ent day the personal appearance of
Judge Cooper himself is vividly recalled from the past through the
existence of three portraits, one by Gilbert Stuart, one by Copley, and
a third by an unknown artist. From these likenesses one gains an
impression of his kindly gray eye, firm countenance, and robust figure.
His keen sense of humor relieved the strain of many a hardship in the
life of the frontier, for he is remembered as "noble-looking,
warm-hearted, and witty, with a deep laugh, sweet voice, and fine rich
eye, as he used to lighten the way with his anecdotes and fun."

During the twenty-five years that followed the close of the
Revolutionary War, Judge Cooper was a speculator in lands on a large
scale, and was steadily engaged in the settlement of the tracts which he
owned and those in which he had a joint interest with others. His
judgment concerning land values was keen and far-sighted. That he was
not infallible is shown by his payment of ten dollars an acre for land
in the North Woods which is hardly worth a quarter of that price to-day.
On the other hand, in February, 1803, he bought the town of De Kalb, in
St. Lawrence county, about 64,000 acres, for the sum of $62,720, and
within three months had sold 56,886 acres for $112,226. It was for
successful ventures of this sort that Judge Cooper became widely known,
and was brought into correspondence with foreign investors, such as
Necker and Madame de Stael, who appear to have become owners of lands,
through Cooper, in the northern counties of New York.

Much of Cooper's success in the settlement of new lands was owing to his
system of selling to settlers on the installment plan, instead of
binding tenants to the payment of perpetual rent, as some proprietors of
great estates attempted to do, involving endless litigation and the
"anti-rent war."

Judge Cooper's friendly relation to the settlers extended, in many
instances, to the relief of individual needs by loans of money, which
was not always repaid. One of the French settlers, often a guest at
Judge Cooper's house, borrowed of him fifty dollars. As time went on
Judge Cooper noticed that his debtor's visits became less and less
frequent, until finally they ceased. Meeting the man one day, he
remonstrated with him, telling him that so small a matter should not
cause him annoyance, and urging him not to allow it to interfere with
his visits at the Cooper homestead. The Frenchman, however, felt that
the fifty do