U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cotton, John T. (1819-1906) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 421-424 JOHN T. COTTON, M. D. — To have lived a long and useful life and to have its closing years crowned with honor and affection is not the happy fate of all men, but this is the good fortune of one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. Cotton was born August 4, 1819, at Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, and is a son of Dr. John Cotton, an eminent Boston physician, who was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, September 9, 1792. Dr. John Cotton graduated at Harvard University and there took the degrees of A. M. and M. D. and later decided to migrate to the new State of Ohio. Our venerable subject some years since put into pamphlet form a most interesting lot of papers which were written by his father at the time of the family exodus from Massachusetts. We feel that a few extracts of family history, concerning the early life of Ohio, must possess much interest. On September 17, 1815, we sailed from Providence in a New York packet." After reaching the now great metropolis, the following comment was made: "Although the largest city in the United States, to the eye of the stranger its appearance is rather ordinary. The streets are narrow, crooked and dirty, with the exception of Broadway. It is the custom here to throw all the filth engendered in the private houses in the street and the swine are set at liberty to devour it. This practice, it is thought, tends to healthfulness." On the 21st the party set out from New York in a steamboat and at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, chartered four stages and that night reached Princeton, which was left early the following morning for Trenton, where a steamboat was again used for conveyance to Philadelphia. It may be interesting to learn what this intelligent and observing traveler had to say concerning the steamboats: "The steamboat is a curious and truly useful invention, of a nature too much complicated for me to describe or even understand. They vary in length from 60 to 200 feet; ours was about 90 feet, having two spacious cabins and a bar at one end where liquors were sold. We proceeded at least six miles an hour against tide by the power of steam." On the 30th of September the party started from Philadelphia and reached Lancaster, Pennsylvania, breakfasted at Harrisburg, crossed the Susquehannah in a ferry boat, making a note that a bridge was being considered over that river, and safely reached Chambersburg. Here for the first time is any note made of fatigue, but nevertheless 3 o'clock in the morning found the party again on the way. After many minor mishaps, told in a very entertaining manner, the Juniata River was crossed on a chain bridge; on the next day they crossed the Alleghany Mountains and on the seventh day from Philadelphia left Greensburg and reached Pittsburg. That city calls for interesting comment on account of the prevailing coal dust and some surprise is shown that the residents used nothing there for fuel but coal. On October 9th the party set out from Pittsburg in a covered skiff and proceeded down the Ohio River. After many thrilling incidents, the party reached Steubenville, Ohio, on the 11th where they found some difficulty in landing. After a pleasant sojourn over night in that 17-year-old town, they proceeded on their skiff journey. On Wednesday, the 13th, they breakfasted at Wheeling and it was noted that from there "the mail is carried westward once a week on horses." Finally the long journey was ended at Marietta. The account of this trip is of a most interesting character, no only to the descendants of Dr. John Cotton, but to the general reader. Dr. John T. Cotton, of this sketch, obtained his education in the common schools of Marietta, which at that time was a city of 30 years' growth. Later he graduated from Marietta College and is the only living member of the first class ever graduated from that now noted institution. This fact stands recorded in the World Almanac. Dr. Cotton left college and went to New Orleans where he taught school for one year. The trip down the river was exceedingly pleasant, but the extreme heat caused his return to Marietta, and soon after he began the study of medicine under his remarkable father. When prepared, he entered the Cincinnati State Medical College where he was graduated and he then spent three years of practice at Ravenswood, Ohio. During this time he married Sarah Fitzhugh, who was a daughter of Henry Fitzhugh, one of the founders of Ravenswood, the Fitzhugh's inheriting property at Alexandria, Virginia, from George Washington. After his marriage on April 5, 1845. Dr. and Mrs. John T. Cotton moved to Charleston, Virginia, now West Virginia, and there established themselves both in social and professional life. Dr. Cotton watched the city grow from a hamlet into a commercial center and during these years he grew also in importance until his name was known all over the Kanawha Valley. Few men of the State are more esteemed and many honors have been given him. At the regular annual session of the State Medical Society of West Virginia, convened at Parkersburg on the 21st of May, 1902, an ordinance was adopted that the physicians of each county in the State should hold monthly sessions at the county court house. At the first session of the physicians of Kanawha County, held at Charleston, Dr. Cotton was elected president. Dr. Cotton is a large landowner in Charleston and vicinity. In political affiliation Dr. Cotton was originally a Whig. He assisted in organizing the Republican party, but since the Civil War he has been a Democrat. Although eminently qualified to fill high stations, he has never accepted political office. The children born to Dr. Cotton and Mrs. Cotton were: Henrietta, wife of ex-Governor Wilson; Nannie C., wife of Frank Woodman; Sallie (Mrs. Donnelly); and John and Harry, both deceased. Mrs. Cotton is deceased. In religious belief, Dr. Cotton belongs to the Protestant Episcopal Church. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tombstones in Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston, Kanawha County, WV John T. Cotton Sarah Ashton Fitzhugh Cotton 1819 - 1906 1820 - 1883 ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Kanawha County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/kanawha/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------