My paternal grandmother Nancy Grace (usually known as Grace) was born in Sardis West Virginia, which is located in Harrison County. She was born on December 13, 1889 and was the seventh child in a family of nine. Her parents were James Edward Hooper (1851-1937) and Sara Lyon Hooper (1856-1933). Sardis is a small town south of Morgantown WV. Is is close to Clarksburg WV, where grandmother also lived. Sardis is 216 miles south of Titusville, so it is unlikely that granny had much opportunity to visit her family after she married. Nancy Grace’s family line on her father’s side can be traced back as far as 1538, when her 9th great grandfather (my 11th great grandfather) was born in 1538 in England! I haven’t looked closely at her mother’s line as yet but here is her father’s line:
Her father: James Edward Hooper 1851-1937. Her mother was Sarah Lyon (1856-1933). Her parents had nine children. I will post more about grandmother’s parents another time.
Her grandfather: John G Hooper 1825-1898 (m Elizabeth Gain 1821-1887). John was born in Harrison County, Virginia, which later became Harrison County, West Virginia. He lived in Clarksburg Township. He was first married to a very young Jane Laughery (1833-1849) but she apparently died in childbirth, at age 16, during the birth of their daughter, Alice who was born in 1849. John remarried Elizabeth Gain that same year and they had two children, one of whom was my great grandfather, James Edward Hooper. They lived in Tenmile, Harrison County WV. John served as a private on the side of the Union during the last year of the Civil War. He was in the WV 6th Infantry Regiment from 1864-1865. After Elizabeth died in 1887, John quickly married a third time, and to a much younger woman. Mary Catherine Hurst was born in 1851, so she was 37 and John was 63 when they married in 1888. They had one child, George, who was born in 1890. John and his family were living in Salem, Harrison County WV when he died at the age of 73 in 1898.
Her great grandfather: Nicholas Hooper 1800-1859 (m. Rachel Ash (1803-1860). Nicholas was a farmer. He and Rachel married in 1825. They lived in Harrison County, Virginia. According to the census of 1830, 1840 nd 1850, they did not own slaves, although Nicholas’ father and grandfather did.
Her 2nd great grandfather: James Irvin C. Hooper 1769-1837 (m. Judah 1770-1841). James was born in Buckingham, Virginia and died in Bedford, Tennessee. Judah was born in Norfolk, Virginia. The 1820 census sadly indicates that James and his family owned 7 slaves including 4 children under the age of 14, 2 males aged between 14-25, and 1 male aged 45 or older. The 1830 census unfortunately indicates that James still owned 5 slaves. He owned 1 male slave under 10 years of age, 1 male between 10-23 years old, 1 male 24-35 years old, 1 male 36-54 years old and 1 female 24-35 years old.
Her 3rd great grandfather: George Hooper 1736-1800 (m Elizabeth Cooke 1740-1818). George was born in Buckingham County, Virginia. George served in the Revolutionary War. Col. George Hooper was commanding Col. in the Revolutionary War and is buried with his wife on Hoopers Mountain in Arcanum, Buckingham County, VA. Unfortunately, the 1810 Federal Census states that George’s family owned 23 slaves. Colonel Hooper was the first cousin to Dr. William Cabell, an ancestor of the famous Cabell Family of Virginia and William Mayo, the famous Surveyor and Mapmaker. The Buckingham County plantation of Colonel George Hooper and wife Elizabeth was called ARCANUM, a Latin word meaning an inner secret or mystery, referring to the underground source of water that flows from the beautiful spring near the site of his home. The old home place, Arcanum, no longer stands. Elizabeth and George maried in 1758. She died about 1818. She was the daughter of John Cooke Sr. and Mary Singleton.
Her 4th g-grandfather: John Hooper 1681-1720 (m. Mary 1681-1720). John was born in Merriott, Somerset County, England. He was our ancester who immigrated to the United States from England. He died in the United States.
Her 5th g-grandfather: Hugh Hooper 1651-1705 (m. Dorothy 1651-1696). Hugh was born and died in Selwood, Somerset County, England.
Her 6th g-grandfather: George Thomas Hooper 1627-1698 (m. Joane Townsend 1629-1724). George was born and died in Selwood, Somerset County, England.
Her 7th g-grandgather: John Hooper 1598-? (m. Marie Stowell who was born 1600). John was born in Hatherleigh, Devon County, England.
Her 8th g-grandfather: George Hooper 1568-? (m. Margett Beare 1568-1592). George was born in Hatherleigh, Devon County, England. This is located in southwest England. Margett died in Surrey, England.
Her 10th g-grandfather: Oliver Hooper born 1538. This is as far as the lineage can be traced at this time. Oliver was born in Hatherleigh, Devon County,England.
As you probably know, families didn’t always have last names (surnames). When surnames were first developed, they were often the name of a town, or the name of a profession the person pursued. Sometimes the surname was taken from the father’s first name with the word son added to the end (as when David’s son became Davidson or Davison). A hooper was a person who was engaged in the profession of barrel making or fitting hoops onto a barrel. So, it is likely that our earliest ancesters on the Hooper side constructed barrels for a living in England. Surnames did not become popular until after the 14th century. Therefore, the fact that our ancester, Oliver Hooper had that surname in 1538, makes it even more likely that he or his ancesters were indeed hoopers. My research tells me that the hooper surname was first found in the county of Devon which is where we see that Oliver, as well as his son George and grandson John resided. The Hooper family had a family seat in Devon from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066AD.
I hope you found this blog entry interesting. I will add more to it as time goes on. I find that when I answer certain questions, then other questions arise. We have certainly answered the question where did we come from, at least on Nancy Grace’s side of the family. We are definately English on that side.
I just find it incredible that this can be traced back so far. Very interesting.
I was able to gain all that information because someone from a distant branch of the Hooper family must have paid extra to gain the British records. My subscription currently is only for American records, so for example with the Buchan’s I could not trace them since they arrived in America so recently. One of these days I’ll just need to subscribe to the European genealogy sites. They seemed to have kept incredible records.
Linda,
Thank you so much for adding this history! I have been doing family history for about 10 years and was stuck on the Hooper line. This information is invaluable. My great-grandfather is Glen Charles Hooper, the younger brother of Nancy Grace Hooper. It was interesting to read about James Edward Hooper as well.
I would like to contact you for more information if that is okay!
Thanks again!
Mike Leavitt
Mike,
Welcome to the family! I do have more information but have been remiss about writing another blog. I will enjoy answering any questions and adding other information that I have. the Hooper family is a very interesting one! My personal email is linloftin@comcast.net