| Notes |
- Ten child of Rhoda Bee & Noah Cotton are:
1 Samuel Cotton, born 03 MAR 1812 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England
2. Phoebe, born 26 JUL 1813 in Wangford,
3. Jane, born 24 FEB 1814 in Wangford,
4. Eliza, born 24 NOV 1816 in Wangford,
5. Robert, born ABT 1820 in England
6. Sarah, born 20 AUG 1820 in Wangford,
7. Jeremiah Simon, born 18 FEB 1823 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England
8. Kesiah Bee, born 17 JUL 1825 in Wangford,
9, Caroline, born 23 SEP 1827 in Suffolk
10. Noah, born 04 APR 1830 in Wangford, England.
. 1861 Census, Simcoe Co., Ontario
Noah Cotton, England 72 /1789
Rhoda Cotton, England 69 /1792, & a few farms away is
Rhoda Cotton, Age 4, b1857 born Upper Canada, she is living the the Cameron family.
* My Dear Cousin:
I received your letter a long time ago. I am very sorry not to have answered it before, but I have not been very well & have not felt like doing anything. Clyde sent you the photograph of our great grand-father. I hope you received it in good condition.
My trip to Wangford, Suffolk, England, was taken in the summer of 1932. I went to Southwold, & from there took a bus over to Wangford, a distance of 2 miles. Neither Southwold nor Wangford are on the Railroad. In the 16th Century Southwold was on of the principle seaports of England, & was the harbor of the British Fleet. Now it is a place of about 3,000 & the only industry seem to be knitting mill & home knitting. The sea is very beautiful there, the cliffs are high & I found it a very restful spot. If you look on the map you will find it on the coast just belowLowestoft. I took the bus over to Wangford, a very tiny village, built around the church & churchyard. The church was built in 1065. I found the name Cotton on some of the tombstones.
After wandering around there for a time I went across the street to the post office, a little old house as big as a postage stamp. I asked the post mistress if she had ever heard heard of an estate near Wangford? She said, only Henham, Lord Stradbrokes estate. I had no idea this estate was still in existence, but she said Lord Stradbroke was not an old man, & had young children. As the estate was a mile & a half for Wangford I went back to Southwold. The next day I rode over with some people who were staying at the hotel & knew the country well. On reaching the gates of the estate & there are 4, all with gate houses. The gate keeper told me Lord Stradbroke was in London, * that no one was allowed in the grounds when they were not there. I begged them to let me go as far as the house, but they refused. Finally one gate keeper told me to go to the mangers's office & ask him. The manager was in London. One of the bookkeepers was very kind & said he knew it would be all right for me to go through but they could not give me permission, but they said if any one can take you through it is Mr. Noah Cotton , the keeper of the estate. When he said Mr Noah Cotton, I was more than surprised. I said that was my great father's name & I did not know there were any Cotton here. They said there were a great many of them. We drove to Mr. Noah Cotton’s house & Mr. Noah Cotton drove with through the estate.
I had quite a visit with the Cotton family & they told me of the cousin from Australia, who had been visiting them for three weeks & who had left for London the day before I arrived. This cousin's grandparent had left for Australia about the same time that ours come to Canada. Mrs. Cotton said, No one had ever been back from either family, until now, Mrs. E Powell form Australia & now your come from the United States, & Canada”. Mrs. E Powell had gone to London to visit the brother of Mr. Noah Cotton, the keeper. I had their address & I went over to William Cottons when I got back to London, both Mr. & Mrs. William Cotton of London have died since I was there in 1932.
The address of Mrs E. Powell:
Mrs. E. Powell
7 Fowler St., Coberg, Melbourne, Australia.
Mr. Cotton of Wangford is Mr. Noah Cotton. He has a son & a grandson, both named Noah. The 2 grandsons were sent to Canada with the King & Queen when they visited Canada in 1939. The grandparents seem to feel this a great honor. I think the boys are both in the navy. I hear from a Mrs. Small some times. Her mother was a Cotton. She lives in Alford, Lincolnshire, England.
The Bee’s I did not find. I heard there was a Mr. George Everdard Bee in Southwold. He had a very fine boys school there, but he was away on a vacation. I have though the same time I would write to him & see if know anything of the family. Our great grandmothers father was a Jeffery or Geofrey Bee. There is a Bee town in Norfolk County, England.
The daughter of Mr. Noah Cotton is the wife of an instructor in the Royal Air Force College . He had been in the Army for years & was about to retire. When they transferred him to the Air Force. His name is James O'Neil. I cannot remember his title. He was inspector of artillery for the British Army. They had just came back from India, when I was over in 1932.
I wish peace would come soon, so we could see England again. I do not suppose I have written anything of interest, but it has been 12 years since I was over there.
We are able to live with the rationing, but the worst is lack of help. It is not to be had. The house keeper that I had for years left me to work in war work. I do not blame her. She needed all the money she could get, & they pay such big wages.
I wish we could se you again, but with the limited amount of gas, we cannot go very far. I hope the Cotton’s & the Scott’s are all well. I should like to talk to Mrs. John Marshall again. She seemed to know so much about Aunt Jane & Aunt Sarah. I hope she is much better. She seemed so frail that day I saw her. With kind regards to all my relatives.
Your Cousin
Mary Morgan Smith
1024 W, 3rd Street
Dixon, Illinois, USA. - - -
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1791 - 1870 (78 years)