"The surname of the wife of Richard Cotton may have been Weaver, because on 13 July 1776 Richard Cotton was named as a trustee in a marriage settlement between Edward (X) Weaver and the widow Jane (X) Scoggin to hold 570 to pay to Jane three months after Edward's death [Sussex Co. Deeds E:377, ackn. by two witnesses 18 July 1776, by a third witness 20 February 1777 and recorded]. This remains to be investigated."

"Richard Cotton of Sussex County, Va. bought for 58 105 acres in Northampton Co., N.C. abutting the land of Thomas Avent and others on 4 January 1768 [Northampton Co. Deeds 4.107, ackn. and rec. March 1768]. On 11 February 1771 Richard Cotton and wife Betty (X) of Sussex County sold this land for 60 lbs. to Samuel Lockhart of Northampton County, Seth Cotton being a witness [id. 5.105, ackn. and rec. September 1771]. This is of interest because it places the family of Richard Cotton as near neighbors of the Avent family in Northampton County just over the line from Sussex County, Virginia. While marriage bonds are lacking for Northampton County prior to 1811, this propinquity and that fact that Seth Cotton named a son Avent are sufficient evidence that the marriage of Seth Cotton to Rebecca Avent took place, probably early in 1769. Seth Cotton was still in Northampton County as of 15 August 1775 when he, with William Avent, witnessed a deed from Thomas Avent of Edgecombe County to Henry Mason of Northampton County of 200 acres which had fallen to him under the will of William Avent his father [also
father of Rebecca (Avent) Cotton - id. 6:255, ackn. and rec. December 1778]. That Seth Cotton had been born 1 November 1750, son of Richard and Betty Cotton, and baptized 20 January 1750/1, is shown by the Albemarle Parish register [p. 119]; Nathaniel Cotton [his paternal uncle] and Mary Weaver were among the godparents.We do not have a record of the death of Elizabeth (Weaver?) Cotton; she is not named in her husband's will and thus will have predeceased him. She must at least have been alive in February 1771; again, that a son of Richard and Elizabeth was named Weaver is evidence that this was her surname. The will of Richard Cotton of Sussex County and Albemarle Parish, dated 24 May 1786 and proved 7 January 1790 [Sussex Co. Wills E:1], left to his son Seth Cotton a Negro woman named Tab, 530 and a feather bed and blanket; we shall see that by this time Seth had removed to Chatham County, North Carolina."
ref.: Notes from Dr. Thompson, for Hikaru Kitabayashi descendant of Avent Cotton

"Richard, the fifth son of Thomas Cotton II, married Elizabeth (also often called Betty and probably also sometimes called Betsy) Weaver. Because we can estimate Elizabeth Weaver Cotton's birth year as being 1730 give or take one year and because we can assume that it would have been likely for Richard to have been slightly older than her and because Richard was named after his mother's father and grandmother Mary's first husband, we can put his birth as having been in 1727 give or take one year. He died in 1786. It is not clear in what year his wife died. Their children were: Sally (b. 1748 and married to Daniel Ivey); Seth I (b. 1750 and married to Rebecca Avent); Harris (b. 1753 and married to a woman by the name of Daedamia); Rebecca (b. 1756 and married in 1779 to Samuel Magnum); Archibald (b. 1759 and married to Caty Hill); Jane (also known as Jiney, b. in 1762, married to a Mr. Cook, and had a daughter Elizabeth mentioned in Jane's father's will of 1786); Cary (b. 1765 and married to Nancy Harrison); and Weaver (b. 1768, died in about 1838 and the husband, firstly, of a woman by the name of Rachel and, secondly, of a woman by the name of Sarah Elizabeth Bennet, and by both women leaving issue)."
Reference: Hikaru Kitabayashi 09/04/00