William Hooper
Born: June 17, 1742
Died: October 14, 1790
Colony/State: North Carolina
Occupation / Public Role: Lawyer, legislator, delegate to the Continental Congress
Contribution to the Founding Era: Delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and one of North Carolina’s leading Revolutionary-era public figures.
William Hooper was born in Boston, Massachusetts, attended Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard College in 1760. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, in the 1760s, where he established a successful legal practice.
Before independence, Hooper’s political path was a little more complicated than that of some other signers. He initially worked within the colonial system and served in North Carolina public life before becoming a Patriot leader. He served in the colonial assembly of North Carolina from 1773 to 1776, and North Carolina historical sources describe him as a major writer, orator, attorney, and legislator in the colony’s move toward resistance.
Hooper served in the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1777. He signed the Declaration of Independence as one of North Carolina’s three signers. The U.S. House lists him among the signers and records his congressional service, while the National Constitution Center notes that he was closely involved in the committee work surrounding the Declaration.
His Revolutionary experience also brought personal hardship. North Carolina historical accounts note that during the war the British burned property connected to him and that the conflict separated him from his family for a time. Later in life he settled in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he continued public service in the North Carolina assembly.
William Hooper died in Hillsborough in 1790. He is not as famous today as Jefferson, Adams, or Franklin, but he was one of North Carolina’s important Revolutionary figures: lawyer, legislator, Continental delegate, and signer. He helped carry his adopted colony from imperial politics into independence, which is no small thing for a man who started life in Boston and ended up helping build North Carolina’s place in the Revolution.
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- Declaration of Independence
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