Chapter I: Part 1

JAMES

FENIMORE COOPER

by

MARY E. PHILLIPS

New York: John Lane Company
London: John Lane: The Bodley Head
Toronto: Bell and Cockburn
MCMXIII

Copyright, 1912

By Mary E. Phillips

The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A.

Dedicated To The Young Of
All Ages From The Years Of Ten
To Ten Times Ten

PREFACE

The intention of this simply told _personal_ life of James Fenimore Cooper, the creator of American romance, is to have all material _authentic_. The pictures of men, women, places and things are, as nearly as possible, of Cooper's association with them to reproduce a background of his time and to make the _man_--not the author--its central foreground figure. From every available source since the earliest mention of the author's name, both in print and out, material for these pages has been collected. In this wide gleaning in the field of letters--a rich harvest from able and brilliant pens--the gleaner hereby expresses grateful appreciation of these transplanted values. Much, precious in worth and attractive in interest, comes into these pages from the generous and good among the relatives, friends, and admirers of Fenimore Cooper. And more than all others, the author's grand-nephew, the late Mr. George Pomeroy Keese, of Cooperstown, New York, has paid rich and rare tribute to the memory of his uncle, with whom when a boy he came in living touch. Appeals to Cooper's grandson, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., of Albany, New York, and also to his publishers have been met in a spirit so gracious and their giving has been so generous as to command the grateful service of the writer.

For rare values, in service and material, special credits are due to Mr. George Pomeroy Keese, Cooperstown, N.Y.; James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., Albany, N.Y.; Mr. Francis Whiting Halsey, New York City; Mr. Edwin Tenney Stiger, Watertown, Mass.; General James Grant Wilson, New York City; Mr. Horace G. Wadlin, Librarian, Messrs. Otto Fleischner, Assistant Librarian, O.A. Bierstadt, F.C. Blaisdell, and others, of the Boston Public Library; Miss Alice Bailey Keese, Cooperstown, N.Y.; Mrs. T. Henry Dewey, Paris, France; Mrs. Edward Emerson Waters, New York City; and Miss Mary C. Sheridan, Boston, Mass.

Mary E. Phillips.

INTRODUCTION

A life of Cooper, written with some particular reference to the picturesque village among the Otsego hills, where he so long lived and in whose soil he, for some sixty years or more, has slept, has long been needed. That such a book should have become a labor of love in the hands of Miss Phillips is not more interesting than it is fortunate that the task should have been accomplished so conspicuously well. Miss Phillips has borne testimony to the resourcefulness and rare devotion with which the late Mr. Keese assisted her in researches extending over many years. None knew so well as he the personal side of Cooper's whole life story; none so assiduously and so lovingly, during a long life spent in Cooperstown, gathered and tried to preserve in their integrity every significant and interesting detail of it.

The turning point in Cooper's life was reached when he went to Cooperstown, although he was little more than a child in arms. Most curious is it that his going should have resulted from the foreclosure of a mortgage. This mortgage had been given in the late Colonial period by George Croghan, and covered a vast tract of native forest lands in Otsego. In these lands, through the foreclosure, Cooper's father, soon after the Revolution, acquired a large interest, which led him to abandon his home of ease and refinement in Burlington, New Jersey, and found a new, and, as it proved to be, a permanent one in the unpeopled wilderness at the foot of Otsego Lake. Except for this accident of fortune, Leatherstocking and his companions of the forest never could have been created by the pen of Cooper.

ILLUSTRATIONS

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From Appleton portrait. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., of Albany, N.Y. _Frontispiece_

THE ENGLISH FYNAMORE COUNTRY AND FAMILY ARMS.

COOPER'S BIRTHPLACE. Burlington, N.J. From a photograph by George W. Tichnor

THE FENIMORE BOX. (Of light and dark woods, size 12-1/2 X 6-3/4 inches.) From photograph by permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., Albany, N.Y.

THE SUSQUEHANNA. By W.H. Bartlett

CHINGACHGOOK ON COUNCIL ROCK. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

COUNCIL ROCK. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

THE MANOR. From outline on _first_ map of Cooperstown, 1788-1790. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

ORIGINAL OTSEGO HALL. From outline on 1800-1808 map of Cooperstown. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

JUDGE WILLIAM COOPER. By Gilbert Stuart. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. From a portrait by Woods, 1812

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 1800. From "St. Memim's Gallery of Portraits"

TALLEYRAND. From a portrait by F. Gérard

POINT JUDITH. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

"EDGEWATER." By courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE POMEROY. By the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

THE OLD STONE HOUSE. By the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

COOPERSTOWN PRIOR TO 1835. From _The Family Magazine_, 1836-1837

DR. THOMAS ELLISON. By the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

ST. PETER'S CHURCH, ALBANY, N.Y. By the courtesy of Dr. Joseph Hooper, Durham, Conn.

STATE STREET, ALBANY, N.Y., 1802. By the courtesy of Dr. Joseph Hooper

"NEAR SHORES" OF NEW HAVEN. From an old print

DR. TIMOTHY DWIGHT. From an old print

YALE COLLEGE, 1806. By the courtesy of Professor John C. Schwab, Ph.D., Librarian, Yale University

WILLIAM JAY IN YOUTH. By Vanderlyn. From Bayard Tuckerman's "William Jay," etc. By courtesy of author and publishers, Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y.

JUDGE WILLIAM JAY. From a crayon by Martin. Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y.

SILHOUETTE OF JAMES COOPER WHEN A STUDENT AT YALE. By the courtesy of Professor John C. Schwab, Ph.D.

OUTWARD BOUND.

GIBRALTAR. From "_Le Monde Illustré_"

SAILOR'S SNUG HARBOR. From _Frank Leslie's Weekly_, Vol. I

OTSEGO HALL GATES. By courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

BUFFALO BURNT. From an old woodcut in Spear's "United States Navy"

THE "VESUVIUS." From "Life of Fulton," by J.F. Reigart, 1856

ONTARIO FORESTS. By W.H. Bartlett

THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. By W.H. Bartlett

THE PORT OF BUFFALO. From an old print

CAPTAIN M.T. WOOLSEY. From Spear's "United States Navy"

THE PATHFINDER. By F.O.C. Darley

A BUBBLE OF A BOAT. By F.O.C. Darley

CAPTAIN LAWRENCE. From a portrait by Chappel

THE "WASP." From an old print

FRAUNCES TAVERN. By the courtesy of Dr. Joseph Hooper, Durham, Conn.

