(My apologies for any errors or omissions, this is the best we
could do with the information we had. If you have any input, just email
me and I’ll add/change/delete.)
Much of the basic information for this Hooper family tree comes
directly from the book by Martha Ford Barto, Passamaquoddy, Genealogies
of West Isles Families, 1975. In her Acknowledgements she thanks many
archivists, conservators and researchers at a wide variety of locations
in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine. Without her untiring efforts
on the behalf of the early and enduring families of Deer Island, we
would not have had this basis for our present day research.
Mr. Dale Barteau and his wife, Mrs. Glenna (Chaffey) Barteau, helped
with and have continued and perpetuated Mrs. Barto’s efforts and are
historians and genealogists “extraordinaire” themselves, to whom we all
owe a debt of gratitude. Many wonderful friends and family members have
helped me in the preparation of this family tree and without them, I
wouldn’t have been able to have brought this document forward. You know
who you are, Cousins!
The Hooper lineage is a long one with many digressions over the
centuries. This particular line, which comes out of Richard Hooper (b.
between 1729 and 1732 and d. unknown) undoubtedly, has its North
American roots in “the Colonies”. So far the researchers following this
line have not been able to document the line back before Richard, and
not much is known about him.
It is fairly well accepted that this family tree began back in jolly
old England, probably in the 1600’s with some daring young Hooper
sprout hopping on a ship destined for what was to become America. In
all likelihood, he landed at the port, which was to become Boston, MA,
possibly in the Marblehead area.
But who he was and when he came and from what part of the United
Kingdom, is not proven fact. We have no documentation to prove who that
daring young fellow was although some of us have guesses that’s all
they are. We all fervently hope that with the increasing number of old
documents put on the web, we’ll soon have a link which takes us back
“over the pond”.
Until that time, what we know for certain is that Richard served (in
some capacity) for the Crown during the Revolutionary War. He and his
two sons, William and James, were given a land grant in the area called
L’Etang, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1784. The town is now called St. George
and the province became New Brunswick. In order for the Crown to
recognize someone with a land grant, they had to have served the Crown,
usually as a soldier.
We know a few more things about Richard’s sons, William and James.
Thanks to a brilliantly well-prepared and documented book by Ernest
Clarke, The Siege of Fort Cumberland, 1776, we find in Appendix Two the
muster roll for the Royal Fencible Americans posted at Ft. Cumberland
(originally called Ft. Beausejour) in what is today Aulac, N.B. And
listed there under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Goreham is
the name Private William Hooper who is reputed to have settled in N.B.
after the disbanding of the regiment (NAC C Series, Vol. 1893).
Incidentally, his commander was the first owner of Deer Island.
Further, on the N.B. Archives website we find in the Old Soldiers
section many documents with the signature of his widow, Mrs. Abigail
(Branch) Hooper when she collected her widow’s pension, in her
husband’s stead, from the government. In these documents she states
that they were married in Maugerville (Majorville) in 1782 and that he
served in the Royal Fencible Regiment of Infantry.
William Hooper (b. 1755), son of Richard, signed an affidavit on Deer
Island in defense of Patrick Flinn’s claim for land on Deer Island and
Bar Island in 1805 stating “he has constantly resided upon Deer
Island for upwards nineteen years”. When you do the math, it means
William would have been living on the island by 1786.
William and his brother John signed a petition for land from Capt.
Thomas Farrell in 1812. The original Hooper homestead was in a small
community between the villages of Leonardville and Chocolate Cove,
called Hibernia. Its exact location is no longer known but we can
suppose as to its location because the cove is rather small.
James Hooper (b. 1759) has been documented as having served in the
Connecticut 6th Regiment of the American Army. Lynn E. Garn,
Ph.D., while researching his Loyalist Hawkins family, found our James
Hooper. He is listed as deserting this regiment on 27 September 1777
and enlisting in the Royal Fencible Americans under the command of
Captain Phillip Bailey on the same day. He was listed as being
from New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1808 James sold his share of the original Hooper land grant in St.
George, N.B. (probably to a member of his family) and moved to St.
Andrews, N.B. It is not known if he ever married or had children.
Putting these dates and facts into historical perspective, what do we
have?
• William serving with the RFAs in N.B. in 1776
• James leaving the American Army and joining the
RFAs in 1777
• William marrying Abigail Branch in Majorville, N.B.
in 1782
• Richard, William and James getting a land grant,
St. George, N.B. in 1784
• Richard signing a petition about his land in St.
George, N.B. in 1785
• William moving to Hibernia, Deer Island in 1786
• William signing a petition for Patrick Flinn in 1805
• James leaving St. George for St. Andrews, N.B. in
1808
• William and John petitioning for their land on Deer
Island in 1812
At some point William’s brother, Stephen (b. 1776), returned to St.
