My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Louis Francis Cottey, of Edina, a prominent lawyer and Democratic politician of Knox County, is a son of Ira D. and Sarah (Eads) Cottey, and was born in Knox County, March 31, 1846. His father was a native of Kentucky, and belonged to one of the pioneer families of that State; his mother was a native of Virginia, and the daughter of a Methodist minister. Our subject worked upon his father’s farm until he was nineteen years of age, and having but few educational advantages up to this time, and being of an ambitious and studious disposition, his one desire was to attend school. His parents were in moderate circumstances, and, unable to render him much assistance in obtaining a schooling, Louis determined to obtain his education without the aid of his family, and by his own efforts and the practice of rigid economy he succeeded in obtaining an education and profession. He finished his education at Central College, Fayette, Howard Co., Mo., from which institution he graduated in 1868. He then taught school for two terms, read law under Gen. Doniphan, at Richmond, Ray Co., Mo., was there admitted to the bar at the June term of the circuit court, in 1871, and settled in Edina. In 1872 he was elected county superintendent of schools, and held the office for two years, practicing his profession more or less at the same time. In 1875 Mr. Cottey was elected to the constitutional convention, as one of the members from the Twelfth Senatorial District; being at the time not twenty-nine, he was the youngest member of that body. Young as he was, he did so much valuable work in that convention that at its close he moved the preparation of the address to the people of the State, which address no doubt did more than anything else to familiarize the public with the character of the constitution. He modestly waived the right to be the chairman of the committee appointed to prepare that address. In 1876 our subject was sent by his Democratic constituents to the Lower House of the General Assembly, and officiated as chairman of the Committee on Claims, and was also a member of several other committees. In 1878 he was elected to the Upper House, and in the first session of the Senate was made chairman of the same committee that he presided over in the Lower House, and was the author of the so-called “Cottey bill,” which had for its object the putting of the bonded litigation of the State in the hands of the State courts, an act which attracted general public attention throughout the State. In the second session of the Senate he became chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. He was a faithful and zealous worker in the three General Assemblies of which he was a member, and made a noteworthy and highly commendable record. Mr. Cottey was a delegate to the Democratic State Conventions that nominated Govs. Phelps and Crittenden, and is now, as then, a stirring and energetic canvasser in the interests of his party. As a lawyer Mr. Cottey has stood well from the start, possessing a love of justice, and being well versed in the law. He is far above the average attorney as an advocate, is as true as steel to his clients, and is making a marked success in his profession.