Johnson Jones Hooper (June 9, 1815 – June 7, 1862) was an American lawyer and writer from Alabama known for his humorist works set in what was then known as the Southwest of America, particularly the collection of stories published as ''Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs'' (1845). This gained him a national reputation. A secessionist, he was appointed in 1861 as secretary of the

Provisional Confederate Congress The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing body ...

and moved to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

with it before his death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Biography

Hooper was born in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

, as the youngest of three sons of Archibald Maclaine Hooper and Charlotte (de Bernier) Hooper. At the age of 20, he moved in 1835 to

Dadeville, Alabama Dadeville is a city in and the county seat of Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 3,230, up from 3,212 in 2000. History Dadeville was named for Major Francis Langhorne Dade, who died in the Seminole ...

. There he edited a newspaper and practiced law, having been admitted to the bar after "reading the law". All told, he founded or edited six different publications during his career. His first published work, in 1843, was a story, "Taking the Census in Alabama", drawn from his own experiences as a census taker in Tallapoosa County. In 1844 he began publishing short stories about a character known as Simon Suggs, which he collected and published in 1845 as the ''Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs''. It was broadly, cruelly, and uncouthly humorous, yet one of the raciest books of its time, descriptive of a gambling sharp of what was then referred to as the Southwest in the "flush times." The work made him nationally known, and may have inspired one or more characters by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

. Hooper's ''Widow Rugby's Husband and Other Tales of Alabama'' (1851) was less successful. Intensely political, Hooper supported secession of Alabama and other slave states, and in 1861 was appointed secretary of the

. He moved with the Confederate government to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, where he died from the effects of

in 1862 (not 1861, as incorrectly indicated on the state historical marker). He was buried in that city's

Shockoe Hill Cemetery The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia. History Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as the ...

. His grave was unmarked until 1950, when anonymous donors erected the current granite stone. Hooper married Mary Mildred Brantley in 1845. They had two sons, William and Adolphus.

Legacy

Thomas A. Burke dedicated his book of humorous tales, ''Polly Peablossom's Wedding'' (1854), to Hooper. David Handlin ranked ''Some Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs'' as number 9 in his article "One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985" (2014).Handlin, David (2014)
"One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985"
''The American Scholar''.

Works

* ''Some Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs, Late of the Tallapoosa Volunteers''. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1845 (Rpt. as ''Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs, Late of the Tallapoosa Volunteers''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1969; Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 1993). * ''A Ride with Old Kit Kuncker, and Other Sketches, and Scenes of Alabama''. Tuscaloosa: M. D. J. Slade, 1849 (Rpt. as ''The Widow Rugby's Husband''. Philadelphia: A. Hart, 1851). * ''Dog and Gun''. New York: Orange Judd & Company, 1856 (Rpt. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992).

Notes

External links

Works by Johnson J. Hooper
at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Johnson Jones Hooper
Alabama Literary Map
Historical Marker Database - Johnson J. Hooper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Johnson J. Writers from Wilmington, North Carolina Writers from Alabama Writers of American Southern literature American humorists 1815 births 1862 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American short story writers American male short story writers 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Virginia Members of the Confederate States House of Representatives

Biography

Legacy

Works

Notes

Further reading

External links