Hardy Hooks was born in North Carolina in about 1732. In 1778, he cosigned a petition from Thomas Saint to the North Carolina General Assembly regarding a land dispute that emerged out of legal restrictions placed on Quakers due to their refusal to swear an oath of allegiance to the state. It does not appear that Hooks was a Quaker himself, as his estate inventory mentions sixteen enslaved individuals. Hooks died in Wayne County, North Carolina in about March 1801.