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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