William Richard Barnes Cotton was born in Loudoun Co., VA on May 6, 1802. He was the son of William and Janey Cotton who had removed to Fayette Co., KY in 1811. William was sent to live with his grandparents, William and Frances (Taylor) Cotton in Clark Co., KY until he was 21 where upon he married Taletha M. Vivion Aug. 29, 1825 . One daughter, Frances A. “Fanny” Cotton, was born in Kentucky ca. 1826. But by 1832 the family was in Missouri. In 1840 William and Taletha were enumerated in Lafayette Co., MO and it was in Missouri that Susan Jane was born in 1832, Sarah Martha in 1835, Mary Eliza in 1837, Caltha in 1840, Charles Edward in 1843, and George Taylor in 1846. While in Lafayette Co. their daughter, Frances, married William M. Turpin on Aug. 4, 1842.

In the spring of 1847 William Cotton and his son-in-law William Turpin joined the exodus to Oregon, arriving in the fall of 1847 . In the 1850 census both “William B. Coton” and “William N. Terbin” were enumerated in the Oregon Territorial Census in Clackamas County. Cotton was listed as a millwright. Turpin was a farmer. Turpin subsequently took out a DLC in Polk Co. , located at today’s Bethel, near McCoy, and south of Amity (which is in Yamhill Co.):

Frances A. Turpin apparently died in 1853, leaving as survivors her husband and a son, Henry M. Turpin born in Oregon about 1854. In Nov. 1854 William Turpin sought to sell his DLC. William and Taletha Cotton took out a DLC in Clackamas Co., south of Milwaukie :

In Feb. 1856 Cotton ran into financial difficulties when R.E. Random, the surviving partner with the firm R.E. Random & Co., sought to recover $121.15 owed him by Cotton in Clackamas Co. District Court. Random won and the court directed the county sheriff ( Septimus Huelat ) to recover the sum from Cotton’s “goods and chattels” plus interests and costs. Huelat was also directed to recover from Cotton in favor of Seth Lewelling ($28.03), Aaron Chamberlain ($194.67), and Joseph Ziegler ($90.30 and $93.10) . Huelat was instructed by the court that should sufficient goods and chattels not be found that he should cause the said damages to be recovered from the real estate owned by Cotton. As such the sheriff seized Cotton’s property and sold a portion of it to Joseph Kellogg at public auction for $162.00 on Sept. 8, 1856, Kellogg being the highest bidder. The deed does not go into it, but obviously the $162.00 taken in by the sale of the property was not enough to pay each of the claimants what they were owed, but perhaps the Clackamas Co. court records would explain what took place afterwards.

On Sept. 21, 1857 Taletha Cotton, then a resident of Polk Co., OR , deeds what appears to be her share of Wm. Cotton’s DLC to their son-in-law William Turpin . On Nov. 2, 1857 William R B Cotton, then a resident of Polk Co., OR executes a quitclaim deed for the same piece of property to his son-in-law William M. Turpin . This transaction ends any interest William and Taletha Cotton have in their Clackamas Co. DLC.

The author was unable to locate either Wm. or Taletha Cotton in the 1860 census, or any census after that. The family seems to have fractured and the Cotton’s children were traced as follows:

1860 Census

Frances Cotton Turpin had died in 1853, location unknown. Her husband, Wm. Turpin, temporarily disappears but their son, Henry M. Turpin appears living in Portland with Z Nehamia and Susan J. (Cotton) Stansbury, his aunt and uncle, who had married in Clackamas Co. July 20, 1855. George T. Cotton was also living in the household. That census was dated June 18, 1860. Oddly enough Henry Turpin was enumerated again on Aug. 8, 1860 living in Lebanon, Linn Co., OR with another aunt and uncle, George and Mary E. (Cotton) Strong who had married Mar. 7, 1855 in Clackamas Co. Then, in a major move, Henry M. Turpin and his father William M. Turpin, appear living in Greenville, Hunt County Texas. William is listed as a dentist and has remarried to Susan. Sarah J. Cotton had married James Shields in Linn Co., OR on April 26, 1859 and they were enumerated living in Lebanon, Linn Co. on Aug. 9, 1860. Interestingly enough Susan J. (Cotton) Stansbury and her daughter Mary were also enumerated with the Shields in Lebanon in 1860, having been enumerated twice – as was Caltha Cotton. And George T. Cotton was also enumerated with the Shields family, but he also was enumerated twice that year, in that he had been enumerated on Aug. 8th living with his aunt and uncle George and Mary E. (Cotton) Strong who also lived in Lebanon. They had married in Clackamas Co. on Mar. 7, 1855.
Charles E. Cotton was enumerated alone in 1860, a laborer, living in Amity, Yamhill Co.
Thus, by 1860 William and Taletha Cotton had disappeared.

By 1870 the Strongs were still living in Lebanon. But the Shields had moved to Albany (where they also were in 1880), as was George T. Cotton (enumerated as “J.T. Cotton”) and his wife Janette (Barker). The Stansburys had moved to Santa Cruz, California and by 1880 had moved to Santa Barbara. Caltha Cotton married a James “Dierdoff” (Deardorff?) – – she is the only Caltha that appears in the 1870 census, and they are living in Damascus, Clackamas Co. that year. James G. is a preacher, born about 1839 in Indiana (probably Putnam Co.). Caltha is listed as being born in Missouri in 1843. They have two children. James died May 31, 1871 in Happy Valley but she has not been traced beyond that. William M. Turbin, is wife Susan, son Henry M. and two younger daughters born in Texas, are now living in San Jose, Santa Clara Co., California.

From this research it appears that all interest in William R B and Taletha Cotton’s Clackamas County DLC ended in 1857, and they removed to Polk County. The whereabouts of them after this date is uncertain as they cannot be found after that. A thorough search of the Polk County census in 1860, as well as searches throughout Oregon, Texas, and California, proved negative for them. Though one explanation would be that they had both died it seems rather unlikely that both of them would have died between 1857 and 1860 as neither of them would have attained their 50th birthday by 1860 and it would have been unusual for both of them to have died so close together at that age.

Michael G. Schmeer
March 2012

Much of this background information is from the Rootsweb mailing list Cotton-L Archives, submitted by Alfred J. Spiry, Sr. Dec. 22, 1999. William’s birth year, place and marriage record are supported by William Cotton’s Oregon Donation Land Claim application #1509.
Emigrants to Oregon in 1847 by Stephenie Flora and Nancy Prevost, OregonPioneers.com www.oregonpioneers.com/1847 compiled with a grant from the Northwest Foundation 3-3-2000.
Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims by the Genealogical Forum of Oregon; DLC No. 70; v.1, P.3
ibid DLC No. 1509; v.1, p.61
Clackamas Co., OR deeds; Book B, p.441
Clackamas Co., OR deeds; Book C, pp. 173-175
ibid

Michael G. Schmeer
March 2012