John T. Cotton was a physician who practiced in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

.

Family

Cotton was a descendant of Reverend John Cotton and the son of Dr John Cotton, one of the founders of Marietta College. In 1845 he married Sarah Ashton Fitzhugh, with whom he fathered two sons, John Cotton, Henry Fitzhugh Cotton, and three daughters, Annie Beckminster Cotton, Nannie Maria Cotton and Henrietta Cotton Wilson

Henrietta Cotton Wilson

Henrietta Cotton Wilson was the wife of former Governor of West Virginia E. Willis Wilson and served as that state's First Lady, 1885-1890. She was born in 1847, at Charleston, West Virginia, a daughter of prominent doctor John T. Cotton and Sara Ashton Fitzhugh Cotton. In 1874, she married E....

. Cotton also fathered two other children who died at a young age, Annie Buckminster Cotton and Burditt Nicholas Cotton.

Medical Career

Cotton was one of the first alumni of Marietta College

Marietta College

Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...

, from which he gradated in 1838. He received his M.D. from the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati.

In 1845 he moved his practice from Ravenswood, West Virginia to Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

 where he partnered with Dr. Spicer Patrick.