Records of the Cother / Coulter Family from Richmond County, NC to Delta County, TX

A cardinal rule of genealogy is to ≥follow the neighbors.  The validity of this principle is eemplified by following the Thomas clan from Richmond County, North Carolina to Delta County, Texas.  Although it appears that a number of families traveled together from Richmond County to Pickens County, Alabama, two families that maintained an especially close relationship to the George Thomas family were the Cothers and the Coles.

The following is a section of a letter from the author's uncle B. C. Thomas that was quoted in one of the earliest sections of this article. It is repeated because the association of generations of Cothers and Thomases which began in at least the mid to late years of the 18^th century is continued in the late years of the 19^th century.  This hundred year plus association is one of the last pieces of evidence in the case being built that Tristram Shandy Thomas of Pickens County, Alabama is the father of Benjamin C. Thomas of the same county.

Why the name Cothe or Cotha?  The records of Pickens County, Alabama for Probate Judge Benjamin C. Thomas, support what appears to be a kernel of truth in this family tale. Documents that related to Benjamin Thomas of Pickens County, Alabama in the mid-1800's nearly always included the "C" as his middle initial. George Thomas, father of Tristram S. Thomas married as his second wife, Elizabeth Cother, the quotation form the letter above begisn to make sense.  In the dialect of east Texas the "r" at the end of the name had been dropped and sixteen year old B. C. Thomas had probably heard something like ≥Cowtha.≤ 

The name "Cother" has been spelled any number of ways: "I have seen the name spelled several other ways in NC. Cotter, Coulter, Cotner, Coather, Cothier,and in MO Gother." [2]   It has also been spelled Cothern, Coalter,Corther, and possibly Cather.  For the purposes of this paper the Cother family history begins in Richmond County, North Carolina in 1780. 

William Coulter - Richmond County, NC

The first land entry for William Coulter is for 100 acres "on the s side of Nathl Williams on waters of Rocky Fork of Hitchcock Cr." [3] Between  Jan. 12, 1780 and March 7, 1780 William Coulter entered a total of 350 acres of land along and in the area of Rocky Creek near the Montgomery County, North Carolina county line.  Richmond County was formed from Anson County in 1779 so William Coulter was one of the first to make land entries in the county of Montgomery, although there were certainly others making land entries when that area was a part of Anson county..

The next document found referring to William Coulter is a legal document in which the spelling is given as ≥Colter.≤  In this document, dated 17/4/1786, one Joshua Gross is to be apprehended and held for a court appearance for a cause of ≥trespass on the case.≤  Hannah Colter, the plaintiff, is named as the Administrator of William Colter deceased. [4]   William Coulter, then, died before 1786. Another document, an amount of sales of the estate of John Covington apparently refers to William Cother, son of William and Hannah Coulter because the date of the document is 16/Sept/1811.  In this instance the name is spelled ≥Corther≤ [5]

Hannah Cother, Cotter, Colter – Richmond County, NC

On the 1779 tax list for Richmond County [6] a Hannah Cotter is listed as a widow with 200 acres.  Whether this is the wife of William Coulter is open to question since there is a record of William Coulter entering land in 1780

In the 1790 census, Hannah Cotter with 2 males under the age of 16, and four females (three female children?) is listed as a head of household living between a Nicholas Stone and William Johnston. [7] In the 1800 census Hannah Colter is living in a group of Thomases which include Elijah, and Nathan Thomas, sons of Rachel Thomas who is listed as the head of the third household.  Hannah Colter is listed as the fourth household head of the group.  In the 1810 census Hannah Coulter is listed as head of a household with sons William and Jesse as heads of their own households. [8]   William is listed with 1 male child under the age of 10, 1 male child between 10 and 16, 2 female children under the age of 10 and one female between the ages of 26 to 45.  Jesse is listed with 1 male between the ages of 26 to 45 and one female between the ages of 26 to 45 – no children.  Hannah is listed with 1 female between the ages of 26 to 45 and one femaile over the age of 45.

There also was a connection between William Covington of Queen Anneπs County MD and Richmond County, North Carolina  and Hannah Cother. Williamπs will, made March 1789, proved 1794 in Richmond County, NC, was witnessed by Hannah Cother, John Covington and Thomas Dockery.  Thomas Dockery was one of the earliest settlers in a migration that left Queen Anneπs County and emigrated to the Richmond County area of Anson County NC in 1769. Thomas Dockery was an Elder in St. Lukeπs Church, Queen Anneπs County MD.  Henry Covington, second generation in Queen Anneπs County, MD married Rachel Roe, daughter of Edward Roe (a Quaker from Kent Co., MD) and died in Queen Anneπs County in 1766.  His son, William Covington married Rachel Thomas (no birth documentation).  Rachel Thomas Covington died in Kentucky in 1827. [9] I have seen no primary source material that verifies that Rachel Thomas was the wife of William Covington or whose daughter she was.  However, if she was, indeed, a Thomas, this is one more connection between Cothers and Thomases and might give a clue as to the origins of Hannah Cother.

