Robert & Mary Frasure Cotten, Henderson Co., TX

Robert Saladon “Doc” Cotten
And
Mary Louvendia “Mollie” Frasure Cotten

by Great Granddaughter,
Betty Terrell Owens
BeTER77@aol.com

Robert Saladon “Doc” COTTEN was born in Lampasas, Texas on 1 December 1874, and died 5 October 1965 in Henderson County, Texas. He married Mary Louvendia "Mollie" FRASURE in 1895 in Milam County, Texas. She was born 29 December 1875 in Texas, and died 11 February 1946 in Henderson County, Texas. Both are buried in the Rock Hill Cemetery a few miles from their farm in Henderson County.
“Doc” and “Mollie” COTTEN were the parents of these children only:

1. Robert Jackson COTTEN b. 11 January 1896 in Cameron, Milam Co. TX
d. 28 December 1968 in Henderson County, TX married Naudie Belle GRIER
22 July 1920. She was b. 27 February 1901 in Henderson County, TX and
d. 8 November 1983 in Smith County, TX. Her parents were Andrew Jackson
Grier and Sarah Elisabeth POWELL GRIER
2. Harvey Curtis Cotten b. 1898 TX d. 1972 Henderson County, TX unmarried
3. Maude Marie Cotten b. 1905 TX d. 1997 Henderson County, TX married first
J.C. Davis, and second, Mr. Johnson.
4. Marvin Clifford Cotten b. about 1914, married Sophia Lee Owens, still living
5. One female, died in infancy, buried in Hill County, Texas.