LIEUT. GOV. JAMES DE LANCEY'S SEAL. From Vol. I, M.J. Lamb's "History of New York City"

HEATHCOTE ARMS. From an old print

HON. CALEB HEATHCOTE. From print by V. Belch

FRAUNCES TAVERN LONG-ROOM. From "History of New York," by Mary L. Booth, 1857 BURN'S COFFEE HOUSE. From an old print

HEATHCOTE HILL. By the courtesy of J.W. Clapp, editor _Richbell Press_, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

TANDEM. From a rare old color-print. By the courtesy of George Samuel Tucker, Peterboro, N.H.

COOPER'S FENIMORE FARM HOUSE. By the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

ELIZABETH FENIMORE COOPER IN THE OLD HALL HOME. By the courtesy of Elizabeth Cooper Keese

COOPER'S ANGEVINE FARM HOME. From "Homes of American Authors." G.L. Putnam Sons, 1853

MAMARONECK CREEK SLOOPS. From Bryant's "History of the United States"

JUDGE JOHN JAY. From print of Trumbull portrait

BEDFORD HOUSE. From an old print

BEDFORD HOUSE LIBRARY. From Vol. II, Lamb's "History of New York City"

HARVEY BIRCH'S CAVE. By courtesy of Arthur B. Maurice, author of "New York in Fiction"

THE LOCUSTS OF COOPER'S TIME. From Lossing's "Field-Book of the War of 1812"

THE LOCUSTS OF TO-DAY. By courtesy of the owner, Lawrence Durham, Esq.

TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE SPY."

ENOCH CROSBY. From "History of Westchester County, N.Y." By Spooner and Shenard

LAFAYETTE THEATRE. From _New York Mirror_, Vol. V.

COOPER'S HEROINES. By courtesy of Rev. Ralph Birdsall and Miss Catherine N. Duyckinck

WINDHURST'S NOOK, UNDER THE PARK THEATRE. From "History of New York City," by Mary L. Booth, 1859

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, 1822. From a photograph of the J.W. Jarvis portrait. By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq., Albany, N.Y.

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. From print of Inman portrait. By permission of owner, Gen. James Grant Wilson

JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE, From "Poems"

CRO' NEST. From "Poems," by Joseph Rodman Drake

SAMUEL WOODWORTH. From a rare lithograph

THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET. By F.S. Agate

CITY HOTEL AND WASHINGTON HALL. From Vol. II, "History of New York City," by M.J. Lamb, and from "Valentine's Manual"

EARLY BROADWAY. Old prints

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. By B. Whitechurch

COOPER'S NEW YORK CITY HOME IN BEACH STREET. By the courtesy of General James Grant Wilson

ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL. From _The York Mirror_

OLD LEATHERSTOCKING. From "The Pioneers"

NATTY'S CAVE. From an old print

GENERAL JAMES CLINTON. From an old print

CLINTON DAM. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

"TALES FOR FIFTEEN, OR IMAGINATION AND HEART." By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

CHARLES WILKES. From portrait by Thos. Sully

JOHN PAUL JONES. From portrait by C.W. Peale

LONG TOM COFFIN. F.O.C. Darley

BRYANT, WEBSTER AND IRVING. From sketch by Daniel Huntington by the courtesy of owner, Mr. Day, Boston

THE LANDING OF LAFAYETTE, 1824. From "Complete History of Lafayette," 1825 edition

LAFAYETTE. Portrait by Sully

LAFAYETTE'S BRANDYWINE VASE. From an old print

JOB PRAY. By F.O.C. Darley

THE BURNING OF CHARLESTOWN. From an old print

WHIPPLE HOUSE, AT PROVIDENCE, R.I. From an old print

MRS. JAMES MONROE. By the courtesy of General James Grant Wilson

PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 1825. From an old print

SUNRISE AT SOUTH MOUNTAIN. Drawn by Harry Fenn for D. Appleton and Co., N.Y.

GLENS FALL'S CAVERNS. From "The Hudson," by Lossing

HONORABLE MR. STANLEY. Portrait by G. Harlow, 1833

GLENS FALL. By W.H. Bartlett

LAKE GEORGE, OR "THE HORICAN." By W.H. Bartlett

THE WAGER SEAL (1 X 1-1/8 inches). By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

BRYANT. Portrait by Barrett

"NATTY, THE TRAPPER." By F.O.C. Darley

HENRY CLAY. From a daguerreotype, engraved by Buttre

CHANCELLOR KENT. Portrait by Chappel

THE U.S.S. "HUDSON." By W.J. Bennett

WHITEHALL WHARF, 1826. From "Valentine's Manual"

KEEP OF CARISBROOK. By J. and F. Harwood, London, 1841

HAVRE, BY NIGHT. From "Meyer's Universum"

WINDMILLS OF MONTMARTRE. From an old French print

THE CONVENT ST. MAUR.

HOTEL DE JUMIÈGES. Found, verified and photographed for this Life of Cooper by kindness of Mrs. T. Henry Dewey of Paris, France

SIR WALTER SCOTT. Portrait by G.S. Newton, 1824

MISS ANNE SCOTT. Portrait by W. Nicholson

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. After portrait by Madame de Mirbel, 1830

PIERRE JEAN DAVID D'ANGERS. Portrait by D'Aubrey. By courtesy of General George T. Cruft

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a photograph of the bust by David d'Angers, Paris, 1828. By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

MRS. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a photograph of a drawing made at Paris, 1890. By permission of James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a photograph of a drawing made at Paris, 1827. By permission of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

PROF. GEORGE WASHINGTON GREEN. By special permission of Mr. William Dean Howells and Harper & Brothers

P.T. DE BÉRANGER. From a rare old print

TALLEYRAND. From an old engraving

DUCHESSE DE BERRI. From Soule photograph

CHARLES X of FRANCE. From Soule photograph

COOPER'S SUMMER HOME, ST. OUEN, 1827. Found, verified and photographed by the kindness of Mrs. T. Henry Dewey, Paris, France

