1

Previously:

(Photo by Richard F. Hope)

In 2015:

(Photo 2015 by Virginia Lawrence-Hope)

Col. Hooper House (501 Northampton Street)

2-1/2 story stone house, four window bays on upper floor, peaked roof with two dormers, modern picture window at ground level with center entrance.[1]

The property is most of the eastern half of the original Town Lot No.239, as surveyed by William Parsons for Easton’s formation in 1752.[2]

This Lot was not formally conveyed by the Penn Family to anyone until 1812.[3] Nevertheless, the old stone house at the corner of the Lotis claimed by some local traditionsto be the oldest building in Easton, possibly pre-dating even the Bachmann Publick House (the tavern on the corner of Northampton and Second Streets, dated to 1753) and Parsons-Taylor House.[4] Historian Floyd S. Bixler identified the building as having been a tavern “Very early in our history”.[5] A strong Easton tradition has repeatedly identified the house as the Easton residence of Col. Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr.[6] for several months around April 1779.[7] Col. Hooper used a “large stone building” located to the rear (where the Rock Church now stands) as a warehouse, and later as a militia barracks.[8] Local tradition holds that this rear building was also used as a barracks to house captured Hessian troops each evening, after they returned each day from working on local farms.[9]

In addition, the Hooper House has also been identified by historian Ethan Allen Weaver as “once the residence of Capt. Alexander Patterson, a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary War, who figured prominently as Pennsylvania’s representative in the Connecticut troubles before and after the Revolution.”[10]

The American Revolution

Easton tradition thus dates this stone house back at least to the American Revolution. At this time, it would have been located on the outskirts of the Easton settlement. A strong Easton tradition has repeatedly identified the house as the Easton residence of Col. Robert Lettis Hooper, Jr.[11] for several months around April 1779.[12] Col. Hooper was a Deputy Quarter Master General in the Continental Army, and one of three Superintendents of Washington’s Continental Army magazines nationally during the Revolutionary War, as well as Deputy Commissary of Transportation for General Sullivan’s 1779 expedition that contributed to the demise of the Iroquois Confederacy in America.[13] He also had charge of a number of British prisoners of war,[14] including Baron Riedesel (and his family) and General William Phillips, both captured at Saratoga (but, at General Washington’s direction, not lodged in Easton prior to their parole).[15] Col. Hooper used a “large stone building” located to the rear (where the Rock Church now stands) as a warehouse, and later as a militia barracks.[16] Local tradition holds that this rear building was also used as a barracks to house captured Hessian troops each evening, after they returned each day from working on local farms.[17]

Col. Hooper personally possessed a “genial nature and social qualities” that made him popular with such people as General (later President) George Washington, and Declaration Signer George Taylor (who later entered into a business partnership with Col. Hooper, and named Col. Hooper an executor of his will, although Hooper did not serve).[18] Nonetheless, his term with the commissary was marked by considerable dissention, stemming in part from his conduct of the office,[19] but principally from his refusal to sign the civilian oath of loyalty to the new Revolutionary government (and discouragement of others from signing). Hooper later agreed to take the form of oath applied to military officers.[20] He was never convicted on any of the charges against him – although certain proceedings were simply never pursued as moot after he left office – butthe affair gave him a strong dislike of certain Pennsylvanians such as John Arndt (of the powerful Easton Arndt family) and the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania (whom he personally horse-whipped after one courtroom success).[21]

Robert Lettis Hooper had originally been from New Jersey; his grandfather (Robert Lettis Hooper Sr.) had been that colony’s Chief Justice. The young man first partnered in a mill with his brother, Jacob, which ended in 1761.[22] He then opened a wine store in Philadelphia, which failed. Hooper wasjailed for debt in 1764-65, until a private law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature and assented by the Governor secured his release.[23] Afterwards, he began surveying land in the western part of Pennsylvania, traveling to Fort Pitt several times.[24] He became an extensive speculator in lands in the western portion of Pennsylvania,[25] and cameto Northampton County and Philadelphia before the Revolutionary War.[26] When the War came, he was appointed a Depute Quarter Master, and by April 1777 his headquarters was established at Easton, although he maintained his residence in Saucon.[27] It is perhaps during this time that Col. Hooper boarded in Scull’s Hotel in Easton, perhaps to minimize his long commute home.[28] Hooper’s Easton facilities were apparently inadequate, because later that year an official in Trenton complained that:

“I am told Mr. Backhouse one of your deputies has turned the Stores in the Commisr Department into the Streets (on pretence that he had accation for the places in which they were) and that no Store Houses are yet set a part for the Assistant Issuers at Easton fit for the business as there is now at this place a very considerable quantity of stores which must be removed with all imaginable speed and for doing which Congress gives express Orders.”