In the previous section on George Thomas the Bible evidence given for the marriage of George Thomas and Elizabeth Cother was presented. [10]   Elizabeth was surely the daughter of William and Hannah Cother/Coulter.

William Colter, Cotton, Colten, Cother, Cather – Logan County, Kentucky

In Logan County Kentucky Deed Book E there is an Indenture dated 11 Dec 1815 between George Thomas of Robertson County, TN and Daniel Parker of the same place for 200 acres in Logan county ≥on the NE corner of the tract where William Cotten (or William Colter) now lives, Wit Wm Colten and Wm. W. Ansbrooks.  William Colter is living on land adjacent to George Thomas in 1815.  William Cotton, Colter, Colten is certainly the brother of Elizabeth Cother Thomas and who appeared in the 1810 census of Richmond County North Carolina in the household next to Hannah Coulter.  In one deed there are two ways of spelling the same name.  In the same Deed Book E there is a deed dated 19^th Jan 1816 between William Cather, and Daniel Parker for a ≥tract at the SE corner of 400 acres survey grated to Joshua Norris.  Wit: Elijah Sneed, and Aaron Caudell. On the same page (same date)  there is a deed between Daniel Parker and William Cothen. Same witnesses. [11]

On 18 Jan 1816 a deed was reacorded between William Cother and John Benbrook for 100 acres "begininng at the SW corner of the survey of Daniel Parker bought of said Cother."  Again witnessed by Snead and Caudell. [12]   One more interesting deed is in Deed Book G dated 7 Sept. 1818 between John Ward and Berry Starkes, witnessed by William Waddle and Isaac Steele. [13]   A William Waddle was married to Nancy Ann Seay in the court case concerning the female slave in the Jefferson County Chancery Court filed in 1849 to which Benj. C. Thomas and his wife Margaret Seay were party.  A William Waddle, along with B. C. Thomas, was among those in Pickens County who signed the Reconstructionist Consitution after the Civil War. [14]

On the same 1779 tax list for Richmond County, North Carolina [15] noted above, in which Hannah Cotter is listed, the names of Caudle, Snead, and Woodle (Waddle?), as well as Thomas are among those listed on the tax rolls that year.  It appears that there was a significant migration of Richmond County families to Kentucky, Tennessee and then some, such as George Thomas and William Waddle moved on to Alabama.

Jesse Coulter – Pickens County, Alabama

The first mention of Jesse Coulter is in the 1810 census of Richmond County, NC where he is listed as a head of a household between the ages of 16 and 45, with a female in the household between the ages of 16 and 45, no children so they must have just married.  Jesseπs  brother William is listed on the line before him and his mother, Hannah is listed as a head of household on the line below. [16]

The next document relating to Jesse Coulter is a land grant in Logan County, KY on 9/Oct/1813.  This land is on Drakeπ Creek for 50 acres. [17]   This is the same time frame in which George Thomas and William Cother were also in Logan County on Drakeπs Creek.

A Jesse Coulter is listed on the Alabama 1820 Federal  Census for Limestone County. [18]

A Jesse Coulter is next listed on the 1830 Federal Census for Pickens County. [19]

Jesse Coulter was issued two land grants in Pickens County both in the same township and range as Tristram S. Thomas. The first is a cash entry sale for 39.96 acres in the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 Sect 13Twp 24N Range 1W, doc. # 814 issued on 1/Oct/1834.  The second is a cash entry sale for 39.96 acres in the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 Sect 24Twp 24N Range 1W, doc. # 8845 issued on 16/Oct/1834. [20]   Matthew Cother settled next door as shown below.  Jesse Coulter/Cother died 1839 according to the family records of Bobbye Winston and Don Cother. [21]   This is confirmed by a notice deceased in Nov. 1842 in the Pickinsville Register that Benjamin Cother was Admin of the estate of Jesse Cother, deceased. [22] . Notice that in this instance Jesseπs name is spelled Cother.

Benjamin Cother – Pickens County, Alabama; Monroe County, Mississippi

According to Cole family Bible records, Benjamin Cother is the son of Jesse Cother, brother of Elizabeth Cother Thomases – thus, Elizabeath's nephew.  "Benjamin Cother the son of Jessie Cother and Elizabeth Cother his wife, son was born the 11^th of December, 1813 (very dim)." The date of Martha Coleπs birth is given as April 2, 1829 and the date of the marriage of Ben Cother and Martha Cole was entered as Jan. 26, 1843. [23]   Is the Benjamin Cother of these records  the Benjamin Cother which all the succeeding Benjamin Cother Thomases were named?  This Benjamin Cother in Pickens County requested a letter of dismission from the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pickens County in August, 1848. [24]

There is a Benjamin (Coulter) Covingtion (b. 1775) who married a Nancy Coulter about 1806.  His second wife was Hannah Everett, daughter of Lawrence Everett and Mary Thomas – Mary was the daughter of William Thomas, father of George Thomas.  Nancy Coulter is almost certainly the daughter of William and Hannah Coulter/Cother and sister of Elizabeth Cother, wife of George Thomas. [25]   This Benjamin Coulter may be the origin of the name or he may have been named for a Benjamin Coulter/Cother yet to be discovered.

