ABRAHAM HOOPER
Submitted by Clemi Blackburn
Abraham
Hooper, deceased, was one of the pioneer settlers of Atchison
County. He was one of the well known and sturdy figures in the early
days of the settlement of Kansas when strong and brave men were
required, who were able to face the vicissitudes and hardships
incident to the settlement of a new country and perform their tasks
without succumbing, as weaker mortals were wont to do. Mr. Hooper
was born in Platte County, Missouri, November 23, 1839 on a farm
near Parkville. His father was Abraham Hooper, a Native of Tennessee
and early settler of Missouri, who died in [New] Mexico.
Abraham Hooper, the subject of this review, was reared in Platte
County and came to Atchison County in 1858, settling on a farm near
Pardee. While engaged in farming he followed his trade of plasterer
in the neighborhood of Pardee. For a distance of ten miles around
his own residence he plastered all of the houses then building by
the incoming settlers. During the Civil War he was enrolled in the
State militia. In his younger days Mr. Hooper was a freighter and
crossed the plains in charge of great trains on three different
occasions. On one of his trips to Colorado he was placed in charge
of a train load of twenty-five wagons, and one of his other trips
was to Ft. Union, NM. His affiliations were with the Christian
Church the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of
Pythias lodges.
Mr. Hooper was married in 1863 to Louisa CAMPBELL, born in Tennessee
in 1842, a daughter of Daniel and Nancy Campbell. The Campbell
family left Tennessee in 1854 and in 1855 removed to a farm which
they preempted near Farmington in Atchison County. This was in a day
when things were in a primitive state in Kansas. The Campbells lived
in a cabin which was one of the first dwellings built in that
section of the county. The mother of Mrs. Hooper lived and died on
their farm and her father died on the western plains while on a trip
to the Black Hills. Mr. and Mrs. Hooper removed from the farm to
Atchison in 1887 and here Mr. Hooper died February 18, 1914, at the
advanced age of seventy-four years, having been born November 3,
1839. Three children were born to this well respected couple: Addie
B. died at the age of six years; Daniel, deceased, and Nellie died
at the age of one year. Mrs. Hooper lives all alone in her home, but
remembers fondly the days of old and has many sweet memories of her
husband and children to solace and comfort her during her declining
years. Despite her age she is physically and mentally vigorous and
is distinguished in being one of the oldest pioneer women now living
in the county.
Her well beloved son, Daniel Hooper, was born in 1868 and died
January 22, 1912. He was one of the most talented and best liked men
in Atchison and was far on the road to fame and prosperity when he
was cut off in the prime of his vigorous and virile manhood. He
received the rudiments of an elementary education in the district
school near his country home and early developed ambitions which
were partly realized during his life. After leaving school he
studied shorthand and typewriting and while holding a position in
the law office of C.D. WALKER he studied law and was admitted to the
bar. A winning personality and his pronounced ability won him
clients from the start of his legal career. His personal popularity
and ambitious tendencies led him to enter politics and he was
elected to the office of probate judge of the county, serving the
people well and faithfully for a period of six years, and then
served two terms as city attorney.
Just in the prime of his manhood and at the zenith of a career his
health failed and he died at Excelsior Springs, Mo., where he had
gone in the hope of regaining his health. Judge Hooper was sincerely
mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances and it is
probable that there was not a man in his class better liked or more
highly respected in Atchison County at the time of his demise. He
was a Republican in politics and was fraternally connected with the
Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Pythias, in whose councils he was
very prominent and an attendant at the Christian Church. The most
notable trait in Judge Hooper's character was his sincere devotion
to his parents. Because of the love he bore his mother, he never
married and cared for no woman but her. His constant thought was to
make provision for her in the event of his own demise and he
carefully looked after her immediate and future wants. Such men as
he are deserving of a greater tribute than that embodied in the
brief review. A memorial window with his and the name of his father
thereon was placed in the Christian Church in his memory. Printed on
this window are Judge Hooper's words of faith often expressed: "I
believe in a great and a good God."
Mrs. Hooper is rearing and educating a girl, Ruth JONES, who serves
as company for her in the home.
Taken from:
History of Atchison County, Kansas
by Sheffield Ingalls - 1916
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