James Fenimore Cooper

The Project Gutenberg EBook of James Fenimore Cooper, by Mary E. Phillips This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: James Fenimore Cooper Author: Mary E. Phillips Release Date: August 10, 2004 [EBook #13155] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAMES FENIMORE COOPER *** Produced by The Million Book Project and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. [Illustration: JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.] JAMES FENIMORE COOPER by MARY E. PHILLIPS [Illustration: LEATHERSTOCKING.] 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. [Illustration: signature 'Francis W. Italsey']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 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. G rard � 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 Illustr _" � 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. Telfe