John William Cottrell

John William Cottrell was born in Mobile, Baldwin County, Alabama, December 8, 1952
* NOTE: Images are clickable and viewable in larger format.
*NOTE: This Family History is very much a “work in progress” – gathering as much fact and truth as possible.
*NOTE: Brenda Senn (my mom)
“THANK YOU, MOM!” – put most of this together years ago – additions as well as corrections, are encouraged and forthcoming.
b. Oct. 16th 1816
b. Feb. 28th, 1825
J.W. was the oldest son of John A. Cottrell and Sarah Dannelly Cottrell. JA was born in Smith County, Tennessee. Sarah Dannelly, was born in Harrison County, Mississippi. The best understanding of family records to date, traces J.W.’s family tree in the following way – - J.A. was the son of William Cottrell, born 1787, in Buckingham, Virginia and Elizabeth Ford Cottrell, born 1790, in Tennessee. William Cottrell was the son of Jacob Cottrell, born 4/27/1753, in Henrico, Virginia and Elizabeth Allen, born 1758. Jacob was the son of Richard Cottrell, born 12/17/1710 St. Peters Parish, New Kent Virginia. Richard was the son of Richard Cottrell, born abt. 1685, New Kent, Virginia. Richard was probably the son of Thomas and Martha Cottrell. Thomas was probably born 1635 in England – died in Virginia – Christening: 1656 – came to America, received land grant, 1672, Norfolk County, Virginia. No records have been located to date to trace the ancestry of Thomas Cottrell back any further. Hugenot book says Thomas Cottrell settled “accros the river” from “Mannikan Town” – Could this mean he was a Hugenot?
J.W. had two younger brothers – Andrew Cottrell (b. abt. 1856, d. 7/7/1893) and James Buchanan Cottrell (b. March 23, 1859) – who were also born to J.A. and Sarah Cottrell. Sarah had 3 children from a previous marriage – George, Julia and Catherine Forehand, making 6 children in the family unit. Catherine Forehand married William Suggs – Julia S. Forehand married E.B. Pate – and George Forehand married Louise Cypert.
J.A. Cottrell and his family were settled on land in Baldwin County, Alabama before 1812.


(above) The yellow sections of this map indicate Cottrell land.

(above) An old, hand drawn picture of the Cottrell homestead on the Fish River, Baldwin County Alabama
Contributed by: Sam Cottrell
The Civil War began in 1861 and J.A. Cottrell, father of J.W. joined the Confederate Army. J.W. was 9 years old when his father went away to war
A recent finding from Sam Cottrell says that J.W. served in the Civil War at the age of 13 and spent some time in a Union Prison. This would have been the last year of the war. The war ended in 1865. * This information has not been proven.
On Nov. 30, 1869, J.W. Cottrell, age 17, married Mary Stevins, in Baldwin County Alabama. As far as we know, John and Mary had no children.
The family moved further west – Comanche County, Texas
J.A. Cottrell and his family left Baldwin Co. AL after the 1870 census and moved to Comanche County, Texas which overcame census boundaries with Hill County, Texas. His cousin, William M. Cottrell, and his family had already moved. It is assumed that J.W.’s wife Mary Stevins, did not go to Texas with the family. The county is named for the Comanche Indians, whose territory once included the area. The center of the county lies at 31′ 55′ north latitude and 98′ 40′ west longitude; the county seat, Comanche, is located about seventy miles southeast of Abilene. White settlement in the area began with a colony organized by Jesse Mercer and others in 1854 on lands earlier granted by Mexico to Stephen F. Austin and Samuel May Williams. F.M. Collier built the first log house in the county in 1855, and in 1856 the Texas legislature formed Comanche County from Coryell and Bosque counties; the settlement of Cora was designated as the county seat. In 1859 the more centrally located town of Comanche became the county seat.