This official requested “Store Houses at Easton sufficient to hold about one thousand Barrels and an Office to do Business in.”[29] Notwithstanding these complaints, Hooper’s Quarter Master operations continued in Easton, and by Christmas Day in 1778 Col. Hooper and his wife were apparently residents in a house in Easton itself.[30] A letter dated 28April 1779 (written as the Sullivan campaign against the Iroquois was being organized) indicates that Col. Hooper’swife was then collecting shad fish (presumably from the shad run up the Lehigh or Delaware Rivers that Spring), and has been taken as confirming that his residence was located in Easton at that time.[31] Easton historians A.D. Chidsey,Jr., William J. Heller, and B.F. Fackenthal, Jr.,all identified the Hooper House as that Easton residence,[32] apparently based upon local tradition. In that same April 1779 letter, Col Hooper stated his determination to “leave all public Business after this Campaign” (presumably referring to the Sullivan campaign),[33] and he had purchased the Belleville mansion near Trenton, NJ on 3 April,[34] apparently in anticipation of his retirement. However, just a few months later(on 5 July 1779), Col. Hooper purchased William Craig’s stone house in Easton at the SE corner of Northampton Street and what would later become known as Sitgreaves Street. He resold that Easton property half a year later, in January 1780,and hiswife, Margaret, was a party to the sale deed.[35]

That year – 1780 – wasan eventful one for Colonel Hooper. First, his wife Margaret apparently died in that year[36] -- Historian Chidsey indicates that she died in the Hooper House.[37] Second, the Colonel’s appointment as Quarter Master ended on 1 August of that year (thereby rendering his remaining court martial proceedings moot).[38] And third,Col. Hooperalso moved to New Jersey during that year[39] --where (according to a later letter to a friend) he looked for a new wife. By 7 September 1781, Col. Hooper became engaged to marry Mrs. Robert (Eliza) Erskine of Trenton, NJ: the widow of the former owner of the Ringwood Iron Works in New Jersey.[40] Col. Hooper then took over the operation of the widow’s Iron Works. He also became a prominent New Jersey landowner and politician. In 1785-88, he served as the Vice President of the state. He died in 1797 at his estate, Belleville.[41]

Captain Alexander Patterson

The Hooper Househas also been identified by historian Ethan Allen Weaver as “once the residence of Capt. Alexander Patterson, a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary War, who figured prominently as Pennsylvania’s representative in the Connecticut troubles before and after the Revolution.”[42] His military record specifically identified him as being “of Easton”.[43] An early reference to “Young Captain Patterson” occurs in January of 1768, when he led a company of 19 men to apprehend Frederick Stump, who (with his 19-year-old servant John Ironcutter/Eisenhauer) had brutally murdered 10 Indians (including 3 women and 3 children), stuffing 6 of their bodies into a creek through a hole in the ice, and burning up the other four in their cabins. The Governor gave personal orders for Stump’s capture, in order to stage off Indian troubles. Nonetheless, after Captain Patterson delivered Stump and Ironcutter to the Carlisle jail, a band of 70-80 friends broke them out, and they disappeared into the western wilderness.[44]

Captain Alexander Patterson is referred to again, during the Revolution, for storming a British Piquet in New Jersey on 15 April 1777 with the 21st Pennsylvania Regiment.[45]

Historian Weaver’s “Connecticut troubles” references the “Pennamite Wars” that resultedwhen settlers claimed titles from Connecticut to the lands in the Wyoming Valley (around present-day Wilkes-Barre). Pennsylvania objected, and land owners (speculators) holding Pennsylvania titles (“Pennamites”) sought to evict the Connecticut (“Yankee”) settlers. Alexander Patterson joined this contest in 1769, as “the most effective” subordinate officer on the Pennsylvania side. He brought a four pound cannon to the Valley, which was instrumental in winning avictory for Pennsylvania in that year,[46] but the Connecticut settlers returned in 1770, captured the cannon,and the conflict dragged on until it was interrupted by the American Revolution. A “Capitulation” in the Pennsylvania Archives dated 15 August 1771, shows Alexander Patterson as the apparent leader of a group of Pennamites who were forced to surrender a blockhouse to the Yankees, after they were besieged and bombarded there.[47]

