A VILLAGE IN THE MAKING
The county of Otsego was formed February 16, 1791, being carved out of
Montgomery county. Cooperstown was designated as the county seat, and
William Cooper was appointed the first judge of the county court. A
court-house and jail was built at the southeast corner of Main and
Pioneer streets, the lower story, of logs, being used as a prison, and
the upper story, of framed work, as court room. A tavern was erected on
the same lot, and contained the jury rooms, conveniently near to the
sources of refreshment.
During the summer of this year the Red Lion Tavern[61] was erected at
the southwest corner of Main and Pioneer streets, and was kept by Major
Joseph Griffin. It projected more than half way across Main Street, and
at that time marked the western limit of the village. For more than
three score years and ten, even after the village grew westward beyond
it, this projecting building gave a unique character to the main street,
intercepted all thirsty wayfarers, and held an important place in the
life of the community. Its first crude sign, representing a red lion
rampant, was painted by Richard R. Smith,[62] the first storekeeper of
the village, and first sheriff of the county.
Judge Cooper was the lord of the manor, as it were, in the new
community, yet maintained a relation of comradeship with the settlers.
Enjoying the friendship of some of the most eminent men of his time,
himself superior in intelligence and culture to most of his local
contemporaries, Cooper had qualities that won the affection and loyalty
of the sturdy pioneers. It is characteristic of him that he once offered
a lot, consisting of one hundred and fifty acres of land, to any man on
the patent who could throw him in a wrestling match. The wrestling took
place in front of the Red Lion Inn. One contestant was finally
successful, and the land was duly conveyed to the victor. It is possible
that some of the lots owned by Judge Cooper were of no great value, for
it is related that when his eldest son was showing the sights of New
York to the youngster of the family he took him to a pasty shop, and
after watching the boy eat pasty after pasty said, "Jim, eat all you
want, but remember that each one costs the old man a lot."
[Illustration: WILLIAM COOPER
From the portrait by Gilbert Stuart]
Some idea of the position that the "old man" occupied in the village
which he founded may be gained from the novel that the eater of the
pasties afterward entitled _The Pioneers_. In this book, while
historical accuracy is disclaimed, Judge Temple is easily identified as
an idealized Judge Cooper, and a faithful picture of life in the early
village may be recognized; for, as the author says in his introduction,
while the incidents of the tale are purely fiction, "the literal facts
are chiefly connected with the natural and artificial objects, and the
customs of the inhabitants." The village of Templeton, in the novel, is
the Cooperstown of reality in its early days. The spirit of the times,
and the character of the men who lived here are thus distinctly
reflected in the placid current of Fenimore Cooper's first
Leather-Stocking tale. At the present day the personal appearance of
Judge Cooper himself is vividly recalled from the past through the
existence of three portraits, one by Gilbert Stuart, one by Copley, and
a third by an unknown artist. From these likenesses one gains an
impression of his kindly gray eye, firm countenance, and robust figure.
His keen sense of humor relieved the strain of many a hardship in the
life of the frontier, for he is remembered as "noble-looking,
warm-hearted, and witty, with a deep laugh, sweet voice, and fine rich
eye, as he used to lighten the way with his anecdotes and fun."
During the twenty-five years that followed the close of the
Revolutionary War, Judge Cooper was a speculator in lands on a large
scale, and was steadily engaged in the settlement of the tracts which he
owned and those in which he had a joint interest with others. His
judgment concerning land values was keen and far-sighted. That he was
not infallible is shown by his payment of ten dollars an acre for land
in the North Woods which is hardly worth a quarter of that price to-day.
On the other hand, in February, 1803, he bought the town of De Kalb, in
St. Lawrence county, about 64,000 acres, for the sum of $62,720, and
within three months had sold 56,886 acres for $112,226. It was for
successful ventures of this sort that Judge Cooper became widely known,
and was brought into correspondence with foreign investors, such as
Necker and Madame de Staël, who appear to have become owners of lands,
through Cooper, in the northern counties of New York.
