Aylett R. Cotton

Aylett Rains Cotton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875
Preceded by	William P. Wolf
Succeeded by	John Q. Tufts
Personal details
Born	November 29, 1826 Austintown, Ohio, USA
Died	October 30, 1912 San Francisco, California, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Hattie Elizabeth Walker Cotton
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge, Teacher, Miner

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.

In 1870 he was elected a Republican to represent Iowa's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. While serving in the Forty-second Congress, he narrowly defeated Democrat William E. Leffingwell to win a second term, becoming a member of the Forty-third Congress.^[1] Although his official Congressional biography states that he declined to run for a third term in 1874, newspaper reports indicate that he was an active but unsuccessful candidate for renomination at the Republican district convention in DeWitt, Iowa, on September 1, 1874, losing to John Q. Tufts on the 30th ballot.^[2] In all, he served from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1875.

He returned to California in 1883 and commenced practicing law in San Francisco, California until his death there on October 30, 1912. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California.

References

^ "Official Vote of Iowa for Congressmen," New York Times, 1972-12-14 at p. 3.
^ "The Second District," Dubuque Herald, 1874-09-02 at p. 1.

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by William P. Wolf	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	Succeeded by John Q. Tufts

Aylett R. Cotton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa

1st	W. Thompson • Miller • Henn • A. Hall • S. Curtis • J. F. Wilson • McCrary • Stone • McCoid • B. Hall • Gear • Seerley • Gear • S. Clark • Hedge • Kennedy • Kopp • Eicher • Martin • Schwengel • Schmidhauser • Schwengel • Mezvinsky • Leach • Nussle • Braley

2nd	Leffler • L. Clark • J. P. Cook • Thorington • Davis • Vandever • Price • Smyth • W. Wolf • Cotton • Tufts • Price • Farwell • Murphy • Hayes • G. Curtis • Lane • Rumple • Wade • Dawson • Pepper • Vollmer • Hull • Letts • B. Jacobsen • W. Jacobsen • Talle • L. Wolf • Bromwell • Culver • Blouin • Tauke • Nussle • Leach • Loebsack

3rd	Allison • Donnan • Ainsworth • Burdick • Updegraff • Henderson • Birdsall • Pickett • Connolly • Sweet • Robinson • Willford • Gwynne • Gross • Grassley • Evans • Nagle • Lightfoot • Boswell

4th	Grinnell • Loughridge • Walden • Pratt • Deering • Luman Hamlin Weller • Fuller • Sweney • Butler • Updegraff • Haugen • Biermann • Talle • Le Compte • Carter • Kyl • Bandstra • Kyl • N. Smith • Ganske • Latham

5th	Kasson • G. Dodge • Palmer • J. Wilson • R. Clark • W. G. Thompson • J. Wilson • Frederick • Kerr • J. Hamilton • Cousins • Good • Cole • Thruston • Le Compte • Cunningham • N. Smith • Scherle • Harkin • Lightfoot • Grandy • Latham • King

6th	A. Hubbard • Pomeroy • Orr • Loughridge • Sampson • Weaver • Cutts • J. C. Cook • Cutts • J. C. Cook • Weaver • Lacey • White • Lacey • D. Hamilton • Kendall • Kirkpatrick • Ramseyer • Dowell • Utterback • Dowell • Goodwin • Cunningham • Gilchrist • James Dolliver • Coad • Hoeven • Greigg • Mayne • Bedell • Grandy

7th	Kasson • Cummings • E. Gillette • Kasson • H. Smith • Conger • Hays • Hull • Prouty • Dowell • Wearin • Jensen • Hansen • Scherle

8th	McDill • Sapp • Hepburn • Anderson • Flick • Hepburn • Jamieson • Towner • Evans • Thurston • Gilchrist • Hoeven

9th	Orr • Oliver • Carpenter • Pusey • Lyman • Reed • Bowman • Hager • McPherson • W. Smith • Green • Vincent • Swanson • G. Gillette • Harrington • Narey

10th	Holmes • Jonathan Dolliver • Conner • Woods • Dickinson • Gilchrist

11th	Struble • Perkins • Thomas • E. Hubbard • Scott • Steele • Scott • Boies • Campbell

AL	Hastings and Leffler

Terr	Chapman • A. Dodge

Persondata
Name	Cotton, Aylett R.
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
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