Robert Saladon “Doc” Cotten was the son of John Augustus Cotten and Mary Kathryn “Kate” SMITH Cotten. He was raised in the Hill Country, spending the first years of his life on his parents’ ranch in Lampasas, Texas. His grandsons remember these stories:
Otis Cotten related that at the age of six years, “Doc” had carried a Winchester rifle, and that his father would send him and his brothers out to kill jackrabbits for food.
Marshall Cotten remembered the story that John Augustus, father of “Doc”, bought a new wagon. He owned a muzzle- loading gun that he would not allow his sons to shoot. One day when their father was away, the boys decided to load the gun with beeswax that was used sometimes instead of lead or powder. They loaded up the gun, and, looking for a target, decided to shoot at the new wagon from about twenty paces. The beeswax blew a hole through both sides of the wagon. While searching early tax records in Lampasas County, the fact was found that John Cotten was taxed for a new wagon in 1885.
Robert Saladon “Doc” moved with his family to Milam County, Texas in 1889.
As teenagers around 1890 in Milam County, “Doc” and his brothers formed a band, and would play for weddings, dances, etc. in the Hill country. Sometimes they would play too late to ride home by horseback, or it would be too far, and they would seek shelter to spend the night. One night they headed for a country church that was left open at night. When they arrived, they found a gang of outlaws already there. The Cotten boys slept under the stars that night. (Source: Maude Cotten Davis Johnson )
The story is told in the family about the disappearance of “Doc” Cotten for several days. His hat was found floating in a creek, but no sign of “Doc”. He never, to anyone’s knowledge, told a soul what had happened to him. Maude Cotten Davis Johnson said they thought he had been with outlaw gang members.
In 1895, “Doc” and “Mollie” Cotten were married in Milam County. She was the daughter of William Asbury “Berry” FRASURE and Mary Louvendia GRAY of Milam County, Texas. Mary L. “Mollie” Frasure Cotten’s relatives lived in Hill County. Her brothers, Henry Frasure, and William N. Frasure and relatives are buried in the Itasca Cemetery.
The next year, Robert Jackson Cotten was born in Cameron, Milam County, Texas. “Doc” Cotten and family are next found living in Hill County, TX in 1910. They lived in the little town of Peoria. Maude Cotten Davis Johnson said she had a little sister buried in the Peoria Cemetery.
Marshall Cotten related to me that “Doc” had played on a “National League” (local) Baseball team around 1910 with two friends, Will Dunn, and one that Marshall could not remember the name. They were childhood friends. Will Dunn came to Henderson County, TX and bought a farm at the Martin Springs Community of Henderson County. “Doc” came to visit, and liked the area, and bought the adjoining farm. The other friend bought the “Ingram place”.
“Doc” and “Mollie” Cotten moved to Henderson County, Texas and are on the 1920 census there. Maude Cotten Davis Johnson told the story of her family moving. She said the family put all its possessions in a railroad boxcar on a train, including their mules. It seems the mules got rowdy in the car, and caused the train to derail. Maude said her father used to complain “that the mules busted up everything he owned.” Maude said that at one time “Doc” Cotten had lived in a covered wagon.
“Doc” and “Mollie” lived the life of typical farmers, which in the 1930’s in Texas was not an ideal life. They grew cotton, and one of his account books has records where he paid grandchildren to pick cotton. He also grew peanuts.
Like his dad, John Augustus Cotten, “Doc” Cotten was a blacksmith by trade, and made many of the implements used on a farm.
Granddaughter, Doris, and her husband, Douglas Terrell, remembered that “Doc” had also made coffins in the “English manner”, not straight sides, but sort of elongated diamond shaped coffins. They said that he kept a roll of black cloth in his barn to line the coffins. They said he probably made the last one in the 1940’s. “Doc’s “ father, John Augustus Cotten, was known for making coffins.
After “Doc” and “Mollie” moved to Henderson County, and he had not seen his brothers and sisters for a long time, they all got together, and came to visit him. (Source: Clarence Vaughn) They all played various musical instruments, and they brought them and had a party. People from all over the community came to the party and to listen to the music. (Source: Douglas Terrell) “Doc” played a violin, and the couple owned an organ. “Doc” was from a very musical family that lived mostly around Hood County, Texas.
Two sons, Robert Jackson Cotten and Harvey Curtis Cotten were in the US Army in World War 1. Robert served as a Private in Supply Company 323 of the Infantry. Robert went to France, but the War was at an end. He saw Paris, France before he returned home to marry his “Redwing”, Naudie Belle Grier. (ancestors of the author) Curtis served in both World Wars.
“Doc” was a Mason before he moved to Henderson County, and remained one. His son, Curtis, was a lifelong member of the Chandler Masonic Lodge.
“Doc” and “Mollie” made visits to Galveston to visit her brother, William N. Frasure. She brought back many pretty seashells that she used to decorate her yard.
“Mollie’s” favorite flower was a “King Alfred Daffodil (source: Doris Cotten Terrell)
Their farmhouse was located on a high hill, and one could look out over the countryside from the front porch. The yard was enclosed in a barbed wire fence, and the soil was sandy, with no grass. Pretty rocks and seashells outlined walkways.
“Doc” and “Mollie” lived the life of a typical East Texas farmer. “Mollie” died in 1946, and “Doc” lived to see his great great grandson, before dying in 1965.

Robert Saladon “Doc” Cotten’s Ancestors

Robert Saladon “Doc” Cotten’s parents were married in Limestone County, Texas about 1866. The courthouse had burned there, and these documents are not recorded. His father was John Augustus Cotten, and his mother, Mary Kathryn “Kate” Smith was the daughter of Permelia Thomas Smith and Jim Smith, located on the 1860 census of Limestone County, Texas.
John Augustus Cotten was just five years old when he arrived in Texas with his parents from Mississippi in 1833. His parents were John Ira Ellis Cotten and Abigail Herring Cotten. John I. E. was born in Tennessee, and died after 1843. Abigail was born in 1799 in South Carolina and died after 1860 in Texas. They were married October 7, 1821 in Claiborne County, Mississippi.
Being the only son at that time, John Augustus shared his wagon with several sisters. His father picked out prime land along the Sabine River, and applied for a Spanish Land Grant on 20 August 1835, in San Augustine, Texas. A baby sister, Amanda, was born to the family in 1835 in Texas, the only known Texas born child of the Cotten family. Later, John Ira Ellis and Abigail would have two more children born in Louisiana.
Family stories relate that John Ira Ellis and Abigail Cotten were the parents of eight daughters and two sons. The Texas character certificate of Cotten stated that he had a wife and four children in 1835. His application for land said that he had a family that consisted of eight persons. Known children are:

1. Martha b. 1823 MS married 1. John Lee on 22 June 1840, DeSoto Parish, LA and 2. W.D.Lawrence on 26 Mar. 1845, DeSoto Parish, LA
2. Joanne “Ann” b. 1825 MS
3. John Augustus b. 8 March 1828 MS married Mary Kathryn Smith
4. Amanda b. 1835 TX probably married John Sanders
5. Ellen b. 1838 LA
6. James C. b. 1844 LA
7. Mary b. c 1834 married W.J. Marler
This leaves three unidentified daughters.

Perhaps they had dreamed of a plantation spreading across the Sabine River. For unknown reasons, the application for land in Texas was not completed; plans had gone awry. John Ira Ellis Cotten, born in Tennessee, married in Mississippi to a girl from South Carolina, moved to Texas, then to Louisiana, was missing from his family group on the 1850 census of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Gordon A. Cotton, historian and author, stated that John Ira Ellis Cotten was a builder, and that the legend exists that he was constructing the Red Lick Presbyterian Church near Lorman, Mississippi when he was murdered. The church was constructed in 1846. The crime was never solved.
John Augustus, age twenty-two, was left to care for his mother, unmarried sisters, and baby brother, James. They all moved to Personville, Limestone County, Texas, before 1855. (Limestone County School Census, Tax Records) They established themselves in the new community, bought 320 acres of land, and made new lives. Then the Civil War broke out.
John Augustus Cotten served in the Confederacy. He was the ideal age, and unmarried. Proof exists in the State Archives, in the Confederate Indigent Families List of Texas 1863-1865, although no official military record has been found by the author. His brother, James Joseph Curtis Cotten received funds from the State because his brother, John, served. Because Abigail is not listed, this presents a closer time of her death. Permelia Smith also received funds at this time in Limestone County, Texas.
By 1866, John Augustus, age thirty-eight, had sold his land and holdings in Limestone County. (Tax Records). He married his young neighbor, Mary Kathryn "Kate" Smith in 1866. She had been born 28 February 1846 (death certificate) to Jim and Permelia Thomas Smith in Texas. They moved on to finally settle in Lampasas County, Texas. By 1885, John and Kate had purchased 155 acres of ranch land, (Lampasas Tax Records) and were adding to their livestock. They were the parents of 12 children, including Robert S. "Doc" Cotten. Surely, they believed that they had found their home for life, and were building for the future.
An ominous hint is found on the 1880 census of Lampasas County. John Augustus is listed as having a broken leg. Family stories call him a “one legged man”. He is said to have had various jobs in addition to his farm and ranch: blacksmith, driving a chuck wagon on cattle drives, a saddle maker, a coffin maker. Perhaps some were jobs for a handicapped man.
By 1887 the family home was sold, (tax records) and the family was moving back by wagon to Central Texas. John Augustus Cotten died on the trip back on 5 February 1889, and was buried in Burleson County, Texas.
After the death of John A. Cotten, the family lived on the Red Bluff on Colorado River (Source: Clarence Vaughn). The 1900 census shows them living in Milam County.
"Kate" Cotten was left to provide for her full house of children. She tried her hand at farming along the banks of a river. Hitching up a steer to plow, and wrapping the reins around her wrists to help control the animal, she tried to prepare the ground for seeds. This story survives because it must have been a humorous sight to her offspring. It seems that when the steer would get thirsty, he would charge off to the river, dragging the plow, "Kate", and all behind him. When he had cooled off, and quenched his thirst, the steer would emerge from the river, dragging the plow. (Source: Clarence Vaughn)
By 1910, Kate Cotten had moved with her son, Andrew, to Hood County, Texas. Otis Cotten said he had been told that when they got to Hood County, that they had all spent the night under a big tree, which is still standing. She died in Nehri, Hood Co. TX 19 October 1919, and is buried in Nubbin Ridge Cemetery, near the Brazos River.
According to Clarence Vaughn, when she died, there was a very long procession of wagons going to funeral at the church at Nubbin Ridge. He disputed my information that she was born in 1846 (as is on her death certificate). He said his two grandmothers always said they were born in same year, 1847. Kate’s tombstone had 1847 engraved on it.
John Augustus and Mary Kathryn "Kate" Cotten's children are:

