Profile Text
Date of Birth: September 15, 1789
Place of Birth: Burlington, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of Death: September 14, 1851
Place of Death: Cooperstown, New York, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, small amount of Welsh
James Fenimore Cooper was an American author. His writing includes The Spy , Leatherstocking Tales , about Natty Bumppo/”Leatherstocking;” and The Last of the Mohicans . He wrote historical fiction, focused on colonial and Indigenous characters, set from the 1600s to the 1800s.
He was the son of Elizabeth (Fenimore) and William Cooper. His father was a politician with the Federalist Party, judge, merchant, land speculator, and developer, who was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Otsego County, beginning on February 17, 1791; and a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1797, and again, from March 4, 1799 to March 3, 1801. His father founded Cooperstown, upstate New York, where James was raised from a young age, partly at Otsego Hall, a mansion constructed by his father. He was a midshipman in the U.S. Navy.
James was married to Susan Augusta de Lancey, until his death, with whom he had seven children; including author, amateur naturalist, and orphanage founder Susan Fenimore Cooper. He was raised a Quaker, and later became an Episcopalian.
James’s paternal grandfather was James Cooper (the son of William Cooper and Mary Groome/Groom). James was born in Byberry, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. William was born in Philadelphia, the son of James Cooper, who was from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England; and of Hester Cooper. James’s great-grandmother Mary was from Byberry, the daughter of Thomas Groome/Groom, whose parents were English, with roots in Lymehouse and Gloucestershire, respectively; and of Elizabeth.
James’s paternal grandmother was Hannah Hibbs (the daughter William Hibbs and Ann Carter). Hannah was born in Buckingham, Bucks, Pennsylvania. William was born in Byberry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Constable William Jacob Hibbs, who was from Deer Forest, Gloucester, England; and of Hannah Howell, whose mother was from Lingfield, Surrey, England. James’s great-grandmother Ann was born in Bucks, the daughter of James Carter, who was from Middlesex, England; and of Susannah Griffith, who was from Pembrokeshire, Wales.
James’s maternal grandfather was Richard Fenimore (the son of Joseph Fenimore and Hannah Burroughs). Richard was born in Burlington, New Jersey. Joseph was born in New Jersey, the son of English parents, Richard Fenimore, from Tingewick, Buckinghamshire, and Mary Crook, from Adderbury, Oxford. Hannah was the daughter of Samuel Burroughs and Hannah.
James’s maternal grandmother was named Hannah Allen. Hannah was born in Burlington, New Jersey.
Sources: Genealogies of James Fenimore Cooper – https://famouskin.com https://www.geni.com https://www.findagrave.com