COOPER'S ST. OUEN TERRACE STUDY. Found, verified and photographed by the kindness of Mrs. T. Henry Dewey, Paris, France

OLD MILL AT NEWPORT. From an old print

THE STRUGGLE. By F.O.C. Darley

THE NEWPORT BOX. By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART. By Pickersgill

NATTY'S LAST CALL. From an old print

THE PRINCESS BARBARA VASSILIEWNA GALITZIN From print of portrait by Hein Friedr. Füger

LA GRANGE, COUNTRY HOME OF LAFAYETTE. From an old print

LA GRANGE ARCHWAY ENTRANCE. From "Complete History of Lafayette"

HÔTEL DESSEIN, CALAIS, FRANCE. From a rare old print

CLIFFS OF DOVER. By C. Stanfield

CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL CHOIR. From Soule photograph

GREEN GATE, CANTERBURY. From _Port Folio_, 1814

ST. JAMES PLACE, LONDON. From Thornbury's "Old and New London"

SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY. From _European Magazine_, 1822

SAMUEL ROGERS. Portrait by Thomas Lawrence

ROGERS' LONDON HOME. From "Bohn's Handbook of London"

ROGERS' BREAKFAST-ROOM. From _Illustrated London News_, 1857

CHARLES ROBERT LESLIE. From an old print

SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. Portrait by Thomas Lawrence

HOLLAND HOUSE. By Stockdale

LIBRARY OF HOLLAND HOUSE. By Charles R. Leslie. Used by permission of the British Museum. From left to right, portrait of Addison, Lord Holland, Lady Holland, Dr. John Allen, Librarian Doggett

GILT CHAMBER OF HOLLAND HOUSE. From lithograph by Richardson

ROGERS' SEAT. From Leichenstein's "Holland House"

LORD GREY. From a portrait by Thomas Lawrence

MRS. JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART. From a portrait by W. Nicholson

JOANNA BAILLIE. From "Life and Works of J. Baillie"

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE. From the Academy sketch, 1829

HOUSE OF THE GILLMAN'S, HIGHGATE, LONDON. From Hall's "Book of Memories"

BOOM KEY AT ROTTERDAM. From an old etching

MT. BLANC. By J.M.W. Turner

LA LORRAINE VIEW OF BERNESE ALPS. From Swiss print

NAHL'S MEMORIAL TO MADAME LANGHAN. From _European Magazine_, 1786

NARRA-MATTAH. By F.O.C. Darley

CONNECTICUT EMIGRANTS. From an old print

FALL OF THE STAUBBACH. From an old water color

THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE. By W.H. Bartlett, 1836

FERNEY, VOLTAIRE'S LAKE LEMAN HOME. From _European Magazine_, 1786

THE SIMPLON PASS. By Lory

FLORENCE, ITALY. From an old print

PALAZZO RICASOLI, FLORENCE, ITALY. From special drawing by G. Amightti. By courtesy of Signor Agusto Ticci, Florence

HORATIO GREENOUGH. From portrait in Boston Athenaeum. By courtesy of Mr. Charles K. Bolton, Librarian

BUST OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. By Horatio Greenough, in Boston Public Library. By courtesy of the Librarian, Mr. Horace G. Wadlin, and photographed by Arthur Pierce Truette

CHANTING CHERUBS. Detail from Raphael's Madonna del Trono

LEOPOLD II, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY. From Ballou's "Pictorial," Vol. XVII

PITTI PALACE, FLORENCE, 1828. From water color, 1830

COUNT ST. LEU. From "_La Jeunesse de Napoleon III_" by Stefane-Pol

LETIZIA BOUNAPARTE. From color print by de Delpech

MADAME MÈRE. From print of drawing by Princess Charlotte, in Vol. XX, _L'lllustration_

CHURCH OF ST. ILLARIO AND NARROW LANE. From photograph obtained by Sig. Agusto Ticci, Florence, Italy

VILLA, ST. ILLARIO. From special photograph obtained by Mrs. T. Henry Dewey, Paris, France

CHARIOT RACES, FLORENCE. From an old print

GENOA. By Vocher

LEGHORN. From an old etching

NAPLES. From an old water color

CASA TASSO AT SORRENTO. From _"Vita di Torquato Tasso_" by Angelo Solerti

CASA TASSO TERRACE-STUDY. From _"Vita di Torquato Tasso_," by Angelo Solerti

ST. PETER'S, EXTERIOR, ROME. From an old print

ST. PETER'S, INTERIOR. From an old print

ADAM MICKIEOWICZ. From the "Life of the Poet"

PORTA RIPETTA. From an old etching

ROMAN FORUM. By Sargent

PORTA DEL POPOLO. From an old print

FALLS OF MARMORA AT TERNI. From an old print

ANCONA. By S. Prout

LORETO. From an old print

SCALLA MINELLI, VENICE. From an old print

VENICE. By J.B. Pyne

PIAZZA SAN MARCO. By Chilone

PALACE OF THE DOGE. From an old print

TASSO'S WELL. Special photograph by Marjorie Elizabeth Parks

THE BRAVO. By F.O.C. Darley

GLORY OF THE ASSUMPTION. By Titian

ABSOLUTION OF ANTONIO. By F.O.C. Darley

ALT MARKET, DRESDEN. From 1830 print by permission of owner, Mayor of Dresden, and courtesy of Herr Rudolf Drescher, Hanau-on-Main, Germany

LAFAYETTE'S PARIS HOME, RUE D'ANJOU. From special photograph obtained by Mrs. T. Henry Dewey, Paris, France

LAFAYETTE'S BED-ROOM. From "Complete History of Lafayette"

LOUIS PHILIPPE. From "_Galerie Napoléon_"

GENERAL LAFAYETTE. From lithograph by Delpech

QUEEN MARIE AMÉLIE. From an old print

S.F.B. MORSE. From _L'Illustration,_ Vols. XXXI and XXXII

N.P. WILLIS. By S. Lawrence

TUILERIES GARDENS. From an old print

TENIER'S WIFE. Portrait by Tenier. From photograph of original by permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

MRS. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER AND HER SON PAUL. From a photograph of a painting done at Paris, 1831. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

