In October of 1882, Bishop Doane of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany delivered the address at the corner laying ceremony for the new Orphan House of the Holy Saviour. Susan Fenimore Cooper had been instrumental in raising funds for its construction. Throughout the years after its opening, a number of additions as well as alterations and repairs were made to the building.

In 1915 the organization’s name was changed from the Orphan House of the Holy Saviour to the Susan Fenimore Cooper Foundation. Also at that time St. Christina School of Saratoga Springs was moved to Cooperstown and both it and the foundation were under the auspices of the Albany Diocese of the Episcopal Church. The building on Beaver Street, which formerly housed the Orphan House of the Holy Saviour, became St. Saviour’s House while St. Christina’s School was located in the Byard House on Pioneer Street.

On Nov. 1, 1926, St. Saviour’s House was destroyed by fire. The children were moved to Templeton Lodge while a new facility was built on Beaver Street. That building served as home for first the orphanage and then St. Christina’s School until 1942. It is now known as Bassett Hall and is part of the Bassett Healthcare complex.

At the time, we remember wondering, since we knew little about it, how the orphanage evolved in Cooperstown in the first place. From our research we were fairly certain that there had to have been an orphanage here long before the Orphan House of the Holy Saviour was built on Beaver Street. And thanks to village historian Hugh MacDougall, whose research abilities far exceed ours, we soon learned that we were indeed correct.

Hugh discovered two reports, one entitled "Code relating to the poor in the State of New York containing such laws of a general and special nature in force in 1870 as related to the support and maintenance of the poor," and the other entitled "State of New York: ninth annual report of the State Board of Charities: transmitted to the legislature January 14, 1876." We found both reports to be fascinating, not only in terms of language, but in terms of expectations.

The 1870 report appoints David H. Buel, Geroge W. Ernst, G. Pomeroy Keese, David A. Avery and Susan Fenimore Cooper as trustees of "... the Orphan House and Industrial School of the Holy Saviour, at or near Cooperstown ..." According to section 1070 of the report: "The objects of said corporation shall be charitable and religious, and the care, management and distribution of the property and funds now provided, together with such property and funds as may be hereafter provided, contributed to, collected for, or acquired by, said corporation, by purchase, gift, grant, devise or bequest, and any accumulations thereof, in trust or otherwise, for the support and maintenance of the Orphan House and Industrial School of the Holy Saviour, at or near Cooperstown, a home for orphans, half-orphans and destitute children, and the inmates of the same; and to take and receive orphans, half orphans and destitute children generally under its charge, and to care for, aid, maintain and educate the same according to such rules and regulations as the said trustees, with the approbation of the convention of the Protestant Episcopal church, in the diocese of Albany, shall from time to time adopt. All property and funds not required for current use may be invested and held in trust by said trustees."

And while this 1870 report makes it quite clear that there was an orphanage in, or near, Cooperstown before the one built on Beaver Street, we are given not a clue as to where such orphanage might have been. Fortunately, the 1876 report is a bit less formal, giving a bit more information about the orphanage itself. It begins: "In a spacious family dwelling-house, by the shores of the beautiful lake of Otsego, are gathered, from the county poor-house and desolate homes, a band of twenty-eight little children ... The Orphan House is situated on the borders of the quiet village of Cooperstown, opposite the village cemetery and Mount Vision, commanding a view of the bold and picturesque scenery which surrounds it, and which has been rendered familiar, alike to visitor and stranger, by the pen of America’s great novelist."

And while we still remain clueless about the exact location of Cooperstown’s first orphanage, it would seem to have been somewhere on Lake Street. However, even more interesting than its location is, we think, its justification. Susan Fenimore Cooper described the conditions of the poor children of that period as follows:

"Until now the poor-houses have been their only resource, and they have been exposed to the constant evil example of the older paupers, too many of whom are men and women of the very worst characters and habits. They are scantily fed, clothed and sheltered, with schooling for less than half the year, usually from three to five months. These are the benefits they receive. On the other hand, they are not taught the great lesson of work. They have no moral or religious teaching beyond one hour on Sunday, when they are possibly, though not necessarily, taught by volunteer instructors from the neighborhood." We can but hope that the children’s experiences were far better in the orphanage than in the poor-houses of which Miss Cooper speaks.

In closing, we thank Hugh for his contributions which have added to, and in fact, made, this column. We are always grateful for Hugh’s input and are constantly amazed at what he is able to unearth when he puts his time and talent to work. We are indeed fortunate to have him not only as an advocate for James Fenimore Cooper in particular but also for all of Cooperstown in general. We salute Hugh for a job well done.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

The Ellsworths

The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, by telephone at 547-8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.