in England.

William Cooper was associated with Andrew Craig, also of Burlington, in
acquiring the title of the Otsego tract of land which Croghan had
mortgaged to William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, and had lost
under foreclosures in 1773. In January, 1786, Cooper took possession of
that portion of the Croghan tract which has since been known as
Cooper's patent, under a deed given by the sheriff of Montgomery county,
which had been set off from Tryon county, and included the later Otsego.
The patent included 29,350 acres, and cost the new proprietors, to
obtain it, about fifty cents an acre. Cooper bought out his partner's
share in the tract, and soon became sole owner.

It is characteristic of Cooper's energy that he began the settlement of
his land in the midst of winter, and had many families resident upon it
before the snow had melted, in the spring of 1786. Deeds were given to
Israel Guild and several others, who, during the summer, established
themselves on spots that are now within the limits of the village of
Cooperstown. These places were originally intended as farms, the village
having been planned to extend from the lake in a narrow strip southward,
rather than across the valley, as its later growth actually determined.

Besides the blockhouse built by Croghan on a site included in the
present Cooper Grounds, a log house at this period stood near the corner
of Main and River streets, and was occupied by a Mrs. Johnson, a widow,
who, with her family, was among the first residents. Near her home she
constructed a frame house, the first to be erected in the place. It was
purchased by William Ellison, a surveyor, who, during the summer of
1786, removed it to a position near the outlet of the lake, on what are
now the grounds of Edgewater. The building was of good size, having two
stories, and was used as a tavern until it was pulled down in 1810,
when Edgewater was built. In June, 1786, John Miller came, and reaching
the bank of the river near the outlet on the east side, felled a large
pine across the stream to answer the purpose of a bridge. The stump of
this tree was for many years a relic within the grounds of Lakelands.
There was a small colony of settlers during this summer, and William
Cooper himself came once or twice in the course of the season; but none
passed the succeeding winter within the village plot except Israel
Guild, who had taken possession of the blockhouse, William Ellison at
his