Page 103 of Edenkoben's .Home.Site.
Photographs of Edenkoben - 1991 Continued:
I did not know why but a statue of Daniel Boone-like character is found in the town center.
Just lately, I discovered the statue is a memorial to James Fenimore Cooper 's "pioneer" character in his books, who's had, I'm told, had an ancestor who was born in Edenkoben. The author James was born 15 Sept 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey in 1789. His father was William Cooper (1754-1809), founder of Copperstown, NY, and Elizabeth, nee Fenimore (1752-1817) James wrote a series of books known as the Leatherstocking Tales. He died in 1851 Cooperstown,
Here is a list of his best known tales:
The Pioneers: The Sauces of the Susquehanna, A Descriptive Tale (1823) which was set in the year 1744
The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 (1826)
The Prairie: A Tale (1827), set in 1793
The Pathfinder: The Inland Sea (1840), set in the 1750s
and
The Deerslayer: The first War Path (1841), set in the year of 1744
However, I cannot find a genealogy with any family members having been born in Edenkoben.
After a great deal of web surfing I discovered one of James' book characters is based on a real person, Johann Adam Hartman, who was born in 1748 Edenkoben. Johann migrated to North America in 1764 and became known as a "pioneer" trapper, and a soldier. From 1775 to 1783 Johann fought in the American Revolutionary War. He died in 1836 in Herkimer County, New York. The fountain in Edenkoben depicts Johann as a trapper and hunter with a raccoon (Coon Skin) hat, carrying over his shoulder a "bagged" grouse, a rifle in his hand and a dog at his side.
