Willie James “Cotton” Hill

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Willie James “Cotton” Hill

Birth
Texas, USA
Death
12 Nov 1988 (aged 66)
Lubbock, Lubbock County, Texas, USA
Burial
Slaton, Lubbock County, Texas, USA Add to Map
Plot
Englewood West. Block 2, Lot 383, Space 3
Memorial ID
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After losing his mother to TB at the age of 14, Willie James "Cotton" Hill helped his daddy care for his three younger brothers in Texas during the Dust Bowl days of the Depression and after. Aside from working fields across the state, his toughest job was finding food for his growing brothers and himself. The boys were always hungry. He helped his father make moonshine at a hidden still and transported it across county lines, learning when to hide the white gold so "revenooers" wouldn't find it and when to dump it so he and his brothers wouldn't end up in juvenile hall.

Cotton became the quintessential traveling man, working agricultural, construction, and odd jobs from Louisiana to Oregon, usually with his brothers. They stayed long enough to save some money, then zoomed on to the next town or state.

Pinning him down was tough, but he married three times to Lois, Minnie, and Virginia. Cotton had one son, Ronald.
After losing his mother to TB at the age of 14, Willie James "Cotton" Hill helped his daddy care for his three younger brothers in Texas during the Dust Bowl days of the Depression and after. Aside from working fields across the state, his toughest job was finding food for his growing brothers and himself. The boys were always hungry. He helped his father make moonshine at a hidden still and transported it across county lines, learning when to hide the white gold so "revenooers" wouldn't find it and when to dump it so he and his brothers wouldn't end up in juvenile hall.

Cotton became the quintessential traveling man, working agricultural, construction, and odd jobs from Louisiana to Oregon, usually with his brothers. They stayed long enough to save some money, then zoomed on to the next town or state.

Pinning him down was tough, but he married three times to Lois, Minnie, and Virginia. Cotton had one son, Ronald.