MILLER CO, AR - WILLIAM J. HOOPER - Bio

From _The Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas_, 
Published 1890 by Goodspeed.  Chicago, Nashville, and St. Louis:  
The Goodspeed Publishing Co.  1890

Submitted by: Becky Hargett <bhargett@cityscape.net>

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William J. Hooper has been identified with the agricultural affairs of Miller 
County since his twenty-first year, and during this time he has proven himself 
to be a thoroughly reliable and substantial citizen, as well as an honest and 
upright man.  A brief sketch of his life will be read with interest.  He first 
opened his eyes to the light of this world on May 10, 1835 in Perry County,
Tenn., being the third of eight children, four of whom are still living (three 
in Cass County, Tex., and our subject in Miller County, Ark.), born to the union 
of Dempsey and Rosanna (Roberts) Hooper, natives of North Carolina and 
Tennessee, respectively.  The father died in Cass County, Tex., in 1878, in his 
seventy-second year.  Their marriage was consummated in Perry County, Tenn., and 
there they made their home until 1849, when they moved to Rusk County, Tex., 
where the wife passed away the same year at the age of thirty-five, and after 
her death the father moved to Cass County, where he made his home for the 
balance of his life.  He was a general mechanic, a fine blacksmith and
woodworker, and manufactured farm implements, wagons, etc., in connection with 
which he also carried on farming operations quite extensively.  He prospered 
greatly, and at the time of his death owned considerable valuable property, 
mostly located about two miles northeast of where Queen City now stands.  After 
the death of his wife he went back to Perry County, Tenn., and there married 
Miss Mary Ann Pomeroy, and together they returned to their home in Cass County, 
Tex., where she passed from life in 1854.  He remained a widower for some time  
after his wife's death, but finally succumbed to the charms of Mrs. Jane (Sams) 
Mooney, a widow lady, who survives him.  To his second marriage one daughter was 
born, but she has since died.  The last marriage resulted in the birth of
seven children, all of whom are still living.  William J. Hooper passed his 
school days in Perry County, Tenn., and Rusk County, Tex.  In 1857 he came to 
Miller County, Ark., and located on the farm where he now lives, which was then 
an unbroken forest abounding with wolves, bears, panthers and other wild 
animals.  He courageously set to work to clear this place, and now has for his 
pains a splendid farm of 320 acres in Arkansas and 100 acres in Texas, just 
across the river, with eighty acres prepared for cultivation.  His farm is well 
improved, with a handsome residence, good barns, etc.  In 1882 he was elected 
justice of the peace and held that office for one term.  In January 1861, he 
joined the Nineteenth Texas Confederate Infantry, and served until June, 1865, 
surrendering at Hempstead, on the Brazos River, in Texas.  During most of his 
service he was a teamster, and participated in the battles of Jenkins' Ferry and 
Mansfield.  At the close of the war he had nothing but his wife and children, 
and since then has been very successful.  His wife, to whom he was married on 
October 19, 1856, was formerly Miss Frances Allen; she was born in Cobb County, 
Ga., on May 28, 1840.  They are the parents of eight children, the oldest of 
whom, Dempsey J., died in his eleventh year.  Those still living are:  William 
N. (a prominent physician of Hughes Springs, Cass County, Tex.), James H. (a 
prosperous farmer of Miller County), Belle Zora (wife of John V. Graves,
a farmer of Caddo Parish, La.), Samuel E. (a teacher of Cass County, Tex.), and 
Preston L., Cora E., and Podie (at home).  Mr. Hooper is a Royal Arch Mason, 
socially, and politically a stanch Democrat, and both he and his wife are members 
of the Missionary Baptist Church.
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