About us
James Hooper was born c. 1759 and died on January 10, 1833 in Henrico County, Virginia. Very little is known of his early years, where he was born, or who his parents were. According to a letter written by the Adjutant General on July 9, 1908 to the Honorable John Lamb, Representative in Congress, Richmond, Virginia, James Hooper, at about age 18 or 19, enlisted as a private in Captain John Hockaday’s Company, 6th Virginia Regiment on February 17, 1778 for one year and fought in the Revolutionary War. He was transferred in October 1778 to Captain Benjamin Taliaferro’s Company, 2nd Virginia Regiment and was later discharged on February 19, 1779.
According to U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, he is first found on several Muster Rolls during 1778 and 1779. James Hooper is found on the April 1778, May 1778, June 1778, July 1778, August 1778, and September 1778 Muster Rolls of the 6th Virginia Regiment. On the April 1778 Muster Roll, it lists 1st Lieutenant John Stokes and 2nd Lieutenant James Mabon. On the June 1778 Muster Roll, it states he was sick at Valley Forge. Listed on the August 1778 and September 1778 Muster Rolls of the 6th Virginia Regiment is Colonel John Gibson and Captain Benjamin Taliferro. This last document states that he enlisted on February 17, 1778. The Muster Rolls mention places such as White Plains, Brunswick, New Ark, and Valley Forge.
James Hooper is also found on several Pay Rolls during that one-year time period. He is found on the April 1778 Pay Roll of Captain John Hockaday’s Company of the 6th Virginia Regiment commanded by Colonel John Gibson. He is found on the Pay Rolls of Colonel Gibson’s 6th Regiment for May 1778, July 1778, and September 1778. Lastly, James Hooper is found on Pay Rolls of Captain John Stokes Company of the 2nd Virginia Regiment commanded by Colonel Christian Febiger for October 1778, November 1778 and February 1779. The February 1779 document stated that he was discharged on February 17, 1779.
James Hooper is not found on the Muster Rolls for the 6th Virginia Regiment in the months of January 1778, February 1778, and March 1778. The 6th Virginia Regiment was commanded by Colonel Charles Simms. James Maybon is listed as a 2nd Lieutenant. James Hooper was not listed in Captain Hockaday company of seven privates.
Both the 6th Virginia Regiment and the 2nd Virginia Regiment were encamped at Valley Forge from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. The two units were part of Weedon’s Brigade, commanded under Stirling’s Division. The 6th Virginia Regiment was originally formed in February 1776 at Williamsburg, Virginia. Companies recruited men from Pittsylvania, Amherst, Buckingham, Charles City, Lunenberg, New Kent, Mecklenberg, Dinwiddie, Prince George, and Spotsylvania Counties. James Hooper would have been involved in the Battle of Monmouth fought near Monmouth Court House in Monmouth, New Jersey on June 28, 1778.
James Hooper’s Declaration on April 24, 1829, for obtaining the Benefits Act, approved May 15, 1828, for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the Army of the Revolution stated, “I, James Hooper of Henrico, in the county of Henrico in the state of Virginia do herby declare, that I enlisted in the year 1776 in the United States army of the revolution, under Lieutenant William Gregory, and was attached to Captain James Mabin’s Company under whom I served until the spring of 1781. I then re-enlisted for and during the War under Captain Henry Young and served in his company of Infantry which belonged I believe to the 2nd Virginia Regiment on Continental Establishment as a private (or artificer, I being sometimes employed as a Wheel wright, until we were reduced by furlow given us by Captain Young to last until we should be again called into service, which call was never made, the furlow was given me, after it was considered the War had ended. I do further declare that all my papers, in relation to this business have been destroyed or lost, I having no knowledge of their ever being useful, did not take care to preserve them.” This declaration differs slightly from the surviving documents found in the U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783. Further research is needed at this time.
Future research needs to be done at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. Tax Lists from 1782-1787, the 1787 Virginia Census, and Henrico County, Virginia Land Records need to be studied to uncover further information about a younger James Hooper. This research could also determine who James Hooper’s parents were. Early records such as the 1790 and 1800 Virginia Federal Census did not survive.
Two James Hoopers are listed on the 1810 Virginia Census in the Henrico/Richmond area. The first James Hooper is found in Henrico County, Virginia where there are two males age 45 and over, along with 7 slaves listed. This entry places the first James Hooper’s birth year at 1765 or earlier.
The second James Hooper is found in the city of Richmond where there is one male 16-25, one male age 45 and over, one female under 10 years of age, one female age 10-15, one female age 26-44, and no slaves. This entry also places the second James Hooper’s birth year at 1765 or earlier.