THE CHILDREN OF MR. AND MRS. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a photograph (given by Mr. George Pomeroy Keese) of a drawing made in Paris by Miss Susan Cooper. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq. From left to right, Caroline Martha (Mrs. H.F. Phinney), Susan [unreadable] Fenimore, Anne Charlotte, Maria Frances [unreadable] Cooper

THE ANGELUS. By J.F. Millet

EUGÈNE-JOSEPH VERBOECKHOVEN. From a print

PETER PAUL RUBENS. Portrait by the artist

RUBENS' COLOGNE HOME. From Fairholt's "Homes and Haunts of Artists"

CONVENT OF NUNNENWORTH. By Tombleson

WATCH TOWER ON THE RHINE. From _The Art Journal_, 1880

HEIDELBERG AND CASTLE. From 1840 print

VEVAY SHORES OF LAKE LEMAN. From _New England Magazine_

FÉTE DES VIGNERONS. By courtesy of Mrs. Rufus A. Kingman

NOAH'S ARK VEVAY. 1833 By courtesy of Mrs. Rufus A. Kingman

HOSPICE ST. BERNARD. By Major Cockburn

BAY OF NAPLES. By James Hakywill

NEW YORK HARBOR. By W.H. Bartlett

COOPER'S OTSEGO HALL HOME. By courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

COPY OF COOPER'S GARDEN SEAT. From photograph by A.J. Telfer

COOPER'S LIBRARY AT OTSEGO HALL. From drawing by Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

JUDGE NELSON. From photograph by A.J. Telfer

WILD ROSE POINT OR THREE MILE POINT. From a photograph by the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

COOPER'S NEW YORK CITY HOME, ST. MARK'S PLACE. From a print by the courtesy of owner, General James Grant Wilson

HORACE GREELEY. From a portrait by J.C. Buttre

PARK BENJAMIN. From a portrait by J.C. Buttre

THURLOW WEED. From a portrait by C.B. Hall

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a daguerreotype by Brady. By permission of owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

COLONEL JOHN TRUMBULL. From portrait by Waldo and Jewett.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. From a Paris print

COLUMBUS' FLEET. From an old print

THE GLIMMERGLASS. From photograph by courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

OTSEGO LAKE. Inset, Leatherstocking Falls and Natty Bumppo's Cave, from photographs by A.J. Telfer, Cooperstown, N.Y.

JESSE D. ELLIOTT'S LAKE ERIE MEDAL. From Spear's "History of the United States Navy"

MEDAL GIVEN TO JAMES FENIMORE COOPER BY JESSE D. ELLIOTT. From photograph by the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

ISLAND OF ELBA. From an old print

ELBA HOME OF NAPOLEON. From Abbott's "Napoleon"

BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. From painting by W.H. Powell

COOPER'S DIAGRAM OF THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.

COOPER'S DIAGRAM OF THE BATTLE OF "BON HOMME RICHARD" AND THE "SERAPIS."

BATTLE OF THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" AND THE "SERAPIS" By J. Rogers

STUMP EXTRACTOR. From "The Hudson," by B.J. Lossing

THE CHÂLET FARM. From photograph by the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

THE ESCAPE. From "Wyandotte." By F.O.C. Darley

MISS CAROLINE ADRIANCE FOOTE, AGE 13. From a daguerreotype by the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

MISS ALICE TRUMBULL WORTHINGTON. From a daguerreotype by the courtesy of owner, Mrs. Alice Worthington Synnott

LIEUT. ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE. From Duyckwick's "Cyclopedia of American Literature"

HELL GATE. From "Pages and Pictures," by Susan Augusta Cooper

NIAGARA FALLS. By W.H. Bartlett

JUDGE BAZIL HARRISON OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN. From _Hearth and Home_, 1870

HON. GERRIT SMITH. From an old print

WILLIAM BRANDFORD SHUBRICK. From Lossing's "Field-Book of the War of 1812"

CHARLES MATHEWS. From "Memorials of Charles Mathew" by Mrs. Mathews

JAMES H. HACKETT. From "Modern Standard Drama"

STEWART'S MARBLE PALACE. From an old print

MISS SUSAN AUGUSTA COOPER, ABOUT 1850. From a daguerreotype. By permission of the owner, James Fenimore Cooper, Esq.

OTSEGO LAKE PARTY IN 1840. By J.L. Pease

JOE TOM. From a photograph by the courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

NATTY'S CAVE. From an old print

OTSEGO HALL--BACK VIEW. From "Pages and Pictures," by Susan Augusta Cooper

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. From a daguerrotype by Brady. By permission of the owner, [unreadable] Cooper, Esq., Albany, N.Y.

THE SWEDISH NIGHTINGALE (JENNY LIND). Portrait by J.W. Orr From Soule photograph

JENNY LIND AT CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK CITY, 1850. From an old print

DR. JOHN WAKEFIELD FRANCIS. From portrait by J. Goldbruam

DR. FRANCIS' HOME IN NEW YORK CITY. By Richardson

CHRIST'S CHURCH, COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

FENIMORE COOPER'S SCREEN GIFT. From a print by courtesy of Miss Alice Bailey Keese

BISHOP WILLIAM HEATHCOTE DE LANCEY. From Scharf's "History of Westchester County, NY"

DE LANCEY COAT OF ARMS. From "A God-Child of Washington," by Katherine Schuyler Baxter

THE NEW HOME AND THE OLD HOME.

INDIAN HUNTER. By J.Q.A. Ward

COOPER GROUNDS. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

THE CHILDREN'S TRIBUTE. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

LAKE OTSEGO. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

LEATHERSTOCKING FIGURE OF COOPER MEMORIAL. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

LEATHERSTOCKING MONUMENT. By R.E. Launitz, N.A. From a photograph by A.J. Telfer

GEORGE POMEROY KEESE. From a photograph by permission of Mrs. George Pomeroy Keese

BERRY POMEROY CASTLE. By courtesy of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese

Acknowledgment is due The F.A. Ringler Company of New York City and Messrs. John Andrew and Son of Boston, Mass., for the care and interest they have shown in making the cuts used in this volume.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

The light of this world fell on James Fenimore Cooper September 15, 1789. The founder of American romance was born in a quaint, two-storied house of stuccoed brick which now numbers 457 Main St., Burlington, New Jersey. It was then "the last house but one as you go into the country" and among the best of the town. In a like house next door lived the father of the naval hero, Capt. James Lawrence. These two houses opened directly on the street and their slanting roofs were shaded by tall trees rooted at the curbstones. This outline of Fenimore Cooper's birthplace is from the text-picture in "Literary Rambles," by Theodore F. Wolfe, M.D., Ph.D. The first of his father's family in this new country was James Cooper, who came from Stratford-on-Avon, England, in 1679. He and his wife were Quakers, and with Quaker thrift bought wide tracts of land in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Seventy-five years after James Cooper stepped on American soil his great-grandson William was born, December 2, 1754, in Byberry township, Pennsylvania.

