Portrait and Biographical Album of Champaign County, Ill, page 645
ALLEN W. COTTON, of Homer Township, first opened his eyes to the light west of the Mississippi, in Platte County, Mo., on the 11th of August, 1840. His parents, Isaac N. and Jane (King) Cotton, were natives of Kentucky. The former was born June 15, 1805, and when a young man emigrated overland to the Pacific coast during the early settlement of California, and was killed there by Spaniards four years later, in 1852. He had followed farming the greater part of his life and was one of the first to become a member of the Masonic fraternity in his native State. He was esteemed by all who knew him as a good man in every sense of the word, being a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was Class-Leader for many years, and adorning his profession by a goodly life. He left a large property in California, but owing to various complications his family were not permitted to enjoy it, the estate having never been settled.
The parents of our subject were married in Indiana, whence they removed to Missouri, remaining for a period of several years. The birth of the mother took place Oct. 10, 1805. She united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at an early age and is now eighty-two years old. She makes her home among her children. These, eight in number, are recorded as follows: Rebecca A. was born Sept. 30, 1830; Elisha, Sept. 1, 1832; Robert, May 20, 1834; Louisa J., May 1, 1836; Sanford, now deceased, March 13, 1838; Isaac N., born Nov. 5, 1843, died in 1874; Elisha died Dec. 25, 1835; William R., born April 10, 1842, died Aug. 30, 1843; Allen W. is our subject.
Mr. Cotton, of our sketch, was but a child when his father left Missouri for California. He afterward remained with his mother at the homestead in Indiana until twenty-two years of age, and in 1862, became a resident of this State. is honorable discharge in the summer of 1865. He now draws from the Government a pension of $4 per month.......
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Will of Allen W. Cotton, Marion Co., Indiana, Wills 1910-1913, p 621 ancestry.com (long will with codicil)