James Fenimore Cooper

Related to a line of Quakers who had emigrated from England to the Northeastern United States, James Fenimore Cooper grew up in upper-middle-class comfort on the shores of Lake Otsego, in a town planned and constructed by his father: Cooperstown, New York. After study, in his teens, at Yale—where he did not graduate, because of his early dismissal for violating the university’s rules—Fenimore Cooper served for several years in the US Navy, then came into the family’s fortune and settled back in New York City and in Cooperstown. Fenimore Cooper began writing after a “dare” laid down by his wife, Susan, about whether he could write something better novel than a novel Susan liked. Precaution, Fenimore Cooper’s first novel and the response to this “dare,” was published in 1820. The earliest of the “Deerslayer” or “Leatherstocking” novels, entitled The Pioneers and featuring the adventures of Natty Bumppo, was released in 1823. The Last of the Mohicans, for which Fenimore Cooper is most famous, was released in 1826, and three other “Deerslayer” novels followed. Cooper also wrote non-fiction, including a volume on the history of the United States Navy. During his lifetime and after his death, aged 62, he was recognized as perhaps the first great American man of letters.