On December 12, 1775, at Burlington, New Jersey, William Cooper married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Fenimore, whose family came from Oxfordshire of Old England, and, at intervals, held office in her provinces. James, the future author and named for his grandfather Cooper, was the eleventh of twelve children. About 1807 Cooper, by request of his mother, said he would adopt the name of Fenimore as there were no men of her family to continue it. The change was delayed by the untimely death of Judge Cooper, and also to make less difficult the settlement of his large estate. But in 1826 James Cooper applied to the legislature for his change of name to James Cooper _Fenimore_. This request was not granted, but the change to "James Fenimore Cooper" was made. Cooper's comment on this outcome is a graphic record and "suggests," says an authority, that "the legislature would do well to assume that a petitioner, in such a case, knew better than they did what he wanted." The hyphen, at first used, was soon dropped. And so it was for his mother's sake that he made world-wide his fame by the name of James _Fenimore_ Cooper.

"The Fenimore Box" is an "English measure box, curious, and centuries old, brought over by the first of the name." It descended to Cooper from his mother, Elizabeth Fenimore, and is now treasured as a family heirloom by his grandson, James Fenimore Cooper of Albany, New York.

As the first James Cooper and his wife were Quakers, perchance the same Quaker thrift influenced William Cooper to follow the lead of George Washington, who, two years before, in order to find out the inland waterways of our country, came from the Mohawk Valley to the headwaters of the Susquehanna--this stream which Fenimore Cooper called "the crooked river to which the Atlantic herself extended an arm of welcome." Lake Otsego--the "Glimmerglass"--William Cooper saw first in the autumn of 1785. "Mt. Vision" was covered with a forest growth so dense that he had to "climb a tree in order to get a view of the lake, and while up the tree" he saw a deer come down "from the thickets and quietly drink of its waters near Otsego Rock." "Just where the Susquehanna leaves the Lake on its long journey to the sea" this famous Council Rock "still shows its chin above the water and marks the spot where Deerslayer met Chingachgook the Great Serpent of the Delawares." Now "its lake margin belongs to a grandson of the author, who also bears his name," is a record found in Dr. Wolfe's "Literary Haunts and Homes." In the red man's tongue Otsego means "a place of friendly meeting" of Indian warriors. The author of "Deerslayer" has immortalized that lake-country in the opening chapter of this book.

Of this visit to his future home and lands William Cooper has written: "In 1785 I visited the rough and hilly country of Otsego. I was alone, three hundred miles from home, without food of any kind. I caught trout in the brook and roasted them in the ashes. My horse fed on the grass that grew by the edge of the waters. I laid me down to sleep in my watch-coat, nothing but the wilderness about me. In this way I explored the country and formed my plans of future settlement. May, 1786, I opened a sale of forty thousand acres of land, which in sixteen days were all taken up by the poorest order of men." Here William Cooper laid out the site of Cooperstown, which, until 1791, when it became the county-town, was at times also called "Foot-of-the-Lake." He built a store for his sturdy pioneers, giving credit for their simple needs of life, and traded settlement products for them. His tenants put up log houses, and paid rent in butter, wheat, corn, oats, maple-sugar, and finally in pork;--so much that rentals known as "pork leases" were sold like farms. Money was scarce in those days,--when one John Miller, and his father, coming to the Lakeland's point of the river, felled a pine, over which they crossed to the Cooperstown site. Its stump was marked with white paint and called the "bridge-tree" by Fenimore Cooper. His sister Nancy's grandson, Mr. George Pomeroy Keese, from whom much will appear in these pages, has all there is left of that stump.

In a few years the town's growth gave such promise that William Cooper began to build his own home. It was generally known as "The Manor," but the patent of Cooperstown was not according to law a manor. It was finished in 1788, when a few streets were laid out and the town's first map was made. And October 10, 1790, he brought his family and servants, some fifteen persons, and their belongings, from Burlington New Jersey, to this early pioneer home. Mr. Keese says that "The Manor" was of wood with outside boarding, unplaned; that it was two stories high, had two wings and a back building added in 1791. It first stood facing Main St. and Otsego Lake and directly in front of the later Otsego Hall, now marked by the Indian Hunter. In 1799 it was moved down the street, and was burned down in 1812. In its time it was the most stately private house for miles around. The second home, Otsego Hall, built in 1798, was of bricks which were made at the outlet of the lake. It had seventy feet of frontage by fifty-six of depth, and had two stories with attic and basement. The main hall measured twenty-four by forty-eight feet and the rooms on either side were twenty feet wide. Otsego Hall is said to have been of the exact, generous proportions of the Van Rensselaer Manor House at Albany, New York, where Judge Cooper was a frequent visitor. His own Hall home on Otsego's southern shore ever had "the air and capacity of a mansion and a history of hospitality well deserved."

To a friend William Cooper wrote: "I began life with a small capital and a large family, and yet I have already settled more acres than any man in America; and I trust no one can justly impute to me any act of oppression. Your good sense and knowledge will excuse this seeming boast." He elsewhere said that he owed his success to "a steady mind, a sober judgment, fortitude, perseverance, and above all, common sense." And here he lived as a wise and kind landlord among his people. For nine years he was First Judge of the County Court of Common Pleas, and he served two terms in Congress. Of Judge William Cooper there are three portraits,--Gilbert Stuart's of 1797-98, Trumbull's of 1806, and one by an unknown artist. His kindly gray eye, robust figure, and firm expression bear out the story of his life as told by these portraits.

