by Steve Bradley
Nathaniel Shipman, the person who is the basis for the Natty Bumppo character in James Fenimore Cooper’s novels, had an historic plaque unveiled Saturday that marks his burial place.
The plaque reads: NATTY BUMPPO. In this burial ground lies Nathaniel Shipman, the inspiration for James Fenimore Cooper’s famous “Natty Bumppo” character.
The “The Leatherstocking Tales” novels, the most well known of which is “The Last of the Mohicans,” were written between 1823 and 1841. They feature a free spirited character based on Shipman.
The Hoosick Township Historical Society did the research that concluded that Shipman was actually buried in Hoosick Falls after a dispute between the Otsego County area and Hoosick Falls about where Shipman’s remains were.
Shipman’s early days are believed to have been in White Creek / St. Croix (North Hoosick near the confluence of the Walloomsac and Hoosic Rivers). Loyalty to the British during the Revolutionary War turned Hoosick area locals against him. After he was tarred and feathered he left this area for Otsego Lake near Cooperstown, leaving his only known relative, a daughter, Patience Shipman.
Eventually, his daughter married John Ryan, an influential Hoosick area resident and member of the NYS Assembly. Ryan became friends with a Judge Cooper of the Otsego Lake area. Cooper told Ryan of an older white man living with Indians on the shores of Otsego Lake.
Ryan told his wife the story about the man. Believing the man was her father, she asked her husband to go to Otsego Lake and find the man, which he did. Ryan discovered the man certainly was his wife’s father, then urged Shipman to return to Hoosick, which he did.
Upon his return to Hoosick, Shipman lived with and was cared for by his daughter. He did revert to his old lifestyle of living in the woods for a time, discovered living in a cave in the Green Mountains, but eventually returned to spend the remainder of his life with his daughter. Passing away in 1809, he was buried in what was then the Meeting House graveyard on Main Street, in the Ryan lot next to John Ryan’s mother, Sarah.
Last Saturday the Shipman site was officially recognized. Over 70 people attended the event at the First Baptist Church, which opened with a cannon roar that startled everyone, even though everyone knew it was coming. Hoosick Historical Society Director and Master of Ceremonies Joyce Brewer introduced speakers that included historical backgrounds presented by John MacNeal and Corinne Eldred, a history of the church by Kendal Baker and (Mike Chapman as) Natty Bumppo, prior to the unveiling of the plaque.
At the conclusion of the unveiling, the group moved to the rear of the church where Phil Leonard provided information on how (Thank You, Dave Begin, for all the help with the stone) and why we were in the cemetery, then Director Brewer pulled the cover off a new granite gravestone placed at the head of Shipman’s burial location.
Refreshments were served at the conclusion of the event, with attendees taking photos and browsing the canopy shaded booths with tables that were covered with historical items for viewing and available to purchase.