Richard James Hooker (born 1912) of Chicago, Ill., was a professor and collector of historical documents. The collection includes unrelated family letters from all southern states, concerning real estate, health, weather, social activities, politics, travel, and business. There are no Civil War papers. Ten items relate to Maryland, including three about life at the United States Naval Academy, 1854-1855. There is also a letter each commenting on life in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1826; a journey from Middlebury, Vt., to Natchez, Miss., 1827; watch repair work in Halifax, N.C., 1835; a Presbyterian congregation in Fayetteville, N.C., 1841; cotton trade in New Orleans, 1843; the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1843; the Billups family of Lagrange, Ala., 1844; a trip from Rhode Island to North Carolina, 1846; land claims in Galveston, Tex., 1847; lawlessness in Kentucky, 1847; the career of William Harrison Bissell (1811-1860), United States representative from Illinois, 1855; and the Reconstruction convention in Georgia, 1868.
