Diet. of C Biography: Dr. William Hooper Page 1 of 3 From DICTIONARY OF 'ORTH CAROU A BIOGRAPHY, volume 3 edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1988 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. Hooper, ~!illiam (3 J Aug. J792-19 Aug. J876), educator and clergyman, \-vas born in Hillsborough, the oldest son of William and Helen Hogg I-looper. His t:,lther, a merchant, was the son of the William Hooper (1742-90) \vho \\ as one of N0l1h Carolina signers of the Declaration ofTndependence. His mother was the daughter of James Hogg, resident of Orange County, who was one of the commissioners appointed to select a site fo r The University of . orth Carolina. The tlrst William I-looper -great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch - had emigrated to Massachusetts from Scotland about 173 7; in Boston he served as pastor of a Congregational church and, subsequently, as the second rector of Trinity Episcopal Church (1747-67). After the death of her husband in 1804, Helen Hooper moved to Chapel Hill in order to provide the best educational opportunities for her three sons. Here \V illiam entered the preparatory school ofThe University of North Carolina in the winter of 1804 and was tutored by President Joseph Cald\,vell and Matthew Troy. The university awarded him the B.A. degree in 1809 and the M.A. degree in ] 812. During the academic year 1812-13 Hooper studied theology at the Princeton Theological Sem i nary. He received additional degrees from Princeton U ni versity (l\1.A., 1817) and The niversityof orth Carolina (LL.D., 1833' D.D., 1857). Hooper entered the teaching profession as a tutor at The University of North Carolina in 1810. The greater portion of his ne:x.1 sixty-five years Vias spent as teacher and/or administrator at the preparatory, college, and university levels. I-lis positions at Chapel Hill included principal tutor, 1810-17; professor of ancient languages, 18] 8­ 22 and 1828-37; and professor of rhetoric and logic, 1825-28. Leaving his teaching post at the university in 1837 Hooper was named senior professor (president) at the newly fom1ed Furman Theological Institute, WirlilLsboro, , ' S.c. He remained at the institute during its tlrst year of operation (1838-39) before becoming professor of Roman literature at South Carolina College ",..·here be laught from 1840 to 1846 and served for a time as acting president of the college. In October 1845 the trustees of Wake Forest College elected Hooper to succeed Samuel Wait as president of the college. He accepted the offer -- although he di d not assume his duties until January 1847 -- on the condition that the friends of Wake Forest would make a concerted effort to eliminate its $20,000 debt. Hooper relinquished the presidency at the end of the fall term, December 1848. Thereafter, he served as teacher and/or educational administrator at the fol!mving institutions: Hooper's Family School, Warren County, 1849-51' Sedgwick Female Seminary, Raleigh, 1851-52; Chowan Female Institute (11m,\, Chmvan College), president, 1854­ 62; Fayetteville Female Seminary, 1862-63, 1865-67; Mt Vernon Female Seminar) , Chatham County, associate principal, 1863-64; and Wilson Collegiate Seminary, associate principal, 1867-75. He retired to Chapel Hill in the latter year, spending the rest of his li fe with his daughter and his son-in-law, Professor John De Berniere http://WVlrw.wfu.edu/historyIHST_WF /hooper.htm 3/21/2007 Diet. ofNC Biography: Dr. Wi Hooper, a member of the university faculty. A deeply pious man as well as an erudite scholar, Hooper combined his career in education with a religious calling. Confirmed in the Episcopal church in 1818, he became a lay reader in 1819 and a deacon in 1820. Two years later he was ordained to the priesthood and assumed the pastoral charge of St. Johns Church, Fayetteville, on 24 Apr. 1822. He remained in this position until 1824, when doubts concerning the church's teaching on baptism, confinnation, and Holy Orders led to his resignation In 1831 >Hooper was baptized into the fellowship ofMt. Cannel Baptist Church, Orange County. Thereafter, he was welcomed into the councils of the Baptist denomination, even though his views on such controversial questions as "intercommunion" and "pulpit affiliation" were far more liberal than those of the vast majority of his fellow Baptist ministers. Hooper's pastoral charges included Wake Forest Baptist Church (1847-48), ew Bern Baptist Church (1852-54), Buckhorn Baptist Church in Hertford County (1855 ff.), and Wilson Baptist Church (1868). He also served as co-pastor, with William Hill Jordan, of the Warrenton Baptist Church (\849-50). A COIKLrn for the provision of adequate educational opportunities. especially in the prcparatl1ry scho()ls, had been exprcssl'd by I looper during his tenure at The Lnivcrsitv of~orth