farmmystery

~ Mysterious Wall Found On HOOPER Farm ~

Farm was in the possession of Isaac Huston Hooper during the 1891 articles and in the possession of his Son,
John Luther by the 1920 article. Isaac Huston Hooper was the Son of Kinsey C. Hooper, who was the son
of Andrew Hooper. Andrew Hooper is the Ancestor of Rick Hooper, Barry Hooper and C.J. Giarratano.
Andrew Hooper is also Brother of Absalom Hooper, the Ancestor of Bill Hooper, Bryan Hooper and
Clay Hooper.

Newspaper articles published in Cleveland, Bradley County, TN
Transcribed by: Sassy

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including any original copy of the newspaper articles. We'd love to have those scanned
images online and be able to fill in the blanks that were left below.

THE ALLEGED WALL
Some of the Stones Exhibited in This City

THE CLEVELAND HERALD
April 16, 1891

A Description of the Discovery as Told by the Discoverer The HOOPERS, of the 9th district, was in town last Saturday, and exhibited some of the stones from the alleged buried wall near HOOPER'S MILL. The stones bear some strange markings, which are thought to be hieroglyphics cut on them by some lost race who built the wall long before any white man lived on this continent. MR. HOOPER states that he had dug down through the wall a distance of about 8 feet. He says the wall is about 21/2 feet thick and is built of stones of pretty uniform size about 2 feet square and 10 inches thick. The stones are set on edge and cemented together, the joints being broke after the manner of a brick wall. There are three tiers of stone in the wall and the strange characters appear only on the west face of the middle tier, where they are hid and protected by the outside tier. These characters are found only in one section of the wall about 8 feet in length and do not appear anywhere else where the wall has been examined. MR. HOOPER says he has traced the wall for a distance of two hundred yards or more along the crest of the ridge, and that at regular intervals of about 20 feet right over the wall a stone is found protruding about six inches above the ground. These stones are thought to be markers showing the course of the wall. Of course no one knows who built the wall or what it was intended for. The characters on the rocks are the most curious part of the discovery. They run in regular lines near the stones and very much resemble hieroglyphics and it is the general opinion that they represent some ancient language. Some think, however, that the alleged wall is only a strata of rock which was thrown up edgewise when the ridge was upheaval, and that the markings are only the imprint of worms or insects which may have crawled about over the rocks when they were in a soft state. Whatever it may be the publication of the discovery has created considerable excitement among scientists, and letters inquiring about the wall are received almost daily. To say the least of it the discovery has great curiosity.

THE BURIED WALL

THE CLEVELAND HERALD
June 4, 1891

Experts From the Smithsonian Institute to Try to Unravel the Mystery

The News correspondent from this city to his paper says: A MR. RALSTON, an artist in the service of the Smithsonian institute, has been here this week to examine the discovery in this county, supposed to be a buried wall, a full account of which was published some time ago. He visited the wall an obtained sketches of a section of the wall and impression of the character. MR. RALSTON stated that the characters very much resembled the characters discovered in Massachusetts, which have been deciphered. RALSTON'S employment is only that of an artist, but he is of the opinion that the discovery here is a genuine wall, made at some time by the hand of man. He stated that the Smithsonian institute would very soon send an expert here who would endeavor to read the characters on the rocks.

THE HOOPER FARM MYSTERY

THE CLEVELAND HERALD
December 3, 1920
Vol. XLVIL NO.49?

Several years ago the Cleveland Herald published the first account ever given the publish regarding the strange and mysterious wall that had been discovered on the HOOPER farm a few miles from Charleston. Since that time a diagram of the writing found has been made and submitted to expert archaeologists. In the Chattanooga Times of Sunday there appeared an article relating to this strange wall of masonry. Many people of this county are interested in this matter and the article is here reproduced for their pleasure. ____________

