Myron H Hooker and Nancy Palmeter Hooker

 

Myron and Nancy Hooker arrived in Delaware County in 1854. Their families came from Chautauqua County in southwestern New York. Myron was born around 1809 and Nancy on March 19 1816. His father Rodolphus Hooker & stepmother Susan and her parents Skelton & Penelope Palmeter appear in the 1830, 1840 & 1850 Census in Gerry Township. Myron & Nancy are also in that township’s census in 1840 and 1850. The Hookers brought their children to Richmond Township and had a daughter here. Their children married in Delaware County.

 

Myron Perry Hooker was their oldest child. He was born in 1836. He married Harriet Rachel Cole (b.New York) on March 28 1857. It appeared she was older than him and brought three girls from Michigan into the marriage. They had a son and are found in the 1860 and 1870 Census in Richland Township. They eventually moved to Clay County Texas and established a farm. Their son and stepdaughter Harriet appeared in the 1880 Census of Texas. Their children were Meloina, Mealinda & Harriet Cole and David Stout Hooker (1860). I have no death date for either “Perry” or “Harriet”. I did find their son David in 1900 in Fort Worth Texas. Their middle daughter married Myron Perry’s brother Benjamin Franklin Hooker; she also lived in Texas till her death in 1905.

 

James Dewey Hooker was born on July 10 1837 in New York. He worked in a sawmill in PA and then was able to buy a farm and join his parents in Richmond in 1855. He met his wife Tamir Jane Wilson in Delaware County and they married on July 10 1861. He studied veterinary medicine, sold his farm in 1869 and worked in Fort Dodge IA. In 1871 he settled on the prairie of western Iowa in Macadonia and later had a farm in Carson in Pottawattamie County. He set up a blacksmith shop for his sons and he designed, made and sold instruments (especially those used in horse dentistry). ”Dewey” and “Jane” had the following children: John M (1864 Del Cty), Charles M (1865 Del Cty), Edward D (1867 Del Cty), James D (1869 Del Cty), Jennie L (1871), Lewis J (1875), Shockey E (1877), Leander V (1879-1882), Jenie E (1880), and Frederick S (1885). James Dewey died January 3 1913.

 

Benjamin Franklin Hooker was born February 27 1838 and came to Delaware County with his parents. He married his brother Myron Perry’s stepdaughter Mealinda Cole. The family can be found in the 1870 census in Coffins Grove. They had five of their seven children in Delaware County. By 1880, they had moved, like his brother Myron Perry, to Clay County Texas and started a farm. I found Benjamin Franklin listed as the postmaster of Iowa Point, Clay Texas in 1876. The names of their children were Newton (1864 Del Cty), Nellie (1866 Del Cty), Frank (1868 Del Cty), Hirman (1871 Del Cty), Emma (1873 Del Cty), Nancy (1875 TX), and Myron L (1879 TX). Both “Frank” & Malinda” were buried in Charlie, Clay, TX in 1905.

 

Charles Hooker came to Richland with his parents. He was born in 1841 and died as a young man. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in 1862.

 

It appears from the 1850 Census that Myron & Nancy also had a daughter Frances in 1846 but she does not appear in 1860 in Iowa.

 

Nancy Loretta Hooker was born on June 3 1849 in Gerry NY and at age 5 traveled to Iowa. She grew up on the family farm. She met Asahel Gilbert of Honey Creek and married on April 10 1870. (It is interesting to note that his family had also moved to Delaware County from Chautauqua New York). The couple was located on a farm in the 1870 census in Honey Creek. I don’t know if it is Asahel Gilbert’s father’s (Charles Gilbert) farm or not. Asahel’s parents appear in the 1870 Census in Hardin County on another farm.  “Loretta” had two children in the county. When they sold the farm and moved to Hardin County, she gave birth to a son on the trip. Later they had still another son. The children’s names were Willa (1871 Del Cty), Rudolphus A (1873 Del Cty), Charles H (1874), and Myron D (1884). “Loretta” died April 8 1935 and “A W” died January 23 1919. They are buried in Rough Woods Cemetery in Hardin County along with Loretta’s mother Nancy Palmeter Hooker who died in 1898.

 

Aaron Rudolphus Hooker was born in 1851 in New York and grew up in Delaware County.  His wife “Lizzie” was born in New York. They married in 1879. They are in the 1880 Census in Macadonia, Pottawattomie County on a farm next to Aaron’s brother James Dewey Hooker and family.  In 1900 they are still in that county but in Council Bluffs and Aaron is an oil merchant. They have four daughters and a son. In 1910 he had returned to farming and moved to Hyde Colorado. Their children were all born in Iowa and their names were Allis E (1880), Crete E (1882), Dolph Earl (1884), Gertrude (1887), and Beatrice (1893). I don’t know when “Dolph” died. I know he was in the 1930 Census in Akron, OH with his son Earl’s family.  “Lizzie” did appear in the 1920 Census but is gone in 1930.

 

Ella Eugenia Hooker was born on April 11 1857 in Richland and stayed in the county the rest of her life. She married Lewis Preussner of Richland on Aug 25 1875. In the 1880 Census they were on a farm in Richland with “El’s” mother Nancy Hooker and their two sons. Unfortunately both sons died in 1881. I’m not sure if they were on the Hooker farm (because Myron had died) or whether they were on the Preussner family farm or if they had bought their own farm. By 1895 they moved to Manchester and had another son. Lewis was a landlord in the 1900 Census. Ella and Lewis’s sons were Ben (1876), Dean (1879), and Don (1883). “El” died on March 3 1934 and Lewis on June 22 1936. They are buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Their son Don also lived his whole life in Delaware County also and died Feb 14 1941.

 

Myron H Hooker died March 4 1873 in Richland and is buried in Oakland Cemetery. Nancy Palmeter Hooker died at Loretta Hooker Gilbert’s in 1898. She is buried with the Gilbert family in Rough Woods Cemetery in Hardin County IA.

 

I have sent pictures of the whole Hooker family. The names on the pictures agree with the names of the people as shown in quotes. First names, middle names, and initials were used on the census forms.  I want to thank my husband’s grandmother who kept an album on all the family relatives and labeled the material. I also have to thank Becky Teubner of Delaware County for all of her input on Delaware County records and Kay Elliott who is related to the Texas branch of the Hookers. I have most census form information and pictures and I can email them to you.

 

Submitted Kathy Gilbert Jan 19 2004

 

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