Surname Saturday - William Cotton of Portsmouth

William Cotton, immigrant, settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1673, he said he was 60 years old, so he was born about 1613. About 1650, he married Elizabeth Ham, daughter of William Ham. About that time, he settled at Strawberry Bank and was constable in 1651, and selectman in 1654 and 1671. In 1674, he bought a tavern from Walter Abbott, one of my ancestors from my mother's side and he ran it until he died in 1678. 

Children of William & Elizabeth (Ham) Cotton:
1. John was born about 1652 and died in 1714. He married Sarah Hearle/Earl, daughter of William Hearle of Portsmouth. His will names his wife and twelve children. He was a farmer in Portsmouth. 
2. William was an innkeeper and farmer who married Abigail Pickering and had eight children. 
3. Solomon was granted lands by his grandfather, William Ham but apparently died before his father and without leaving any children. 
4. Sarah married Edward Beale of New Castle. 
5. Thomas was a minor in 1678 when his father died and Anthony Nutter was apointed his guardian. Thomas died before September 27, 1706. 
6. Benjamin was also a minor in 1678 when his father died. Administration fohis estate was handled in 1724 by four sons-in-law. His wife was named Elizabeth and she married John Golden of Kittery as her second husband. 

Solomon Cotton, son of John & Sarah (Hearle) Cotton, was a shipwright. He kept an ordinary at Greenland until 1727 when he moved to Stratham and was an innkeeper there until the end of his life. He married Margaret Fernald, daughter of William & Elizabeth (Langdon) Fernald of Kittery. She was born March 27, 1681 and died January 12, 1719/20. He married his second wife, Judith Cutt, on December 3, 1721. The final few years of his life Solomon spent back in Portsmouth. His will was proved March 27, 1755. 

The next generations:
Benjamin Cotton married Elizabeth Leavitt
William Cotton married Ruth Cram
William Cotton married Margaret Green
William Cotton married Tryphenia Lunt
John Henry Cotton married Christiana Cox
Francis Llewellyn Cotton married Lizzie Philbrick. In an interesting twist, his third wife was Nina (Ellingwood) Gibbs, the mother of Annie Florilla Gibbs. 
Ray Everett Cotton married Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother


NEHGR Vol. 58 p. 294-299. 
The Cotton Family of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Piscataqua Pioneers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England