lf way across Main Street, and
at that time marked the western limit of the village. For more than
three score years and ten, even after the village grew westward beyond
it, this projecting building gave a unique character to the main street,
intercepted all thirsty wayfarers, and held an important place in the
life of the community. Its first crude sign, representing a red lion
rampant, was painted by Richard R. Smith,[62] the first storekeeper of
the village, and first sheriff of the county.

Judge Cooper was the lord of the manor, as it were, in the new
community, yet maintained a relation of comradeship with the settlers.
Enjoying the friendship of some of the most eminent men of his time,
himself superior in intelligence and culture to most of his local
contemporaries, Cooper had qualities that won the affection and loyalty
of the sturdy pioneers. It is characteristic of him that he once offered
a lot, consisting of one hundred and fifty acres of land, to any man on
the patent who could throw him in a wrestling match. The wrestling took
place in front of the Red Lion Inn. One contestant was finally
successful, and the land was duly conveyed to the victor. It is possible
that some of the lots owned by Judge Cooper were of no great value, for
it is related that when his eldest son was showing the sights of New
York to the youngster of the family he took him to a pasty shop, and
after watching the boy eat pasty after pasty said, "Jim, eat all you
want, but remember that each one costs the old man a lot."

[Illustration: WILLIAM COOPER

From the portrait by Gilbert Stuart]

Some idea of the position that the "old man" occupied in the village
which he founded may be gained from the novel that the eater of the
pasties afterward entitled _The Pioneers_. In this book, while
historical accuracy is disclaimed, Judge Temple is easily identified as
an idealized Judge Cooper, and a faithful picture of life in the early
village may be recognized; for, as the author says in his introduction,
while the incidents of the tale are purely fiction, "the literal facts
are chiefly connected with the natural and artificial objects, and the
customs of the inhabitants." The village of Templeton, in the novel, is
the Cooperstown of reality in its early days. The spirit of the times,
and the character of the men who lived here are thus distinctly
reflected in the placid current of Fenimore Cooper's first
Leather-Stocking tale. At the pres