James Fenimore Cooper - Cooperstown, NY
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 41.960 W 074° 55.373
18T E 506316 N 4727429
A statue honoring American novelist James Fenimore Cooper is located in Cooper Park on Fair Street, north of Main Street in Cooperstown, NY.
Waymark Code: WMPQ0N
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 10/05/2015
Views: 6
A 42" by 52" by 68", larger than life, bronze statue of novelist James Fenimore Cooper rests on a granite base. The statue depicts Cooper sitting on a bench with his legs crossed with his right leg over left leg. He is wearing a long overcoat and shirt with ruffled cuffs. He is holding a wide brimmed hat on his right side with his left hand and is holding a cane in his left hand.
The sculpture was created by Victor Salvatore in 1940. It is located at the site of the former home of James Fenimore Cooper. The front of the base is inscribed:
JAMES
FENIMORE
COOPER
1789 1851
A bronze plaque attached to the left side of the base is inscribed:
ON THIS SITE STOOD
OTSEGO HALL
BUILT BY WILLIAM COOPER
THE FOUNDER OF COOPERSTOWN, IN 1798
THE HOME OF
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
WHERE HE LIVED FROM 1834
TO THE DAY OF HIS DEATH
SEPTEMBER 14TH 1851.
DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1853.
James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. His family moved to what became Cooperstown, NY when he was one year old and he lived there the remainder of his life. He inherited wealth and married Susan Augusta De Lancey. He was looking for a way to occupy himself when his wife challenged him to write a book. The result was The Spy: A Tale of Neutral Ground published in 1821.
In 1923 he wrote The Pioneers which evolved into his most famous work, a five book series with the main character being Natty Bumppo, called The Leatherstocking Tales. which included The American Democrat (1838), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). He then turn his efforts to to naval history and wrote The History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839), The Cruise of Sommers (1844), and The Distinguished American Naval Officers (1846) which contained the biographies of Commodores William Bainbridge, Richard Somers, John Shaw, William Shubrick and Edward Preble.
James Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, 1851 and is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church in Cooperstown. In 2013, Cooper was inducted into the New York Writers Hall of Fame.