Hooks, Walter Jackson

February 17, 1875 - November 9, 1927

Walter Jackson Hooks was born in Wayne County. He was the son of the late James David Hooks and Sarah Frances Scarborough. They owned a farm in Wayne County. His family was originally from Fremont.

In the early 1900's, he married Katie McNeill, and they lived on a farm in Wayne County. Their six children were: Walter Jackson Hooks, Jr., Margaret Booker, Doris Bailey, Beatrice Jones, Clara Smith and Vivian Cox.

Around 1910, Mr. Hooks decided he wanted to become a lawyer. He went to Wake Forest College (then in Wake Forest, NC) to study law. After he finished at Wake Forest,the family sold the farm and moved to Kenly, where he began practicing law in 1915.

Below is a photograph of the Walter and Katie Hooks family home in Kenly, NC.

THE WALTER JACKSON HOOKS FAMILY

The family of the first Walter Jackson Hooks came to Kenly in the late 1800's from a farm in Wayne county. Descendants of this man live in Kenly today.

James David and Sarah Frances Scarborough Hooks had seven children, four of whom lived in Kenly: Walter Jackson, I; Ora, who married Pharaoh Godwin; and Minnie and Pearl, both of whom married John T. Edgerton (at different times!).

The eldest son, Walter, married Katie McNeill, a music teacher from Clarkton, North Carolina, who was teaching music in Pikeville, North Carolina when he met her. Walter was a farmer and a merchant in Benson. Later, around 1910, after he had married and had a family, he went off to Wake Forest College and became a lawyer. He then served in the North Carolina Legislature as a clerk.

Born to this marriage were Walter Jackson, Jr., Margaret, Doris, Beatrice, Clara and Vivian. Walter, Sr. died in 1927, leaving Katie and her sister Janie to raise the six children. Janie McNeill worked as a milliner at J. Dobbin Bailey's Store. Both Katie and Janie are known for their leadership in organizing the Kenly Presbyterian Church. Katie died in 1940.

Of the second generation, only Jack, Jr. and Doris remained in the Kenly area. Jack married Marie Cobb of Elm City and the two of them built a home on Bailey Avenue. Doris married Turner Bailey of Buckhorn. Margaret married Dr. E. N. Booker of Selma, Beatrice married Dillard Jones of Greensboro, Clara married Roy Smith of Selma and Vivian married Almond Cox of New Bern. Only Clara and Vivian are still living.

Walter Jackson Hooks, Jr., became a lawyer, first practicing law in Kenly and Smithfield and serving as mayor of Kenly. In 1942, he was elected to be solicitor of the Fourth Judicial District and served in that capacity for 16 years. In 1959 he was appointed Special Judge in the Superior Court of North Carolina. Jack Hooks was also active as elder in the Kenly Presbyterian Church, as leader in the Johnston County Democratic Party and in numerous judicial and civic organizations. He died in 1962, while holding court in Smithfield.

Marie Cobb Hooks was an avid worker for the betterment of life in Kenly. She was active in the Kenly Presbyterian Church. She helped organize the Pieran Book Club, the Kenly Garden Club and the Kenly Public Library. She was especially active in bringing the Girl Scout program to Kenly in the early fifties. In addition to her tireless work in starting Girl Scout troops in Kenly, she served as president of the Wake-Wilson-Johnston Girl Scout Council and was instrumental in creating the Mary Atkinson Day Camp near Atkinson's Mill. This camp has since become a permanent overnight camp. After her husband's death in 1962, she became a teacher in Kenly's first Head Start program. Marie died in 1967, at the age of fifty three.

Children born to Jack and Marie Hooks were Kathryn Marie and Walter Jackson III. Kathryn married Joe W. Sandifer of Charlotte and lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia as a marriage and family counselor. Her children are Joseph McNeill, Kathryn Hunter and John Wells. Jack Hooks III, has remained in Kenly, marrying Judy Lewis of Glendale. Jack works as a pilot and he and Judy have two children, Walter Jackson Hooks IV, and Jonathan Woodard Hooks. They live in the family home on Bailey Avenue.