William Cooper (December 2, 1754 – December 22, 1809) was an American merchant, land speculator and developer, the founder of

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the ...

. A politician, he was appointed as a county judge and later served two terms in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, representing Otsego County and central New York. He was the father of

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought ...

, who became a noted writer of historical novels related to the New York frontier.

Life

William Cooper was born in 1754 in a log house in Smithfield (now

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...

) in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...

, just outside

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, the son of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

parents,James Cooper (b.

Byberry, Philadelphia Byberry is a neighborhood in the far northeast section of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Originally it was incorporated as the Township of Byberry and was the northeasternmost municipality of Philadelphia County before the Cit ...

, 1729–1795) and Hannah (Hibbs) Cooper. He appears to have first worked as a wheelwright in and around Byberry. There is no record of his attending school. He later settled in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was ...

, a Quaker city.

Marriage and family

On December 12, 1774, in Burlington, he was married by a civil magistrate to Elizabeth Fenimore, daughter of Richard Fenimore, a Quaker of Rancocas.

Career

During the early 1780s, Cooper became a storekeeper in

, located along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

. By the end of the decade, he was a successful land speculator and wealthy frontier developer in what is now

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 17 ...

. Soon after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, he acquired a tract of land several thousand acres in extent within the borders of New York state and lying along the head waters of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

at Otsego Lake. He founded the Village of Otsego at the foot of the lake in 1786, creating a traditional plan for the village inspired by that of Burlington. He moved his family there, arriving on November 10, 1790. The judge and other investors also founded De Kalb, New York, near the east end of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, in 1803, platting approximately 64,000 acres and selling the parcels on. His brother James took care of the holdings, which were tied up in litigation for years, both before and after the death of Judge Cooper in 1809. The Cooper family holdings were all gone by 1817. In 1852 a village was named Cooper's Falls north of De Kalb. James stayed in the area, and his son William grew up in De Kalb and was a carpenter. The existing De Kalb Historical Society building was built by the judge's nephew, William, and some of his descendants may still live in the area. After 1791, when Otsego County was split off from Montgomery County, Cooper was appointed as a county judge. He was later elected to two terms in Congress, representing the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. Defeated by the Jeffersonian Repu ...

in the 4th (March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797) and the

6th United States Congress The 6th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in Washington, D ...

es (March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801). In 1796, Cooper determined to make his home permanently in the town he had founded, which by that time promised to become a thriving settlement. It attracted many land-hungry migrants from New England. He began the construction of a mansion, completed in 1799, which he named Otsego Hall. For many years it served as his

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

; it was by far the most spacious and stately private residence in central New York. Cooper family tradition has it that Judge Cooper was killed by a blow to the head sustained during an argument with a political opponent after a public meeting in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

on December 22, 1809. No evidence of this can be found, and the story appeared to arise in 1897. A great-grandson of the judge published this account, which historians consider implausible. They believe that Judge Cooper died of natural causes. Cooper was buried at the Episcopal Christ Churchyard in Cooperstown. His son

, a popular author of historical novels, was buried there many years later. A great-grandson, Paul F. Clark, became a

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

State Representative. A 2xgreat-grandson, writer

Paul Fenimore Cooper Paul Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1899 – January 20, 1970) was an American writer of children's books and non-fiction, some based on his travels. His first book was a translation of Albanian folk tales. Life Paul Fenimore Cooper was born in ...

, is known for the children's adventure, '' Tal: His Marvelous Adventures with Noom-Zor-Noom'' (1929, reprint 1957 and 2001).

Legacy and honors

*Cooperstown was named for him, as he was the founder.

References

William Cooper, "How Settlements were Promoted"
from ''A Guide in the Wilderness'', 1810

''New York History'', October 1931 * ttp://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/articles/nyhistory/1949nyhistory-butterfield.html Lyman H. Butterfield, "Judge William Cooper (1754-1809): A Sketch of his Character and Accomplishment" ''New York History'', October 1949
Lyman H. Butterfield, "Cooper's Inheritance: The Otsego Country and its Founders"
''New York History'', October 1954
David M. Ellis, "The Coopers and New York State Landholding Systems"
''New York History'', October 1954]
James H. Pickering, "Cooper's Otsego Heritage: The Sources of The Pioneers"
''New York History'', July 1979
Alan Taylor, "Who Murdered William Cooper?"
''New York History'', July 1991

''New York History'', Autumn 1994 * Alan Taylor (historian), Alan Taylor, ''William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic'', New York:

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers i ...

, 1995 (Pulitzer Prize winner for History)
James M. Banner, Jr., "Cooper, William"
from ''American National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000 *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, William 1754 births 1809 deaths Politicians from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania American people of English descent American Quakers Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) New York (state) state court judges American city founders People from Cooperstown, New York