Hoopers in Tennessee in 1850

Monroe County lies in the eastern border of Tennessee. In 1850, the county lay adjacent to Cherokee County, North Carolina on the east. On the Tennessee side were Polk County to the south, Blount County to the north, and McMinn County on the east. Each of the adjacent counties also was home to Hooper and/or Hopper families in 1850. Created in 1819, Monroe County has court and land records from the 1820s, and marriage records as early as 1838.

The census was in poor condition when filmed, with the headings of most pages nearly or completely obscurred. The last lines of pages are quite dark and difficult to read. Fortunately, the enumerator was conscientious enough to complete most columns. He left the column for "Color" empty for all the households cited below. The enumeration began in the 11th Civil District on 13 August 1850.

Stamped page numbers appear on the front of each leaf. Handwritten numbers were added to each page, but are extremely difficult to decipher on many of the pages. Page numbers used below are the handwritten numbers. The dwelling/family numbers are continuous throughout the county and provide the simplest means for locating a family of interest. In several of the families listed below, the wife was born a Hooper.

1. Monroe County, Tennessee marriage records show G.W. Payne was married to Nancy Hooper by Justice of the Peace Pleasant M. Ghormley on 3 November 1842. Boyer, 1988, shows a case where George Payne's relationship is definitively proven.

   "Guilford Cannon v. Enos C. Hooper and George W. Payne, all of Monroe County, filed 15 Jan 1844. Payne is son-in-law of Hooper. Cannon charges Hooper with fraud in making an error in description of land in Deed of Trust given for a note."

   The 1860 Monroe census shows the family within the same household as E.C. and Margaret Hooper:
   --Geo W. Payne 40
   --Nancy 39
   --Delena E. 11
   --Lemuel M. 9
   --Salena E. 7
   --Clementine 5
   --Geo W. 4
   --Louisa 2
   --Margaret 4/12.
   In 1880 Monroe County, there is
   --George W Payne 62
   --Nancy 58
   --George W 24
   --Andrew J 18
   --Esther C 13
   and in a different household but on the same page, is
   --Clementine Payne 25
   --Salina E 8
   --Mary J 5
   --John W 4.
2. This family is much further described, with descendants, in Crocker, 1993, pp. 619ff.
   Margaret Hooper (nee Harbison) was the legal wife of Dr. Enos C. Hooper, whose 1850 whereabouts are uncertain. Dr. Enos Hooper does appear on the 1860 Monroe County, Tennessee and 1870 Cherokee County, North Carolina enumerations with Margaret. However, in 1860, he also was listed alone on the 1860 Cherokee County, NC census. Enos Hooper had been an early inhabitant of Monroe, having been one of those "Commissioned Justices of the Peace for the County of Monroe" on 23 March 1836 (in "Governor's Commission Book" at Tennessee State Library and Archives).
   1860 Monroe Co., TN
   --E. C. Hooper 66 (or 56, or 63, hard to read) SC
   --Margaret 58 TN
   --Napoleon B 14 TN
   --Caroline Elidge 14 TN.
   1860 Cherokee Co., NC Cheoah Township, Fort Montgomery Post Office, household 833,
   --E. C. Hooper 63 physician. [alone]
   1870 Cherokee Co., NC #94
   --Enos Hooper 73,
   --Margaret 66,
   --Charlotte Shelton 18, house k.
3. Although he was a son of Dr. Enos Hooper, Riley Hooper moved to North Carolina where in 1860 he lived next door to farmer Enos Hooper (who was the son of the Revolutionary War soldier Absolem Hooper).
   1860 Cherokee County, NC Cheoah Township, Fort Montgomery P.O.,
   --Riley S. Hooper 32
   --Maryann 21
   --Margarete 3
   --Clementine 1
   In 1870, Riley Hooper and wife Anna again were in Cherokee Co., NC (household #97) and in 1880 were in Graham Co., NC, Cheoah Township, household #219 (enum. dist. 82, sheet 28, line 36, or page 256D). They remained there in 1900 (page 130B, line 72, household 139/140) for Riley Hooper final census appearance. In the Hooper Cemetery in Graham County is the tombstone for Riley Stokely Hooper, 1829 to 1907.
   Riley Hooper was a confederate veteran. Millsaps, 1989, included a muster roll of Capt. Cooper's Co. H Walker's Battalion listing Privates Enos M. Hooper [enlisted 3 Mar 1863, residence unknown], Riley S. Hooper [enlisted 23 July 1862, residence Cherokee Co., NC] and Thomas J. Hooper [enlisted 23 July 1862, residence Cherokee Co., NC].
4. With other family members, Thomas Jefferson Hooper moved to the part of Cherokee County, NC that later became Graham County.
   1860 Cherokee Co., NC, #793
   --Jefferson Hooper, 30
   --Caroline 25
   --Margaret 4
   --William 2, male 10m.
   The family was enumerated in 1880 Graham County in Cheoah Township, household #226 (page 257B) and a daughter married in the county, at the home of "T. J. Hooper" in 1885. See also the reference to a Confederate Thomas J. Hooper in note 3 above.
5. A deed positively identifies parentage of Esther/Easter Miller. Boyer, 1969, quotes Monroe Deed Book R page 445:

