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Thomas Hooper
Born Apr 1698 Fauquier VA
Died Oct 12, 1777 Caswell NC

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Mary Ann Bailey m. 1740? ?Long Cane Township SC b. 1702 ?NC d. 1786 Nashville, Davidson Co. TN	Absalom Joseph b. 1740? Long Cane Township SC d. ?Oct 1814 Nashville, Davidson Co. TN	Churchwell b. 1745? ?Long Cane Township SC d. 1826 TN	Innis b. 1749 ?Spartanburg SC d. ?May 1833 ?Davidson Co. TN
	Ennis or Enias b. 17? ?SC executed mid 1774 Natchez, British West Florida	Jesse b. by 1777 ?SC d. Oct 30, 1824 St. Helena Parish LA
On Nov 25, 1765 son Absalom married Elizabeth Holmes, in Long Cane SC. This area near Abbeville used to be Cherokee land, until it became part of Granville and Colleton Counties, which in 1791 was replaced by the Washington District of SC.
In 1769, Absalom witnessed a deed for land lying on Canes Creek, a branch from the Long Canes in SC. Then, in 1770, Thomas Holmes [likely related to his wife] sold 100 acres, described as being "on which Absalom Hooper lives" and lying on Russell Creek.
About 1770 son Absalom was charged with being a horse thief and with murder. He appeared for trial in Charleston SC, apparently made bail, and was to reappear for a continuance the next spring. He never showed up.
On Sep 1, 1772, Absalom patented 250 acres from the British Govt. on Second Creek near the Fort of Natchez in what was then British West Florida. "Absalom Hooper claims 250 acres being unto me granted as above. Plat shows Indian Old Fields" [McBee, Book F page 525, p. 504-505]. That year, Absalom was the head of a household in the Natchez area of British West Florida.
Son "Innes Hooper" or "Innis Hooper" was also granted 250 acres of land about 20 miles from Natchez on Sep 21, 1772 [McBee, Book F, p. 436, Book B, p. 376]. Sarah Holmes was granted 200 acres "on waters of Middle [Second] Cr., b. by William Radcliff" [McBee, Book A, p. 548]. She may have been the widow of Thomas Holmes, and mother of son Absalom's wife and of the Charles who was executed for murder two years later. .
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
In December 1772, son Absalom Hooper was involved with a gang that killed several people traveling down the Mississippi River. This event managed to get recorded in several colonial newspapers. The gang consisted of Ennis [sic] Hooper, Charles Holmes, Joshua Howard, Absalom Hooper, Richard Holloway, and Reason Young. The governors of both New Orleans and of British West Florida [1774 Proclamation] tried to capture the culprits, but never managed to get the last three men named. Joshua Howard gave evidence on the crime, and [Absalom's brother] Ennis [sic] Hooper and Charles Holmes both were hung by the middle of 1774 [Rivington's New York Gazeteer, Aug 4, 1774].
Son Jesse may have become the "security tutor and curator of the minor children of Ennis Hooper [Absalom's son], decd." [Williams, p 61].
Joshua Howard was among those who petitioned the British Govt. of West Florida for land on Nov 6, 1776. He was given a warrant for 200 acres on Second Creek (where Absalom also had a grant) in the Natchez District. The receipt for surveying fees was dated Jan. 22, 1777. After the Spaniards took possession of the territory, Howard left the Natchez District for the Cumberland Settlement in an area of far western North Carolina that later became Nashville TN. He returned to Natchez at the end of 1788.
Five days after the Howard petition, on Nov 11, 1776, Absalom's petition of pardon, he being "accused of robbery on the Mississippi River" was considered by the West Florida Govt. On the same day the land grant petition of Philip Alston was considered. On Dec 10 and 16, the land grant petition of John Alston was also considered [David Library of the American Revolution, West Florida Records, vol. 593, no. 107].
In January and October 1779, son Absalom Hooper signed Loyalist petitions to the governor of British West Florida. On 27 Oct 1780, he was named in a Dec 1780 deposition Several others named in depositions in the record series in late 1780 include Joshua Howard, Thomas Holmes, and Philip Alston, father of John McCoy Alston who in 1795 married Absalom's daughter Sinia [Papeles Procedente de Isla Cuba Records in the Archives of Seville, Spain relating to U.S. History in the Spanish Provinces of Louisiana, Illinois and Florida Occidental, microfilm].
Joshua Howard arrived in the Cumberland Settlement from the Natchez District by the beginning of 1781. He eventually was assigned Captain of the Freeland's Station on Mar 15, 1783 [Clayton, p. 37].
