My Genealogy Hound

Prof. J. N. H. Hooper was born on Hooper’s Island, in Chesapeake Bay, Md., in 1846. This island has been in the possession of the Hooper family since the first settlement of the State, and was purchased from the Indians. Much of Prof. Hooper’s youth was spent in Baltimore, where he received a good education, supplementing the same by a course at Carlisle, Penn., and at Lebanon Normal School. Toward the last of the Civil War he left school, entered the Confederate army, was taken prisoner and confined at Fort McHenry until cessation of hostilities. He then returned home, but found his parents, who had been very wealthy, had lost all their property during the war, and that his father was dead. Determined not to stand change of circumstances among acquaintances, Prof. Hooper started for the far west, clerked for a short time, and then commenced teaching school in the western part of Ohio. Having traveled extensively with his parents while young over eastern States, and one trip across the Atlantic, had thus imbibed the taste for travel, and this taste he now gratified by traveling over the western States, stopping occasionally to teach, in order to get the necessary funds. In 1868 he joined the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteers, a regiment of cavalry called out by the governor of the State for six months, for the purpose of rescuing women and children captured by the Indians on a raid on Solomon River. Prof. Hooper’s object in joining this regiment was chiefly to see the country. He was promoted from the ranks through the different non-commissioned degrees, and reached the position of second lieutenant a few days before the discharge of the regiment. His regiment was in company with the Seventh Regulars, and the command under Gen. Custer. He was slightly wounded by a tomahawk. He received his discharge at the end of service, and engaged in the book and stationery business at Leavenworth, but in a few months sold out, went to Illinois, taught for two years, and then came to Moniteau County, Mo., late in 1870. He again engaged in teaching, and was married to the daughter of W. C. Amos, one of the oldest settlers of the county. He then bought a small farm, but being ignorant of the business, lost all that he had invested, and moved to Clarksburg in 1875. Through indulgence of parents in money matters, while young, he had acquired expensive habits and carelessness in money matters, which had prevented him from accumulating much property. He came to Clarksburg in debt, with no capital, but determined to return to his former business of teaching, and not to deviate from that course. He organized Hooper Institute in 1876, and in spite of poverty and opposition, established the school. A few years later he joined the Baptist Church. He had ten students to start with, and an unceiled, unplastered house to teach in, but his school grew and prospered. About this time an opposition sprang up. A stock company was formed, a school-house built, and teachers were brought from a distance. Then for two or three years Prof. Hooper had quite a fight for existence, as he had to buy, build and take his chances in face of the stock company, but he advertised liberally, and succeeded in gaining the good will of the students, who worked for the school. He now has good buildings of his own, his yards are set in shrubbery by the students, presenting a tasteful appearance. The influence of this school has brought scores of families to Clarksburg. Prof. Hooper has had over 700 students, 110 of whom are married, over 300 are teachers, numbers are doctors, lawyers, editors, bankers, and are, in fact, in almost all branches of business, and are scattered in seventeen States. Quite a number of teachers have State certificates, and every student from the school is engaged in some practical business. This is the oldest private school in the county, and the only one in which the property is entirely owned and controlled by teachers. A specialty of this school is the preparation of teachers, and the well-arranged course of study, in which only the practical is taught, enables a student to prepare for teaching much sooner than in most schools, where time is taken up with other things. The public seem to appreciate this school, and students come without canvass. Prof. Hooper has spent the best part of his life in the profession of teaching, and will probably continue as long as he engages in any active business.