William Hooper | John Penn | Joseph Hewes
William Hooper and John Penn are men of historical mystery. Both originally Tories who were somehow contracted to serve at the first Continental Congress, these men turned from loyality to the British to selling away their signatures at the risk of their lives for the prospect of the new American nation. They are both buried under the same monument at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, just outside of Greensboro, North Carolina.
William Hooper
Here is one name you won’t find in the cast list of 1776. That’s because William Hooper was one of the members of the continental congress who was not actually present while the Declaration of Independence was being signed. He, being included in my quest to find the signers, of course eventually put his signature down. I’ve been trying hard to piece together Hooper’s life story. There are a few mentions to him throughout many deeper textbooks on North Carolina colonial history, a few revolutionary war web pages that briefly highlight stringent details of his life. He was born in Boston to a family of pastors dating back generations through Scotland. As a child, he was sickly and often anxious, though the exact details of how this behaviour manifested, I can’t find. He was tutored by a private, very strongly loyalist, teacher, until attending Harvard at age 15, where this little apple fell from the family tree and turned away from clergy in favor of studying law. He was soon apprenticed by the famous James Otis, who it is suggested gave young Hooper his first revolutionary sentiments. |
Here we see a sweep of time where Hooper slowly transitions into manhood: he finished school, passed his law certification, and ends up moving to North Carolina in search of career opportunity away from the over-lawyered Boston. There he married Anne Clark, became a well beloved member of the community, and worked as a circuit lawyer for the Wilmington area, often representing the interests of the British colonial government, before being appointed as the Attorney General for North Carolina. Here is where the drama begins. The regulators (a group of revolutionaries in the Carolinas at the time) began protesting and rioting about heavy taxation, government corruption, and frivolous spending among government elites. Hooper suggested that the local militia be sent out to calm the rebels. At some point, Hooper was supposedly taken by regulators and dragged through the streets, and in addition there was damage done by regulators to his property, but it is unclear if this happened before or after his declaration of cessation. Meantime, the riot devolved into a military conflict between about 2,000 regulators, against North Carolina Governor Tyron’s men (accompanied) by Hooper into what became considered by some as the very first battle of the Revolutionary War: the Battle of Alamance. This was 1771, but by 1773, now serving in the North Carolina general assembly, Hooper began to speak out against a new court law that would have given the court's power to confiscate the property of foreign debtors, which upset many of the local British-born, including Governor Tyron himself. The courts ground to a health for over a year as these changes were debated, and Hooper found himself despised by the patriots for his early loyalist support of the British governments, but also now found himself shirked by his former loyalist allies for acting against the interests of Britain. Hooper to me, seems a man who is always willing to put his moral conviction in the way of his own well-being. He accompanies the battle against rebellion, even if it meant risking his life in battle. He lets the courts shut down for a year, meaning no income for himself as a lawyer, to prevent the passage of a tyrannical bill, and he even ends up losing his right to practice law for the year following due to his fervent opposition to the government. In this time, Hooper affirms his patriot sentiments and sends a letter that will earn him the nickname “The Prophet of Independence.”
He himself at the time had thrown his support behind an entirely new and independent North Carolina government. He was finally being embraced by the patriots, despite his loyalist history.
He himself at the time had thrown his support behind an entirely new and independent North Carolina government. He was finally being embraced by the patriots, despite his loyalist history.
“The Colonies are striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins of Great Britain; will adopt its Constitution, purged of its impurities, and from an experience of its defects, will guard against those evils which have wasted its vigor."