James Fenimore Cooper, in a letter to his wife, dated Canajoharie, 1834, wrote of his father: "I have been up to the ravine to the old Frey house. It recalled my noble-looking, warmhearted, witty father, with his deep laugh, sweet voice, and fine, rich eye, as he used to light the way with his anecdotes and fun. Old Frey, with his little black peepers, pipe, hearty laugh, broken English, and warm welcome, was in the background. I went to the very spot where one of the old man's slaves amused Sam and myself with an imitation of a turkey that no artist has ever yet been able to supplant in my memory." This Heindrick Frey was a noted character of the Mohawk Valley over one hundred years ago.

It was, however, to the first home on Otsego's shore that the future creator of American romance was brought when a babe some thirteen months old. Here, in the heart of the wilderness, his infancy was passed. Otsego Hall sheltered his budding boyhood and young manhood. Grace and refinement dwelt within the household; without, voices of the forest awakened and nurtured his naturally active mind, which later on was not less influenced by the mysteries of the sea. The Six Nations were yet a power in the Mohawk Valley, then the highway to the land of the setting sun beyond. And they are now remembered in the names of the principal lakes and streams of the country that once was theirs. The boy was face-to-face with the "grim warriors, braves, and chieftains that the man, Fenimore Cooper, translated into his pages, with a touch true to the red man's life," his instinct in trading, his friendly and hostile intent. Here Nature was his first and unforgettable teacher. From "Pages and Pictures," by his daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, much will be given in this book. Miss Cooper has drawn some pretty pen-pictures of her father's child-life. She writes: "From the first bow and arrow, kite and ball, to later feats in fishing, riding, shooting, and skating, all were connected with his highland home." He was "healthy and active; a brave, blithe-hearted, impetuous, most generous and upright boy." Of his childhood another record is: "A gray-eyed, light-haired, ruddy boy, nimble as a deer and gay as a bird; on the lake, plying his oar lustily or trimming his sail to the mountain breeze; and whenever he found a wave high enough to lift his little boat, his veins would thrill with a strange delight, and he would ask himself whether this was like those ocean waves of which he had heard such wonders." The little lad's next step in learning was taken under the gentle rule of his elder sister, Hannah, who had her schooling in New York City, and afterwards improved her leisure by extensive reading. She was a model of domestic virtues and was greatly beloved, especially by the poor, to whom she was ever an angel of mercy. She often went with her father on his official visits to the seat of government, and when, in 1800, at the age of twenty-three years, she lost her life by a fall from her horse, her early death was widely and deeply mourned. Her memory was always cherished with peculiar tenderness by her brother James, the special charge of her loving care.

A letter, written by him in 1841 to his old "messmate," Commodore Shubrick, reveals no wane of Cooper's love for and pride in this sister, and his letter's "political discovery" reveals that Miss Cooper's attractions were as fully appreciated by the eminent of her own country as by those of foreign shores. So comes into these pages a youthful, slender romance of the later hero of Tippecanoe and still later President of the United States.

OTSEGO HALL, COOPERSTOWN, February, 28, 1841.

I have made a great political discovery lately, which must not go
any further than Mrs. Shubrick and Mary. In 1799, when Congress sat
in Philadelphia, my father was a member, as was also General
Harrison. You know I had a sister killed by a fall from a horse in
1800. This sister passed the Winter in Philadelphia with my
father. Miss Anne Cooper [the author's daughter] was lately in
Philadelphia, where she met Mr. Thomas Biddle, who asked if our
family were not Harrison men. The reason of so singular a question
was asked, and Mr. Biddle answered that in 1799 Mr. Harrison was
dying with love for Miss Cooper, that he (Mr. Biddle) was his
confidant, and that he _thinks_ but does not _know_ that he was
refused. If not refused it was because he was not encouraged to
propose, so you see I stand on high grounds and am ready to serve
you on occasion. Don't let this go any further, however. I confess
to think all the better of the General for this discovery, for it
shows that he had forty years ago both taste and judgment in a
matter in which men so often fail. Mary will open her eyes at this
somewhat wider than ever, but she must not open her mouth until she
gives her allegiance to him who will know all her thoughts. With
best regards

_Yours as ever_,

J. FENIMORE COOPER.

NOTE.--Later light on the subject reveals Mr. Harrison's "dying of
love" as a hearty admiration and esteem for the rare grace and
charm of character, mind, and person possessed by Judge Cooper's
young daughter.

During 1795 many distinguished exiles came to this new-country home, and among those who found their way to Otsego Hall was the Marquis de Talleyrand, who was pleased to write an acrostic on Miss Cooper, then seventeen. The famous Frenchman's record, in part, of this visit was "_Otsego n'est pas gai_." Compared to the France of Talleyrand's day this record was true. The _Otsego Herald's_ motto of that time was

Historic truth our _Herald_ shall proclaim, The Law our guide, the
public good our aim.

In its issue of October 2, 1795, appeared the celebrated diplomat's Acrostic.

Aimable philosophe au printemps de son âge,
Ni les temps, ni les lieus n'altèrent son esprit;
Ne cèdent qu' à ses goûts simples et son étalage,
Au milieu des deserts, elle lit, pense, écrit.

Cultivez, belle Anna, votre goût pour l'étude;
On ne saurait ici mieux employer son temps;
Otsego n'est pas gai--mais, tout est habitude;
Paris vous déplairait fort au premier moment;
Et qui jouit de soi dans une solitude,
Rentrant au monde, est sur d'en faire I'ornement.

In affectionate remembrance of Miss Cooper the hill just northwest of Cooperstown was named for her, and "Hannah's Hill" commands one of the town's finest views. In the quiet shades of Christ's Church yard "belle Anna" rests beneath a slab bearing some lines by her father, but not her name.

The August before this sad event Judge Cooper gave the first of the many "lake parties" that floated over Otsego--"which no waters can rival." In the fairness of her youth Miss Hannah was there with her little sister, later Mrs. Pomeroy; and also, among the gay "five and twenty friends from Philadelphia," were their brothers. Indian canoes and flat-bottomed skiffs conveyed them to the eastern shore, where, at Two-Mile Point, a frightened fawn, startled from its forest home by the dogs of Shipman the hunter,--who later outlined "Leatherstocking,"--darted from the leafy thicket and plunged into the lake. At once all were in motion to rescue the little creature now swimming for life. It was successfully brought to land and became a great pet with Judge Cooper's children; but one day, frightened by strange, fierce dogs, it bounded into the forest depths for refuge, and never returned.

