James Fenimore Cooper

**James Fenimore Cooper** (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was an American writer. He created the character of Natty Bumpo, the archetypal American frontiersman.

## Early life

Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. His father was a United States Congressman. James Fenimore was one year old when his family moved to Cooperstown, New York. The community was started by his father.

Cooper was 13 when he began attending Yale University. He was kicked out for playing pranks. He blew up another student's door. He also taught a donkey to sit in a professor's chair.

## Naval career and marriage

Cooper got a job as a seaman on a merchant ship. He joined the United States Navy at age 18. He became a midshipman, but left the Navy in 1811.

Cooper married Susan DeLancey when he was 21. They had seven children. Five lived to be adults. The first-born survivor, Susan Fenimore Cooper, became a writer and naturalist.

## Writing career

_Precaution_ was Cooper's first book. It was published anonymously in 1820. In 1823, he published _The Pioneers_. This book was the first of the Leatherstocking novels. These stories became famous for the fictional character of an American woodsman called Natty Bumppo. Cooper's most famous novel _Last of the Mohicans_ was published in 1826. It became one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th century.

In 1826, Cooper moved his family to Europe. He wanted to make more money as an author. He also wanted to give his children a better education. He continued to write. His books published in Paris include _The Red Rover_ and _The Water Witch_. These were novels about the sea. His books began taking a political angle. These books are forgotten today. He returned to the United States in 1833.

## Last years

Cooper moved back to his ancestral home Otsego Hall in Cooperstown. His writing continued in a political vein. His readers did not like this. He returned to fiction books with _The Pathfinder_ and _The Deerslayer_. These books continued the story of Natty Bumppo. Cooper spent his last years in Cooperstown. He died on September 14, 1851.

## Leatherstocking novels

- _The Pioneers_ (1823)
- _The Last of the Mohicans_ (1826)
- _The Prairie_ (1827)
- _The Pathfinder_ (1840)
- _The Deerslayer_ (1841)

## Other websites

- Works by or about James Fenimore Cooper%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20(subject%3A%22Cooper%2C%20James%20Fenimore%2C%201789-1851%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cooper%2C%20James%20Fenimore%2C%201789-1851%22%20OR%20creator%3AJames%20Fenimore%20Cooper)) at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
- (multiple formats)
- James Fenimore Cooper at Open Library
- James Fenimore Cooper Society Homepage
- _The Cambridge History of American Literature,_ Book II, Chapter VI, Fiction I: Brown, Cooper
- James Fenimore Cooper Society Website
- Essay on Fenimore Cooper: Works in biographical/historical context
- Thomas R. Lounsbury: _James Fenimore Cooper_ . 6th Edition. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1886 (American Men of Letters). PDF from the Arno Schmidt Reference Library
- James Fenimore Cooper  at C-SPAN's _American Writers: A Journey Through History_

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: James Fenimore Cooper
- **image**: James Fenimore Cooper by Jarvis.jpg
- **caption**: Portrait by John Wesley Jarvis
- **birth place**: Burlington, New Jersey
- **death place**: Cooperstown, New York
- **occupation**: Writer
- **movement**: Colonial Realism
- **genre**: Historical fiction
- **notableworks**: _The Last of the Mohicans_