DACRE (?) Elizabeth

Family/Spouse: HOWARD William. William and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married COTTON Thomas about 1629. Thomas (son of COTTON Robert Bruce and BROCAS Elizabeth) was born in 1594 in Huntingtonshire, England; died in 1662 in Huntingtonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Lived(s) In: 1657, Queens Creek, York County, VA; Queens Creek, York County, VA
• Land: 31 Dec 1666, Hampton Parish, York County, Virginia; Land Purchase

Notes:

John and Anne Cotton 1621 - 1702
There are many people named Cotton in England and America. No doubt many of them are distant cousins. However, our interest is focused on the Cotton femUies which lived in Southside Virginia, and specifically on the ancestors of Mary Etta Cotton (1871 - 1909), the mother of my mother.
The first ancestor of Etta Cotton which we can be fairly sure of is one John Cotton, who was born either 1621 or 1625 in England, and emigrated to the Jamestown Colony as a young man, probably 1637/38. His name appears as a witness to a document in Lower Norfolk County inl 651. In 1657 he married Anne Hutchinson (Harrison?), in Nansemond, Isle of Wight County. His name appears several more times in 1657 in the records of York County, as a juror, witness to a will and named in a will. The will he witnessed was that of Mrs. Francis Wheeler, and under its provisions he received a gold seal ring. He was presumably related to her. Frances Wheeler, Sr. died in 1659-70, leaving a large estate. Thomas Beale bought the Wheeler Plantation, which lay in Hampton Parish, York County, between King and Queen's Creek, shortly before Francis Wheeler died and sold it to John Cotton December 31,1666. John Cotton and Anne Cotton raised their children there and eventually sold the Queen's Creek plantation to Col. Nathaniel Bacon in 1691.
John Cotton's name figured in a deposition found in York County Records, which provides some insight into the tenor of the times.
John Heyward, aged thirty-five years or thereabouts, sayeth That your deponent, in November last was two years at the house of James Pardoe, and there did meet with Mr. John Cotton who did come to demand tobacco (tobacco was used in the early Virginia Colony as a medium of exchange, money being scarce) and your said Deponent and Mr. Cotton did fall to drinking very hard by ye request of the said James Pardoe & did contiue drinking all day till at night wee went to cards, and at cards your Deponent and Mr. Cotton had some words & soe broke off from play and did goe each of them to there rest, but your Deponent was ordered to sleep along with the said Pardoe & his wife in the same room where all the Drink was, soe your Deponent & said Pardoe did fall to drinking again, and after some discourse the said Pardee did tell your Deponent yet Mr. Cotton was come for to demand Tobo (tobacco) of him upon the accounts of Thomas Bevins', but the said Pardoe did desire your Deponent for to look over Thomas Bevins 'papers & to see if his bill was not there among ye papers & said Pardoe did depart for some time out of the room & did bring some papers in his hand for your Deponent to looke over. Your Deponent in looking over ye papers did find ye said Bevins' his bill uncancelled and did give it to the said Pardoe and your Deponent will swear & further saith not.
John Heyward
Sworn before me the 21 June 1681. William Booth
The use of Mr. before John Cotton's name indicates that he was considered a member of the gentry. Apparently he was either a lawyer, or because he was well educated his name appears on various legal documents

Land:
Thomas Beale bought the Wheeler Plantation, which lay in Hampton Parish, York County, between King and Queen's Creek, shortly before Francis Wheeler died and sold it to John Cotton December 31,1666. John Cotton and Anne Cotton raised their children there and eventually sold the Queen's Creek plantation to Col. Nathaniel Bacon in 1691.

John married Ann Hutchinson (Harrison ?) about 1657 in Isle of Wight County, VA. Ann was born in 1630 in Eyworth, Bedfordshire, England; died in York County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married GODWIN Martha about 1683 in Bertie County, NC. Martha and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Land: 1683, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; 1st land patient
• Land: 1688, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States

Notes:

Land:
Thomas Cotton, 3rd son of John and Anne Cotton, in 1683, when he was 21 years old, patented 335 acres in the upper part of Surry County, on the NE side of the Otter Dam Swamp. Interestingly, the grant of John Johnson adjoined it. The Crown granted patents to virgin land to encourage settlement. Individuals could acquire one headlight by paying the transportation cost of one person into the colony. Usually the person transported was indentured to the person who transported them for a period of seven years.. One headright could be exchanged for fifty acres of Virginia land. Thomas Cotton transported seven persons: Archibald Allen, Elizabeth Stokely, Abraham Hath, Jonathon Smith, James Morgan and Theodore Owen - which entitled him to his 335 acres. The money to pay for transporting these people presumably came from his parents.

Land:
In 1688, Thomas Cotton and brother Walter Cotton, patented 314 more acres adjoining the property already owned by Thomas Cotton on the Otterdam Swamp. Seven more persons were transported to purchase headlights which were then exchanged for the property: Jonathon Bolton, Jonathon Elmy, Hester Bradstock, Charles Trevor, Jonathon Moss, Alice Ems and Howell Waters. The rent rolls for Surry County in 1704 show Thomas Cotton with 257 acres and Walter Cotton with 257 acres. Apparently they consolidated their holdings and farmed it together. Both Thomas Cotton and Walter Cotton were on the Surry County Militia List of 1687 "as qualified in either estate or person to find and maintain a man and horse or to go themselves when occasion shall require.

Thomas married COTTON Suanna --LNU-- in 1684. Suanna was born after 1684; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Mary about 1712. Mary was born about 1658; died in 1729 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States; was buried in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Land: 1687, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States

Notes:

The unanswered question is whether Walter Cotton was the younger brother of Thomas Cotton, both then being sons of John and Anne Cotton. Thomas, in his will, refers to Walter's son Thomas as his cousin, instead of bis nephew. Is this an error, or was Walter the son of a brother of John Cotton, who also emigrated to the Virginia Colony? In the absence of any further data, our best guess is that Walter was indeed the brother of Thomas, else there is no likelihood that they would live together so closely arid harmoniously. Thomas behaves to award him as if he were a younger brother. Perhaps they were a little loose in naming their relationships. Mary referred in her will to the younger Thomas as her son, rather than her son-in-law.
Thomas Cotton ca. 1692 - 1779

Birth:
Both membership in the militia and the property grant in 1688 indicates that Walter Cotton became 21 about 1688, and was therefore born about 1666.

Land:
314 acre land grant
In 1688, Thomas Cotton and brother Walter Cotton, patented 314 more acres adjoining the property already owned by Thomas Cotton on the Otterdam Swamp. Seven more persons were transported to purchase headlights which were then exchanged for the property: Jonathon Bolton, Jonathon Elmy, Hester Bradstock, Charles Trevor, Jonathon Moss, Alice Ems and Howell Waters. The rent rolls for Surry County in 1704 show Thomas Cotton with 257 acres and Walter Cotton with 257 acres. Apparently they consolidated their holdings and farmed it together. Both Thomas Cotton and Walter Cotton were on the Surry County Militia List of 1687 "as qualified in either estate or person to find and maintain a man and horse or to go themselves when occasion shall require.

Family/Spouse: COTTON Elizabeth --LNU--. Elizabeth and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: DONELSON John. John and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]