History of Wilmington, (New Hanover County) North Carolina United States of America

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Biographies:

James Moore, soldier, was born in New Hanover, N.C., in 1737; son of Maurice Moore, and grandson of James Moore, governor of South Carolina, 1700. He served under Governor Lyon as captain of artillery at the defeat of the regulators at Alamance in 1771; was colonel of the 1st regiment of North Carolina troops raised for the state defence, and commanded the regiment at Moore's Creek Bridge, N.C., in February, 1776. He was promoted brigadier-general; was made commander-in-chief of the Department of the South, and received the thanks of congress for his gallantry. He was stricken with fever while on his way to join General Washington, and died at Wilmington, N.C., Jan. 15, 1777.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Aaron Marshall Elliott, educator, was born in Wilmington, N.C., Jan. 24, 1846; son of Aaron and Rhoda (Mendenhall) Elliott. He was graduated from Haverford college in 1866, and from Harvard in 1868. He then travelled in Europe and entered the Coll?ge de France, where he pursued a special course of study for two years. From there he went to Florence, Italy, and entered the Institute of Superior Studies. In 1872 he entered the University of Madrid, Spain, and during the next year travelled extensively through Spain and Portugal. He visited Greece and the Orient in 1873, spending a winter at the University of Athens. In 1874 he entered the University of Munich, where he remained until called to the Johns Hopkins university as Associate in Romance languages. He received the degree of Ph.D. from the College of New Jersey in 1877; that of M.A. from Haverford in 1878, and that of LL.D. from Wake Forest college, North Carolina, in 1891. He was chosen editor-in-chief of Modern Language Notes, secretary of the Modern Language association of America; president of the Harvard club of Baltimore, member of the Dante society of Boston, Mass., the Arch?ological society of America, and the American philological association, and honorary member of the Elisha Mitchell society of North Carolina. He spent the summers regularly after returning to America in 1876 in the manuscript departments of the British Museum, London, and of the National Library of Paris, engaged in literary work. In the autumn of 1891 he became professor of Romance languages at the Johns Hopkins university.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George De Berniere Hooper, lawyer, was born in or near Wilmington, N.C., in 1809; eldest son of Archibald Maclaine and Charlotte (De Berniere) Hooper. He was brought up on the plantation of his grandfather, George Hooper, and was appointed a cadet to the U.S. Military academy, West Point, but left there on account of ill health. He completed his school training in North Carolina and was admitted to the bar in Charleston, S.C. He settled in practice in La Fayette, Ala., in 1833, witere he was a major in the volunteer army against the Indians, continuing in the service till peace was declared. He removed successively to Crawford, Ala.; Columbus, Ga., and Opelika, Ala., and was for a time chancellor of the eastern division of Alabama and one of the best known supreme court and chancery lawyers in the state. He was a supporter of Bell and Everett in 1860, and, although not an advocate of secession, gave the new government his hearty support, sent two of his sons to the front and was a member of the home guard present at Columbus, Ga., in the stand made there against the Federal troops in 1865. He was married in 1836 to Caroline, daughter of Charles P. Mallett, of Fayetteville, N.C., and their oldest son, George William, a soldier in the Confederate States army, was crippled from wounds received at Seven Pines,?married his cousin, Charlotte Isabella Waddell; was prosecuting attorney for Russell county, and died in Opelika, Ala., in 1883; Charles, the second son, also joined the Confederate army, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on the field at second Manassas for gallantry. George D. Hooper died at the home of his son John in Birmingham, Ala., March 19, 1892.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Wing Loring, soldier, was born in Wilmington, N.C., Dec., 4, 1818. His parents removed to Florida while he was a child, and in 1831 he enlisted in a company of volunteers against the Seminole Indians. He was promoted 2d lieutenant June 16, 1837. He was sent to school at Alexandria, Va., and was graduated from Georgetown university, D.C., LL.B. in 1842. He practised law in Florida and was a representative in the state legislature for three years. At the outbreak of the war with Mexico he was made senior captain in a regiment of mounted rifles and was promoted major in 1847. He commanded this regiment in the assault on the Mexican intrenchments at Contreras and was the first to reach the main works, and he led in the pursuit of the enemy as far as San Angel when counter orders were received. He also led the fighting at Chapultepec on the causeway from the capital to the Belen gate where he was wounded and underwent an amputation of his left arm. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for "gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras and Cherubusco," and colonel for "gallant and meritorious conduct at Chapultepec and Belen Gate," and was promoted lieutenant-colonel March 5, 1848. He was also presented with a sword by the citizens of Appalachicola, Fla. He escorted a party of gold seekers across the continent to California in 1849, and was assigned to the 11th military department and stationed in Oregon, 1849-51; in Texas, 1851-56; promoted colonel, Dec. 30, 1856; was engaged against the hostile Indians in New Mexico, 1856-58; took part in the Mormon War in Utah under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, 1858-59, travelled in Europe, Egypt and the Holy land, 1859-60, and commanded the department of New Mexico, 1860-61. He resigned his commission as colonel of U.S. mounted rifles in 1861 and joined the Confederate army. He was commissioned brigadier-general and served in Western Virginia with considerable success. He commanded a body of 6000 troops in the Shenandoah valley under Gen. T. J. Jackson, and when that officer ordered him to take up his quarters at Romey, Va., he with his officers petitioned Secretary of War Benjamin to remain with the main army at Winchester. This caused a serious estrangement between the two generals. He was made major-general in February, 1862; was transferred to the Southwest, and commanded three brigades in Pemberton's army, taking part in opposing Grant's army at Grenada, Miss., and in the battle of Champion Hills, May 16, 1863, when his brigade was divided, most of it joining Johnston at Jackson, Miss. He commanded the 1st division of Polk's corps in the Army of the Mississippi and upon the death of General Polk, May 14, 1864, he succeeded to the command of the corps until Gen. A. P. Stewart assumed command, when he returned to the command of his division. He surrendered with General Johnston at Durham Station, N.C., in 1865, and engaged in the banking business in New York city, but in 1869 he accepted a commission of brigade-general in the army of the Khedive of Egypt, was assigned to the command of Alexandria and participated in the expedition against Abyssinia and in the battle of Kaya-Khor. He was promoted in the Egyptian army to general of a division and received the imperial order of the Osmariah. He returned to the United States in 1879 and resided in Florida and subsequently in New York city. He was a candidate for U.S. senator from Florida in 1881 but was defeated by Charles W. Jones. He is the author of: A Confederate soldier in Egypt (1883). He died in New York city, Dec. 30, 1886.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor