Cotton, William Davis, 1904-

Elijah Brannon Cotton (1813-1893) and Mary Gibson Bray (1824-1897) married in 1854 and resided at Duran Plantation in Catahoula Parish, La. They had six children, including Clara Cotton (1855-1926) and George Spencer Cotton (1863-1939). Dr. Drury P. Gibson (1835-1880s), brother of Mary Gibson Bray, was a physician who joined the Catahoula Guerrillas, later part of Wheat's Battalion, and was involved in major battles in Virginia and Georgia during the Civil War. George Spencer Cotton married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Davis (1872-1941), the daughter of John Lugar Davis of Collin County, Tex., and stepdaughter of Clara Cotton. Lieutenant Colonel William Davis Cotton (1904-1989), son of George Spencer Cotton and Lizzie Davis, graduated from Louisiana State University in 1927. He married Anna Mae "Puddin" Cotton, was a lawyer in Rayville, La., founding president of First National Bank in Rayville, and president of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the LSU Alumni Federation. He also served in the Louisiana Legislature but resigned his seat to volunteer for World War II, in which he was involved with planning the D-Day invasion.