Much of Cooper's success in the settlement of new lands was owing to his
system of selling to settlers on the installment plan, instead of
binding tenants to the payment of perpetual rent, as some proprietors of
great estates attempted to do, involving endless litigation and the
"anti-rent war."
Judge Cooper's friendly relation to the settlers extended, in many
instances, to the relief of individual needs by loans of money, which
was not always repaid. One of the French settlers, often a guest at
Judge Cooper's house, borrowed of him fifty dollars. As time went on
Judge Cooper noticed that his debtor's visits became less and less
frequent, until finally they ceased. Meeting the man one day, he
remonstrated with him, telling him that so small a matter should not
cause him annoyance, and urging him not to allow it to interfere with
his visits at the Cooper homestead. The Frenchman, however, felt that
the fifty dollars weighed heavily on his honor, and that he could not
partake of the Judge's hospitality until the debt was paid. Not long
afterward Judge Cooper saw his debtor approaching him with every
manifestation of joy, waving his hat, and shouting, "Judge Cooper! Judge
Cooper! My mother is dead! My mother is dead! I pay you the fifty
dollars."
Before the close of his career Judge Cooper had amassed a large fortune.
After having been engaged for twenty years in the improvement of lands
he declared that the work which he had undertaken for the sole purpose
of promoting his interest had become fastened upon him by habit, and
remained as the principal source of his pleasure and recreation. Within
this period the settlement which he began at Otsego Lake reached a high
degree of prosperity. "This was the first settlement I made," writes
Judge Cooper, "and the first attempted after the Revolution; it was, of
course, attended with the greatest difficulties; nevertheless, to its
success many others have owed their origin."
Judge Cooper's political career reflects another aspect of pioneer life
in the new settlements. Besides his election as first judge of the Court
of Common Pleas of Otsego county, an office which he held from 1791 to
1800, he was elected to Congress in 1795, and again in 1799. The _Otsego
Herald_ of June 23, 1796, describes the reception given by the people of
the village to Judge Cooper on his return from Congress. When it was
known that his carriage was nearing the village, a mounted escort went
forth to meet him on the road that skirted Mount Vision, and when the
procession crossed the bridge and entered the main street it passed
through "a double row of citizens" assembled to greet the congressman,
while "sixteen cannon" roared a welcome.
Judge Cooper was a prominent member of the Federalist party, and devoted
much of his time to its cause. He was on intimate terms with its
leaders, and in constant correspondence with many of them. Although the
franchise, at this period, was restricted by a property qualification,
and the voters were comparatively few, the interest in politics entered
largely into the life of all the inhabitants, and the political
enthusiasm was unlimited. The polls could be kept open five days, to
accommodate all who desired to vote, and as there was no secret ballot
the excitement during elections was constant and intense. Nearly every
elector seems to have been a politician, and the letters of the time are
full of politics and party animosity. The shout of battle still resounds
in the title of a little book published by Elihu Phinney in 1796: "The
Political Wars of Otsego: or, Downfall of Jacobinism and Despotism;
Being a Collection of Pieces, lately published in the _Otsego Herald_.
To which is added, an Address to the Citizens of the United States; and
extracts from Jack Tar's Journals, kept on board the ship Liberty,
containing a summary account of her Origin, Builders, Materials,
Use--and her Dangerous Voyage from the lowlands of Cape Monarchy to the
Port of Free Representative Government. By the author of the
Plough-Jogger."[63]
In the political correspondence of Judge Cooper and his contemporaries
there are frequent complaints of fraud, and of the influence and
prominence of foreigners, especially the Irish, with grave expressions
of fear for the future of the country and the stability of property. The
Federalists describe themselves as "friends of order," and refer to
their opponents as "anti-Christians," and "enemies of the country." One
of Judge Cooper's friends who had removed to Philadelphia writes: "We
are busy about electing a senator in the state legislature. The contest
is between B. R. M.----, a gentleman, and consequently a Federalist, and
a dirty stinking anti-federal Jew tavern-keeper called I. I----. But,
Judge, the friends to order here don't understand the business, they are
uniformly beaten, we used to order these things better at Cooperstown."