   "W.C.P. Jones to Easter Miller; amount paid by E.C. Hooper, father of Easter Miller who is wife of T.C. Miller; acknowledged 1 Mar 1869."

   Esther Hooper had married T. C. Miller in Monroe County on 10 January 1852.
   1860 Polk Co., TN p 126
   --Theodore C Miller 50
   --Easter 30
   --Caroline 7
   --Lewis 6
   --Charles 4
   --Wesley 2
   1880 Monroe Co., TN p 42
   --Charley Miller 70
   --Easter 55
   --Enos 20
   --Margaret 18
   --Charley 21
   --Sally 15.
6. The 1872 will of Enos C. Hooper indicates that son William Hooper was in California when the will was created. However, the birthplaces of William's children, as indicated on the 1870 and 1880 listings, suggest the family had been in California in 1869, but soon moved to Oregon. Enos had given his Graham County lands to this son, so before 1880, William had returned to NC.
   1870 Oregon, Grant County, Rock Creek Precinct, p. 370A, beginning line 13, Household #8/8
   --Hooper, W. F. 35 miner b. Tennessee
   --Hooper, Nancy A. 31 keeping house b. Indiana
   --Hooper, Wm. W. 11 at home b. California, attended school, can't write
   --Hooper, Minnie 6 b. Oregon
   --Hooper, Charles 3 b. Oregon
   --Hooper, Winnie 1 b. Oregon
   The entire listing for the 1880 census is given here since it confirms the identifications of William on the 1870 record:
   1880 Graham Co., NC Cheoah Township, p 6, #39
   --W. T. Hooper 45 TN TN NC
   --Nancy A. 38 IN VA SC wife
   --Walter 20 CA TN IN son
   --Minnie 16 OR TN IN daughter
   --Charley 13 OR TN IN son
   --Elva 11 OR TN IN daughter
   --Nettie 9 OR TN IN daughter.
7. Napoleon B. Hooper has been hard to locate after his 1860 enumeration with his parents. He did, however, live with his wife for at least some time in Graham County, North Carolina. See Vance, et al, 1992, p. 17. A marriage of Samuel S. Beaver, 23 of Cherokee Co., NC to Sophronia Dewese, 30 of Graham occurred 25 July 1873 at the house of N.B. Hooper. Witnesses were Wm. F. Hooper and N.B. Hooper and wife. Any relationship between the Hoopers and Ms. Deweese or Mr. Beaver is undetermined. However, on the 1870 census, Sofrona Deweese, age 27, was enumerated within Murphy Township, Cherokee County, North Carolina.
8. Thomas J. Burris had married Sarah Hooper on 24 November 1849 in Monroe County. A court suit brought in 1852 specifically identifies the families of Thomas and Sarah. [From Boyer, 1988, p. 66] (506) William Burris versus Enos C. Hooper filed 14 Sept 1852. Regarding sale of whiskey and groceries to the Cherokee Indians at Snowbird River, Cheoa Valley, Cherokee County, NC by the partnership of Hooper and Burris in 1852. July 1853, witness Thomas J. Burris, 27, is the son of William Burris and son-in-law of Hooper. Nov. 1854, witnesses Thomas J. Hooper, 23, and Royal S. Hooper, 25, at William Thomas Store in Cherokee Co.; Thomas says he supposes he and Enos are related. 1854, Joseph Divine, 40, who hauled whiskey to Hooper at Cheoa, describes roads. Witness John Spradling is kin to Burris.
9. As shown by the note above, William Burris after 1849 had a daughter-in-law named Sarah Hooper Burris. Monroe County marriage records show that on 22 Apr 1840, Justice of the Peace William Burris performed the marriage ceremony for an Andrew Hooper to Anna Stephens. In 1850, the next household after that of William Burris is for Mary Burris, 76, b. VA, who very likely would be the mother of this William Burris.
10. This family reappears on the 1860 Monroe County, Tennessee census as Darkey Hooper 55, Parnecia 25, Hana 23, Wm. 21, James 20, Lorina 17, Mary A. 15. None of the family is apparent on the 1880 Monroe County census. Much has been written about this family in an article entitled "Mexican War Pension Claim" in the Hooper Compass, pages 10 and following.
11. Because this William remains in the home of Darcus Hooper in 1860, he seems to be a different individual from the William Hooper who married Jane Vassey on 4 March 1858 (with David Rogers, J.P., performing the ceremony). A message (#187) from Dewey G. Hyde, Jr. <deweygh@aol.com> to the Hooper genforum site on 7 November 1998 identified William R. Hooper, b. 15 July 1835 NC and d. 20 Jan 1903 as the husband of Jane Vassey.
