The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-01-15
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.
Essay on his Life by Leo Paquette,
Pupil of L'Anse High School.

1903. Ills IaJler WAS Ol tyudker ana
his mother was of Swedish descent
His father was man of some
prominence in his time, having been
"a judge and at one time congress
| man.
When Cooper was a young boy OF
thirteen months his parents moved
to the central part of New York
Here his father laid out town,
which, after himself, he called
| Cooperstown. 1t was here that
| Cooper passed the most OF his early
lie. The scenes of many of his best
novels are laid in the environs OF
this pioneer home.
His first schooling was received
at Cooperstown, in II small academy
there. He afterwards studied at
/ Albany as private spupil under an
Episcopal rector. At the are Of
thirteen he entered Yale College.
He did not learn very much there,
because, as he himself confesses, he
played the most Of his first year,
| aud did not study much the next.
The third year he got into some
mischief or other and was dismissed.
/ After leaving college it was de-
cided that he should enter the navy.
This he did in 1908, after q year or
so of preparatory service in the
merchant marine. In 1911 Cooper
married Miss De Lancey with whom
he lived happily for forty years
But after being married about five
months, and seemingly at the re-
quest of his young wife, he gave up
his career on the sea-
His entrance upon literary
career was somewhat accidental
One day he was reading to his wiie
novel descriptive OF English SO
ciety life. He was not pleased with
it, and throwing it aside, exclaimed:
II believe | could write Il better
novel than that myself" He tried,
and wrote Precaution, novel
of high life in England with which
he was not acquainted, and 1t was II
failure. But it did not discourage
him, for he wrote the Spy" the
next year, which was very success
full, because it treated Of an Amari-
can subject and American scenes.
1t was the first American historical
novel ever written.
He wrote The Pioneers in 1923.
The scene was in the vicinity of his
pioneer home. 1t was the first Of
the famous . Misunderstanding
Tales. These tales are five in
number.
In 1926 the Last of the
Mohicans' was published, This
was followed by the Prairie, and
in 1910 and 1871 by the Pathfinder
and the 'Deerslayer, They should
not be read in the order in which
they were written ii one wishes To
follow the life of their hero, Natty
Bumppo, from his youth to old age.
The "Deerslayer' should be read
first.
Even before he wrote the
Pioneers he had written the
"Pilot, which was sea tale. The
Pirate" story of the sea, had
appeared little while before. No
one knew who wrote it, but many
guessed that Sir Walter Scott did
Many denied this, because he was "a
lawyer, and could not have written
so good sea tale. Cooper, himself
a sailor, believed that if the author
had been a sailor he could have
written better one than the
Pirate" SO he wrote the pilot"
to prove his point. He gained his
point, too, for his book was u very
good one, if not better than the
Pirate. 1t was the first salt |
water novel ever written.
In 1929 Cooper wrote his second !
sea novel, the "Red Rover, drawn !
from his own experience. He wrote
ten sea novels in all, of which the
Two Admiral" 5" and wing and !
Wing are the best after the pilot
and the Red Rover.
In 1899 he wrote "A History of |
the U. S. Navy, IA very handy book |
for reference, giving II good account
of our navy in early times.
He made his first visit to Europe |
in 1926. He spent seven years !
there and visited most of the noted
cities. He served as consul at
Lyons for three years.
In 1888 he came back to America |
and lived at Cooperstown for the |
rest of his life. His home was very |
happy one, for his wife and children |
were devoted to him, and he loved |
them. In 1922 he founded the |
Bread and Cheese Lunch" club
in New York City.
He died at Cooperstown Septem-
Der II, 1851. If he had lived another
day he would have been siXty-two
years old. His wife out-lived hlm
only five months.
A few days afterhis death a meet
ing of prominent men was held in /
New York and it was decided that
William Cullen Bryant should be re-
quested to deliver an address on his
life and writings. This he did in
the following year.
OF our great and loved novelist, |
Balzac, a noted French writer. has
said: "If Cooper had succeeded in
the painting of character to the
same extent that he did in the
Continued ON age eight.