A Chronology of James Fenimore Cooper 1786 William Cooper establishes Cooperstown at the southern tip of Lake Otsego in New York. 1789 James Cooper born in Burlington, New Jer- sey. William Cooper moves his family to Cooperstown the following year. 1803 Cooper matriculates at Yale; dismissed for misconduct two years later. 1806-1808 Sails before the mast to England and the con- tinent aboard the Stirling; serves as a mid- shipman in the United States Navy at Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario. 1811 Marries Susan Augusta De Lancey. 1811-1819 Lives as a gentleman farmer on family lands in Westchester County and Cooperstown. 1820 Writes Precaution and, in the following year, The Spy (1821). 1822-1826 Moves to New York City and writes The Pioneers (1823), The Pilot (1824), Lionel Lincoln (1825), and The Last of the Mohicans (1826). 1826-1833 Resides in Europe with his family. Lives most ix X A Chronology of James Fenimore Cooper frequently in Paris but takes long trips to England, the Low Countries, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Concern with and in- volvement in the European revolutionary movements of 1830. Writes The Prairie (1827), The Red Rover (1827), Notions of the Americans (1828), The Wept of Wish- ton-Wish (1829), and The Water-Witch (1830). After 1830, turns to novels that con- cern European politics: The Bravo (1831), The Heidenmauer (1832), and The Heads- man (1833). 1833-1836 Returns to America and resides in New York City. Political correspondent for the Evening Post. A Letter to His Countrymen (1834), the A.B.C. Letters (1834-1836), and The Monikins (1835). 1836 Returns to Cooperstown and remodels Otse- go Hall, William Cooper's home. 1836-1837 Publishes five volumes based upon his Euro- pean travels. 1837-1838 The controversy over Three Mile Point causes Cooper to return to fiction with Homeward Bound and Home As Found (1838). Pro- tracted libel suits against Whig editors be- gin. The American Democrat (1838), Chroni- cles of Cooperstown (1838), History of the Navy of the United States (1839). 1840 Resumes writing romances about the frontier and the sea: The Pathfinder (1840), Mercedes of Castile (1840), The Deerslayer (1841), A Chronology of James Fenimore Cooper xi The Two Admirals (1842), The Wing-and- Wing (1842), Wyandotti (1843). 1844-1846 Defends the landlords' position in the Anti- Rent Wars by writing a trilogy titled The Littlepage Manuscripts: Satanstoe (1845), The Chainbearer (1845), and The Redskins (1846). Also writes Afloat and Ashore and Miles Wallingford (1844). 1847-1849 Writes the first American Utopian novel, The Crater (1847). Last frontier and sea ro- mances: Jack Tier (1848), The Oak Open- ings (1848), The Sea Lions (1849). 1850 Last social novel, The Ways of the Hour (1850). 1851 Dies in Cooperstown, leaving The Towns of Manhattan (also titled New York) unfinished. .