 Nyora kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Cotton akaberekwa pana November 16, 1890 muCharlestown. Baba vake, Henry Ward Beecher Cotton, akanga ari gweta uye nhengo yeBoston Common Council kubva muna 1880 kusvika muna 1881. Mhuri yaCotton yakatamira kuLexington, Massachusetts paaiva nemakore matatu. Akapinda zvikoro zvehurumende zveLexington, Roxbury Latin School, uye akapedza kudzidza paBoston University Chikoro cheMutemo muna 1912. Akashanda somutemo kwemakore akawanda nababa vake. Munguva yeHondo Yenyika I, Cotton akashanda muUnited States Army paCamps Devens naGrant, asi haana kutumwa kuvatariri. Akadzingwa muchiuto pashure peChibvumirano cheKupedza Hondo chaNovember 11, 1918uye gare gare akashanda somutungamiriri wokutanga weLexingtons American Legion post. 