James Hooper married Elizabeth Franklin on January 27, 1790 in Henrico County, Virginia. It is unknown whether they had any children or how long they were married. No other documentation concerning this first marriage has been found.
On April 13, 1805, James Hooper married Nancy Padget in Richmond County, Virginia. The location of “Richmond County” is a typographical error. From Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1700-1850, James Hooper marries Nancy, daughter of Abraham Padgett in Henrico County, Virginia. It is unknown whether they had any children. No other documentation concerning this second marriage has been found.
A third marriage is recorded in Henrico County, Virginia on July 30, 1807 when James Hooper married Mrs. Elizabeth Williams. No other documentation concerning this third marriage has been found.
Further research into land records and court records from 1790 to 1820 may uncover clues concerning these first three marriages, but at this point, no additional documents have been found to help support the connection between our James Hooper and the first three marriages listed above.
The document above lists 4 of the 5 James Hooper marriages in Henrico County, Virginia. Only the 1805 marriage to Nancy Padgett is missing.
On the 1820 Henrico County, Virginia Census, only one James Hooper is listed. Two males are listed, the first age 26-44, the second age 45 and over. The older male is likely our James Hooper. There are three females listed in three categories: age 16-25, age 26-44, and age 45 and over. These could be two daughters and a wife. One male slave and one female slave are also listed. It is also noted that this James Hooper and family seem to match the second James Hooper entry on the 1810 Richmond City, Virginia Census mentioned earlier.
On December 13, 1823, James Hooper, aged 64, married Mrs. Lucy Flury, aged 30 in Henrico County, Virginia by the Rev. Philip Courtney. Lucy Hall first married a Flury or Flora. According to the Applications for Membership into the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution filed by George Jennings Hooper on September 26, 1908 and his brother, John Ritchie Hooper, filed on February 1, 1916, Lucy Flora Hooper was the wife of James Hooper and also the mother of George James Hooper, born 1824, died 1900.
James Hooper and Lucy Hall Flury Hooper also had a daughter, Araminta Hooper, born 1827. Araminta Hooper married William Henry Wash on February 21, 1848 in Richmond County, Virginia. This place of marriage is again a typographical error and should have been recorded as Henrico County, Virginia.
William Henry Wash and his family are found on the 1850 Henrico County, Virginia Census and the 1870 Albemarle County, Virginia Census. William Henry Wash and Araminta Hooper Wash had six children: Lora Belle 1852, George Hooper 1854, William Wallace 1855, Henry H. 1858, James Walsh 1862, and Lee Araminta 1864.
In a letter from Lora Belle Wash Mayo of Danville, Virginia, to her first cousin, George Jennings Hooper, dated September 1908, Lora Belle states: “Our grandmother was a widow Flora when grandfather married her. She had three daughters, two lived to be grown. Her maiden name was Lucy Hall they were married in Fairview near Richmond in Henrico County. She died in Richmond, but I don’t know where she was buried, but as well as I remember grandfather was buried in Richmond in the old Shockoe Hill Cemetery. Your father was their oldest child and he was born in August 1824 so I should judge they were married in 1823. I don’t know her age at death but my mother was only about two years old when her mother died. My mother was born in February1827. Her mother died in 1829 but I don’t know what month. I never heard of but one brother Mr. Hall who lived in Kentucky.”
On October 20, 1829, Philip Courtney, an ordained Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church solemnized the rites of matrimony according to law between James Hooper and Mary Childress in Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia.
On May 25, 1829, around the time of the death of his wife, Lucy Hall Flury Hooper, James Hooper was placed on the pension roll for his Revolutionary War military service. He received a rate of $80 per year. That document lists his regiment, his place of residence, his widow’s name, Mary Ann Hooper, and his death date of January 10, 1833.
An Act of Congress on February 3, 1853 granted pensions for widows, with Mary Ann Hooper receiving $80 per year. On May 15, 1854, George J. Hooper and Samuel W. Pearce appeared before Hawes R. Sutton, Notary Public, to declare they knew Mary Ann Hooper as the widow of James Hooper. Mary Ann Hooper was given pension certificate no. 4228.
On February22, 1866 she appeared before Hawes R. Sutton, Notary Public, and made a restoration, stated that she had lived in the city of Richmond since the 1st day of January 1861 living with her son, family, and friends. She was last paid on March 4, 1861. George J. Hooper and James F. Hooper also appeared that day to certify that she was the pensioner. On September 18, 1868, she made an Increase of Pension, under Section 13, Act of July 27, 1868. Her pension increased to $96.
