George W. Hooker

George White Hooker was born in Salem, New York, on February 6, 1838.[3] He received his education at a common school in Londonderry, which was supplemented in West River Academy. After this, he became a clerk in the towns of Jamaica, Bellows Falls, and Londonderry. In 1860, Hooker became a traveling salesman for W. & J. Flint of Boston, where he sold tea and coffee until the beginning of the war.[4]

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Hooker enlisted as a private in Company F, Fourth Vermont Regiment in 1861. He rose through the ranks very quickly, being promoted to sergeant-major near the end of 1861, to second lieutenant of Company E in early 1862,[5] and to first lieutenant in mid-1862. He held this rank throughout the Peninsular campaign, and would later become a colonel.[4]

After the war, Hooker went back to being a traveling salesman, this time for wholesale grocers Carr, Chase & Raymond. He later became a junior partner with the banker-brokers William A. Belden & Company and was a successful businessman in New York for several years. In 1876, Hooker moved to Brattleboro, Vermont,[4] where he became interested in politics. In 1878, Hooker was named as Governor Redfield Proctor's chief of staff, carrying the rank of colonel. Hooker was elected in 1879 and 1880 as department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in Vermont, and received a third nomination to be re-elected, which he declined. In 1880, he was part of the national Republican convention in Chicago as a delegate-at-large and also became a member of the national Republican committee. In 1881, Hooker was named as the sergeant at arms for the United States House of Representatives.[3][4][5]

One year earlier, he was elected as Brattleboro's representative in the Vermont House of Representatives, to which he was re-elected in 1882.[7] During his first session, he was elected to judge-advocate-general by the Legislature.[3][4][5] In his second, he was elected chairman of the ways and means committee. Hooker was also very involved with his community and held several positions, like selectman, bailiff, and road commissioner. He was the president of the Vermont Agricultural Society, Vermont's Horse Breeders' Association, and held office for the Valley Fair Association from its formation in 1886. He was part of forming and raised most of the subscriptions for stock for the Valley Fair Association. During the remainder of his years he was active in the Hooker, Corser & Mitchell Overall Company.[4][5][2]

• List of Medal of Honor recipients

• George W. Hooker at Find a Grave