Henry Hooper (ca. 1687-1767)
MSA SC 3520-672
Biography:
Born: Ca. 1687 in Dorchester County.
Notice: Third generation.
Resided: In Dorchester County.
Died: Monday, April 20, 1767, in Dorchester County; on the same
day his brick dwelling house burned to the ground and his "Corps [sic]
being then in the house was with much difficulty saved from flames."
Family Background:
Father: Henry Hooper (ca. 1643-1720), who married first, Elizabeth,
daughter of Levin Denwood.
Mother: Mary (1663-1740), daughter of Roger Woolford (?-ca. 1701/2).
Uncle: Roger Woolford (1670-1730).
Aunts: Elizabeth Woolford (1664-1738), who married first, Thomas
Ennalls (?-1718), and second, William Holland (?-1732); Sarah Woolford
(ca. 1672-?), who married Covert Lockerman (ca. 1681-1728).
Brothers: Thomas; John (?-1754); Roger; and James (1703-1789).
Half-Brother: Richard.
Sisters: Anne (?-1761), who married John Broome (1616-ca. 1738/39);
Mary (?-ca. 1757), who married second, John Rider (1686-1739/40); Rosannah;
Sarah; Rebecca; and Priscilla.
Half-Sisters: Mary (1674-1745), who married Henry Ennalls (1675-1734);
Elizabeth, who married Matthew Travers (ca. 1672-1742).
First Cousins: Thomas Woolford (ca, 1699-ca. 1750/51); Sarah
Lookerman (?-by 1745), who married Joseph Cox Gray (?-1764); Rosannah Woolford,
who married second, Joseph Cox Gray (?-1764); and James Woolford (ca. 1736-ca.
1783).
Nephew: John Brome (1703-1748).
Niece: Ann Hicks (?-1773), who married Henry Travers (?-1765).
Married: By 1712 Mary, daughter of Joseph En nails (?-1709)
granddaughter of both Bartholomew Ennalls (1643-1688) and John Brooke (by
1646-1692/93); niece of Thomas Ennalls (?-1718), Henry Ennalls (1675-1734),
Elizabeth Ennalls, who married Roger Woolford (1670-1730), and Ann Brooke,
who married first, Thomas Cooke (?-1692/93). Her brothers were William
Ennalls (?-1731); Bartholomew Ennalls (ca. 1700-1783); Thomas (?-1753);
Joseph (1702-1759); and Henry (?-1734). Her sister was Elizabeth (?-by
1739), who married Charles Goldsborough (1707-1767). Her first cousin was
Thomas Woolford (ca. 1699-ca. 1750/51). Her nephews were Joseph Ennalls
(ca. 1745-1779); William Ennalls (?-1785); John Ennalls (by 1746-ca. 1778);
and Robert Goldsborough (1733-1788). Her nieces were Elinor Ennalls (ca.
1738-1793), who married Joseph Daffin (?-1796); Elizabeth Greenbery Goldsborough
(ca. 1731-1820), who married Willam Ennalls (?-1785); Mary Ennalls, who
married Ennalls Hooper (?-ca. 176.3); and Ann Ennalls (ca. 1729-by 1790),
who married Henry Hooper, Jr. (ca. 1727-1790).
Children:
Son: Henry Hooper, Jr. (ca. 1727-1790).
Daughters: Ann, who married Denwood Hicks; Mary, who married
first, Bartholomew Ennalls, and second, Levin Hicks (?-1753).
Private Career:
Education: Literate.
Religious Affiliation: Anglican, Cambridge Church and Vienna
Chapel, Great Choptank Parish, Dorchester County.
Social Status and Activities: Gent., by 1733; Esq., by 1738; Hon.
at death.
Additional Comments: In his will Hooper left £10 to the
public free-school in Annapolis.
Occupational Profile: A mariner, by 1712; planter; attorney,
admitted to the following courts: Dorchester County by August 1742; Talbot
County in August 1744.
Public Career:
Legislative Service: Lower House, Dorchester County, 1722-1724
(Elections 1-3), 1725-1727 (Elections 1-3; Laws 3), 1732-1734 (Laws 1-Cv;
Accounts Cv), 1734/35-1737 (Laws 1, Cv, 2-4), 1738 (Laws; Arms and Ammunition),
1739-1741 (Laws Cv-3; Arms and Ammunition Cv-3), 1745 (Laws; Arms and Ammunition;
Aggrievances), 1745/46-1748 (Laws Cv 1, 1-3, 4; Arms and Ammunition Cv
1, 1-3, 4; Aggrievances Cv 1, 1-3, 4), 1749-1751 (Laws Cv-3; Aggrievances
Cv-3; Arms and Ammunition Cv-3), 1751-1754 (Laws 1-6; Grievances 1-6),
1754-1757 (speaker 1-5; resigned as speaker on September 30, 1756, because
of illness; reelected speaker for the 6th session), 1757-1758 (speaker
1, Cv, 2), 1758-1761 (speaker Cv 1, 1, Cv 2, 2, 3, Cv 3), 1762-1763 (speaker
1, 2); Upper House, 1765-1766 (appointed during the 1st session).
Other Provincial Offices: Judge, Assize Court, Eastern Shore, commissioned
1734-1739, 1743, and 1747; justice, Provincial Court, commissioned 1735,
1738, 1741, 1743, 1744, 1747, 1749, and 1766 (chief justice, by 1766);
Council, 1765-1767 (appointed and qualified on September 23, 1765).
Local Offices: School board, Dorchester County, in office 1723;
justice, Dorchester County, in office 1732-1734 (quorum, 1734), 1751-at
least 1764 (quorum, 1751-at least 1764); justice, Court of Oyer and Terminer
and Gaol Delivery, Dorchester County, commissioned 1738, 1742, 1748, and
1754; clerk of Indictments, Dorchester County, appointed 1744.
Military Service: Captain, by 1723; colonel, in the militia, by
1744.
Wealth During Lifetime:
Land at First Election: 2,684 acres in Dorchester and Calvert counties
(1,281 acres from his father; 1,403 acres by purchase).
Significant Changes in Land Between First Election and Death: Purchased
600 acres in Dorchester County, 1728; resurveyed several tracts for a net
gain of 1,147 acres in Dorchester County, 1739; sold 981 acres in Dorchester
County between 1739 and 1748; patented and sold approximately 500 acres
in Dorchester County between 1722 and 1767.
Wealth at Death:
Personal Property, Total Estate Value: £1,551.16.9 current
money, 9,981 pounds of tobacco (including 24 slaves, books, new silver
plate from England no weight given, and 64 oz. country plate).
Final Balance: £1,440.6.3 current money, 9,085 pounds
of tobacco.
Land: At least 2,900 acres in Dorchester County, plus 1 lot
in Georgetown, Kent County; plus he possibly still owned 500 acres in Calvert
County, which he had inherited from his father.
Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al. A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789. 2 Vols. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, 1985), 456-7.
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