Carolina. Invited tll delin::r a lecture before the :\orth C(\wlina Institute of Educatio n. meeting at Cha pc I 11 j lIon 20 June ~ 832. he developed the theme. "lmperkctiol1s of Our Primary Schools, and the Hest \'lcthnd of Correcting Th~m." He noteu three "imperfections" in particular: indolent and indulgent youth. whn \\crc not prepared for the rigors required l\l attain a sounu education. :hc desire lli"parcnts and other patrons for an education :hat could be acquired hoth inexpensively and rapidly: and the scarcity or able teachers and tutors. :\mong the improvements he suggested Cor schools attempting to prepare men for the university were h'reater attention to the rudiments of English grammar and penman<.;hir. concentration on "classical" studies. a more lively and spirit~d manner of instruction. and greater usc ufthe oral lecture to supplcrnent the texts required. f7inally, he urged lhe csti.lblishment oC a seminarv i()r the education of schoolmasters. Oncc \)c had cast his lot with the Baptists. I looper was numbered among those advocates or higher education f()r both men and women - within the nc\vly formed Baptist State Convention orl\orth Carolina. He \vas the author of'thc r~port to the C()nn~ntion in IR32 recommending the "c<.;tablishll1ent ()fa Baptist li(erary institution in this SUtc" -- a report that led to the founding of Wake Forest InstitutL in 18 .,4. I looper's views on the education of women -- to ,,·hich he hau madl: passing reference in lhe 1832 lecture -- appeared in an article in the Biblical Recorder ~)r22 ;\pr. I ~4X entitled" Impurtance of rernak I:d lIcation." llere. he contended that womcn ought to be educated because oj" ~hc various "ofticcs" and "relations" they occupied in socicty as daughle!'s, sisters. v\j\ \:S, and mol hers. But beyond the familia: (Icl\antagl's 3cCI"uing to the educated, he noted (13.t Ill'\\ fields of philanthropy had been opened to educated womcn -- visiting and instructing the pOOL distributing religilllls tracts. composing juvenile buoks. te.1Clling in "charity" schools, and coopcr:lting in missionary and other religioLls societies. TheIl, in a sentence that might haw been pcnned a century and a half later, Hooper ndded: "BUl education has lifted htlp://\\'WW.wfu.edufhistory/1 ST_ WF /hooper.htm 31!.ln007 Diet. ofNC Biography: Dr. William Hooper Page 3 of 3 and expanded woman's views to take in the wide compass of her duty -- to see that she is the 'daughter of God,' that she can[,] like him[,] diffuse happiness around her' thai she can be man's equal ifnot his superior in the removal of crime and wretchedness in the world" [italics added]. Although he published no books, Hooper was a gifted and prolific writer. Many of his letters, articles, and essays appeared in the pages of the Biblical Recorder, the Baptist weekly published in Raleigh. He \-vas also a popular and eloquent speaker -­ especially before the literary societies of various educational institutions and at least twelve of his addresses (or sermons) were published frequently in pamphlet form . Fifty Years Since: An Address Before the Alumni ofThe University ofNorth Carolina, delivered on 7 June 1859, was used extensively by Kemp Plummer Battle in \:vriting his history of the university. The Force of Habit, originally delivered as a sem10n before Chapel Hill students in 1833 , is said to have been read often by President Swain to succeeding generations of graduating classes. Hooper's concern for the cultivation of the human spirit, together \\lith the mind, was expressed in The Discipline of/he Heart. 10 be Connected with the Cullure ofthe Mind: A Discourse on Education. Delivered to the Students ofthe College. 01 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, August 22, 1830. In Decem ber 1814 Hooper married Frances Pollock Jones, the daughter of Edward Jones solicitor general of North Carolina. They had seven children: William Wilberforce, Edward Jones, Joseph Caldwell, homas Clark, DuPonceau, Mary Elizabeth (m. John De Berniere Hooper), and Elizabeth Watters. Hooper was buried in Chapel Hill beside the remains of his mother and his stepfather, President Joseph Caldv./ell, whom his mother married in 1809. Portraits of him are in the possession of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest niversity, and Chowan College. R. HARGUS TAYLOR Main I Publications I Articles I Images I Biographies I Citations Ifullabus httr://www.wfu.eduJhistoryIHST_WFU/hooper.htm 3/2112007 ~ (.'z: J\A "l .)IC, Diet ofNe Biograpby: Dr. William Hooper Illtp:II.www.wfiteduJAcademic-depanmentsIHistory/forcstibooper.htm From DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLTNA BIOGRAPHY, volume 3 edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1988 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. Hooper, William (31 Aug. 1792-19 Aug.