Aylett R. Cotton

Infobox Congressman
name=Aylett Rains Cotton


width=200px
state=Iowa
district=2nd
party=Republican
term=March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875
preceded=William P. Wolf
succeeded=John Q. Tufts
date of birth=November 29, 1826
place of birth=Austintown, Ohio, USA
date of death=October 30, 1912
place of death=San Francisco, California, USA
spouse=Hattie Elizabeth Walker Cotton
profession=Politician, Lawyer, Judge, Teacher, Miner
religion=
footnotes=

Aylett Rains Cotton (November 29, 1826 – October 30, 1912) was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer, judge, teacher and miner from Iowa and California.

Born in Austintown, Ohio, Cotton attended local public schools as a child and later Cottage Hill Academy in Ellsworth, Ohio in 1842 and 1843. He taught school and moved to DeWitt, Iowa with his father in 1844. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1845 and taught school at Union Academy in Fayette County, Tennessee from 1845 to 1847. He returned to Iowa in 1847, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1848, commencing practice in Iowa. Cotton moved to California in 1849 and engaged in mining on the Feather River. He moved to Lyons, Iowa in 1851 and became county judge of Clinton County, Iowa the same year, serving until 1853. He was prosecuting attorney of Clinton County in 1854, mayor of Lyons from 1855 to 1857 and was a member of the Iowa constitutional convention in 1857. Cotton was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1868 to 1870, serving as Speaker of the House in his final term, and was elected a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1870, serving from 1871 to 1875, not being a candidate for renomination in 1874. He returned to California in 1883 and commenced practicing law in San Francisco, California until his death there on October 30, 1912. He was interned in Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7127494 Aylett R. Cotton] at Find A Grave