It is evident that Judge Cooper had gained some reputation for his skill
in electioneering in Otsego county. Philip Schuyler, writing to Judge
Cooper of the election of 1791, says: "I believe fasting and prayer to
be good, but if you had only fasted and prayed I am sure we should not
have had seven hundred votes from your country--report says that you was
very civil to the young and handsome of the sex, that you flattered the
old and ugly, and even embraced the toothless and decrepid, in order to
obtain votes. When will you write a treatise on electioneering? Whenever
you do, afford only a few copies to your friends."
Judge Cooper's chief political opponent in the county was Jedediah Peck,
who settled in Burlington, Otsego county, in 1790, a man of an entirely
different type from Judge Cooper, yet equally famous in the political
life of the times. Coarse and uneducated, Peck overcame all
disadvantages by his shrewdness, intellectual power, and great natural
ability. He gained much influence with the people of the county by his
homely skill as a traveling preacher, going about distributing tracts,
and preaching wherever he could gather an audience. He was an aggressive
supporter of the political views and administrative policies of Thomas
Jefferson, and violently antagonized the Federalists of the county, who
were under the leadership of Judge Cooper. This opposition culminated
during the administration of President Adams in 1798, when Peck was
arrested under the Alien and Sedition Act for circulating petitions
against that Act. He was indicted and taken to New York in irons, but
was never brought to trial, and upon the repeal of the Act was
discharged. Peck's arrest and imprisonment fastened attention upon him,
and, together with his continued denunciation of the federal
administration, made him the recognized leader of the Republican
(Jeffersonian) party of Otsego county, so that he dictated its policy
and nominations for many years thereafter. Indeed, the overthrow of the
Federal party in this State, with the consequent success of Jefferson in
the presidential canvass, is attributed to the excitement and
indignation aroused by the spectacle of this little dried up man,
one-eyed but kindly in expression and venerable, a veteran of the
Revolutionary War, being transported through the State in the custody of
federal officials, and manacled, the latter an unnecessary and
outrageous indignity.
Jedediah Peck was a member of Assembly from 1798 to 1804, and State
Senator until 1808. Although looked up to by multitudes as the political
leader of his time, Peck was noted at Albany for his shabbiness of
dress. He wore coarse boots, which he never blackened. On one occasion,
on the eve of an important debate, some wag at the tavern blackened one
of Peck's boots. Peck, in dressing for the fray, did not recognize the
shining boot, and having put on one began to search high and low for the
other. At last, enlightened by the laughter of his comrades, he drew on
the polished boot, and with his feet thus ill-matched strode into the
Assembly chamber, where he delivered one of his most powerful speeches.
For many years Jedediah Peck unsuccessfully urged a bill for the
abolition of imprisonment for debt, which was later adopted. His most
permanent and valuable contribution to the welfare of posterity was the
scheme for the common school system of the State, which he had long
advocated, and of which, as chairman of the five commissioners appointed
by the Governor in 1811, he became the author.[64]
Some of the asperities of political life in the early days of Otsego
county may be inferred from certain affidavits, printed copies of which,
such as were apparently used as campaign documents, were found among
Judge Cooper's papers, endorsed in his handwriting, "Oath how I whipped
Cochran." The Cochran referred to was a political opponent.
Jessie Hyde, of the town of Warren, being duly sworn, saith,
that on the sixteenth day of October in the year 1799, he this
deponent, did see James Cochran make an assault upon one
William Cooper in the public highway. That the said William
Cooper defended himself, and in the struggle Mr. Cochran, in a
submissive manner, requested of Judge Cooper to let him go.
_Jessie Hyde._
Sworn this sixteenth day of
October, 1799, before me
Richard Edwards, Master in Chancery
_Otsego County._ SS.
