me
very excellent toasts were drunk and the greatest decency and decorum
was observed.... In the evening we had a splendid ball, sixty couple,
thirty in a set, both sets on the floor at the same time, pleasant
manners and good dancing."

A centre of convivial resort at this period was the Blue Anchor tavern,
which was established as a rival of the Red Lion inn, and diagonally
across the way from it, at the northeast corner of Main and Pioneer
streets. The Blue Anchor, according to Fenimore Cooper, was for many
years in much request "among all the genteeler portion of the
travelers." Its host was William Cook, from whom the character of Ben
Pump, in _The Pioneers_, was drawn, a man of singular humors, great
heartiness of character, and perfect integrity. He had been the steward
of an English East-Indianman, and enjoyed an enviable reputation in the
village for his skill in mixing punch and flip. On holidays, a stranger
would have been apt to mistake him for one of the magnates of the land,
as he invariably appeared in a drab coat of the style of 1776 with
buttons as large as dollars, breeches, striped stockings, buckles that
covered half his foot, and a cocked hat large enough to extinguish him.
The landlord of the Blue Anchor was a general favorite; his laugh and
his pious oaths became famous.

In 1796 Judge Cooper commenced the construction of his new residence,
Otsego Hall, which he completed and began to occupy, in June, 1799. The
new house stood near the centre of what are now known as the Cooper
Grounds, on the site marked by the statue of the Indian Hunter. Otsego
Hall was for many years the largest private residence in the newer parts
of the State, and remained as the finest building in the village until
it was destroyed by fire in 1852. It is said to have been originally of
the exact proportions of the van Rensselaer Manor House at Albany, where
Judge Cooper was a frequent visitor.

On one occasion, in early days, when Judge Cooper was away from home,
fire broke out in the Hall, and an alarm given by the neighbors brought
the volunteer fire department to the scene. Mrs. Cooper firmly took
charge of the situation. Locking the doors of the house she called out
to the servants, "You look out for the fire, and I'll attend to the fire
department!" With this she poured hot water from a second-story window
upon the firemen, and quickly drove them away.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 61: "The Bold Dragoon" of Fenimore C