Notes:Ben Walker Hooper (1870-1957) was born in Newport and orphaned early. He read law and opened a practice in 1894, served in the legislature and as captain of the 6th U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War before being elected governor of Tennessee in 1910. Prohibition had split the Democratic party, and Hooper's election as a Republican was helped by those "Independent Democrats" who also endorsed him. His was a turbulent administration, with political feelings so high that armed guards were required in the legislature. Even so, Hooper's term saw child labor laws passed, compulsory school laws and a change in the death penalty law to provide for electrocution. Hooper continued in public service until near the time of his death in 1957. The Tennessee Blue Book.
