Alcaeus Hooper (January 2, 1859 – July 1, 1938) was the

Mayor of Baltimore The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the ...

from November 20, 1895, to November 17, 1897.

Early life

Alcaeus Hooper was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, on January 2, 1859, to Catherine (née Bell) and William E. Hooper.Coyle, Wilber E
The Mayors of Baltimore
pp. 173-77 (1919) He was named after Alcaeus of Mytilene, a Greek poet that his parents heard a lecture about. His father was a manufacturer of cotton duck. He attended Professor Eli Lamb's School (later Friends School of Baltimore), but did not attend college. He followed his father into the business and worked at William E. Hooper & Sons. After the death of his father, the company merged into a corporation named Woodberry Manufacturing Company, and Hooper served as treasurer.

Career

Hooper was a member of the school board from 1888 to 1892, and was elected to the First Branch of City Council in 1893. In 1895 he was the Republican nominee for Mayor, and won over Democrat Henry Williams. Hooper was at odds with the City Council about his appointments, and won a lawsuit over it at the state Court of Appeals. After serving his one term, he again was appointed to serve on the school board. He was charged by the school board president John E. Semmes of being unfit to serve and was brought to trial in front of Mayor

J. Barry Mahool John Barry Mahool (September 14, 1870 – July 29, 1935) was the Mayor of Baltimore from 1907 to 1911. Biography Mahool was born in Phoenix, Maryland on September 14, 1870. He became the Democratic nominee for Baltimore mayor in April 1907, def ...

. He resigned from the position on January 3, 1911. His ''New York Times'' obituary said his 1895 mayoral campaign was "one of the stormiest in the city's history", with Hooper pitted against the Democratic machine run by

Isaac Freeman Rasin Isaac Freeman Rasin (March 11, 1833 – March 9, 1907) was an American political boss in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. He helped run the Gorman–Rasin organization with Arthur Pue Gorman, which influenced Baltimore politics in the 1870s and 1 ...

. "Little more than five feet in height, he was fiery of temperament and vigorous in action."(2 July 1938)
Ex-Mayor Hooper of Baltimore, 79
'' The New York Times'', p. 13

Personal life

Hooper married Florence Gees in the 1880s and she died in 1933. They had a son and three daughters: Hamilton, Caroline, Elizabeth and Florence. He owned a 120-acre apple orchard in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. Hooper died at his home in Baltimore on July 1, 1938. He is buried at

Druid Ridge Cemetery Druid Ridge Cemetery is located in Pikesville, Maryland, just outside the city of Baltimore. Among its monuments and graves are several noted sculptures by Hans Schuler and the final resting places of: *Felix Agnus, American Civil War general a ...

outside Baltimore.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Alcaeus 1859 births 1938 deaths Maryland Republicans Mayors of Baltimore 19th-century American politicians Burials at Druid Ridge Cemetery