llars weighed heavily on his honor, and that he could not
partake of the Judge's hospitality until the debt was paid. Not long
afterward Judge Cooper saw his debtor approaching him with every
manifestation of joy, waving his hat, and shouting, "Judge Cooper! Judge
Cooper! My mother is dead! My mother is dead! I pay you the fifty
dollars."

Before the close of his career Judge Cooper had amassed a large fortune.
After having been engaged for twenty years in the improvement of lands
he declared that the work which he had undertaken for the sole purpose
of promoting his interest had become fastened upon him by habit, and
remained as the principal source of his pleasure and recreation. Within
this period the settlement which he began at Otsego Lake reached a high
degree of prosperity. "This was the first settlement I made," writes
Judge Cooper, "and the first attempted after the Revolution; it was, of
course, attended with the greatest difficulties; nevertheless, to its
success many others have owed their origin."

Judge Cooper's political career reflects another aspect of pioneer life
in the new settlements. Besides his election as first judge of the Court
of Common Pleas of Otsego county, an office which he held from 1791 to
1800, he was elected to Congress in 1795, and again in 1799. The _Otsego
Herald_ of June 23, 1796, describes the reception given by the people of
the village to Judge Cooper on his return from Congress. When it was
known that his carriage was nearing the village, a mounted escort went
forth to meet him on the road that skirted Mount Vision, and when the
procession crossed the bridge and entered the main street it passed
through "a double row of citizens" assembled to greet the congressman,
while "sixteen cannon" roared a welcome.

Judge Cooper was a prominent member of the Federalist party, and devoted
much of his time to its cause. He was on intimate terms with its
leaders, and in constant correspondence with many of them. Although the
franchise, at this period, was restricted by a property qualification,
and the voters were comparatively few, the interest in politics entered
largely into the life of all the inhabitants, and the political
enthusiasm was unlimited. The polls could be kept open five days, to
accommodate all who desired to vote, and as there was no secret ballot
the excitement during elections was constant and intense. Nearly every
elector seems to have been a politician, and the lett