Celebrity Graveland

September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851

James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most popular American writers of the 19th century. His quasi-Romantic  writings tended toward the political especially in the sphere of Post-Revolutionary land rights and Native American relations. This is more than evident in his 5 novel series, the Leatherstocking Tales (which includes his masterwork, 1826’s The Last of the Mohicans.) Groundbreaking for the time, these stories were the first of their kind to feature Native American characters to the degree they did – for better AND worse. Aside from the adventures of Natty Bumppo and the Indians, Cooper also devoted a good amount of ink toward military history…specifically the U.S. Navy, in which he served as a young man. All in all, history and critics were, and remain, divided on Cooper’s style and content. Contemporaries like Balzac and Thoreau admired him. Mark Twain hated him. What are ya gonna do?

In the end, Cooper, like everyone else in this blog, died (just one day short of his 62nd birthday.) He lived out the last years of his life and was buried in Cooperstown, New York…a town founded by his father.

Burial

Christ Churchyard – Cooperstown NY

Specific Location

From the northern edge of the cemetery on Church St., there is an entire section filled with Cooperstown Coopers. James and his wife are in this section at the end of a small path leading from the chapel.

This entry was posted on July 20, 2015 at 9:15 am and is filed under Christ Churchyard (NY) with tags Christ Churchyard, Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.