William Hooper, born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1742, graduated from Harvard College in 1760 and became a lawyer. He moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1767 and represented the town in the General Assembly of North Carolina in 1773. Hooper attended the Continental Congress in 1774 but resigned in 1776 to return home. Although he was appointed to the Federal Bench in 1789, he retired after a year due to declining health.