Old Cora Courthouse – moved to Comanche Courthouse Lot
In 1860 the United States census counted 709 people living in Comanche County; farming and ranching occupied 24,730 acres, about 1,880 acres of which was classified as “improved.” Twenty-five residents owned slaves, but there were no large-scale plantations in the area. The population included only sixty-one slaves, and only two of the county residents owned as many as eight bondsmen; most of the slave holders owned only one. Cattle ranching was by far the most important economic activity in Comanche County at that time, and over 14,700 head of cattle were counted in the area that year. Wheat and corn were the county’s most important crops on the eve of the Civil War; only one bale of cotton was produced in the county in 1860.
The withdrawal of the United States Army during the Civil War, left the settlers without protection and even without livestock after Indian raids. Home-guard companies were organized for defense, but many settlers fled and the white population shrank to about sixty by 1866.
With the war’s end, military protection returned, and settlers were once more attracted to the county, many to participate in a range cattle boom. By 1870 the county had 126 farms and ranches, encompassing about 17,500 acres, and the population had increased to 1,001. By the 1870′s the town of Comanche had become the political center for some fifty counties, both orgainized and unorganized, to the west and northwest. The Comanche Chief, which began to be published in 1873, was for some years the only newspaper in this part of Texas.


The people worked for economic and social stability and were impatient with outlaws. When the notorious John Wesley Hardin killed Brown County deputy sheriff Charlie Webb in Comanche in 1874 many local citizens resented Hardin’s escape. In misguided retaliation, a mob of 300 residents of Brown and Comanche counties stormed the county jail where Joe Hardin (brother of the outlaw) and two of the outlaw’s associates were being held. The three prisoners were lynched. Some months later John Hardin was arrested in Florida, tried for murder in Comanche, and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
By 1880 Comanche County had 1,985 farms and ranches that encompassed 190,482 acres. Ranching had expanded since the Civil War, and over 21,000 cattle, and 2,925 sheep were counted in Comanche that year. Farming had also markedly increased; the county’s farms included 48,550 acres of improved land on which grains and cotton were produced. Over 14,200 acres were devoted to corn, the county’s most important crop at that time, while cotton was grown on 9,301 acres that produced 2,098 bales.
As the economy of the area rapidly developed in the 1870′s, its population increased almost eightfold, and by 1880, 8,608 people lived in Comanche County, including seventy-nine blacks. Agriculture was further encouraged in 1881 when the Texas Central Railroad began service in Comanche County and started carrying cattle and cotton to market. That many of the county’s settlers came from southern states may have been a contributory factor to racial tensions that emerged in the 1880s. Amid economically desperate times and political unrest in 1886, the second occasion on which a black murdered whites resulted in all the black people being driven from the county by vigilantes. They have not returned in any number.
1870 – Census
HILL COUNTY Texas
Hillsboro
Page 439/10 # 70
William M. Cottrell 45 M AL (Indexed as William M. Cottrill)
Cornelia E. Cottrell 44 F MS
Jacob H. Cottrell 20 M MS
William R. Cottrell 16 M MS
Mary S. Cottrell 12 F MS
Cora C. Cottrell 9 F MS
Cornelia Cottrell 7 F MS
The Cottrell’s settled in Onion Valley, near the community of Downing, Comanche County, Texas