The centennial anniversary of this first picnic was celebrated by the third and fourth generation of Judge Cooper's descendants, who met at Point Judith to honor the occasion. Of the verses written by Mr. George Pomeroy Keese concerning this event two are:

And one hundred years have come and gone
Since our country then was new,
And now we keep in memory dear
Our love for the good and true.
To one who came to his forest home
And gave to our village its name;
To the son, the touch of whose magic pen
Has lifted to world-wide fame.

In this summer of 1800 Richard, Judge Cooper's eldest son, built his house of frame on "Apple Hill." It was the second villa-like home in the village. Its site, now known as "Fernleigh," is the country-seat of Stephen Clark, Esq. "Edgewater," overlooking Lake Otsego, is the land that, after Judge Cooper's death in 1809, fell to his son Isaac. Here, the following year, Isaac Cooper built his home of brick. Later, it changed in form, use, and ownership, but again became a family possession through the marriage of Mr. Theodore Keese with the daughter of George Pomeroy and Ann Cooper. Renewing in all ways the charm and grace of its early days, "Edgewater," as the home of Mr. George Pomeroy Keese, the grandson of Fenimore Cooper's youngest sister Ann, commands at the foot of the lake its length, breadth, beauty, and inspiration.

The old stone house, known as the "Deacon Pomeroy's place," that stood at the corner of Main and River streets, gives--in a quaint gable--an enduring record of romance in this sister Ann's young-life. It was built of stone in the peculiar herring-bone style by Judge William Cooper for a wedding gift to his only living daughter, Ann, when she married George Pomeroy, grandson of Gen. Seth Pomeroy and lineal descendant of that Sir Ralph de Pomeroy who came to England with William the Conqueror. In this quaint gable appear the intertwined letters G.A.P.C.--the initials of the bridegroom and bride,--with the date 1804 beneath.

The Cooper room of this old stone house, now the home of Mrs. Benedict, a granddaughter, shelters family portraits from William Cooper's time down to the present day--five generations. What stories might it not tell of the attractive originals? Many were the letters that Fenimore Cooper wrote from Europe to this sister, Mrs. George Pomeroy, of the old stone house.

Mrs. Benedict has also placed there many souvenirs of her sister, Constance Fenimore Woolson, gathered during-her long residence in Europe, including the author's writing-table and her chair.

"Master Oliver Cory kept the village school" in those child-days of Fenimore Cooper, and long after. "He was well qualified for that post; laborious, upright, firm, yet patient and kindly by nature. His training of the boys was excellent. Saturdays were given to religious lessons, and he paid careful but quiet attention to their morals and manners." From his sister Hannah's teaching Judge Cooper's youngest son went to Master Cory's school. It was kept in "one of those tasteless buildings that afflict all new countries," and here was called the "Academy." It served Cooperstown in timely ways for religious and political meetings; public courts were held here, and a ball was given now and then under its roof. As to the school, time and incident brought out a taste for music in the pupils of Master Cory. It seems that Judge Cooper had brought from Philadelphia a large upright organ of imposing appearance and power, which he placed in his manor-house hall. Its arrival in the village made a summer's sensation. When put up and adjusted, a rehearsal of country dances, reels, and more serious music came floating through the broad door and ample windows of Otsego Hall into Master Cory's domain, the Academy, which stood in the adjoining street. As, with magic effect the strains of "Hail Columbia" poured into the schoolroom, Master Cory skilfully met a moment of open rebellion with these words: "Boys, that organ is a remarkable instrument. You never heard the like of it before. I give you half an hour's intermission. Go into the street and listen to the music!"

These "Academy boys" were ambitious; each annual exhibition was crowded, to listen to the speeches "of Coriolanus, Iago, Brutus, and Cassius" by "raw lads from the village and adjoining farms," in all the bravery of local militia uniform--blue coats "faced with red, matross swords, and hats of '76." On such an occasion James Cooper, then a child of eight years, became the pride and admiration of Master Cory for his moving recitation of the "Beggar's Petition"--acting the part of an old man wrapped in a faded cloak and leaning over his staff. It is recorded that James had the fine, healthy pie-appetite usual to his age, for, says the record, when his eldest brother "was showing the sights of New York to the youngest, he took him to a pasty-shop, and, after watching the boy eat pasty after pasty, said to him: 'Jim, eat all you want, but remember that each one costs the old man a lot.'" Pasty then outbalanced property for "Jim."

In due time the lad outgrew the Academy's instruction, but from boy to-man he never outgrew Master Cory's affection, nor his own for the dear home scenes on the shores of the "Haunted Lake," which he was so soon to leave for his first important schooling. The books he wrote later tell how he never forgot the howl of the wolf across the icy field of Otsego on cold winter nights, the peculiar wail of the sharp-toothed panther in the quiet wood roads, nor the familiar springs where the deer lingered latest. One autumn day, while still a pupil under Master Cory's charge, the future author of "The Pioneers" was at play in his father's garden, when suddenly he was surprised by a deer which came leaping over the fence from the street, almost brushing his face as it bounded away into the pine woods at the back of the house. This incident he often related to his children.

It was not long before this youngest son was sent from home. The eventful journey to Albany was made in the care of a near and worthy farmer, "who was carrying toward the Hudson a load of wheat from the fields of Otsego." They went over the fine turnpike,--the great highway of that day,--"just finished from the Hudson to Cherry Valley." The child had heard much of this wonder of roads from the gentlemen at his father's table who were interested in it, and he was eager to see its toll-gates and stone bridges. After leaving "the corduroy tracks" leading to it from Cooperstown, the famous turnpike burst upon the gratified schoolboy's vision. As they trotted slowly along the farmer pointed out, among-other marvels of the way, "a tavern for every mile" of the sixty between Albany and Lake Otsego. A long-train of farmers' wagons, filled with the precious wheat, was slowly rolling eastward, passing-emigrant wagons of "growing families" and household gear moving westward to the great lake countries. All this delighted the boy of nine, who was finally set down at the door of St. Peter's Rectory at Albany, New York. Here for four years he became one of the four young pupils of the Rev. Thomas Ellison, rector of the church. Dr. Ellison was an Englishman and a graduate of Oxford--a rare scholar and a king's man. From him came Cooper's strong preference for English church government and equally strong feeling against the Puritans of Old and New England. While the Puritan's character was not pleasing to Cooper, he himself was called a "Puritan of Puritans," and it was to them he referred in the following: "Whatever else I may think of the Yankees,--a calmer, firmer, braver people do not walk this earth." Of this sentiment "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish," published in 1829, gives ample proof.

