One of Vicksburg's best historians passed the earlier part of this month, on March 7, 2021.
Gordon was instrumental in helping the current owners of McRaven learn about the house and it's history as well as Vicksburg history in general. The following is an excerpt from Gordon Cotton's obituary, that he wrote himself. He will be missed.
"Cotton, 84, was a former teacher, journalist and a retired curator/director of the Old Court House Museum-Eva W. Davis Memorial. He also authored books on local history.
He was a 13th generation southerner and a seventh generation Mississippian. His Perkins ancestors arrived in Spanish Mississippi in 1780, and helped to establish the first church in the territory, Salem, which was Primitive Baptist, a denomination he joined when he was 19.
He loved genealogy and traced many branches of his family to Europe. his mother’s people were basically French (which he said was why he liked good wine) and on his father’s family his eighth great grandfather was the second Anglican minister in America. The Cottons came from North Carolina to Adams County in about 1820 and then to Warren County in 1837.
His love of local history was evident not just in his writing and research but also in his work in helping to restore Asbury and Old Hopewell cemeteries and was sexton of Antioch Cemetery.
He had a penchant for cats and also for politics, consistently supporting Ronald Reagan, Ron Paul and Donald Trump. In history, his first love, he most admired Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest."
You can read the full obituary at the Glenwood Funeral Home website.
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