The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-01

lonS Dc remembered by this vlsitirls { Daughter.
 .-~-.snt incident of the summer was q lsit to uooperstown. the home Iof the novelist, and rendered memor- able as being the spot where he locat- | ed the scenes Of some of .nls Leather Stocking Tales--noyels of pioneer days. ! Cooperstown reSsres his memory; Fenimore Hotel bears anis aaine; tlFsrr Is a stately monument to him in the town cemetery. although he IS buried ID Il the Episcopal church yard, whers < l simple slab marks his grave. Ths> cnurch contains memorial windows to members of the Cooper family. A beautiful park marks the site of hss handsome home. which was burned many years ago; in this park there IS l a fiuea brcnze statue of the Dssf Slayer whose ravorite haunt was Otsego Lake. A stately hall built of white stone in colonial style with classic columns, contains the town library and Cooper Museum. full Of mementoes or the fam | lily. especially the novelist and his father. Judge William Cooper. the fouIi-
 der of the town. There is large mouel
 here of Otsego Hall. the old Cooper residence, which was burned. and the curator delights in opening It's doors. and showing you the many rooms, the
 broad halls. imposing staircase. mas
 sive mantels. etc. This handsome old Hall must have been the pride of the village.
 Coopsrstown was settled in 179O just after the Revolution. by Judge William | Cooper, father of the author. who owned a large tract of land on the
 banks of Otsego Lake. It is now a quaint and charming little town. with many beautiful homes. showing wealth | and taste. The lake is about nine miles long, with waters beautifully clear and | full of fish, the famous Otsego bass. On one side the wooded hills rise as I wild. apparently. as when the Deer | Slayer roaned their heights; but on the
 other side there are many handsome | summer homes owned by wealthy city
 people. Busy little steamboats ply the shores of the lake regularly from one | end to the other, making the trip every | two hours. 1t is a delightful sail.
 | There was a picnic party on board | with us. and they were very communi- J cative. We were told that a;loyal resi-. dent of the town owns that side of the lake for miles. tthe one with wild and | wooded hills,) and refuses to sell or | improve" because the scenes described | in Cooper's novels would be destroyed. | We were shown the tall monument in the cemetery which stands out against | the green hill side; we were shown the { outlet Of the lake where the noble Sus- l quehannah finds its source ;near by Is | Council Rock, and we were told the story. It is smooth rounded frag-
 ment only about four feet high. It Is
 remarkable in appearance only in being
 the largest of the few rocks to be found
 near here But tradition says and l Cooper relates that this rock was g noted rallying point for the Indians who appointed meetings at this spot. l Distant tribes came through the wil- derness to this gray rock near the
 outlet of the lake.
 | Although this place was far removed | from the white settlements in the Revolution and was still complete | wilderness. 1t was connected with a
 military expedition of some importance. l A case in the Cooper Museum is under | the care of the Cooperstown Chapter of | the D. A. R., and they have a large l map of this expendition and also litera- ture, manuscrips. .detters. etc. con- | corning it.
 Tn ITS. when Gen. Sullivan was or dered against the Indians in the vest ern part of the State, to punish them for the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, a detachment of his forces. under Gen. Clinton, was sent
 through this valley. Ascending the | Mohawk to what was sometimss called l the portage. over the. hills to this lake Il they cut a road through the forest and I transporting their boats, launched them | at the head of the lake and rowed down | to the site of. the p@sent village. Here Il they lay encanped some little time, | finding the river too much encountered
 with flood wood to allow their boats to pass. To remove this didiculty. Gen. l Clinton ordered a dam to be built at
 the outlet, thus raisIng the lake 50 much that when the work was sudden | ly opened. the waters rushed through with such power that they swept the | channel clear; by this means the troops | were enabled to pass in their boats l from the sources of the stream to the
 rendezvous at Tioga Point. distance | of more than 200 miles, by the course
 of this winding river"
 This incident is thus described by
 Miss Cooper. daughter of the novelist l in her charming book. Rural Hours The Cooperstown Chapter i3 pro Id oi
 It's local history. and is loyalIy kather- l ing all available data for preservation Wien every town and village ia this | land has it's public spirited and patrio.
 tic D. A. R. Chapter working earnestly
 to preserve it's past history and to i'm. prove its present condition, 1t win bs impossible to estimate the results fol good to each community.
 With this thought for you to dream
 of. I will close. A W. M.
 John Wade Reyes Chapter D. A. R | Athens, Ala.
 The regular meeting of the ChapteI | was held at the residence of Mrs. M. A
 Harris. b D. m. Aug. 1T. Prominen
 friends of the Society shared with tn,
 membership and its hostess the pleas
 ure of entertaining as guests Miss Gun
 ter of Montgomery. Ala, Miss Florenc'
 Leslie. La Grange. Tenn. and Mrs
 Short. Pulaski. Tenn.
 Committees were appointed to conve!
 expressions of sympathy of the Chap
 ter for Mrs w. T. Sanders and Mrs
 F. P. Garrett. each of whom mournl
 the loss of brother. The subjoinet program supplied the literary and pat .kr q n. A-Nl a--