John V. Cottrell, of J. V. Cottrell & Co., hardware.– The subject of this sketch was born in Hampshire county, Massachusetts, September 24, 1823. He was there reared to manhood, and received his education from the schools of the neighborhood. He followed agricultural pursuits in his native county until 1854, when he emigrated to Bureau county, Illinois, where he was a successful farmer, owning the premium farm, of that county.
In 1882 he came to Menlo, Iowa, and engaged in the hardware business. Mr. C., although a new settler, is well and favorably known in this county, and is slowly identified with the business and farming interest of Beaver township. He owns a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres of land in Beaver township, which is carried on by his son Frank.
He was married October 8, 1845, to Cornelia Burnham, a native of Massachusetts. They have three children–Frank L., Nettie D. and Mary A. Mr. C. and wife and daughter Mary are members of the Presbyterian church in Menlo; Nettie D. is a member of the Congregational church in Malden, Illinois.