The Chainbearer — James Fenimore Cooper

"This introduction to her father's novel was written by his daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper: ""A few months after the publication of Satanstoe, appeared The Chainbearer, an autobiography like the first work, and purporting to be written by the son of Cornelius and Anneke. The history of the tract of land at Mooseridge is continued, and in following the steps of Mordaunt Littlepage, the son of the proprietor, who goes there for the purpose of carrying on the improvements of the border colony, we find ""Squatters"" already in possession, and in the lawless proceedings of Thousandacres and his party are made to note the first working of the disorderly spirit of ""Anti-Rent."" ""The narrative of The Chainbearer is decidedly interesting, while the characters are all well drawn; honest Andries Coejemans, the Chainbearer, is excellent in his way, and Ursula, his pretty niece, is quite charming, so warm-hearted, and natural, and womanly; the wily Newcome, and the rude Thousandacres, with his brood, also receive full justice at the writer's hands, and that without the least exaggeration."" James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was an American novelist, travel writer, and social critic, regarded as the first great American writer of fiction. He was famed for his action-packed plots and his vivid, if somewhat idealized, portrayal of American life in the forest and at sea."