Personally appeared Stephen Ingalls, one of the constables of
the town of Otsego, and being duly sworn, deposeth and saith,
that he was present at the close of a bruising match between
James Cochran Esq., and William Cooper Esq., on or about the
sixteenth of October last, when the said James Cochran
confessed to the said William Cooper these words: "I
acknowledge you are too much of a buffer for me," at which
time it was understood, as this deponent conceives, that
Cochran was confessedly beaten.
_Stephen Ingalls._
Sworn before me this
sixth day of November, 1799,
Joshua Dewey, Justice of the Peace.
The same incident, viewed from another angle, appears in a letter
written by the Rev. John Frederick Ernst to his son in Albany, and dated
at Cooperstown, October 20, 1799.
"There is nothing of any particular news here, except that a
Mr. Cochran, late member of Congress, in whose place I. Cooper
is now elected, came here last week, and on one of the
court-days, with a great deal of brass had the impertinence to
assault our honorable Wm. Cooper in the street, & to give him
a Cowskinning--because, as it is reported, he should have told
lies about Cochran. As both fell a clinging & beating one
another Mr. Mason stepped between and parted them."
Still another account of the episode is given by Levi Beardsley. He says
that the trouble arose over Cochran's use of his fiddle during a
political campaign. Cochran stayed over night at Canandaigua, and when a
dance was got up, he obliged and amused the company by fiddling for
them. He beat Judge Cooper at the election for Congress, but whether
from the influence of music and dancing it is now too late to inquire.
However, it was alleged that Judge Cooper had either published or
remarked that Cochran had been through the district with his violin, and
had fiddled himself into office. This came to Cochran's ear and brought
him from Montgomery county to Cooperstown. He came on horseback, and
arrived while Judge Cooper was presiding as judge of the court of common
pleas. As Cooper issued from the court house, Cochran met him, and after
alluding to the election, informed the Judge that he had come from the
Mohawk to chastise him for the insult. When Cooper remarked that Cochran
could not be in earnest the latter replied by a cut with his cowskin.
Cooper then closed with his adversary, but Cochran being a large, strong
man they were pretty well matched for the scuffle. They were separated
by friends, and Cochran was afterward fined a small amount for breach
of the peace.[65]
At the early organization of the county there was considerable strife
between Cooperstown and Cherry Valley in regard to the location of
public buildings. It is said that Judge Cooper playfully remarked that
the court house should be placed in Cooperstown, the jail in Newtown
Martin (Middlefield), and the gallows in Cherry Valley.[66]
When Judge Cooper began holding court in Cooperstown in 1791 a number of
lawyers were attracted to the county seat, the first to take up
residence here being Abraham Ten Broeck of New Jersey, soon followed by
Jacob G. Fonda of Schenectady. Ten Broeck was the original of Van der
School, the parenthetical lawyer in _The Pioneers_, his compositions
having been remarkable for parentheses. A year later two others of the
legal profession were added to the village community, Joseph Strong, and
Moss Kent, brother of the celebrated Chancellor Kent. Dr. Nathaniel Gott
and Dr. Farnsworth coming at about the same time gave the villagers a
choice among three physicians, Dr. Thomas Fuller being the senior in
practice. The development of Cooperstown as a trading centre brought
Peter Ten Broeck and several other merchants here in 1791, followed
shortly afterward by Rensselaer Williams and Richard Williams of New
Jersey, whose collateral descendants are still identified with the
village.
The early shopkeepers of Cooperstown included some who had been engaged
in more distinguished callings. A merchant who excited the most lively
curiosity among the settlers was a Frenchman known as Mr. Le Quoy who
kept a small grocery store in the village, and seemed to be altogether
superior to such an occupation. After much speculation concerning his
past the village was set agog by an incident which accidentally brought
to light the story of his career. Among the early settlers in Otsego
county was a French gentleman named Louis de Villers, who, in 1793,
happened to be in Cooperstown at a time when a fellow countryman named
Renouard, who afterward settled in the county, had recently reached the
place. Renouard, who was a seaman, and an incessant user of tobacco,
found himself out of his favorite weed, and his first concern was to
inquire of de Villers where tobacco might be purchased in the village.
