William Hooper Papers
An Episcopalian turned Baptist, William Hooper (1792-1876) was a lifelong educator in North and South Carolina, working at Furman Institute, Wake Forest College, and several women's institutions in North Carolina. This collection contains biographical information, correspondence with family members, and two diaries that very briefly record events: first in 1823, including a visit in Virginia with Thomas Jefferson, and then life in around 1859-1862.
Biographical and Historical Note
An Episcopalian turned Baptist, William Hooper (1792-1876) was a theological professor at Furman Institute, South Carolina (1838-1840), professor at South Carolina College (1840-1846), President of Wake Forest College (1846-1849), teacher in a classical school near Littleton, N.C. (1849-1851), pastor of New Bern Baptist Church (1852-1854), President of Chowan Female Collegiate Institute in Murfreesboro, N.C. (1855-1861), teacher in the Female Seminary, Fayetteville, N.C. (1861-1865); and associate principal, with his son-in-law John D. Hooper, of Wilson Collegiate Seminary for Young Ladies (1866-1876). He moved to Chapel Hill, where he died on August 19, 1876. He was married to the former Frances Pollock Jones.
Collection Overview
This collection contains biographical information, correspondence, diaries, images, and a published transcript of a speech given at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Correspondents include his wife Frances Pollock Jones Hooper, 1834-1835; his daughter Mary Elizabeth in 1834; his son-in-law John DeBernier Hooper in 1838 and 1875; Marie J. Battle in 1867; and professor Romeo Elton in 1839. The collection contains two diaries; the 1823 diary records his trip to Virginia and a visit with then-former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, and the 1859-1862 diary entries are brief and refer to teaching in Murfreesboro and Fayetteville. Images, all of which are copies or photocopies, include photographs of Hooper and his grandfather William Hooper (1742-1790), a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The bulk of the collection is photocopies, either of items whose originals are present in the collections of other institutions such as Brown University and the University of North Carolina Southern Historical Collection, or items held by individuals.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Nancy Sullivan and Stephanie Bennett, 2023
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- William Hooper Papers (MS 56), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.