Gregg Bonner's Cottle Family
Gregg Bonner's
Cottle Family
Almeda Catherine (Cottle) Bonner
(my great great grandmother)
COTTLE DNA TYPE
(CONFIRMED)
DYS
3
9
3
3
9
0
3
9
4
3
9
1
3
8
5
a
3
8
5
b
4
2
6
3
8
8
4
3
9
3
8
9
i
3
9
2
3
8
9
ii
Value
13
25
14
10
11
14
12
12
11
13
13
29
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.

1820 Census, Jones County, Georgia
Name: 	Josiah Cottle
Home in 1820 (City, County, State): Capt Jeffersons District, Jones, Georgia
Enumeration Date: 	August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: 	1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: 	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 	1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : 	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture: 	2
Free White Persons - Under 16: 	1
Free White Persons - Over 25: 	2
Total Free White Persons: 	5
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other: 5
(transcription courtesy Ancestry.com)

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.

Jones County, Georgia Probate Records
Estate of James Chappell, deceased (1821)

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.

1830 Census, Monroe County, Georgia
Name: [Peggy Cottle] 
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): 	Monroe, Georgia
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 	1
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69: 	1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 	1
Total Free White Persons: 	2
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 2
(transcription courtesy Ancestry.com)

Also appearing in the 1830 census of Monroe County, Georgia is James Cottle.

1830 Census, Monroe County, Georgia
Name: 	James Cottle
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): 	Monroe, Georgia
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 	1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: 	2
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 	1
Slaves - Males - Under 10: 	1
Slaves - Females - Under 10: 	1
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35: 	1
Free White Persons - Under 20: 	3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 	2
Total Free White Persons: 	5
Total Slaves: 	3
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 8
(transcription courtesy Ancestry.com)

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:

James Cottle, Guardian & Trustee
Troup County, Georgia, Returns Volume "O", Page 544.

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:
* Cottle, James 48 M farmer 3000 NC
* Cottle, Sarah 44 F GA
Cottle, Israel 19 M farmer GA
Cottle, John 17 M GA
[continuing, page 81(B)]
Cottle, James 15 M farmer GA
Cottle, Alford 13 M GA (attended school)
Cottle, Sarah J. 11 F GA (attended school)
Cottle, Lucinda 6 F GA (attended school)
* Cottle, Almeda 4 F GA

1860 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Northern Division, handwritten page 137, Page 851, HH#964/943:
* Cottle, James 59 M farmer 2000 6000 NC (cannot read and write)
Cottle, Melissa J. 36 F GA
Cottle, Sarah J. 19 F GA
Cottle, Lucinda H. 17 F GA
* Cottle, Almeda C. 14 F GA
Cottle, Willis J. 6 M GA
Cottle, Margaret A. 3 F GA
Cottle, Susan F. 8/12 [F] GA

1870 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Beat 2, Page 22(B), HH#46/46:
Sikes, Josiah E. 46 M W farmer 400 730 GA
Sikes, Mary M. 45 F W keeping house GA
Sikes, James C. 20 M W farm hand GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, Joseph 18 M W farm hand GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, Wiley J. 15 M W farm hance GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, Alfred 13 M W farm hand GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, John Carson 11 M W farm hand GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, Mary H. 7 F W GA (cannot read and write)
Sikes, Spencer 4 M W GA (cannot read and write)
* Cottle, Armeta 24 F W at home GA
[Note: The person listed here as Armeta is likely Almeda Catherine Cottle]

1880 Census, Chambers Co., AL, Beat 1, ED#16, handwritten page 12, Page 6(B{D}), HH#20/20:
* Bonner, Ben W M 29 [head] M farming AL - -
* Bonner, Almeda W F 34 wife M keeping house GA - -
* Bonner, Willis W M 5 son S at home AL - -
Bonner, Carrie W F 4 daughter S at home AL - -
Bonner, Thadius W M 2 son S at home AL - -
Simmons, Robt W M 29 [(head)] M farming GA - -
Simmons, Ada W F 24 wife M keeping house GA GA GA
Simmons, Lula W F 4 daughter S at home AL GA GA
Simmons, Marthy W F 2 daughter S at home AL GA GA
Simmons, Ace W M 3 son S at home AL GA GA
Hase, Nancy W F 42 mother-in-law Wd GA - -



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:
Bonner, Alferd H. head M W 34 M AL AL GA
Bonner, Ada wife F W 29 M AL USA USA
Bonner, Benjamin son M W 9 S AL AL AL
Bonner, Annie daughter F W 7 S AL AL AL
Bonner, Alice daughter F W 5 S AL AL AL
Bonner, Joseph son M W 2&4/12 S AL AL AL
* Bonner, Almeda mother F W 73 Wd GA GA GA

Excursus on Narcissus

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:
A. This household (299) is sandwiched between households of Johnson (298 and 300).
B. Line 2 gives the name Mourning Baker. <----This is Mourning W. (Shepherd) Parker
C. Line 3 gives the name Casandra Baker. <----This is Narcissus Cassandra Parker
D. Line 4 gives the name Benjamin S. Baker. <----This is Narcissus' brother, Ben Parker
E. Line 5 gives the start of the James M. Shepherd household.
F. Line 7 gives the name Benjamin Shepherd.
G. Line 9 gives the name of Richard (viz., "Dick") Shepherd.


2. 1860 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, page 413

32 95/95 Johnson, Neal 52m farmer 1,800 900 SC
33 95/95 Johnson, Elizabeth 36f Seamstress SC
34 95/95 Johnson, Pearson B. 8m SC
35 95/95 Strain, Daniel 16m Farm Laborer SC
36 95/95 Johnson, Lithona D. 11f SC
37 96/96 Cottle, John C. 27m Farmer 300 150 Ga
38 96/96 Cottle, Narcissa C. 26f D H wife Ga
<----This is Narcissus Cassandra (Parker) Cottle
39 96/96 Cottle, T. M. 8m Ga
40 96/96 Cottle, J. M. 6m Ga
[continuing, page 414]
1 96/96 Cottle, J. B. 3m Ala
2 96/96 Cottle, M. E. 9/12f Ala
3 97/97 Parker, Mourning 54f Seamstress Georgia
<----This is Mourning W. (Shepherd) Parker
4 97/97 Parker, Benjamin 22m Farmer - 100 Georgia <----This is Narcissus' brother, Ben Parker
5 97/97 Parker, Nancy 25f D H wife Georgia <----This is Narcissus' brother's wife, now Nancy Parker
6 97/97 Parker, John B. 7/12 M Ala

Pay note to the following:
A. The Parker family and the Cottle family directly adjacent.
B. Bounded by Johnson family.
C. Continues expected aging of 10 years for Mourning, Narcissa, and Ben.
D. Shows Benjamin Parker now with wife, Nancy, and a newborn son, John Parker.


3. Note the following marriage record:

Troup County, Georgia:
Parker, John H. to Shepherd, Mourning W. - 09 December 1830


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


Conclusion

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".

Last update: 01 November 2014