The Rev. Joseph Hooper, author of the "History of St. Peter's Church, Albany, N.Y.," related an incident of Cooper's old Rectory school days there. The story came to Dr. Hooper from Mr. Edward Floyd de Lancy, son of Bishop de Lancy of Western New York, and is as follows:

It was the custom of the Rev. Thomas Ellison when he became too feeble to personally direct his workmen, to sit upon the stoop of the Rectory and watch the removal of the sandbank which covered the chosen site for the new church, corner of State and Lodge streets. Hundreds of loads had to be carted away before the foundation could be laid, and some of the carter's pay tickets on quartered playing-cards are preserved in St. Peter's archives. But the great hole in the ground had a great attraction for the boys of Albany, and they would leap into it to play tag and leap-frog until the stern voice of the Dominie called them to order, when they would scamper away or hide in some corner out of sight of the piercing eyes of Dr. Ellison. Sometimes they would answer him mockingly, to his great annoyance. He could not pursue them, but he could, when his own pupils joined with the other boys, as they often did, give them stern and severe lectures upon their conduct, for they were playing on ground to be used for a sacred purpose. Even the rod of correction was used without curing them of this habit. Young Cooper was often a ringleader, and their pranks would often continue until darkness concealed them from the watchful and angry Rector, to whom, nevertheless, they gave due honor and respect.

From one of his "Sketches of England," written to William, Judge John Jay's second son, comes, in part, Cooper's graphic description of Dr. Ellison: "Thirty-six years ago you and I were school fellows and classmates in the home of a clergyman of the true English school. This man entertained a most profound reverence for the King and the nobility; was not backward in expressing his contempt for all classes of dissenters and all ungentlemanly sects; was particularly severe on the immoralities of the French Revolution, and, though eating our bread, was not especially lenient to our own; compelled you and me to begin Virgil with the eclogues, and Cicero with the knotty phrases that open the oration in favor of the poet Archias, because these writers would not have placed them first in the books if they did not intend people to read them first; spent his money freely and sometimes that of other people; was particularly tenacious of the ritual and of all decencies of the Church; detested a democrat as he did the devil; cracked his jokes daily about Mr. Jefferson, never failing to place his libertinism in strong relief against the approved morals of George III., of several passages in whose history it is charitable to suppose he was ignorant; prayed fervently on Sunday; decried all morals, institutions, churches, manners but those of England from Monday to Saturday."

The lad from Otsego soon became a prime favorite with his tutor, who took pleasure in teaching him. The old-fashioned, heroic romances were a rare delight to him,--a taste which was thought to come from his mother, who was very fond of such reading. One vacation, at about the age of eleven, he and a playmate lost themselves in the exciting interest of such a tale; "Don Belianus of Greece" made so deep an impression on Cooper that after reading it he said seriously to his playfellow that he would write a book himself, and would "begin it at once." And, like "Don Belianus of Greece," this story was to have "knights, and squires, and horses, and ladies, and castles and banners." With the glory of his story in mind, the boy had utterly forgotten his hearty dislike of pen-work at school. But his active brain soon put to flight this hobgoblin; he thought of the bit of a blue newspaper--the _Otsego Herald_--printed in Cooperstown by the father of his comrade. So they planned to use the resting-time of the press for the printing of this new book, of which, however, only a few chapters were put in type. The new author soon wearied of his work; but none the less it was the first step in his future literary career.

During 1801 a man near fifty, cleanly clad in sailor's gear but without stockings or neckcloth, appeared before Judge Cooper and asked if the lot between Fenimore and the village was for sale. The answer was, "Yes, but the price is high," and naming it, the stranger requested that a deed be made out at once; he counted down the amount in gold, and gave his name as Esaias Hausman. He had built for himself a small rude house on this lot and lived alone in it for years. The secrets of his former life, his wide learning (once found teaching a college president Hebrew), and disappearance at times, were never solved. Only his death revealed a purse of gold worn between his shoulder-blades. There was no will, so to public sale went the little hut and its lake-shore lot. This man of mystery made a deep impression on Cooper's boy-mind, and later, in 1838, was the subject of several pages of the author's "Chronicles of Cooperstown." Then there was James Allen,--a Scotch master-mason,--who came his way from the "Land o' Cakes" in 1801, and found, as an employee of Judge Cooper, an opening for his trade, and soon became a great favorite with the Cooper boys. This master-mason took great pride in exact work, with which no trifling was permitted. No stone could be moved but his true eye would detect it in a flash, and wild was the fury with which his fiery trowel flew for the culprit, and with such convincing force that it was wise to avoid further meddling with the "gude mon's" work. Of "Jamie Allen," master-mason and staunch _auld kirke mon_, many an amusing story is told in Fenimore Cooper's "Wyandotté, or the Hutted Knoll," written in 1843. These men among others marked the unusual in Cooper's vacations from Dr. Ellison's school-rule at Albany. Later in life he wrote a lively memory-sketch of his tutor, the rector of St. Peter's Church. But the death in 1802 of this accomplished gentleman sent his pupil--then a stripling of thirteen--to Yale. He entered the freshman 1802-3 January-term class, and, "excepting the poet Hillhouse, two weeks his junior, James Cooper was the youngest student in college." There "his progress in his studies is said to have been honorable to his talents." And "in the ancient languages he had no superior in his class."

Cooper owned to having learned little at college. When left to his own bent, his early love for out-of-door life drew him to roam the hills and explore near shores, and to his first view of the grand old ocean, which later claimed his tribute of service. For a boyish frolic in his junior year the lad left Yale, and this incident ended his college career. It is of record that Judge Cooper took the boy's part against the faculty version and brought his son home. Yet something from his books James Cooper must have gleaned, for there is a story of a young sailor who, in some public place in the streets of an English port, attracted the curiosity of the crowd by explaining to his companions the meaning of a Latin motto.