Cottle Family |
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I have seen almost no documentation from prior to the Civil War that can be definitively associated with this family. What does exist is almost solely from federal census records. However, given that both the 1850 and 1860 census for James Cottle indicate that he was born in North Carolina, that is pretty good evidence that the family was in North Carolina in the earliest years of the 19th century. Online searches of various databases will produce as patriarch of this family one Josiah Cottle, and his wife Peggy. They show him to be variously in either Duplin County or Chatham County, North Carolina. I have seen cases where people have been enumerated twice, even on successive censuses, so I suppose it is possible that the records refer to a lone individual. However, if they are separate individuals, then I think that Josiah Cottle, if he is indeed the father James Cottle, is the one in Chatham County, and that the one in Duplin County is a different person. In any case, the online databases will show this Josiah Cottle died in Jones County, North Carolina. This is surely a mistake, and should be Jones County, Georgia. Many members of the collateral families of Bonner, Chappell, Heath, and others were in Jones County, Georia in the 1820s. Moreover, there is a Josiah Cottle enumerated there in the 1820 census.
In the Jones County, Georgia probate records for the estate of James Chappell, deceased, there is a notation that one of the credits to the estate accounting is from a suit naming Josiah Cottle. There is a similar notation about a suit against Sarah Cottle.
Then, in 1830, there is no listing for Josiah Cottle, but there is an entry for Peggy Cottle, his presumed wife, in Monroe County, Georgia. The 1820 census for Josiah suggested that there was a son and two daughters living with Josiah and Peggy at the time. The 1830 census for Peggy is consistent with that idea.
Also appearing in the 1830 census of Monroe County, Georgia is James Cottle.
This record is in very good agreement with what we know about James Cottle. He would have been fairly recently married, and with 2 young daughters and one young son in 1830. The census records suggest that Josiah died between 1820 and 1830, and that his son James struck out on his own about the same time. What I don't know is the relationship to the Sarah Cottle mentioned in the James Chappell probate material. The only Sarah Cottle I know is Sarah (Moore) Cottle, the wife of James. It seems very unlikely that she would be named in a suit. Perhaps she is a sister of James. In any case, I need to find the record of that suit to see if there is any additional useful information. I understand Captain Huff's District is in Hancock County, Georgia, which, like Jones County and Monroe County, was the common residence of many of the families collateral to Cottle, like Bonner, Chappell, and Heath. I know a fair deal about the maternal ancestry of Almeda Catherine Cottle, but only what you see above in regards to her paternal ancestry. In fact, all I know for sure is that her father is James Cottle. You can find the will of James Cottle in my Wills Collection section. James Cottle married firstly to Sarah "Sally" Moore and secondly to Melissa Jane Oliver, and had children by both wives. It is not immediately obvious which was the last child born to James by Sarah (Moore) Cottle, and which was the first born to him by Melissa Jane (Oliver) Cottle, due to the date of death of Sarah not being known precisely. However, Sarah's father gave some of his estate to his grandchildren, and at least the number James's children born to Sarah and living in 1856-1857 can be derived from the item below:
One can conclude from the above that James and Sarah had 10 children together, which means that Almeda Catherine (Cottle) Bonner, my ancestress, was the last of James's children whose mother was Sarah (Moore) Cottle. You can find some good information at RootsWeb WorldConnect for James Cottle and his wives. I intend to place here all the census records I can find for James Cottle, his wives, and all his descendants. See my Census Collections section for entries which do not appear below. Here you will find the tracking through time of my direct COTTLE line, followed by records for other descendants of James Cottle as I have time to find and enter them.
1850 Census, Troup Co., GA, District 804, Page 81(A), HH#318/46:
1860 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Northern Division, handwritten page 137, Page 851, HH#964/943:
1870 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Beat 2, Page 22(B), HH#46/46:
1880 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Beat 1, ED#16, handwritten page 12, Page 6(B{D}), HH#20/20: 1900 Census, Randolph Co., AL, Wedowee Precinct No. 6 (part of), Enumeration District #56, Page 103(B), HH#115/116: [Family listed as "Barner" - I have changed it here to BONNER] * Bonner, Almeda C. head W F APR 1846 54 Wd 24 7 6 GA NC GA farmer Bonner, Eddie T. son W M OCT 1877 22 S AL AL GA farmer Bonner, Ben H. son W M FEB 1881 19 S AL AL GA day laborer Bonner, Alfred H. son W M MAY 1884 16 S AL AL GA day laborer Bonner, Joe D. son W M APR 1887 13 S AL AL GA day laborer (cannot read; cannot write) 1910 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Precinct 4, ED#141, Sheet 6B, Page 37B, HH#115/117: Bonner, Alfred head m w 25 m1 1 Alabama US Georgia Bonner, Ada wife f w 19 m1 1 0 0 US US US * Bonner, Almeda mother f w 64 Wd Georgia US US
1920 Census, Randolph Co., AL, Wedowee Precinct 6 (part of), ED#147, sheet 7(B), Page 115(B), HH# 131/132: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
People have a pretty good reason to believe that John C. Cottle's wife's name was Narcissus Barker. After all, the Troup County, Georgia marriage record gives her name that way. But that conclusion is reached in error, and that is what this excursus is designed to demonstrate. Her most proper name at birth was Narcissus Cassandra Parker. She probably received her middle name from her maternal grandmother, Cassandra (Montray) Shepherd. She also had an aunt named Cassandra Shepherd. People researching this line have probably wondered why they cannot find her parents' names. They have probably wondered also why they cannot find her in the 1850 census. I am going to give a few items of note in an effort to persuade interested readers that her maiden name is not Barker, but rather Parker. And if you like to continue to try to find her as Barker, then go ahead. It's not my main line, and that's why this is an excursus. 1. The 1850 Census of Troup County, Georgia
Pay note to the following: 2. 1860 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, page 413
32 95/95 Johnson, Neal 52m farmer 1,800 900 SC
3. Note the following marriage record:
Troup County, Georgia: 4. Given the following letters, note the additions that I have shown in blue (and note especially the last name of the person she calls cousin). Transcription of Cottle Civil War Letters In spite of her name being given as "Barker" on her Troup County, Georgia marriage record, and being given as "Baker" in the 1850 census entry, I think putting together the available data as shown above leads to the logical conclusion that her maiden name was Parker. She was born Narcissus Cassandra Parker. She is buried next to a memorial that reads "Narsissus Cottle". |
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