On Sept 16, 1874, J.W. Cottrell, age 22, married Marian Annette Robertson in Comanche County, Texas. They had at least 7 children.
Sarah J., born January 1876 in Comanche Co. TX
Julia Catherine, born January 1877 in Comanche Co. TX
John M., born 1878 in Comanche Co. TX
Nellie E., born December, 1883 in TX
Willie Marion Cottrell, born July 1886 in TX (married J. A. Wilson)
William Michael “Jack” Cottrell (died young, about 1902)
Sallie (Sadie) (Still alive in 1925 when he wrote to Willie)
(Historical Context – Texas Rangers Website) “In 1874, the Texas legislature sought to restore order by forming two groups of Rangers: the Special Force of Rangers and the Frontier Battalion. Under Captain Leander H. McNelly, the Special Force of Rangers moved into the Nueces Strip (between Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande) to combat lawlessness in that region. Meanwhile, the Frontier Battalion, a force of some 450 Rangers under Major John B. Jones, participated in over fifteen Indian battles, and effectively neutralized the once powerful Comanche’s and Kiowa’s. But perhaps more importantly, this group also “thinned out” more than 3,000 Texas desperados including bank robber Sam Bass and notorious gunfighter John Wesley Hardin.”
In the 1880 Census, J W was in Comanche County TX with a wife, Marian and 3 children. J. W. is 28 yrs old.
1880 US Census -
Page 113/26 # 224/241
John Cottrell 26 M AL F: MS M: AL
Mary Cottrell 35 F MS Wife F: TN M: TN
Sarah J. Cottrell 4 F TX Dau
Julia C. Cottrell 3 F TX Dau
John M. Cottrell 2 M TX Son
In 1881, 29 year old J.W. Cottrell began building the first store house in De Leon, Texas (Comanche County). The Comanche newspaper had the following reports:
The Comanche Chief, Comanche, Texas
De Leon Locals, 1881 Mr. John COTTRELL is putting up a new store house which will soon be ready for occupancy and Mr. John SEDDON, so well known in Comanche, town and county, as an industrious and experienced machine and mill man, is hauling rock to erect a flouring mill in addition to his corn mill and gin which he is now running.
21 October 1882, De Leon Locals - John COTTRELL is opening a large dry goods and grocery house here. We learn that Ben F. WRIGHT will do the counter jumping for COTTRELL. His many friends will be glad to see him.
From August 1886 – Comanche Town and Country
J. W. Cottrell, an old friend of our junior, formerly a citizen of this county, now of the far west, was in town and gave us a pleasant call. Mr. Cottrell lives about 65 miles from Uvalde on the Nueces River and is well pleased with his locality.
In 1886, thirty-four year old J.W. Cottrell was appointed US Deputy Marshall under Marshall Paul Fricke, who was headquartered in San Antonio, Bexar County. On 3/27/1889, thirty-seven year old J. W. was appointed Marshall for the county. J. W. held the rank of Captain. He was among a large number of officers who broke up the initial stages of a Mexican revolution being lead by Caterino Garza which started in Duvall County. Garza, a native of Spain, was ordered out of Mexico by Diaz and ended up in Texas. Garza was headquartered in San Diego, Duval County, Texas which is near Corpus Christi. Garza was attempting to launch his revolution from Texas. Eventually Garza left the Mexico/Texas area and participated in the revolution taking place in Cuba.
Watch interesting video’s – for more information about the Mexican Revolucion here:
http://myblog.mayberry524.net/?p=3392
http://myblog.mayberry524.net/?p=3395
In the 1890 census, J. W. and his family were living in Austin, Travis County, TX. J. W. was 38 yrs old.
In 1891, thirty-nine year old Captain J.W. Cottrell organized what was known as the Cottrell Detective and Protective Association of America. (The only known original Business Prospectus is on file with the Austin, Texas History Library). You can view a scanned copy here: https://wwww.box.com/s/m1sp95528z3p4vus0bz1 The Association was organized in the same style as the Purple Mask, another protective and detective association of the early 1880’s. Such Associations were said to have had about the same rights as the Texas Rangers, to locate and punish cattle rustlers along the Mexican border. There are news paper articles from Houston, Texas and Ardmore,. Oklahoma about offices of the Cottrell Association being established in both of those areas. The Cottrell Association was incorporated with capital stock of $100,000. Every prominent cattle rancher belonged to the Association. The Cottrell Association had the support of such Texas leaders as Governor Hogg, O.M. Roberts, ex-governor of Texas, F.R. Lubbock, ex-governor of Texas, etc. In 1891, James Hogg was elected Texas Governor and Woodford Mabry was appointed Adjutant General.

In 1892, J.W. Cottrell, age 40, requested and received an appointment to Company B of the Frontier Battalion, a division of the Texas Rangers.
Rank: Private; Call Number: 401-148.

A group of Frontier Battalion Rangers in 1885
On his application, JW listed his occupation as “live-stock protection agent” (May 3rd, 1892). Signatures provided as testimony of good character on his application were, JA Davis, Sheriff Dennis Conner, JS Clark, JW Goforth, EW Holler, DH Hunt and others.
The Captain of Company B during this time was WJ McDonald (12/1890-8/1901)

On 7/7/1893, JW’s father, JA Cottrell, died in Comanche County, Texas. He is buried in Zion Hill Cemetery. JW was 41 years old.
In 1894, when JW was 42 years old, he made the following reports to the Adjutant General, AG Mabry.
Special 1894
Flatonnia Tex 2nd 6th 1894
General WH Mabry
My Dear General,
I have nothing of importance to report. I have worked ……. since Moses Townsend the constable of Weimer was killed by D. Braddock. I was in Weimer at the time of the killing and was sent to this place by Sheriff Townsend. We have a trace and hope to capture him. I am dear general, yours to command. JW Cottrell, I will return to Austin in a few days.
Weimer, Tex 5th/1st 1894
General WH Mabry
Austin, Texas
My Dear General,
I have nothing of importance to report. Myself and Captain Van Riper has been working here in a very important murder case — think we will be successful — will be in Austin in a few days. I am Dear General yours to command, JW Cottrell
The Weimar killing was 1894.
The following article is from the Dallas News Archives.