During the Revolution, Patterson’s militia commission as a Captain was continued in Washington’s Army.[48] In 1778, he was sent back to Northumberland County (presumably, back to the Wyoming Valley) to recruit 150 men, in association with a Lt. Robert Hooper[49] (whose relationship, if any, to Colonel Hooper is not presently known). On 15 March 1779, Col. Hooper (see above) wrote to General Hand of the Continental Army that “Captain Patterson is with me – he wants for money and I am in hopes that he will be furnished + enabled to proceed tomorrow or next day to your Quarters.”[50] It was at this time that Col.. Hooper was apparently living in the Hooper House, so that may coincide with Captain Patterson’s residence there as well. By May, Patterson had been sent forward to Brinkers Mills,[51]“the storehouse and advance post for the Sullivan Expedition”,[52]where he communicated between Col. Hooper in Easton and Brigadier General Hand in Wyoming (now Wilkes-Barre).[53]

After the Revolution, the troubles in the Wyoming Valley remained unresolved. A court appointed by the Continental Congress found on 30 December 1782 that jurisdiction belonged to Pennsylvania,[54] but the Connecticut settlers in the Valley refused to surrender their land holdings. In 1784, Captain Alexander Patterson (then a Northampton County Justice of the Peace[55]) was sent “with a band of Rangers” to take charge of the situation.[56] He began a campaign to expel the Connecticut settlers from the Valley, arresting a number of them and sending the rest over mountains to the Delaware River in winter without food or extra clothing, while their homes and belongings were confiscated. Several of them died,[57] and some of those who tried to return to the Valley were beaten by Patterson’s men with iron ramrods.[58] Yankee resistance continued, and Pennsylvania sent Col. John Armstrong “with a force of 400 men to aid Patterson.” Armstrong resorted to subterfuge, by arresting Patterson (although he was not otherwise disciplined), andpromising to disarm both sides. Once the Connecticut fighters had surrendered their weapons, he arrested them, and sent them to jail in Sunbury and Easton.[59]

However, Captain Patterson’s harshness and Armstrong’s treachery created a public relations outcry, which forced the Pennsylvania Legislature to recall both Patterson and Armstrong.[60] Sentiment in Massachusetts and New York pressed for the formation of a new state.[61] Col. Armstrong, withreduced forces,was defeated by the Yankees and forced from the Valley.[62] Pennsylvania sent Col. Timothy Pickering to arrange a settlement. In 1786, Pennsylvania created the new Luzerne County,which essentially allowed the Connecticut settlers to retain political control of their area.[63] In 1787 Pennsylvania passed legislation confirming the Yankee land titles[64] -- although that legislation was intentionally drafted to be unconstitutional (and was later struck down by the Pennsylvania courts)/[65] In 1790, the Pennsylvania Legislature repealed confirmation of some of the Connecticut-granted land titles.[66] Armed controversy continued until 1794.[67] Yankee military possession of much of the Valley, and their threat to form a separate state government, ultimately secured the land claims to the Connecticut settlers in the Compromise Act of 1799.[68] In 1803-04, Captain Patterson petitioned the Pennsylvania Legislature for compensation, both for money he had expended in the conflict, and for wounds because he “nearly lost an arm in combat and had his head split by an axe as well.” Patterson’s Petitionalso recounted the facts of the Wars from his perspective, and complained that Pennsylvania had abandoned the rights he had fought to defend in the Valley.[69] He was successful in receiving the pension.[70] When he died in 1822, his newspaper obituary noted his Revolutionary War captaincy, but (interestingly) did not mention his part in the Pennamite Wars.[71] His widow, Margaret, also received a military pension from Pennsylvania starting the year after Patterson’s death.[72]

