On a more positive note and to put this thread back on topic here is a photo of a plaque of my grandfather, I believe 8 times back.
The most auspicious and right Reverend John Cotton:
ON THIS SITE STOOD THE HOUSE OF
REVEREND JOHN COTTON
VICAR OF BOSTON IN OLD ENGLAND
MINISTER OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN
BOSTON NEW ENGLAND 1633-1652
He was also the founder of the Congregational Church and a co-founder of Harvard University.
The Cotton name came into common use after the Norman invasion of 1066 and directly relates to the Norman penchant for building fortified castles. As Norman fortresses dotted the British landscape, towns sprang up to support these castles and became known as cottage towns or cot towns. The vernacular of the time more commonly used cot than cottage and cot town was soon contracted to cotton or coton. In Norman parlance, a person from the cottage town became known as de’cotton or de’coton. Thus, Jean de’coton was “John of the cottage town”.
As the use of surnames became widespread, a large number of English families took Coton, Cotton, Cotten or Coten for their family name because over 30 place names in Britain contain some form of coton, cotton, cotten or coten. A good example is the village of Coton west of Cambridge near the cemetery dedicated to America’s volunteer airmen who died serving the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in World War II.
Veedaz may find the following somewhat interesting:
I am also a direct descendant of the King of England
Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as
Edward Longshanks and the
Hammer of the Scots, was
King of England from 1272 to 1307. This is the guy who took William Wallace (Braveheart) Edward defeated Wallace's forces at the
Battle of Falkirk
