134, 136 Phillips, Arnold...... 135 Saunders, Sarah [Sally]...... 98-99 Millsaps, Mary D. (Sawyer)...... 136 Phillips, Branham Merrill...... 119 Sawyer, Joe...... 136 Millsaps, Polly (_____)...... 136 Phillips, Ella...... 135 Sawyer, Mary D...... 136
“giving direction to your Hooper family searches 141 Saylor see Saylors Thomason, William...... 124 White, Mary (Hooper)...... 99 Saylors, Christopher...... 122 Thomson, ____ (Colonel)...... 89 White, Zachariah...... 99 Saylors, Elizabeth (Mrs.?)...... 94, 124 Thompson, William (VA)...... 100 Wilberforce, William...... 81, 83 Saylors, Lurany (Little)...... 122 Thompson, William (GA)...... 110 Williams, William (Captain)...... 123 Saylors, Michael...... 122 Thurman, Absalom...... 125 Williamson, Andrew (Colonel)...... 102-103 Saylors, Sarah...... 94, 104, 120, 122 Thurman, Benjamin...... 125 Willis, Ann (Mrs.?)...... 123 Scott, Thomas B...... 92-94, 124 Thurman, Charles...... 125 Wills, Helen (Hooper)...... 76, 83 Settle, see Suttle Thurman, John...... 125 Wills, James...... 76 Sevier, Catherine Ann...... 119 Thurman, Phillip...... 125 Wilson, Sarah J...... 135 Sharpe, Richard...... 117 Thurman, Rebecca...... 125 Wilson, William (Captain)...... 90 Shaw, Catherine...... 129-130 Thurman, William, Sr...... 125 Wimbish, John...... 100 Shaw, Mary (Hooper).....69, 71, 74, 77, 129-130 Thurmon, Thurmond, see Thurman Wooding, Robert (Colonel)...... 100 Sherrill, _____ (male)...... 136 Tonyn, _____ (Governor)...... 110 Woods, Andrew...... 94 Sherrill, Lillie...... 135 Towler, Ashley...... 132 Woods, Middleton...... 94 Sherrill, Maggie...... 135 Towler, Lois...... 132 Woods, Richard...... 108, 121 Sherrill?, Salena (Hooper) (Millsaps)...133-135 Towler, Robert...... 132 Woods, Samuel...... 94 Shelton, Sarah (Hooper)...... 130 Turner, William L. (Reverend)...... 80 Wooten, Thomas...... 128 Simpson, Diane...... 132 Twiggs, Faye (Hooper)...... 133 Wright, James (Gov.)...... 106-107, 110, 128-129 Simpson, Eithel...... 132 Twigs, ____ (General)...... 90 Wright, Jessie...... 76 Simpson, Emily...... 132 Twain, Mark...... 72 Wright, Leslie...... 132 Simpson, Lois...... 132 Wright, William...... 100 Vann, John...... 89 Simpson, Mary...... 132 Yancey, Hezekiah...... 89 Simpson, Max...... 132 Waddell, Charlotte Isabella...... 77 Yancey, William...... 100 Simpson, Natalie...... 132 Wade, Edmund...... 100 Yarbrough, Elisha...... 118 Simpson, Sara...... 132 Wade, James...... 121, 123-124 Sizemore, John...... 100 Wade, William...... 121, 124 Slaves: Slaughter, Robert...... 128 Wales, Susanna (Greggs)...... 61 Basco, John...... 113 Walker, John M...... 113 Smith, _____ (Major)...... 102 Griffin, Phoebe...... 100 Smith, Agnes C. (Ellis)...... 117 Walker, Thomas...... 75 Smith, Greenberry, Jr...... 132 Walker, William (Captain)...... 90 Hooper, Basco...... 113 Smith, John P...... 98 Wall, A...... 136 Hooper, Hannah...... 112 Smith, Mary Kate (or Catherine)...... 130, 132 Wall, John...... 100 Hooper, Jupiter...... 117 Smith, William...... 117 Walter, William...... 67, 69 Hooper, Maria...... 112 Spence, John...... 74 Ward, Briant...... 121-122 Hooper, Peter...... 117 Spence, John Russell...... 62, 67, 69, 73-74, 77 Ward, Elizabeth (Adams)...... 97 Hooper, Phillis (b. 1767-1783)...... 100 Spence, Mary (Hooper)...... 61-2, 66-69, 74, 77 Ward, Nathan...... 71 Hooper, Sukey...... 112 Warren, James...... 67 Stephens, Charles (Sergeant)...... 101 Jones, Dinah...... 100 Warren, Mercy (Otis)...... 67-8 Stephens, Barbara (Reid)...... 101 Jones, Joseph...... 100 Washington, George (President)...... 60, 115 Stephenson, Mary E...... 76 Jones, Moses...... 100 Wate, _____ (Captain)...... 103 Stewart, John, Jr. (Lt. Colonel)...... 102, 104 Jones, Nann...... 100 Watters, Elizabeth...... 78 Stewart, Thomas...... 75 Jones, Sam...... 100 Watters, Elizabeth (Hooper) Stimp, Rachel...... 86 Jones, Fanny...... 100 ...... 64-65, 68, 71, 76, 78, 81, 83-84 Stipling, Anne...... 109 Jones, Charity...... 100 Watters, George...... 78 Stokes, Armistead E...... 121, 123 Jones, Harry...... 100 Watters, Henry Hyrn(e) (Colonel)...63, 76, 78, 83 Stokes, William...... 91, 93 Jones, Isaac...... 100 Story, Rachel...... 86 Watters, Henry, Jr...... 76, 78, 83-84 Stratton, John...... 136 Watters, J. H...... 78, 83 Liggon, Rachael...... 100 Watters, Joseph...... 78 Strong, John...... 93 Overby, Bett...... 100 Weatherford, Mr...... 110 Stuart, see Stewart Overby, Betty...... 100 Webb, Anne Alves (Huske)...... 80 Suttle, Bushrod...... 109 Overby, Jacob...... 100 Webb, James, Dr ...... 80, 83 Suttle, Isaac...... 109 Overby, Ned...... 100 Wells, George...... 108 Suttle, Mary "Mollie" (Doggett)...... 109 Overby, Rachael...... 100 Wells, Robert...... 108 Suttle, Joseph...... 109 Overby, Sam...... 100 Wharton, Jesse...... 91 Suggs, Simon (fictional character)...... 72 Overby, Sarah...... 100 Whitaker, Frances DeBerniere (Hooper)...... 76 Swan, John...... 109 Overby, Will...... 100 Whitaker, Spier...... 76 Taylor, John Wesley (md. 1823) .113-114, 118-119 White, _____...... 110 Pinson, David...... 100 Taylor, John Wesley (b. 1810-1820)...... 118 White, Benjamin...... 61 Pinson, Jack...... 100 Taylor, Paulina (Mrs.)...... 118 White, Charles...... 100 Pinson, Man...... 100 Taylor, Sarah "Sally" (Hooper)...112-114, 117-119 White, Jane (Mrs.)...... 61 Pinson, Phill...... 100 Taylor, William H...... 99 White, Jane Courant...... 61 Pinson, Will...... 100
142 Hooper Compass in pdf format © 2011