Fred Rider Cotten

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of Fred Rider Cotten, and friend, it's a bigger story than it has any right to be. Fred Rider Cotten was born right there in Weatherford, Parker County, in 1894, the son of James Taylor and Sarah Ida Cotten. Sarah Ida being a Rider before she married.

Fred grew up in that town, left long enough to earn a law degree at the University of Texas in 1917, and then, now this is the part that raises an eyebrow, he came right back home. Brought his wife, Mary Virginia, an Akard before she took the Cotten name, and their two children with him. Now you might wonder what a freshly minted lawyer does when he returns to his hometown.

Well, Fred Rider Cotten apparently looked around and decided one occupation was not going to be sufficient. He ran the family furniture store. He ran a swine farm.

He ran a funeral home. And he ran Oakland Cemetery. Let that sink in a moment.

The man was selling you a davenport, raising your pork chops, and, if things took a turn, he'd see you out of this world and keep the grounds where you rested. In Weatherford, Fred Rider Cotten had just about every stage of domestic life covered. Then the 1930s rolled in, and with them the Works Progress Administration.

Cotten stepped up to oversee WPA projects in his community, a new city hall went up, and the streets of Weatherford got a major renovation. When times were hard and the country needed putting back together, Fred was the one holding the plans. And the associations, oh, the associations.

At one time or another, this man served as president of the Texas Swine Breeders Association, the Texas Retail Furniture Dealers Association, the Texas Funeral Directors Association, the West Texas Historical Association, and the Texas State Historical Association. Five presidencies, each one in a different corner of Texas life. And if that wasn't enough, he became the first president of the Parker County Historical Commission.

Fred Rider Cotten died in 1974, eighty years after he was born in the very town where he did all of it. From pigs to parlors to history itself. Weatherford raised one man, and that one man just about ran the whole operation.

What the marker says

(1894-1974) Fred Rider Cotten was born to James Taylor and Sarah Ida (Rider) Cotten in Weatherford. In 1917, he completed a law degree at the Univ. of Texas. After returning to his hometown with his wife, Mary Virginia (Akard), and two children, Cotten ran the family furniture store, his swine farm, a funeral home, and Oakland Cemetery. In the 1930s, Cotten oversaw Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects such as the building of a new city hall and a major street renovation. He was, at one time or another, president of the Texas Swine Breeders, Texas Retail Furniture Dealers, Texas Funeral Directors, West Texas Historical, and Texas State Historical Associations, as well as the first president of the Parker County Historical Commission. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011