Hooper's father had hoped that William would follow in his footsteps as an Episcopal priest[3] and placed his son at the age of seven in Boston Latin School headed by Mr. John Lovell, a highly distinguished educator.

Hooper studied under Otis until 1764 and once completing his bar exam decided to leave Massachusetts in part because of the city's abundance of attorneys.

[citation needed] In 1764, Hooper moved temporarily to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he began to practice law and became the circuit court lawyer for Cape Fear.

In 1767, Hooper married Anne Clark, the daughter of a wealthy early settler to the region and sheriff of New Hanover County.

Hooper eventually was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1773, where he became an opponent to colonial attempts to pass laws that would regulate the provincial courts.

In 1781, the British captured Wilmington, to where Cornwallis and his forces fell back after the Battle of Guilford Court House,[11] and Hooper found himself separated from his family.

In addition, the British burned his estates in both Finian and Wilmington, so Hooper was forced to rely on friends for food and shelter during this time, as well as nursing him back to health when he contracted malaria.

[citation needed] After the Revolution Hooper returned to his career in law, but he lost favor with the public because of his political stance.

Hooper fell in line with the Federalist Party because of his influential connections, his mistrust of the lower class, and his widely criticized soft dealings with Loyalists,[12] toward whom he was generally forgiving.

Hooper was again called to public service in 1786, when he was appointed a federal judge in a border dispute between New York and Massachusetts, though the case was settled out of court.