Hoopers in Tennessee in 1850

A part of southeastern Tennessee, Rhea County was created in 1807 from what had been the southern part of Roane County. Marriage, land, probate, and court records from as early as 1808 are extant. Some early tax records also survive. In 1819, Hamilton County was taken from former Rhea area; in 1836, Meigs likewise was separated from Rhea. A portion of Rhea was incorporated into Cumberland County in 1855.

There was just one family bearing the Hooper surname in Rhea County in 1850; no Hoopers were listed on the 1860 Rhea County census. Another family, the Spences, were relatives, since Mrs. Stephen Spence was the former Martha Hooper. These families -- the James Hooper family and the Stephen Spence family -- will be described in much greater detail in the May or August issue of the Hooper Compass and this page will receive further updates in connection with that effort.

page 466, household 604
James Hooper 46 NC ¹
Luisa 43 NC
John 22 TN
Jane E. 20 TN ²
Mary A. 18 TN
Caroline 16 TN
Elvira 12 TN ³
James P. 10 TN ⁴
Martha 8 TN
William 5 TN
Eveline 3 TN

Notes:

This James Hooper appears to be the same man who in 1830 was living in Blount County, TN. See Note 11 in the 1850 Blount web page for further information on the Blount County connections.

1. By the end of 1839, James Hooper has established residence in Rhea County, for he served on a jury in November of that year. Marriage records reveal that he soon became a Justice of the Peace for the county. He left Tennessee soon after the 1850 census, however, because he patented land in Saline County, Arkansas in 1851.
   In 1860, the family was in Union Township, Saline County, AR, Household #573/573, pages 88-89:
   --James Hooper 56 NC farmer
   --Louisa 53 NC
   --John 31 TN farmer
   --Queen E. 19 TN
   --Martha 14 TN
   --William 12 TN
2. Jane E. Hooper married John P. Crow on November 14, 1850 in Rhea County, Tennessee. John P. Crow was an older son of John Crow of Rhea County; both John Crows moved to Saline County, Arkansas. The older John Crow had died before November 1862, when John P. Crow was his administrator. This younger John Crow lived in the household immediately before his father-in-law in 1860: 1860 Union Twp, Saline Co., AR Household #572/572, page 88
   --Crow, John P. 34 Ark [sic]
   --Jane E. 28 Ark [sic]
   --Eliza 9 Ark
   --James 7 Ark
   --Kansas N. 4 Ark
   --Ellen 2 Ark
3. Queen E. is the child listed as Elvira, aged 12, in 1850. She later lived in Fulton County, Arkansas where she had a late marriage.
4. Daughters Mary A., Caroline, and Eveline are missing from the 1860 household, as is son James P. Hooper. Marriages and enumeration in other households probably account for three of these "missing" children:
   • Mary Hooper, age 25 and James Sloane, age 30 were married on December 1, 1859 by William Green, Minister of the Gospel [Saline County, Arkansas marriage book B, page 210]. Later, they lived in Yell County, Arkansas, as did younger sister Martha.
   • Nancy Caroline Hooper, age 19 and James H. Lyon, age 28 were married on October 19, 1853 by Aaron Bolt, Minister of the Gospel [Saline County, Arkansas marriage book B, page 65].1860 Saline Co., AR page 642:
     --James H. Lyon 34 AL
     --Nancy Lyon 24 TN
     --Mareann Lyon (f) 15 AR
     --Mary N. Lyon 3 AR
     --Missourietta Lyon 9/12 AR
   • James P. Hooper probably was listed as follows, just a little before his married sister's home, 1860 Saline Co., AR page 640:
     --Jason Evans 19 AR
     --Sarah Evans 16 TN
     --Sarah L. Evans 2/12 AR
     --James K. P. Hooper 20 TN
     The initial K looks very much like the capital letter R but careful scrutiny shows that the enumerator merely drug his pen across the top part of the K when he began the second stroke for the letter. Probably, this J K P Hooper was named for Tennessee and national politician James K. Polk.