In 1783, North Carolina created Davidson County, the first county in what became the state of Tennessee in 1796 formed from the Southwest Territory.
On Dec 31, 1788, "Joucha Hayward" arrived in Natchez from "Cumberland/Tennessee", not listed among the flatboats and without family. In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from Carlos de Grand-Pré, Natchez, Mar 2, 1790 to Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco was reported by growers of Natchez. A "Joshua Houvard" reported producing 5000 pounds of tobacco [MS Dept of Archives & History, website].
According to the 1792 Spanish Census for Natchez District, Joshua Howard was a head of household in the District of Second & Sandy Creek, as was "Juan Holladay", both single white males without blacks or slaves. A different translation has a Tonio Howard with 6 whites and 5 blacks on 400 arpents (336 acres) of land in the same area, which was east and south of Natchez. No Hooper households existed at that time.
In Oct 1792, the Stump distillery in Nashville TN was burned down by one of the area tribes. Frederick Stump was the first to distill whiskey in the region. By 1795 the rebuilt distillery along Whites Creek was producing up to 600 gallons of whiskey per year. Absalom Hooper was also producing whiskey as he was taxed for doing so by the end of the century [Tenn. State Museum].
In a claim relating to a British grant to son "Innis Hooper" of 250 acres on Second Creek, bordering a Samuel Wells in 1772, who died by Mar 23, 1804, William Alston, son of John Alston, and "his wife Amelia" were among many claimants who claimed being settlers in the "sd territory on 27 Oct. 1795" [McBee, Book D, p. 442].
On Aug 23, 1799, son Jesse Hooper witnessed a sale of 250 acres on Wells Creek from Hezekiah Williams to Robt. Miller, a son of William Miller [McBee, Book B, p. 393].
In the half year ending Dec 31, 1799, son "Absolem Hooper" paid tax of 4.26 in Distillery Tax to Davidson Co. [Tennessee State Museum].
On Mar 23, 1804, Absalom's 250 acres on Second Creek was claimed by the heirs of Samuel Wells [McBee, Book F, p. 442]. In 1796, a Rebecca Wells married Robert Holloway, the son of John Holloway who was killed by Indians on nearby land on Second Creek.
Son Absalom Hooper had claimed land on Second Creek in the Natchez District several years before Joshua Howard, both in the 1770's. The two also claimed adjoining land along Whites Creek in the Cumberland Settlement in western North Carolina in the 1780's. Absalom did not return to Natchez with Joshua in 1788. The 4th item of his Will written in 1811, lists an "old Sam" among slaves bequeathed to his son Absalom (Jr.), along with "Smith tools", presumably originally belonging to the John Smith who earlier lived on his land on Whites Creek. If Sam was Samuel, the 50 year old slave "belonging" to John Holloway in Natchez in 1781, he would have been about 80 when the will was written. The will also transferred ownership of a "Little Sam" [Copy of original, TN Will Book 4, p. 246].
Sources: Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. David Library of the American Revoution, "British Colonial Office Records CO5 West Florida Records", website, vol 593, item 107. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Fischer, Marjorie Hood, comp. Tennessee Tidbits 1778-1914 Volume I, II, Ram Press, Vista CA, p. 180. Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book B, pp. 393, 376, Book D, p. 442, Book F, p. 21, 436, 504-505. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, p. 450, 541, 548, Book B, p. 393, Book F, p. 436. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MSGenWeb, Natchez District 1792 Census Index, comp. by Ellen Pack, Head of Household Index, transcribed and translated from Spanish. North Carolina Land Grants, vol. 2, at Morganton NC Library, p. 6, #1476, transcribed by Lisabeth M. Holloway Oct 9, 1987. Rivington's New York Gazeteer, Aug 4, 1774. Summerville, James, Southern Epic, Gloucester Point VA, Hallmark, 1996. Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950, "John Alston" Marriage Record, p. 8. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville TN, Tennessee Distillery Tax Ledger, years 1795-1802, inside display case. USGenWeb Archives, contr. by Houston Tracy Jr., "Deposition of William Wall, 20 Dec 1780", microfilm folio 458-9. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Davidson Co. Tennessee Will Book 4, page 246, Microfilm Roll No. 427. Will Books 3 and 4, Wilkes County, North Carolina, 1811-1848, The Genealogical Society of "Original" Wilkes County), Will Book 3, "Estate of Joshua Howard", Oct 1814, page 89, 120. Williams, ERnest Russ, Jr., unknown, p. 61.