Office of Julius W. Halm
Sheriff and Tax-Collector of Comal Co.
New Braunfels, Tex 7th 1st 1894
My Dear General,
I have nothing of importance to report I have been been assisting the sheriff of this county in a murder case with but little success. I am respectfully your to command. JW Cottrell

JW Cottrell, instructed by Governor Hogg, investigated the murder of Sheriff George Walls and Felix and Sid Roberts – perpetrated by the Curg Border and Brock Clan. His investigations lead to a State Rangers follow-up leading to the settlement of one of the worst feuds in Texas history. (This information is from a letter which JW wrote to his daughter, Willie, in 1925)
In 1895, Texas Governor Hogg’s term ended after 4 years in office.
This picture of JW Cottrell was “taken in Austin, Texas, in 1896 – when I captured ‘Burk’ who ….. (unreadable)” Evidently this picture was published in the Austin newspaper.
The 1900 Federal Census lists JW, Marian and 5 children: Sarah J, Julia, John M, Nellie E, and Willie M. in Austin, Travis County, Texas. This is the last information found showing that JW was still connected with Marian and their children.
1900 Federal Census ** John W. Cottrell Austin City, 7th Ward, Precinct 3, ED 95, Page 2/151b, Travis Co., TX Age: 50 AL F:TN M:AL Dec 1849 was listed as birth date ** Marian A. Robertson Cottrell Austin City, 7th Ward, Precinct 3, ED 95, Page 2/151b, Travis Co., TX Age: 56 MS F: TN M:TN
1473 F Sarah J. Cottrell was born in Jan 1876 in Comanche Co., TX.
1474 F Julia C. Cottrell was born in Jan 1877 in Comanche Co., TX.
1475 M John M. Cottrell was born in 1878 in Comanche Co., TX.
1476 F Nellie E. Cottrell was born in Dec 1883 in TX.
1477 F Willie M. Cottrell was born in Jul 1886 in TX.

In a letter to his daughter, Willie, in 1925, JW said that it had been 26 years since there had been any contact between he and his Texas family. JW also states in this letter that he had “gone from Ardmore Indian Territory by orders of Governor Hogg, acting as his secret service agent, in the fall of 1900 to work in the prosecution of the Walls case in San Augustine County (East Texas). This proved to be a very serious case and caused me much trouble.”
(From “The Handbook of Texas Online – Feuds”) “Somewhat bigger than other disturbances was the Broocks-Border-Wall feud in San Augustine just before and after 1900. The Wall boys were enemies from boyhood of Curg (Lycurgus) Border, a relative of the powerful Broocks family. The Walls themselves had numerous kin with plenty of backbone. In April 1900 Border shot and killed Sheriff George Wall on the streets of San Augustine. Eugene Wall retaliated by killing Ben Broocks on June 2. On June 4 a battle around the courthouse resulted in the deaths of Sid and Felix Roberts. Later two more of the Walls boys were ambushed, and many of their friends and supporters left the country. The feud was not really ended until Sheriff Sneed Nobles killed Curg Border.”


The Old Courthouse in San Augustine
So, it seems likely that JW never returned to his family in Austin following his time in San Augustine.
The Frontier Battalion was disbanded in 1901.
In 1902, JW Cottrell met with Mr. Daniels, a friend, in San Antonio, Texas, who relayed information regarding the death of JW’s son, Jack. Years later, in a letter to his daughter, JW says that he ”drifted back to Mexico” after finding out about Jack’s death, (So, when and why had he been in Mexico before 1902? Unknown.)
Don’t know what year this happened.
At some point JW was shot in the leg with an arrow. Viola Cottrell Joiner said that for some years, when she was young, she kept the arrow in a tin box. She stated that in later years, JW asked to have the arrow back so that it could be placed on display in the Texas State Capital.
At some point, JW ended up in Shreveport LA and began a somewhat “secretive life”. For sometime, John William Cottrell went by the name “JW Watkins”. His daughter, Viola Joiner said she was told that JW used the name JW Watkins as a disguise. He had gotten involved in the operation of a silver mine and was placed in charge but was unable to handle the job. She implied that the owners of the operation were unhappy with things and were out to get him, so he used an alias hoping to elude the men who were after him.