William Hooper, "The Prophet of Independence"
William Hooper, "The Prophet of Independence"
And here I must take a break to apologize for being so wordy; I did not expect to find myself admiring John Hooper so much. Having first read he was a loyalist turned patriot, I assumed he was a fair weather patriot, but now I see that he was following his conviction as best he could and was unafraid to change his mind and admit he was wrong when new information presented itself. Hooper was elected to represent North Carolina in the Continental Congress. However, he was also still heavily invested and inspirational in his movement back home to create an independent North Carolina government. Summer of 1776 his time was so split between these two efforts in North Carolina and Philadelphia that he happened to be absent from that most famous day in July. |
Hooper retired from the congress the next year after a bout of yellow fever and returned home to continue his law practice, but could not evade the war he had helped to start. Hooper was targeted as a traitor by the British and there were multiple attempts to bring him to justice. His new home of Finian, despite its reputation for warm hospitality, was burned by British soldiers. Hooper moved his family to Wilmington for safety, but after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (where Hooper is now buried) Cornwallis and his troops took Wilmington and burned his new house down. Hooper was away for work when Wilmington fell, and he was separated from his family for over a year afterwards. They really had a thing out for Hooper, let me tell you. Some accounts say the British colonial leaders were trying to use Hooper as an example for what would happen to hopeful traitors. The British never got to him, but Malaria did, and Hooper had to rely on the good will of friends and neighbors to look after him, both physically and financial in the mid-war years. There are personal stories of him living as a fugitive, basically couch surfing through North Carolina throughout the war while his family stayed safely with his brother in law in Hillsborough, where the family would eventually settle after the war.
Post-war, Hooper was criticized both for his early loyalist leanings as well as for his leniency toward loyalists while reparations were being made after the war. It is sad to say, but it seems as if Hooper sort of withered away after the war, both politically, financially, and physically. He kept working and was even appointed as a judge in the 1780s, but was distrusted by most, both because of his past, and because of his federalist leanings. When the constitution was passed, he campaigned heavily for North Carolina to ratify it. In line with his lifelong trend of illness, Hooper succumbed to one last bout of an unknown illness and passed away at age 48 in 1790. I come to find it sad at times that all of these stories end in death; but I suppose we wouldn’t have such great monuments to marvel at and such great stories to tell had they not. Ce la vie.
Post-war, Hooper was criticized both for his early loyalist leanings as well as for his leniency toward loyalists while reparations were being made after the war. It is sad to say, but it seems as if Hooper sort of withered away after the war, both politically, financially, and physically. He kept working and was even appointed as a judge in the 1780s, but was distrusted by most, both because of his past, and because of his federalist leanings. When the constitution was passed, he campaigned heavily for North Carolina to ratify it. In line with his lifelong trend of illness, Hooper succumbed to one last bout of an unknown illness and passed away at age 48 in 1790. I come to find it sad at times that all of these stories end in death; but I suppose we wouldn’t have such great monuments to marvel at and such great stories to tell had they not. Ce la vie.
John Penn
Just as we sat down on the benches by the green, my friend looked over to me: “What were the embalming practices like back then?” Oh boy. If only he know how much failed research I had attempted to divine just exactly that. But with all the reinterrments and movements, it’s hard a question not to be brought up. There’s a lot that can be said about that in reference to Abraham Lincoln, but know I'm thinking that perhaps in spare time I'll have to do a separate page enlightening my followers about the history of embalming practices from 1777 to 2004.
...
You'll find the monument off of a big field behind the visitor's center. Exit through the back door (or walk around from the parking lot) and cross Old Battleground Road. You will ascend slightly to large grassy field. If you are looking straight ahead at the Nathaniel Greene monument as 12 on a big green clock, the Founders' monument will be at about 3 o'clock.
This site puts together a fantastic story of the Revolutionary War Battle that took place there. I would recommend going through the visitors center artifact display, as well as the map video, which shows the progression of the American and the British lines very well. There are running and biking trails about the property, a colonial homestead site, and a toll-free recorded audio tour you can call to play on your phone and have the battles narrated to you as you walk around and explore!
|
I feel bad because when I did my research for this trip, I focused on Penn and Hooper, knowing that they were buried here. What I neglected to regard was the equally as fascinating life of the third and lost North Carolina signer: Joseph Hewes. At the museum just outside the park where the tribute to the two signers above, I found out they had tried to move the bodies of all three here to be memorialized (despite no inherent connection with the military battle that took place at Guilford Courthouse during the war.)
Still in search for: Joseph Hewes (whose grave is still yet undiscovered after an attempted reinterrment at Guilford Courthouse.)