Aylett Rains Cotton (29 November 1826-30 October 1912) was a member of the US House of Representatives (R-IO 2) from 4 March 1871 to 3 March 1875, succeeding William P. Wolf and preceding John Q. Tufts.
Biography[]
Aylett Rains Cotton was born in Austintown, Ohio in 1826, and he moved to DeWitt, Iowa in 1844. He mined in the Sacramento Valley of California during the Gold Rush before moving to Lyons, Iowa in 1851 and becoming Clinton County judge in 1852, serving until 1853. He served as prosecuting attorney in 1854, Mayor of Lyons from 1855 to 1857, in the State House from 1868 to 1870, in the US House of Representatives from 1871 to 1875, and as a lawyer in San Francisco until his death in 1912.