While working in the tombstone business in Shreveport he met the Edward’s sisters, Annie Mae and Cerdelia.

Wedding Picture of James Dwyer and Annie Mae Edwards.
It was in 1902, JW Watkins (Cottrell) married Cerdelia Edwards Dickens (sister of Annie Mae Edwards), in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisianna. Viola Joiner said that while married to Cordelia, JW was shot 7 times. But, Annie mae was the one who nursed him back to health. He told his family in later years that without Annie Mae taking such good care of him he would have died. In 1904, JW Watkins (Cottrell), was witness to the marriage of Annie Mae Edwards and James Dwyer.
On April 14th, 1908, JW Cottrell was accused of adulterous activity at the house of Mrs. Katie Ahlers, 1012 Travis Street, Shreveport, Louisianna. Cerdelia (Cordelia) Edwards Dickens Cottrell divorced JW Cottrell on May 2, 1908.

Tradition says that in 1908, JW Cottrell married Annie Mae Edwards Dwyer in Shreveport, Louisianna. Annie Mae was 20 years old and JW was 55 years old. But Viola Cottrell Joiner said that she doesn’t know “when, where or if JW and Annie Mae were ever officially married.” A marriage license has never been found.
JW went to Mexico and left Annie Mae in Shreveport. Before leaving he had given her a dog with instructions to place the dog on the train to Mexico and when he saw the dog he would know that she was on her way and would be waiting for her. Otherwise, he would stay in hiding.
In 1910, Victor Mae, the first child of JW and Annie Mae, was born …..??
In 1914, when JW was 62 years old, Vera Armenta, the second child of JW and Annie Mae, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico.
* HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
In 1911, Poncho Villa visits El Paso, Texas.
In 1913, Poncho Villa flees to El Paso, Texas to escape death sentence. He brought his wife and child with him.

In 1916, Villa was raiding US border towns. American “soldiers of fortune”, many of whom were allied with the International Workers of the World Party, fought against Villa. US General Pershing was dispatched to engage Villa and invaded the state of Chihuahua. Pershing was recalled the next year.
JW could not cross back into the US from Mexico because Pershing’s men were guarding the border. He would have been arrested because they would not know whose side he was on. The story goes that eventually, JW returned to Shreveport by using reeds to breathe while navigating the Rio Grande under water. He arrived in Shreveport very ill.
Shortly after the punitive expedition by Pershing, sixty-three year old JW Cottrell was captured by Villa and kept in the Chihuahua jail for four and one-half months. Sometime during those four and one-half months, Annie Mae, with her tow children, slipped back into Texas, from Mexico. She posed as a doctors’ wife to get across the border. JW Cottrell managed to escape from Chihuahua jail and made his way to Florida. Annie Mae took her family by boat to Tampa, Florida to meet JW Cottrell (Information from Betty Eubanks, daughter of Victor Mae Cottrell)
In 2007 at the family reunion, Viola Cottrell Joiner said that JW, “escorted Poncho Villa to Cuba around 1917, then went to Florida”. So these pieces of information make it seem as if JW and Poncho Villa were on “the same side”.
In a letter to his daughter, Willie, JW Cottrell said that he relocated from “Cuba” to Columbia, South Carolina in 1917. In this letter he also says that he “worked as S.S. at Camp Jackson. There was an attempt by spies to blow up the Columbia Cotton Mill at which place cloth was made for the war.”
Captain Autry was the superintendent during that time. JW was 65 years old.
(Victor mae was 7 years and Vera was 3 years old. Where had they been living while JW was in Cuba?)
* HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
In 1905 Eugene Debs played a part in founding the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor union, also known as the International Workers of the World. They were nicknamed the Wobblies. Eugene Victor Debs, an American socialist, was imprisoned in Atlanta in 1917. He ran for President from jail.
When asked if JW considered himself a communist, Viola Cottrell Joiner strongly stated, “No! He was not a communist, he was a socialist!”

JW and Annie Mae Cottrell
Viola Cottrell Joiner is holding Betty Cobb Cottrell Eubanks in the left background, so this picture is in 1921-22
In her teens and early twenties, Victor Mae Cottrell, the oldest child of JW and was infatuated with Victor Eugene Debs. She was named for him. In 1920, when JW was 68 years old, Viola Betty Cottrell, the last child of JW & Annie Mae, was born in Eau Claire, SC. A card addressed to Vera Cottrell, Columbia, SC in December of 1921, indicates that they were still living in Eau Claire, at that time.

