William Hooper
William Hooper (born June 28, 1742 in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay , † October 14, 1790 in Hillsborough , North Carolina ), signed the Declaration of Independence of the United States as a representative of North Carolina and is thus one of the founding fathers of the United States .
Life
William Hooper's father of the same name studied at Edinburgh University before emigrating to America from Scotland. He was a pastor at Trinity Church in Boston and had his son teach at the Boston Latin School. He enrolled as a sophomore at Harvard College at the age of 15 and graduated in 1760. He studied law and settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1767 . Before moving to North Carolina, he completed an apprenticeship with James Otis Jr. He took part in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776 . During the American Revolutionary War , his Finian plantation on Masonboro Sound in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina was burned down by the British who occupied Wilmington. Hooper was appointed a federal judge in 1789, but was only able to work in this office for one year because of his poor health.
He died in Hillsboro in 1790 and was buried behind a small Presbyterian church. In 1894, his remains were transferred to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in North Carolina, where they lay next to those of John Penn , another of the three signatories of the Declaration of Independence from North Carolina.
His last known residence, the Nash Hooper House, still stands today at 118 West Tryon Street in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Several family members were buried under a monument at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Web links
- William Hooper in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hooper, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Signed the United States Declaration of Independence for North Carolina |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 28, 1742 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Boston , Massachusetts, UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 14, 1790 |
| Place of death | Hillsborough , North Carolina, United States |