Mary Ann Hooper is listed on the Widows Pension Rolls from September 1852 to March 1861and also on the Widows Pension Rolls from March 1858 to December 1874. The second roll states that her pension increased to $48, paid twice per year.
Mary Ann Hooper was issued Bounty Land Warrant, Tract 263 for 60 acres on August 4, 1856 and Bounty Land Warrant, Tract 4 for 100 acres on February 27, 1857 as established in the March 3, 1855 Act for Bounty Land.
On December 1, 1858, Mary Ann Hooper sold 80 acres to John J. Abell in Buchanan County, Missouri, near St. Joseph, Missouri, Military Warrant MW-0120-422. This was Bounty Land Warrant, Tract 263 located in Township 56 North, Range 36 West, North ½, Northwest ¼, Section 33.
On January 3, 1860, Mary Ann Hooper sold 100 acres to William T. Smithson in Jasper County, Missouri, near Joplin, Missouri, Military Warrant MW-0255-083. This was Bounty Land Warrant, Tract 4 located in two portions, the first, Township 27 North, Range 33 West, W ½, Northeast ¼, Section 4 and the second portion, Township 27 North, Range 33 West, E ½, Northwest ¼, Section 4.
After James Hooper’s death in 1833, Mary Ann Hooper is first found on the 1840 Henrico County, Virginia Census with one female age 10-14, and one female age 40-49. It is believed that this is her stepdaughter, Araminta Hooper and that her stepson, George James Hooper, who would have been 16 years old, had become an apprentice in the cabinetmaking trade in Richmond, Virginia. Further research may uncover who George James Hooper lived with during this time.
On the 1850 Henrico County, Virginia Census, Mary Ann Hooper, age 52, is living in the household of William Henry Wash, age 23 and his wife, Araminta Hooper Wash, age 23. Araminta Hooper Wash was Mary’s stepdaughter.
In 1870, Mary Ann Hooper, age 80, is living with her stepson, George James Hooper, age 45, pattern maker and his family. The 1870 Henrico County, Virginia Census recorded that they lived in the Clay Ward, Richmond City, Henrico County, Virginia. Mary lived with the George James Hooper family from 1870-1879 at 721 Spring Street in Richmond, Virginia in 1875, 1876, and 1879.
Written by Melanie Barton (Cousin Larry Hooper - Kit #962982) His grandfather and my maternal grandmother were brother and sister. This line of Hoopers matches YDNA with other lines that descend from Obediah Hooper.
Our earliest known Hooper ancestor is a William A. Hooper, c. 1806, likely born in Georgia and d. after 1870. There is much that is not known about our William A. Hooper, including when and where he married. According to Anne Goodwin, of hooper compass.com, he is first found in the 1830 McMinn Co. TN Census, along with a John Hooper. He is then found on the 1840 Cass County, GA Census and finally on the 1850, 1860, and 1870 Gordon Co. GA Census.
William Jesse Young(?) Hooper, son of William A. Hooper, was b. 6 Jun 1839 in Georgia. He grew up in Gordon County, GA very near the Murray County, GA border. He enlisted in Co. E, GA 40th Infantry in Gordon County, GA. The “Y” in his name disappears after his enlistment. He married Sarahann Martha HAMES (not Holmes as was believed for many decades until I discovered the transcription error in Gordon Co. GA Marriage Records) on 2 Jan 1866 in Gordon Co. GA. By 1870, he and his family are living in Murray County, GA where he remains the rest of his life. He died 26 April 1919 in Murray County, GA. His marker in Casey Springs Cemetery has “W. J. Hooper.” The Hooper line runs as follows:
George A. Hooper, b. 30 Dec 1869, Murray Co. GA — d. 20 Nov 1905, Bonner Springs/Loring, KS
Edgar Dexter Hooper Sr. b. 24 Oct 1896, GA — d. 21 Sept 1971 Hialeah, Dade Co. FL
Edgar Dexter Hooper Jr. b. 1924 - d. 2010
NOTE: William Jesse Y Hooper has been conflated for decades with a man, likely a close cousin, William J. Hooper, born in 1838 in Whitfield Co. GA. He was the son of Jesse Carter Hooper, who enlisted in the Phillips Legion, Dalton Guards. Whitfield Co. GA is next door to Murray Co. GA.
For decades, published repeatedly, it was believed that William Jesse Y Hooper was the son of Jesse Carter Hooper. The confirmation that these William J. Hoopers were two different men came from two facts and separated the Gordon Co. GA William J. Hooper from the Whitfield Co. GA William J. Hooper: 1. William Jesse Y Hooper's connection to Sarah Jane Hooper who married John Tucker 2. William Jesse Y Hooper's application for a Confederate pension