Formal Property History

Town Lot No.239 (including the stone Hooper House) was formally sold by the Penn Family only in 1812, when it was purchased by Nicholas Kraemer,[73] a well-known real estate speculator.[74] Perhaps the start of the new war in 1812 prompted his purchase. Or perhaps Kraemer saw an opportunity to profit from an existing squatter, because Kraemer promptly resold the property in the same year for $3,800 to George Troxell, a “Millwright”. Troxsell’s deed confirms that, by this time, the property already contained a “Stone Messuage Tenement” at the time he purchased it.[75] Whether Troxell actually occupied it is not currently known. Six years later (in 1818), Troxell lost the property in a Sheriff’s sale, to pay a delinquent debt that he owed to Henry Spering. It was purchased by David Wagener, the highest bidder.[76]

  • Henry Spering (the creditor) was a prominent Easton citizen. His father had been a Tory during the Revolution, who had abandoned his family and thereby allowed the family property to be confiscated by the Revolutionary authorities. Henry was nevertheless able to have the family property restored in 1782, and Henry himself ultimately became Sheriff of Northampton County from 1797 until 1800.[77]

The new owner, David Wagener (1792 – 1860), was an Easton industrialist who had inherited the Merchant Mill on the East bank of Bushkill Creek. He was Captain of the Easton Union Guards from 1816 until the unit was dissolved in 1829, and went with it to Philadelphia in 1824 to welcome Lafayette to the US. He was a Pennsylvania Assemblyman from 1828-31, and a US Congressman from 1832 – 29, associating with Andrew Jackson and his party. In 1852, he succeeded Col. Thomas McKeen as the third President of the Easton Bank. Easton’s Court House (built in 1860-61 “stands upon ground largely donated from his estate.”[78] He was later referred to as one of the three “rich men of Easton”.[79]

There is no indication that Wagener lived in the property, but instead probably rented it out as an investment. In 1830 “or a little later”, the building was used by Samuel Siegfried’s printing business.[80]

David Wagener subdivided his Lot, by establishing a common alley from Fifth (Juliana) Street about half-way up it, in order to assist access to the back end of the subdivided properties he was establishing.

  • In 1846, he sold off the southwestern corner of the Lot (with 30’ of frontage on Northampton Street) to hatter James Hess for $550.[81] [This parcel appears to have become the modern Hess Apartments building at 505-07 Northampton Street].[82]
  • In 1849, Wagener sold the portion of Lot No.239 lying between his private alley and what is now Church Street to mason Jacob Lehman for $900.[83]

In 1850 (in an unrecorded deed), Wagener sold the eastern half of the property (at the corner, together with the stone house) to John Lesher, a butcher. On the same day, Lesher put the property in trust for Anna Maria Lesher,[84] his brother Jacob’s wife.[85] Jacob and Anna Maria Lesher appear to have lived in Phillipsburg.[86]

  • John and Jacob Lesher’s father, also named John Lesher (1764-1817),[87] had been the miller “conducting” the mill in Forks Township where Bushkill Park was later located[88] – evidently Arndt’s mill.[89] Their grandfather, Johann Lischer, had been an innkeeper in Nazareth for the Moravian Economy, and had continued to operate his inn when the Economy terminated its collective operations.[90]

In 1871, Mrs. Lesher and her trustee sold this “Two Story Stone Tenement” to Daniel Herster, a butcher,[91] then numbered 197 Northampton Street. Herster had already established his meat market in the building before he purchased it.[92] His business was assigned the addresses 501 and 503 Northampton Street with the inauguration of the modern street numbering scheme in approximately 1874,[93] where it continued into the following decade.[94] Mr. Herster did not reside in the building, however, but instead lived near the NW triangular corner of Wood, Northampton and North Seventh Streets[95] with his wife, Catharine, who was more than 20 years his junior.[96] After Herster died intestate on 5 October 1882 (at age 59),[97]a legal contest arose over the estate between Herster’s widow and his daughter,[98] Mary J. Folkenson. Mrs. Folkenson’s appointment as Administratrix of the estate was challenged by the widow.[99] Although Mrs. Folkenson withdrew from the administration,[100] she continued her substantive claim as the heir under Pennsylvania’s intestacy laws.[101] She ultimately obtained the Hooper House property, on condition that every six months she had to pay Herster’s widow 6% interest on the value of a 1/3 dower share.[102]