Elizabeth (Nevills) Cotten (1893 - 1987)

Born 5 Jan 1893 in Carrboro, Orange, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Frank M Cotten — married 7 Nov 1910 in Orange, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 29 Jun 1987 at age 94 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, United States

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Biography

Elizabeth (Nevills) Cotten is Notable.

Elizabeth Cotten: American folk-blues singer, musician and songwriter.

She was nicknamed "Libba" by the children of musician Charles Seeger, who was her employer; although she was Seeger's housekeeper, she became one of the premier guitarists of the 20th century. She taught herself how to play the guitar and banjo early in life. She married at 14 years of age and went to work doing various kinds of domestic work. Through the years, she played her guitar to entertain the children she babysat and for her own personal enjoyment. While working in the Seeger home in the 1950's, she was "discovered" and encouraged to perform in public. She performed at the Newport Folk Festival on many occasions throughout the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, as well as at many other venues. She performed at Carnegie Hall in 1978 and on the television show, "Austin City Limits," in 1979. Her album, "Elizabeth Cotten Live!" won her a Grammy Award in 1984. Elizabeth Cotten died at Crouse-Irving Hospital in Syracuse, New York in 1987.

Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten, who won a Grammy Award in 1984 for a collection of her blues and folk songs, died aged 95. Mrs. Cotten wrote the classic song "Freight Train" when she was 11, and did not begin performing until she was 60 years old and already a grandmother, continued to do live shows until a month before her passing. Her signature alternating bass style had become known as "Cotten picking".

Cotten was born in 1893 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to a musical family. Her parents were George Nevill (also spelled Nevills) and Louisa (or Louise) Price Nevill. Elizabeth was the youngest of five children. At age seven, she began to play her older brother's banjo. At the age of 11, after scraping together some money as a domestic helper, she bought her own guitar. Although self-taught, she became proficient at playing the instrument. By her early teens she was writing her own songs, one of which, "Freight Train", became one of her most recognized. She wrote the song in remembrance of a nearby train that she could hear from her childhood home. The 1956 UK recording of the song by Chas. McDevitt and Nancy Whiskey was a major hit and is credited as one of the main influences on the rise of skiffle in the UK.

On November 7, 1910, at the age of 17, she married Frank Cotten. The couple had a daughter, Lillie, and soon after Elizabeth gave up guitar playing for family and church. Elizabeth, Frank and their daughter Lillie moved around for a number of years, between North Carolina, New York City, and Washington, D.C., finally settling in the D.C. area. When Lillie married, Elizabeth divorced Frank and moved in with her daughter and her family.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSBZ-Z68 : accessed 16 November 2021), Ella Nevill in household of George Nevill, Chapel Hill Township (part), Orange, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 67, sheet 1B, family 16, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,210.
• "North Carolina Marriages, 1759-1979", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F87W-PXB : 14 February 2020), Elizabeth Nevills in entry for Frank Colton, 1910.
• "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q215-LV1R : 21 July 2021), Frank Cotton and Elizabeth Neville, 07 Nov 1910; citing Orange, Sampson, North Carolina, United States, p. , North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History; FHL microfilm .
• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNLY-K21 : 1 February 2021), Elizabeth Cotton in entry for Frank Cotton, 1920.
• Obituary, The New York Times, June 30, 1987, sec. B, p. [1]
• Find A Grave: Memorial #6666716
• Wikipedia
• NC Highway Historical Marker G-129
• Orange County Register of Deeds Office, Marriage License Book 10, p. 268.
• "Cotten, Elizabeth (c. 1893–1987)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. 30 Dec. 2018 https://www.encyclopedia.com.
• Artist Spotlight, Elizabeth Cotten, Master of American folk music, Smithsonian Institute [2]