ument by which his relations to that denomination were severed. He
was instrumental in the erection of Christ Church, for a letter written
by him shows that he conducted the negotiations with the corporation of
Trinity parish, New York, which, in 1806, gave $1,500 toward the
construction of the edifice. An obituary notice published in the
_Cooperstown Federalist_ at the time of his death says that Judge Cooper
"was thoroughly persuaded of the truth of Revelation."

The rood-screen in Christ Church commemorates Judge Cooper, and a
dignified sarcophagus covers his grave in the churchyard. Recalling the
story of his career, one is disposed to claim for his simple epitaph a
share of the attention bestowed upon the tomb of his more illustrious
son. For here lies the foremost pioneer of Cooperstown, notable among
the frontiersmen of America.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 69: _James Fenimore Cooper_, by Mary E. Phillips, p. 15.]

[Footnote 70: _Reminiscences_, Elihu Phinney, 1890.]

[Footnote 71: _A few Omitted Leaves in the History of Cooperstown_, G.
Pomeroy Keese, 1907.]

CHAPTER VII

HOMES AND GOSSIP OF OTHER DAYS

Early in the century activities were renewed, just across the river from
Cooperstown, in the development of what was known as the Bowers Patent,
originally owned by John R. Myer of New York, whose daughter became the
wife of Henry Bowers. For some years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Bowers lived at Brighton, near Boston, in a residence that was one of
the finest relics of Colonial days, commanding a fine view of Boston,
Cambridge, Charleston, and the bay, with its numerous islands. They
afterward removed to New York City, and Henry Bowers made journeys
thence to the Otsego region, where a settlement had been commenced in
Middlefield, then called Newtown Martin,[72] some years before the
founding of Cooperstown.

In 1791, Henry Bowers surveyed and laid out a proposed village of
"Bowerstown," across the river from Cooperstown. It was to extend from
the Susquehanna to the base of the hill on the east, and from the lake
to a point about 1,000 feet south. The projected village never became a
reality, although the name is perpetuated by the present hamlet of
Bowerstown, which still flourishes about a mile to the south, on a site
that was once included in the Bowers Patent, where a saw-mill was
erected on Red Creek in 1791, the first in this part of the country. A
modern saw-mill now occupies the same