De Villers directed him to the shop kept by Le Quoy, saying that he
would help a compatriot by making his purchase there. In a few minutes
Renouard returned from the shop, pale and agitated.
"What is it? Are you unwell?" inquired de Villers.
"In the name of God," burst out Renouard, "who is the man that sold me
this tobacco?"
"Mr. Le Quoy, a countryman of ours."
"Yes, Mr. Le Quoy de Mersereau."
"I know nothing about the 'de Mersereau'; he calls himself Le Quoy. Do
you know anything of him?"
"When I went to Martinique to be port captain of St. Pierre," answered
Renouard, "this man was the civil governor of the island, and refused to
confirm my appointment."
Subsequent inquiry confirmed this story, Le Quoy explaining that the
influence of a lady stood in the way of Renouard's preferment. Le Quoy
had been driven from Martinique by the French Revolution, and his choice
of Cooperstown as a retreat came about through a friendly office which
he had performed, while governor of the island, in liberating one of the
ships of John Murray & Sons of New York. The act brought about an
exchange of civilities between the head of this firm and Le Quoy, so
that when the latter came to New York, desiring to invest in a country
store until his fortunes should revive, Murray referred him to his
friend Judge Cooper, under whose advice the Frenchman established
himself in Cooperstown. He at length made his peace with the new French
government, and, closing his grocery in Cooperstown, was ultimately
restored to his office as civil governor of Martinique.[67] He appears
as one of the characters in Fenimore Cooper's novel, _The Pioneers_.
The house on Lake Street known as Averell Cottage was erected in 1793,
the central part of it, with chimneys at each end, constituting the
original structure. It has ever since been in possession of lineal
descendants of the first owner, James Averell, Jr. James Averell settled
on the patent in 1787, and in 1792 exchanged his farm for John Howard's
tannery on Lake Street just west of Pioneer Street.
[Illustration: _C. A. Schneider_
AVERELL COTTAGE]
In 1794 a state road was laid out between Albany and Cooperstown. This
road came over Mount Vision and descended toward the village by a route
that may still be traced down the hillside from Prospect Rock.
Cooperstown was then first included in a post route, and a post office
was opened in the village, with Joseph Griffin as postmaster. The mail
arrived weekly for some years; it then came twice a week; then thrice.
The daily mail was not established until 1821.
The arrival of the mail was something of a ceremony in the early days of
Cooperstown. Toward evening the sound of the postman's horn was faintly
heard as he rounded the slopes of Mount Vision; the blasts grew louder
as he descended the hill and approached the village; then the thunder of
the four post-horses as they crossed the bridge was heard, and the
postman drew up with a flourish at the post office, where the villagers
had gathered to await the news of the outer world. _The Otsego Herald_
publishes a letter from an indignant citizen, complaining that the mails
were opened in a bar-room. Since the first postmaster was also a tavern
keeper, the charge was probably true.
Among the new houses built in 1796 was one that has survived to the
present time, and stands on Main Street adjoining the Second National
Bank on the east. This house, distinguished for the quaint beauty of its
doorway, was first occupied by Rensselaer and Richard Williams. At about
this time the Academy was erected on the hill at the corner of Pioneer
and Church streets, where the Universalist church now stands. It was
"65-1/2 feet long, 32 wide, and 25 feet posts," while the summit of its
belfry was seventy feet high. It was erected by public subscription, at
a cost of about $1,450. "It was one of those tasteless buildings that
afflict all new countries," says Fenimore Cooper, "and contained two
school rooms below, a passage and the stairs; while the upper story was
in a single room."
The first school in the village had been opened a year or two earlier by
Joshua Dewey, a graduate of Yale, who taught Fenimore Cooper his A B
C's. He was succeeded as village schoolmaster by Oliver Cory. The latter
assumed charge of the new Academy. The school exhibitions of this
institution in which Brutus and Cassius figured in hats of the cut of
1776, blue coats faced with red, of no cut at all, and matross swords,
were long afterward the subject of mirth in the village. Fenimore
Cooper, at one time a pupil in the Academy, took part in a school
exhibition, and at the age of eight years became the pride 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 on his staff.
