William H. Hoover, 1821-1906.  Sallie E. Hoover, 1841-1914.  William H. Hoover, 1858-1929.

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Thursday, November 22, 1906

Wealthy Farmer Dead

Nicholasville, Kentucky, Nov. 21 – The funeral services of William H. Hoover, Sr., were held at 10 o’clock this morning at the residence in the county.  Rev. E. G. B. Mann, of Lexington, Rev. F. M. Fuqua, of the Centenary Methodist Church, and Dr. E. W. McCorkle officiated.  Mr. Hoover was eighty-five years old and was a wealthy farmer.  His wife and two sons, Judge E. B. Hoover and William H. Hoover, Jr., survive him.

Kentucky – A History of the State, Perrin, Battle and Kniffin, 1887

Jessamine County

William H. Hoover is the son of Peter Hoover, who was of German descent and born near Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1789, immigrated to Kentucky with his parents in 1800 and settled in Jessamine County just west of Nicholasville.  In 1811 he married Miss Eva Nave, removed to the southern portion of the county, and settled in what was then a wilderness, on Hickman Creek.  About this time he was drafted in the War of 1812, which was soon ended.  He resided nearly three-quarters of a century at this same place, making for himself a good name for all that was honorable, truthful and upright, and accumulated a considerable fortune for his children.  He died in 1872, a true and honored member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Eva Nave Hoover, the mother of William H. Hoover, was a native of Estill County, Kentucky, born in 1790, and like her husband lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1876, having made for herself a character for purity and sweetness of disposition seldom equaled.

William H. Hoover is the fourth of eight children, and was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky, August 17, 1821.  He spent his youth and early manhood as a teamster, driving a train of wagons from Nicholasville to Louisville, Kentucky, and in assisting his father in partially subduing the great forest that surrounded them.  For many years he had charge of his father’s saw and grist-mill.  When a young man he became a member of the Masonic order and rapidly rose to the high positions of that fraternity, of which he is still a worthy member.  His opportunities for receiving an education were exceedingly limited, there being practically no schools in this then sparsely settled district of Kentucky.  But, being a practical and industrious man, he made the best of his opportunities and gathered knowledge by observation and experience, and today he is a man of good practical education.  He has always been a Democrat in politics, and for more than thirty years a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  He has accumulated a nice estate, given his two children good education and a nice start in life, and is now taking his old age quietly and pleasantly on his beautiful blue-grass farm, near his children and grandchildren.

He married Miss Sarah J. Evans, of Garrard County, Kentucky, November 26, 1857.  She was the daughter of Dr. Hezekiah and Nancy (Cole) Evans, and born November 18, 1841.  Her father was assassinated in 1862 on account of his strong Southern sympathy, near his home in Garrard County; her mother died in 1882, aged about seventy years.  To William H. Hoover and wife were born three children: William H. Hoover, Jr., the first, was born September 5, 1858, and received his early training at the district schools, Bethel Academy, Nicholasville, Kentucky, and at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, where he entered in 1877 and remained until he completed his education; he then returned to his father’s farm, where he assumed control until November 10, 1885, when he married Miss Mattie R. Vince, of Jessamine County; he then removed to his own farm adjoining that of his father, where he is now farming and breeding thoroughbred and trotting horses.  Thomas D. Hoover, the second son, was born in 1859, and died in infancy; Everett B. Hoover, the third and youngest child, was born October 21, 1860, and like his brother received his early education in the free schools and at Bethel Academy; in 1877 he entered the Wesleyan College at Millersburg, Kentucky, where he remained until 1879; then entered Vanderbilt University, where he took a special course of study, preparatory to studying law.  In 1880 he entered the Columbia College Law School, New York City, where he remained two years, taking the full law course, graduating in June 1882.  He at once returned to his home and received his license to practice law in August 1882, and has been a continued practitioner ever since.  He married Miss Ella Burnett, of Boyle County, Kentucky, November 21, 1882.  To this union was born Elizabeth Hoover, the first grandchild of William H. Hoover, January 31, 1884.  In April 1886, Everett B. Hoover was elected judge of the city court of Nicholasville, Kentucky, and was re-elected the following year, of which office he is the present incumbent.

The Central Record, Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky

Thursday, April 2, 1914

Well Known In This County

Mrs. Sallie Hoover died at her home in Jessamine County on last Saturday.  Her death was an unexpected blow to her friends and relatives, as she had been in her usual good health.  She is the mother of Hon. Everett Hoover, the well-known Jessamine County politician.  She was a sister of Dr. Elijah Evans of Lancaster, and was ell known in Garrard County.  She was a most estimable lady.