Later he retired to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he divided his time between writing and farming. He died on April 6, 1860.
Paulding came of good old Knickerbocker blood. In his work he never liked to revise what he had already written, nor did he plan out his books. His best known work is perhaps the “Dutchman’s Fireside,” which has many pleasing pages of Dutch life.
He also wrote a number of poems; but these do not measure up to the standards of good poetry. One of them, “The Backwoodsman,” extends over three thousand lines, few of which may be termed good.
Paulding was one of the first distinctively American writers. From his father, an active Revolutionary patriot, he inherited strong anti-British sentiments. Throughout his life he was a vigorous protester against intellectual thraldom to the mother country.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 6, SERIAL No. 106
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
American Pioneer Prose Writers