Inventory of the John DeBerniere Hooper Papers, 1778-1911

Collection Number 835

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.

Creator

Hooper, John DeBerniere, 1811-1886.

Title

John DeBerniere Hooper Papers, 1778-1911

Call Number

835

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 800

Linear Feet: 1.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Bessie L. Whitaker, 1943-1946. One item given by Mrs. Ralph H. Graves, January 1944.

Processing Information

Processed by: Library Staff, 1963

Encoded by: Bari Helms, March 2005

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John DeBerniere Hooper Papers #835, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Chapel Hill (N.C.)--History--19th century.

Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

Chatham County (N.C.)--History.

College teachers--Southern States--Social life and customs--19th century.

Confederate States of America--Social conditions.

DeBerniere family.

Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.

Fayetteville (N.C.)--History.

Furman University--Faculty--History--19th century.

Hooper family.

Hooper, John DeBerniere, 1811-1886.

Hooper, William, 1792-1876.

Jones family.

Littleton (N.C.)--History.

North Carolina--Genealogy.

Plantations--North Carolina.

Raleigh (N.C.)--History.

Schools--North Carolina--Chatham County--History--19th century.

Slavery--North Carolina.

Slaves--Correspondence.

Slaves--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.

South Carolina College--Faculty--History--19th century.

Teachers--North Carolina--History--19th century.

University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Faculty--History--19th century.

University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History--19th century.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History.

Wake Forest College--Presidents--History--19th century.

Whitaker, Frances DeBerniere Hooper.

Wilmington (N.C.)--History.

Wilson (N.C.)--History.

Women--Education--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Related Collections

Caroline Mallett Hooper Papers (#3478)
George Hooper Papers (#351)

Biographical Note

Born at Smithville (now Southport), N.C., John DeBerniere Hooper was a tutor and professor at the University of North Carolina and a teacher in several North Carolina towns. He was the second son of Archibald Maclaine Hooper and Charlotte DeBerniere Hooper. Hooper's paternal ancestors were prominent citizens of North Carolina, and his mother's father, John DeBerniere, was a British army officer of Huguenot ancestry who brought his family to North Carolina.

Hooper grew up in Wilmington, N.C., with well-educated parents who managed to send their children to good schools despite the family's financial troubles. With the support of a prosperous widowed cousin, Hooper entered the University of North Carolina as a freshman in the middle of the 1827-1828 academic year. He quickly rose to the top of his class, and, in 1831, he graduated as the only member of his class to achieve the highest grades in every field of study. While excelling in the usual classical studies, Hooper also gained proficiency in French language and literature.

After graduation, Hooper remained in Chapel Hill as a tutor in languages. He remained there until 1833, when he left to take a position at the new Episcopal School for Boys in Raleigh. In July 1836, Hooper was appointed professor of modern languages at the University of North Carolina and, in 1838, was promoted to professor of Latin. In 1843, he resumed teaching French in addition to his work in Latin.

On 20 December 1837, Hooper married Mary Elizabeth Hooper, who was doubly related to him as the daughter of Professor William Hooper, his father's cousin, and of Frances Jones Hooper, his mother's cousin. The couple had four children: Helen Wills, Fanny Whitaker, Henry DeBerniere, and Julia Graves. In 1848, Hooper and his wife left Chapel Hill to join her father in farming and conducting a school for boys near Littleton in Warren County, N.C. Hooper remained there until 1860, when he joined his brother-in-law, Thomas C. Hooper, in conducting the Fayetteville Female Institute. He left the Fayetteville Female Institute to join the faculty of the Wilson Female Institute. When the University of North Carolina reopened in 1875, Hooper was appointed professor of Greek and French. He remained at the University until his death in 1886.

Collection Overview

The papers of professor and teacher John DeBerniere Hooper consist of correspondence with his father-in-law, William Hooper, professor at the University of North Carolina, Furman University, South Carolina College, and president of Wake Forest University, and with other Hooper, Jones, and DeBerniere family members in North Carolina and South Carolina. Topics include politics, teaching, the University of North Carolina, and family news. Early papers, 1778-1798, provide information on the Forceput Plantation, located on the Cape Fear River outside of Wilmington, N.C. There are also letters, 1829-1830, from students at a female academy in Chatham County, N.C. Civil War era materials are sparse, but there are some documents that critique Civil War politics and an 1861 slave letter from a slave named Jerry, who had been hired out to serve students at the University of North Carolina. Later materials relate primarily to Hooper family history compiled by Frances DeBerniere Hooper Whitaker.

Arrangement of Collection

1. Correspondence
2. Genealogical Material
3. Volumes

Detailed Description of the Collection