1. Mary Abigail "Mollie" Cotten b. 1868 TX d. 1967 TX married Martin Delaney McKee, lived in Granbury, Hood Co. TX
2. John Lafitte Cotten b. 1869 TX d. 1936 TX married Emmy Henry
3. James Franklin Cotten b. 1871 TX d. 1906 married Annie Appleton
4. Sarah Kathryn Cotten b. 1873 TX d. 1888 TX
5. Robert Saladon "Doc" Cotten b. 1 December 1874 in Lampasas, TX d. 5 October 1965 in Henderson County, TX. married Mary Louvendia "Mollie" Frasure b. 29 December 1875 in TX d. 11 February 1946 in Henderson County, TX
6. Andrew Jackson Cotten b. 1876 TX d. 1934 married Bertha Lee Spears
7. Suzanne Ellen Cotten b. 1879 d. 1879
8. George Washington Cotten b. 1880 TX d. 1967 married first Maggie Umphress, second, Ivy Rule
9. Ada Artilla Cotten b. 1882 TX d. 1972 TX married William Alex Vaughn
10. Sam Houston Cotten b. 1884 TX d. 1889 TX
11. William Joseph Cotten b. 1886/87 TX d. 1949 married Dora Spears
12. Thomas Jefferson Cotten b. 1889 TX d. 1889

Family Story

The ancestry of these Cottens remained a mystery until evidence was sent to the
author by Melanie Dotson, who cleared up their story. Her 89 year old aunt had given
her all her years of research concerning the family. Thanks to Melanie Dotson, the ancestry of John Ira Ellis Cotten is known. In short form, here is that story.

John Ira Ellis Cotten had several brothers, among them, Joab Cotten. Their parents were Joseph Abner “Joah” and Elizabeth PICKETT Cotton. Their children were born in Tennessee, or maybe a part of it that was part of Kentucky. They moved to Mississippi where both John and Joab’s marriage records have been found in Claiborne Co. MS.
At some time (this part of the story is Melanie Dotson’s family tradition) several Cotten brothers worked in the blacksmith shop of James Bowie’s brother in Natchez, Mississippi, and they got into a fight with some locals. One of the Cotten brothers was killed. The Cotten brothers retaliated, and killed whoever it was that killed their brother. So a sort of war was started. The Cotten brothers dispersed with their families to escape revenge.
John Ira Ellis Cotten moved to Texas, established citizenship, and applied for a Spanish Land Grant. Perhaps this is why the land grant was not granted….John Cotten was running for his life. Whatever happened, he disappeared after his youngest daughter was born, and he is not found on the 1850 Census of DeSota Parish, La. with his family.
When his wife, Abigail and children, moved to Limestone County, Texas, they were moving near relatives, her brother in law, Joab Cotten and his wife Sarah Jane WALLS Cotton. Later, Joab’s daughter, Sarah Jane Cotton would marry her first cousin, James Joseph Curtis Cotten, brother of John Augustus Cotten, and thus enable the author to find out about the rest of the Cotten family. Although a pedigree for this family is known, the author does not possess documents to prove the line.

Betty Jean Terrell Owens line to John Ira Ellis Cotten has been proven for membership in the Tejas Chapter Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

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