Fortune, Family, Fracture: A New York Story

The nineteenth century witnessed the rise of many intrepid young men who began with little other than their wit, and rose to great heights during the Gilded Age. It is the year 1838. One such young man, an orphan who had won an almost impossible commission to the Military Academy at West point, suddenly drops out of the Academy. With roots in New York City, our young man called John Hooper veers to the railroad for a year or so, presumably employing his engineering skills developed at the Academy and prior. He then returns to the City & convinces Horace Greeley to hire him at the New York Tribune. At $8 a week. Suddenly he is the founder of the first advertising agency in the City. He doesn't stop there. In a fast-paced and richly detailed exploration, peppered with rare and illuminating images from the era, historian and author Robert Hooper brings to life the story of John Hooper, weaving in the experiences of the family John and his beloved Angeline built during the tumultuous mid-to late-nineteenth century in New York City. This is a tale of ambition and unwavering grit, culminating in both remarkable success and profound tragedy, along with controversies that echoed across John's treasured city. It was a rare world that John inhabited, a world now known as the Gilded Age. He may be long gone, but John's enduring legacy remains visible even today.