A reminiscence of old Academy days is connected with the first
considerable musical instrument in the village. Judge Cooper had brought
from Philadelphia a large mechanical organ of imposing appearance, which
he placed in the hall of the Manor House. When the organ was first put
up and adjusted a rehearsal of country dances, reels, and more serious
music, was enjoyed not only by the family gathered to hear it, but the
loud tones floated from the windows and into the school room of the
Academy in the next street. As the strains of _Hail Columbia_ poured
into the school room, Master Cory skillfully 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."[68]
The Academy, containing at that time the largest room in the village,
was as much used for other purposes as for those of education. The
court, on great occasions, was sometimes held here. It was used
impartially for religious meetings and for balls. The Free Masons of the
village, who had secured a charter for Otsego Lodge in 1795, held a
religious service, followed by dinner, and a ball, in the Academy, on
the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1796. Of this
occasion Jacob Morris writes, "The brilliancy exhibited at Cooperstown
last Tuesday--the Masonic festival--was the admiration and astonishment
of all beholders. Upwards of eighty people sat down to one table--some
very excellent toasts were drunk and the greatest decency and decorum
was observed.... In the evening we had a splendid ball, sixty couple,
thirty in a set, both sets on the floor at the same time, pleasant
manners and good dancing."
A centre of convivial resort at this period was the Blue Anchor tavern,
which was established as a rival of the Red Lion inn, and diagonally
across the way from it, at the northeast corner of Main and Pioneer
streets. The Blue Anchor, according to Fenimore Cooper, was for many
years in much request "among all the genteeler portion of the
travelers." Its host was William Cook, from whom the character of Ben
Pump, in _The Pioneers_, was drawn, a man of singular humors, great
heartiness of character, and perfect integrity. He had been the steward
of an English East-Indianman, and enjoyed an enviable reputation in the
village for his skill in mixing punch and flip. On holidays, a stranger
would have been apt to mistake him for one of the magnates of the land,
as he invariably appeared in a drab coat of the style of 1776 with
buttons as large as dollars, breeches, striped stockings, buckles that
covered half his foot, and a cocked hat large enough to extinguish him.
The landlord of the Blue Anchor was a general favorite; his laugh and
his pious oaths became famous.
In 1796 Judge Cooper commenced the construction of his new residence,
Otsego Hall, which he completed and began to occupy, in June, 1799. The
new house stood near the centre of what are now known as the Cooper
Grounds, on the site marked by the statue of the Indian Hunter. Otsego
Hall was for many years the largest private residence in the newer parts
of the State, and remained as the finest building in the village until
it was destroyed by fire in 1852. It is said to have been originally of
the exact proportions of the van Rensselaer Manor House at Albany, where
Judge Cooper was a frequent visitor.
On one occasion, in early days, when Judge Cooper was away from home,
fire broke out in the Hall, and an alarm given by the neighbors brought
the volunteer fire department to the scene. Mrs. Cooper firmly took
charge of the situation. Locking the doors of the house she called out
to the servants, "You look out for the fire, and I'll attend to the fire
department!" With this she poured hot water from a second-story window
upon the firemen, and quickly drove them away.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 61: "The Bold Dragoon" of Fenimore Cooper's novel, _The
Pioneers_.]
[Footnote 62: The original of Richard Jones, in _The Pioneers_.]
[Footnote 63: Plough-Jogger was the pseudonym of Jedediah Peck.]
[Footnote 64: _Address at Cooperstown Centennial_, Walter H. Bunn.]
[Footnote 65: _Reminiscences_, Levi Beardsley, p. 89.]
[Footnote 66: Beardsley's _Reminiscences_.]
[Footnote 67: _Chronicles of Cooperstown_.]
[Footnote 68: _James Fenimore Cooper_, Mary E. Phillips, p. 26. The
organ is now at Fynmere.]