nt of Judge Cooper. These instances, and an advertisement in
the _Otsego Herald_ in 1799, show that slavery was not uncommon here in
the early days:

A YOUNG WENCH--_For Sale_--She is a good cook, and
ready at all kinds of housework. None can exceed her if she is
kept from liquor. She is 24 years of age--no husband nor
children. Price $200; inquire of the printer.

The act which entirely abolished slavery in the State of New York did
not take effect until July 4th, 1827, on which occasion about sixty
Cooperstown negroes marched with a flying banner and martial music to
the Presbyterian church, where Hayden Waters, a village darkey,
delivered an address that was heard not only by his colored brethren,
but by a large assemblage of white citizens.

Justice Nelson's concurrence in the Dred Scott decision did not
necessarily register his approval of slavery, but only his
interpretation of the law as it then existed. He never owned any slaves,
and was regarded by the negroes in Cooperstown as a powerful friend of
their race. A favorite servant of his household for some years was a
free negro named Jenny York, who had been a slave in her youth. She was
a unique character, famous as a cook, having an unusually keen
appreciation of a cook's perquisites. Choice provisions and delicacies
disappeared through systematic dole at Judge Nelson's kitchen door, or
sometimes being reserved against a holiday, reappeared to furnish a
banquet in the servants' hall, to which Jenny's many dusky friends were
bidden. The current story is that, when Jenny died, the negroes of the
village chose for her grave an epitaph which, at their request, Judge
Nelson caused to be inscribed upon her tomb exactly as they had worded
it. This inscription may still be seen upon a tombstone that faces the
street at the eastern end of Christ churchyard, in the part which was
reserved for the burial of negroes. Jenny was sincerely mourned at the
time of her death, but with the passing of the years no tears are shed
at her grave but those of sympathetic laughter. A just appreciation of
the delicate balance of mercy and justice in her unusual epitaph
requires some definite knowledge of both the virtues and weaknesses of
Jenny York. The enigmatical eulogy reads as follows:

JENNY YORK
DIED FEB. 22, 1837.
AET. 50 YEA.

* * *

SHE HAD HER FAULTS
BUT
WAS KIND TO THE POOR.

Whe