Joseph Cotten
Birth Name: Joseph Cheshire Cotton, Jr.
Date of Birth: May 15, 1905
Place of Birth: Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
Date of Death: February 6, 1994
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, some Northern Irish/Scots-Irish and Scottish, as well as distant French Huguenot, Irish, Welsh, Danish, and Swiss-German
Joseph Cotton was an American actor.
He was the son of Sally Whitworth (Willson) and Joseph Cheshire Cotton. He was married to Lenore Kipp, until her death, and then to British-American actress Patricia Medina, until his death.
Joseph’s paternal grandfather was John Whitaker Cotton/Cotten (the son of John Whitaker Cotton/Cotten and Laura Placidia Clark). Joseph’s grandfather John was born in North Carolina. Laura was the daughter of James West Clark and Arabella Elizabeth Toole.
Joseph’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Bartlett Frink (the daughter of Lorenzo Frink and Jessie/Jesse Wingate Brown). Elizabeth was born in North Carolina. Lorenzo was the son of Samuel R. Frink and Elizabeth Bellune. Jessie was the son of Robert Wells Brown and Athalia Wingate.
Joseph’s maternal grandfather was Henry Chamberlaine/Chamberlayne Willson (the son of Thomas Claiborne Willson and Maria Randolph Gilliam). Henry was born in Virginia. Thomas was the son of Thomas Friend Willson and Ann “Nancy” Anderson. Maria Randolph was the daughter of Samuel Gilliam and Susannah/Susan Bolling.
Joseph’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth/Eliza Peterson Eppes Whitworth (the daughter of Thomas Whitworth and Eliza Peterson Harrison Goodwyn). Joseph’s grandmother Elizabeth was born in Virginia. Thomas was English. Joseph’s great-grandmother Eliza was the daughter of Peterson Goodwyn and Elizabeth Peterson. Peterson Goodwyn was a planter, lawyer, soldier, and politician; as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, from March 4, 1803 to March 3, 1813, and again, from March 4, 1813 to February 21, 1818.
Sources: Genealogy of Joseph Cotton – http://www.findagrave.com
Death record of Joseph’s paternal grandfather, John Whitaker Cotton/Cotten – https://www.familysearch.org
His ancestor: https://www.geni.com/people/Col-Peterson-Goodwyn-US-Congress/6000000021315226460
Him and/or his wife probably had some Swedish ancestry.
Peterson line traces back to Scotland according to this tree: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/MY6T-NFL
Elizabeth Bellune (odd surname) in fact had French Huguenot ancestry, mentioned in the book Register of Carolina Huguenots – Vol. 2: Dupre – Manigault, also distant Irish, Welsh, Danish and Swiss-German.
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LH7R-1HC
Ethnic, is there a picture, please?
cant find the source for the wiki pic
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1814