12. As with elder brother William, James reappears in the family home in 1860. Thus, he seems to be someone different from the James Hooper who, on 7 November 1858, was wed to Nancy J. Reed by William Wadkins, J.P.
13. This John Presley family is different from the family connected to the Hoopers, and their data is included here only to help sort out the two families. This John (with a younger wife) and sons Isaac and William reappear on the 1880 Monroe County census.
    A different John Presley married Elizabeth Hooper on 19 April 1841 in Monroe County. That Presley couple lived in Polk County, Tennessee in 1850 on land that had been acquired for them by Elizabeth's father John Hooper. [See Boyer, 1980].
    The John Presley of 1850 Polk County was very similar in age to the John Presley remaining in 1850 Monroe County; therefore, much care should be exerted to keep the identities separate.
    Polk County, Tennessee, 5th Civil District, 6 November 1850, household #736/743 shows John Presley 26 b. GA farmer $250 Real estate; Elizabeth 23 b. TN; Margaret 10 b. TN; Geo. W. 9 b. TN; Marion 6 b. TN; Mary 4 b. TN.
    John and Elizabeth Presley remained in Polk County, Tennessee in 1860. Only wife Elizabeth has been found in 1870 (in McMinn County, Tennessee) and none of that family has yet been indentified in 1880 Tennessee.
14. Monroe marriage records show Isaah Presley married Polly Hooper on 1 November 1841. None of the family members could be located in 1860 Tennessee, nor in a search of the 1880 Monroe County census. He does not seem to be the same as the Isaiah Presley who patented 40 acres of land on 1 October 1860 in Crawford Co., Arkansas (Section 6, Township 12 N, Range 32W). [Government Land Office Records].
    The two Presley/Hooper marriages in 1841 Monroe County suggest some degree of interactions among them. John Hooper, the father of Elizabeth Hooper Presley, was a near neighbor of Enos C. Hooper in 1840 (and probably is the father of both Elizabeth and Mary/Polly Hooper Presley). Boyer, 1988, p. 72 "Richard Presly v. Philip Roberts filed 17 October 1854, both of Monroe Co. About 1843, Roberts purchased of Enos C. Hooper land known as the Belcher Camp tract, and in 1845 sold part to Presly, but Presly found that the land belonged to another."
15. The name Anderson Hooper is particularly difficult to decipher, since the enumerator apparently first wrote Hooper Anderson, then reversed the order when he wrote over his initial attempt. This family fails to reappear in 1860 or 1880 Monroe County.
16. As shown in note 9 above, Monroe County marriage records for 22 Apr 1840 show Andrew Hooper married Anna Stephens, with William Burris, J.P. presiding. This very young Any Hooper (who would have been about 16 in 1840) might in fact be Anna Stephens Hooper. Any and Mary Hooper have not been located in later documents.
17. This man appears as John M. Hopper on the census, but some transcribers and indexers have misread the name as Hooper. Since he had land in 1850 worth $2000, there may be some remaining local records where his name, or those of his heirs, might appear.

Works Cited

• Reba Bayless Boyer, 1969, Monroe County, Tennessee Records 1820-1870, vol.1.
• Reba Bayless Boyer, 1980, Chancery Court Records Of McMinn County, Tennessee, p. 60.
• Reba Bayless Boyer, 1988, Monroe County, Tennessee Records Chancery Court Records 1832-1887
• Mary Hooper Crocker, 1993, "A Glimpse into the Past" of Hooper and Related Families (1763-1993): Genealogy Publishing Service, Franklin [NC].
• Millsaps, Bill, 1989, "The Last Surrender of the Civil War" in Southwestern North Carolina Genealogical Society Quarterly 6:2 [Spring 1989] pp 106-112.
• Helen Vance, Mildred Johnson, and Frankie Barmes, 1992, "Graham County Marriages 1872-1925," in Southwestern North Carolina Genealogical Society Quarterly IX:1 (1992) pp 11-43.