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William Hooker
William Hooker was a veteran of The War of Northern Aggression. He joined Company D of the 23rd Virginia Regiment of Infantry in the first summer of the war. William was born in Patrick County, Virginia in 1842 and died in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee on January 11, 1927. He was the son of Gabriel Hooker and Nancy Pack Hooker. William was one of six children. Two of his brothers also served in the Confederate Army.
William was reported deserted from the 23rd Virginia when in the fall of 1863 he returned home to marry Laura Louise ?Lucy? Slaughter on September 21, 1863. He returned to his outfit because on April 1, 1864 he was marked present by Lt. Burns at Greenbrier and on April 18, 1864 he was issued clothing.
After the war William and Lucy moved to Tazewell County, Virginia where he found employment at the Bowen Farm in the Cove section of the county. William and Lucy had six children. Their youngest child, Henry Bowen Hooker, married Nannie Bell Lowe in 1888. This couple had 12 children. One of these, Laura Louise ?Lucy? Hooker married William Clarence Stevenson. They were my mother?s parents and my grand-parents.
After the death of William Hooker?s wife, Lucy, he married Catherine Lee Stephenson on May 2, 1878 in Tazewell County. The marriage was performed by Rev. H. S. Bowen. About 1888 or 1889 the couple moved to Indiana and later moved to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, where he lived with his son, Alex, in the last years of his life.
Sometime before his death in 1927 and before the marriage of my grandparents, William returned home to Virginia to visit the family here. William and some other family members rode the train from Indiana to Richlands. Henry Bowen Hooker drove a wagon to town to pick them up and bring them back to the family farm on Little River for a long visit. The purpose of the trip was to convince Henry that he should move with his family to Indiana. William told them of all the wonderful opportunities in Indiana and the things Virginia would never have. One of these was a motor car.
During the visit told the family of the conditions at Petersburg, Virginia during the last days of the war. The Confederates in the trenches around the city and all William could think of day and night was how good his mother?s biscuits would taste. One evening my Grandmother asked him if we were any kin to the Union General Joe Hooker. After a few moments of contemplation William said, ?Yes we are but never tell anybody and never speak that Yankees name again and never tell anyone else about it.?
Martin Honaker
Martin Honaker was born on December of 1825 at Swords Creek, Virginia and died in 1898 in Russell County, Virginia. He enlisted in Company G of the 37th Virginia Infantry at New Garden, Virginia on July 13, 1861. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah Whitt Honaker. Martin had nine brothers and sisters. Two of his brothers John and James joined Company G on the same day and a brother-in-law George Madison Rhea was a member of Company I of the 37th Virginia Infantry.
Martin married Cathern Elizabeth ?Betty or Betsy? Hess and the couple lived on the Clinch River near the mouth of Lewis Creek in Russell County, Virginia. There were many Honaker men with the first name of Martin at that time in the New Garden area. For this reason he was known as ?River? Martin because of where he lived.
Martin and Cathern had 10 children. Their son Lilburn Honaker married Nancy Jane Ray. Calvin Honaker was the son of Lilburn and Nancy Jane Honaker. Calvin and his wife Mary Jane Thompson Honaker were my wife?s, grandparents. She, Barbara Ellen Honaker Fox, is the daughter of Garnett Willis and Helen Dot Sauls Honaker.
Martin and Cathern?s son, Jacob B. ?Jake? Honaker was also a veteran of the Confederate Army. He was a private in Company D of the 26th Virginia Infantry. Jake was born on February 15, 1847 in Russell County, Virginia and died on March 6, 1932 in Russell County, Virginia. He married Leah Taylor, the daughter of Nimrod and Elizabeth Taylor in 1865. The couple had 11 children.
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