George indicating that he had probably been living on Deer Island.
Stephen’s line is unknown to us at this time although he lived to be at
least 75 years old.
William’s brother, Henry (b.a. 1761), settled in Leonardville, Deer
Island after marrying Abigail Tibbets. They had only one daughter,
Hannah, whose line gave us a huge clan of relatives all over Charlotte
County.
Three of William’s sons, William Henry (b. 1791), Samuel (b. 1795) and
Benjamin (b. 1802) moved to St. George, N.B. from Deer Island. From
these lines we get our “mainland” connections.
In 1838, William’s son, Henry (b. 1806), bought 19 ¾ acres of
land on the western side of Deer Island and moved his rather large
family there (eventually having 15 children with his wife Mary
Pendleton). It became known as Hooper’s Beach.
When looking through this family tree and seeing the family names
represented here through marriage, we start to realize how intermarried
the families became in order to survive on this remote island.
Remembering the only means of land transportation being walking or
using horses and rowing or sailing vessels being our sea connections
until the 20th Century.
When we look at the female Hooper line, we see the ladies of this clan
marrying into a wide range of families from the island and the small
communities around it on the mainland of New Brunswick and Maine. Just
a smattering of the more common families to whom we are related one way
or another through the Hooper ladies are:
Appleby, Butler, Calder, Chaffey, Conley, Cook, Cummings, Doughty,
Farris, Fountain, Haddon, Hanley, Hartford, Haskins, Johnson, Johnston,
Kinney, Leavitt, Leonard, Leslie, McKenney, Oliver, Pendleton, Simpson,
Stuart, and Welch.
Of course, when the Hooper gents married ladies from other lines, they
changed their names and became Mrs. Hooper; a few of these families are:
Appleby, Barteau, Boyington, Calder, Camick, Cook, Dean, Doughty,
Eaton, Farris, French, Frye, Garrity, Grant, Henderson, Hickey,
Lambert, Leaman, Leslie, Lloyd, Lord, McAleenan, McGee, Mitchell,
Nodding, Pendleton, Phillips, Stuart, and Thorne.
It doesn’t take long to realize that many of these names are on both
sides of the family tree. This is not an uncommon phenomenon for these
rural places and times. During certain periods in Deer Island’s
history, the only way for a young person to meet and marry anyone was
within the confines of their own small community.
This meant that in some instances a Hooper brother and sister married a
Dean brother and sister and the same is true of the Appleby’s. It is
not an uncommon thing for insular island communities and it’s very
common throughout Deer Island’s history with all of its families.
Deer Island’s history began with the local “Indian” tribes coming from
the mainland to hunt and fish and repair their boats in its secluded
and sheltered harbours. For centuries this ideallic gem was a wild land
with no year round inhabitants. The Passamaquoddy tribe of the Abnaki
nation were the main visitors. They spent certain seasons here as
proven by the many clam middens, which have been located by
archeologists in certain coves.
In 1604 when the Sieur de Monts expedition captained by Samuel de
Champlain, wintered on St. Croix Island, they had to have been able to
see Deer Island as they sailed into the St. Croix River.
Deer Island was granted to Colonel Joseph Goreham in 1767 but he sold
it to Captain Thomas Farrell in 1770. Farrell’s ownership of the island
was long and pockmarked by his unwillingness to sell or grant portions
of the island to the families who populated it. Only after his death in
1822 did the inhabitants gain ownership to the lands they had occupied
and improved for decades.
The first English person to actually live year round on the island is
reputed to have been John Fountain and the year was 1777. Interestingly
enough, Stephen Fountain of Stamford, Conn., also moved to the island
at a later date but it is not known if they were related.
Once the Loyalist troops from the various Revolutionay War regiments
started to be disbanded in 1783, many of them came to this area. The
original location of many of their land grants was on the Maguadavic
River but many of these grants were not good for farming or living, so
a certain percentage of these former soldiers and their families, moved
to the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. Their lives were not easy but they
persevered and made Deer Island into the beautiful hamlet, which it
remains even to this day.
One could say that this particular Hooper family line started by the
Loyalist Richard helped to populate this island and a great deal of
Charlotte County. Recently I have connected with many cousins from all
over Canada and the United States with Richard Hooper as our common
ancestor.
A belated “thank you” to Richard and whomever his wife was for giving
spirit to this lineage.
Materials on this page
and linked webpages within this site
are © 2002-2008 by Clay
Hooper,
those that have submitted materials, and those that have participated
in the
HOOPER DNA PROJECT. Family researchers and tax-exempt genealogical
societies
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as
described under copyright law. All for-profit reproduction of these
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