Elizabeth Wiley (Holmes) Hooper (1746 - 1811)

Born 1746 in Anson, North Carolina

Wife of Absalom Joseph Hooper Sr. — married 25 Nov 1765 in Long Canes, South Carolina Colony

Descendants

Died 1811 at about age 65 in Davidson, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Donnie Blackstone [send private message] and Cassie Wicks [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth Wiley Holmes 1746–1811 was the wife of Absalom Hooper, born circa 1740, in South Carolina. Her husband is Daughters of the American Revolution Ancestor #A057721. During the War, they were living in District 96, South Carolina, but moved to Davidson county, Tennessee, where she died in 1811 and Absalom died in 1813. ^[1]

Elizabeth Holmes was born in 1746 in Washington District, now Pendleton County, South Carolina Colony. Based on land transactions, it's most-likely that she was a daughter of Thomas Holmes.

• In 1769, Absalom Hooper witnessed a deed for land lying on Canes Creek, a branch from the Long Canes in South Carolina. The following year, in 1770, Thomas Holmes sold 100 acres, described as being "on which Absalom Hooper lives."

The Long Cane settlement, now in Abbeville & McCormick Counties, was founded after 1750 along Long Cane Creek, a tributary of the Cane River, that flows in north-west South Carolina to the Savannah River, boundary with Georgia. William Calhoun was a noted early settled. He barely escaped a 1760 attack by hostile Cherokee Indians, who considered the land their hunting grounds, that left 23 colonists dead, including William Calhoun's wife and 2 daughters. Another daughter, Ann Calhoun, 5 years old, was captured by the Cherokee and only returned 12 years later. Despite the "massacre," colonists continued to settle the region and William Calhoun became a Trader and Merchant. ^[2] In 1765, local merchant William Calhoun of the Long Cane settlement, South Carolina, made the following entry in his journal: ^[3][4]

"Absalom Hooper & Elizabeth Holms was married ye 25 day of Novr Ano Dom. 1765

Absalom Hooper was accused of being a horse thief and murderer in 1770; although arraigned before a court in Charleston, South Carolina, he and his family fled the area instead. In November 1772, he patented 250 acres near Natchez, now in Mississippi, at the time called "West Florida," under British control. In 1783, having been a British Loyalist during the American Revolution, living in British-controlled West Florida, which did not join the rebellion, Absalom Hooper was named among those who moved north into what is today central Tennessee, notably Davidson County. It was then called the "Southwest Territory" and still mostly under Cherokee Indian control.

We know that Elizabeth is living with Absalom in Davidson county, Tennessee, when her son, Nimrod B. Hooper is born there circa 1788. Nimrod married Nancy Lucas on September 5, 1809, in Davidson county. Nimrod is remembered in his father's Will, recorded August 25, 1813, in Davidson county. Nimrod and Nancy name their son, born 1816, in Davidson county, Simpson Holmes Hooper. Elizabeth's middle name of "Wiley" is most likely a family name. It was customary in this family of using the maiden name of the maternal side of the family as a first or middle name. This is supported by the name given by Elizabeth's daughter, Letitia, who married Aquilla Jones in April 16, 1798 and named her son Wiley Jones in 1799.

Elizabeth was born in 1737. She passed away in 1810.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L4QD-8W3
2. ↑ Long Cane Massacre of 1760
3. ↑ "Journal of William Calhoun," in Publications of the Southern History Association, VIII:3 [May 1904] p 192. Cited on Hoopers from Tennessee
4. ↑ Long Cane Massacre Site article on Wikipedia

• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/hooper/3955/
• http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=70386494&pid=11303
• Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;)
• Heritage Consulting, Millennium File (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc;)
• Elizabeth Wiley Holmes is the spouse of Absalom Joseph Hooper Sr.