[Letter] 1850 January 12, Hall, Cooperstown [to] D.S. Dickinson / J[ames] Fenimore Cooper.

See also Dickinson's biography and a guide to research collections of his papers (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000317). See also additional letters and manuscript fragments from Cooper in the collection.

Cooper tells Dickinson that a law granting a pension to Edward Myers passed in the last session of the House, but was not taken up in the Senate. Cooper interests himself in the matter because he served before the mast with Myers, whose life and service were the subject of his _Ned Myers_ (1843). Cooper states his confidence that Myers deserves the pension, as his actions saved ten to twelve lives at sea; however, he also notes that since Myers died of dropsy a few weeks earlier, his widow and several children could benefit now from such a grant. Cooper suggests showing his letter to Senators Cooper, Seward, and others in the hopes that they will be advocates for the bequest. Dickinson served in the state Senate from 1837-1840, filling a vacancy to the Senate from 1844 to 1851 at the time this letter was written, and later serving as attorney general of the state in 1861. Cooper, the 11th of 12 children born to the man who founded Cooperstown and built Ostego Hall, is remembered for his books of sailing and wilderness adventure, including the Leatherstocking Series featuring Natty Bumppo, the most well-known of which is _Last of the Mohicans_ (1826). In addition to enjoying the life of a country gentleman in New York, Cooper also traveled and wrote extensively in Europe.