On the farm of J. L. HOOPER, in Bradley county, seven miles southwest of Charleston, Tenn., and twelve miles west of Cleveland, an ancient stone wall has been brought to light, disclosing what New York scientists believe to be the key to the two lost tribes of Israel. The wall has a length of 700 feet; a considerable portion of it has been uncovered, all of which is inscribed with hieroglyphics, indicating that the entire is so inscribed. The HOOPER farm includes, an eighty-acre tract of timber land. There appeared to be nothing unusual about the tract except that at one point, a stone, shaped like a flatiron, stood above the surface of the ground was covered with strange characters that aroused nothing more than a casual interest among the country folk, none of whom understood the characters or thought very seriously of them. About six years ago, however, Mr. HOOPER had occasion to haul stones from his farm to the site of a new building and he went into the interior of the timber tract to get some of these stones. Then it was that the big stone, shaped like a flatiron was dislodged, and it was noted that its entire surface far underground was inscribed. Observing that the stone was supported by a solid formation, the workmen, actuated, merely by curiosity, pushed the investigation that revealed a wall, three plies thick, and possibly three feet in height. Demolition of a part of the wall disclosed the inner ply, the western side of, which was smoothly dressed and completely covered with the hieroglyphics first noted on the outcropping rock. The thickness of the wall is given as eight inches and its formation is said to be peculiarly smooth and regular. Each ply is made of small plyed ?? stones, cemented together with red clay, such as is not now to be found in any section of that country. No gritty substance is in the clay, but it has the acidity of a green persimmon and has successfully held its own against the passage of what must have been thousands of years.

The discovery of the wall created some little excitement in the vicinity of the find. Men and women who heard of it came and looked upon it and conjectured as to the Indian tribes that probably built it there. After a little while, however, the wall became an old subject and one of little interest, and it is probable that it might never have come into general public notice but for the fact that a year later, Prof. A. L. RAWSON, of New York, had occasion to step in a Cleveland hotel overnight, on his way to some southern city. At a dining room table he overheard some mention of the find and, being interested in prehistorical research work, he made his way to the HOOPER farm and took a look at the wall. So enthusiastic was he over the discovery that he remained in the neighborhood for a few days, and went away with Mr. HOOPER'S permission to unravel the mystery. He is reputed to be a scolar [scholar] of considerable note, having deciphered the Monbite [sp.] stone, now in the British museum. He lost no time beginning on the Bradley county curiosity. He employed a capable work staff of cipher experts and set to work to translate the inscription on the wall. Up to date he is said to haxe [have] expended the sum of $35,000 on the work he has undertaken. The Meroglyphics he declares to be old Hebrew and the inscription of religious and historical nature, written by scribes of a nation then at war and about to become extinct. Each character is from three to five inches tall. The stones were inscribed with _?_ that the characters ____ ____ ____ out plainly noted the surface had been cleaned.

The entire wall will be uncovered. It is located in a sort of ridge, which it is expected will be entirely destroyed lest any aportion of the flax[ ?] be overlooked. It is Mr. Rawson's opinion that the wall has been buried there at least 4,000 years, the covering of earth wearing away with the passing of time and bringing the formation nearer the surface. Koga?? trees, three feet thick, grow along the surface edge of the wall and stone markers. emerging from the ground occur at fifty-feet intervals. Pottery and stone images have been found near the wall, but Mr. Rawson does not attribute their presence to the handiwork of the American Indians. He maintains supporting his theory with the experience of a lifetime study of such matters, that the characters are old Hebrew and he has formed his own opinion of their presence in American soil. He cited to the story of the two lost tribes of Israel, and declares his belief that scribes of these lost tribes are responsible for the ancient wall. He goes back to the book of Deuteronomy, and quotes the passages of the Scripture that details the injunction of Moses to his people: "And it shall be on the day when we pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee that thou shalt set thee up great stones and plaster them with plaster, "And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law when thou art passed over, that thou that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; an the Lord God thy father hath promised thee." In this sense chapter in, of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses threatens the tribes with the wrath of God should they "make any graven or molten images." The extinction of the tribe is credited to the fact that they turned to Idolatry??, as is shown by the presence of the images. Prof. RAWSON believes that the Israelite tribes entered America by way of the Bering straight, allowing for the many geographic changes that have taken place during the last 4,00 years. He declares that the tribes, after locating on the new country, inscribed the tablets with the Mosaic law in obedience to the injunction of Moses, and sealed them away for preservation. In further proof of his theory he makes reference to the 7, 9, and 11 chapters of Deuteronomy, the 8 chapter of Joshua and the 3 chapter of Judges. Prof. RAWSON is confident, according to Mr. HOOPER, who was in Chattanooga recently on his way home from New York, the completion of his translation of which he has been at work for five years, will create a world-wide interest in scientific and historical circles. The Rockefeller institute and the British museum will vie with other institutes he declares, for the possessions of portions of the tablets. Historians from New Zealand//, Italy, Japan, Cuba and other countries have visited the HOOPER farm.