There is a family of Cothers in Monroe County, Mississippi in the 1880 census that is headed by a Martha Cother. [26] This Martha Cother is listed in the census as being fifty years old in 1880 which would be in accordance with her birth information in the family records of Don Cother [27] and the Cole family Bible records.  Monroe County is a logical place to which Benjamin Cother might have emigrated.  It is a county in Mississippi to the north of Pickens and on the Alabama-Mississippi border just as Pickens is an Alabama county on the same border.

There are two Cothers who are listed on the roster of the 12^th Mississippi Cavalry, Company G.  The men of this Company enlisted for the war at Aberdeen, Cotton Gin, and other places in Mississippi (Monroe County)  Officers were:

The enlisted Cothers (who were all Privates) were: B. W. Cother,, and M. H. Cother.

Thomases in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, 1880

Chickasaw County is just to the west of Monroe County.  In the 1880 census of Chickasaw County is the census entiy for what is surely the dwelling of Jemima Elizabeth Thomas, her sons Matthew C. Thomas, Joseph K. Thomas and his wife, and Samuel F. Thomas. [29]   Ben Thomas and wife Mollie are in the same county [30] , as is Richard Thomas, a laborer for the family of David and Ellen Rhodes. [31]    The Benj. C. Thomas family must have moved to Chickasaw County between the 1870 and the 1800 censuses since they were in Pickens County, Alabama for the 1870 census. Just exactly how much contact there was between the Thomases of Chickasaw County and the Cothers of Monroe County is not known, but, because families tended in those days to settle near families, there very likely was at least some contact.

In the previous section on the Benjamin Cother family it was noted that an M. H. Cother was a private in the 12^th Mississippi Cavalry about 1865.  More about M. H. Cother:

M. H. Cother, Monroe County, Mississippi and Delta County, Texas

M. H Cother is listed as Matthew H. Cother in the 1880 Delta County, Texas census. [32] He is 32 years old, born in 1848 in Alabama.  On the census record his mother and father were both born in Kentucky.  This fits with the information for the family of Benjamin and Martha Cole Cother as outlined above.  If Matthew H. Cother of Delta County, Texas is the son of Benjamin Cother, then he was born 16 years after their marriage, though there were at least five children born after he was born in 1848: John, born in 1857; Jessi, born in 1860; Nancy, born in 1863; Louisa, born in 1867; and Suellen, born in 1870. [33]

The Benjamin Cother family must have moved from Alabama to Mississippi after 1848 (which correlates with the date of the request for the letter of dismission from the Ebenezer Baptist Church) and the date of the birth of John who was born in 1857.  Benjamin Cother must have died between 1870 when the last child was born and 1880 when his wife Martha was listed on the census as head of the household.

Matthew H. Cother married Lucy Picard in 1875 in Grayson County, Texas. They may not have been able to have children of their own, for Benjamin Wilcox, age 5 is listed as their ward in the 1880 census.

A very interesting document is recorded in the Delta County Deed Book between Charles T. Wilcox of Delta County, Texas and M. H. Cother:

The first deed recorded in Delta County, Texas is between  Matt. H. Cother from J. H. Little and wife for 100 acres 22 March 1872. [35] The last deed found is dated 1895 in which M. H. Cother purchased a lot in the town from B. L. Birthright and his wife in Pecan Gap [36]

R. S. Thomas – Pickens County, Alabama, Monroe County, Mississippi, Delta County, Texas.

R. S. Thomas and Anna Elizabeth Brown Thomas were in Delta County, Texas by 1891 when R. S. Thomas purchased 99.8 acres from J. D. Tudor. [37]   He sold this land in 1894 in a deed that was signed R. S. Thomas and A. E. Thomas.

Richard Smith Thomas and his wife Anne were in Delta County for three years during the time that Matthew H. Cother lived there as proved by deeds for both families.  Both Matthew H. Cother and Richard Smith Thomas had been born in Pickens County, Alabama.  This is the last known connection between the Thomases and the Cothers, but I believe it is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that Benjamin Cother Thomas of Pickens County, Alabama was the son of Tristram S. Thomas of that same county.

I believe it can be seen from the records presented above that the Cother and Thomas families were together in Richmond County, NC through Kentucky, Pickens County, AL and into Delta County, TX.  Four generations of Cothers and five generations of Thomases migrated together through these areas and maintained their relationships.