Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Cottman, J. Frank November 27, 1842 - 
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Source: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County Pennsylvania, T. S. Benham & Company and the Lewis Publishing Company, 1904
Author: Ellwood Roberts, Editor

J. FRANK COTTMAN, the genial and popular proprietor of the 
Cottman House, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, was born in the 
hotel of which he is now proprietor, on November 27, 1842, a 
son of William and Helena (Delaney) Cottman, and a 
descendant of an old Montgomery county family. His maternal 
great-grandfather, Joseph Deerman, held a commission in the 
Revolutionary Army.
 
His paternal grandfather, John H. Cottman, was a native of 
Montgomery county Pennsylvania, and was a resident of that 
section of the state during his entire lifetime. He was the 
proprietor of the Spread Eagle Hotel at Bethayres, Moreland 
township, for many years, and after his death it was 
conducted for several years by his widow, who was known as 
Aunt Jennie Cottman, her maiden name having been Jennie 
Benner.

William Cottman (father) was a lifelong resident of 
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He was the owner of 
sixty-five acres of land located where the settlement of 
Noble now is, and this ground was cultivated to a high state 
of perfection. For several years he conducted the Buck 
Hotel, Bucks county, but in April, 1834, he purchased the 
Cottman Hotel at Jenkintown, which he conducted successfully 
until 1861, the year of his retirement from active pursuits, 
when he turned the business over to his son Charles, who 
conducted it until April 1, 1870. By his marriage to Helena 
Delaney four children were born, as follows: 1. Charles, 
deceased; he married Emma Shoemaker, who survives him, and 
resides in Jenkintown; they were the parents of two 
children, William, and Helen, wife of Joseph Paxson, and 
mother of one child, Charles Paxson. 2. Emma, wife of Edward 
H. Williams, and their family consists of three children 
Sarah T., wife of Horace Trumbaur; no family by this union, 
but by a previous marriage she has one daughter, Agnes 
Helena Smith; Arthur, who married Miss McDowell, and they 
are the parents of one son; and Helen, wife of Frank 
Wollaston, and mother of one son, Edward H. Wollaston. 3. 
James, who died in childhood. 4. J. Frank, mentioned at 
length hereinafter. William Cottman, father of these 
children, born November 22, 1802, died November 19, 1869. He 
was survived by his wife, who was born May 26, 1799, and 
died September 25, 1872.

J. Frank Cottman received a practical education in the, 
public schools of Jenkintown, which prepared him for the 
activities of life. He spent his boyhood and early manhood 
on his father's farm. In 1867 he rented the Red Lion Hotel 
at Willow Grove, which he conducted one year, and in the 
spring of the following year his father purchased for him 
the Three Tuns Hotel in Upper Dublin township, which 
hostelry he conducted for two years, achieving a large 
degree of success in the management thereof, and since 1870 
he has been the proprietor of his present hotel, which is 
first class in all its appointments, and well patronized by 
the traveling public. Mr. Cottman served three years in the 
town council, and during this time performed his duties in a 
highly creditable manner. He is a member of Friendship 
Lodge, No. 400, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jenkintown.

In the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1867, Mr. 
Cottman was married to Isabella Buck, born May 16, 1844, 
daughter of Jacob E. and Catherine (Afflerbach) Buck. No 
children have been born of this union.

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