In 1922, Eugene Cottrell, the last child of 70 year old JW and Annie Mae, was born. He died March 7, 1924 in Columbia, SC from complications of measles/pneumonia. He is buried in Taylor’s Cemetery.
* HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Poncho Villa died in 1923.
There is a Frontier Magazine article about JW Cottrell that notes that in 1925, when JW was 73 years old, he was living in Brownwood, Texas.
Another letter dated, May 14, 1925, was addressed to College Place, in Columbia, SC.
from Julia Pate (“Dear uncle”). Julia was JW’s half sister.
In the early 20′s JW and his daughter, Vera Cottrell moved back to Texas. Annie Mae and Viola followed later on. JW first went to Austin – then on to Vernon, Texas to meet with Victor Eugene Debbs who was in prison there. He went there to try to convince Debs to leave prison. Evidently Debs was old and ill and they wanted to release him but he refused to go.
Victor Mae had married James Cobb in Columbia and did not go to Texas with the family.

Victor Mae Victor Mae and James Cobb
Viola Cottrell Joiner stated that in 1927 she was in the first grade in Corpus Christi, Texas

GW Forehand: born May, 1845 – died Feb 8, 1929 in Texas. (Comanche County)

JW with tombstone he made for the grave of his half-brother, George Forehand
James Buchanan and John William were brothers. GW Forehand was their half-brother.

The three Cottrell brothers are all on the back row; John William, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan.
Andrew Cottrell was killed by lightening while working for the railroad. Sam Cottrell said that in years past his father had the watch, which Andrew was wearing the day of his death and that the watch was a melted piece of metal.
Victor Mae and James Cobb were having marital problems, so the family then moved back to Columbia to help her.
A letter came from a half-sister, Julia Forehand Pate – addressed to JW in Columbia, SC. She addressed him as “Dear Uncle” (May 1925)
Other letters came from his daughter, Willie Catherine Cottrell Suggs, to JW in Columbia, SC, Jan. 20, 1933. This is the first known correspondence with his Texas family in many years.

On October 11, 1933, when JW was 81 years old, Victor Mae Cottrell Cobb was killed by her husband, James Cobb. She is buried in Taylors Cemetery, Columbia, SC. The story goes that JW was there when Victor Mae was killed and that he was adament in court that He wanted to adopt Victor Mae’s children, doing all he could to “protect” and “defend” them – up against the tragedy that had shaken their lives. Victor Mae’s two young children, Betty and Jack, were adopted by Annie Mae Cottrell. They all lived together with Doc and Vera Cottrell Senn, along with their children Rudy and Jerry.
Interestingly – Letters of recomendation to Governor Ferguson of Texas were written in 1933 when JW was 80 years old. I don’t think they were ever mailed. He may have been thinking about “disappearing” again? Escaping, running away from the pain of Victor Mae’s death?? Could he have expected to get a job, at his age, working for the new governor of Texas???
John Rudolph (Rudy) Senn was born on February 14, 1934 in Columbia, SC.

JW Cottrell died May 29, 1936 in Columbia, SC at the age of 83. He is buried in Taylor’s Cemetery.
Jerry Cottrell Senn was born in Columbia, SC on June 29, 1938.
David Julian Senn was born October 12, 1945, in Wilmington, NC. The Senn family – Doc, Vera, Rudy, Jerry and David, along with Annie Mae, Betty and Jack all lived together in a small house in Wilmington during the war. Doc worked in the shipyard.

Annie Mae Cottrell, the fourth and last wife of JW Cottrell, died June 7, 1979 and is buried in Taylor’s Cemetery, Columbia, SC.


The article above from the Dallas News states that JW is living in Brownwood, Texas in July 11, 1926. The story was later published in the magazine, “Frontier Times”.
A complete copy of Frontier Times Magazine (Sept. 1926) (issue includes articles about J.W. Cottrell) click here: https://www.box.com/s/t7aj0p513pjbibzenzek


John William Cottrell seems to have been the sort of person who wanted to help the “underdog” – the “down-and-out” and the “less fortunate” of this world. It seems this may have been the reason for his becoming involved with the Socialist Political Party. He felt considerable compassion for those who were hurting because of abuse, from “the powers that be”. Perhaps his interest in the enforcement of law in the west was motivated by a sincere desire to “protect” and “defend”?


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