Roswell F. Cottrell
Roswell Fenner Cottrell was a preacher, counselor, writer, hymnist and poet who came from a family of Seventh Day Baptists. He was the son of John Cottrell and Mary Polly Stillman After joining the sabbatarian Adventists who eventually organized the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he became one of their leading advocates.
The Cottrells of Rhode Island and their Seventh Day Baptist Heritage
The Cottrell family come from a long line of Seventh Day Baptists. The family traces their sabbatarian roots back to the Seventh Day Baptists of seventeenth century England or even earlier.1638, Nicholas Cottrell Arrives at Newport, Rhode Island
Nicholas Cottrell arrived from England to locate in Rhode Island. He was one of a company who purchased land in Westerly and vicinity. The records reveal that his descendants settled in Westerly and that this settlement became the principal center of the Seventh Day Baptist Church in New England.1774-1852, John Cottrell
Rosswell's father, John Cottrell, was born 1774 in Westerly, Rhode Island. He was a Seventh Day Baptist preacher. But he did not agree with the Baptist teaching on the immortality of the soul. He owned and worked a small farm woodware shop. These activities provided a source of income. He was not paid as a preacher. Along the intervening years several prominent members of the Cottrell family have become Seventh Day Baptist preachers.James White visited John Cottrell in 1853 at Mill Grove, New York. He reported the meeting in the Review and Herald:
Calvert B. Cottrell
Calvert B. Cottrell established a printing press manufacturing plant in Westerly. He practiced the Seventh Day Baptist faith and never operated on Saturdays in those early years. The branch of the Cottrell family living in Westerly, Rhode Island, have been observers of the Seventh-day Sabbath for more than three centuries.Brookfield and Mill Grove, New York
John Cottrell and family moved to New York and lived for many years in Brookfield. In 1833 he moved his family again. This time they settled at the hamlet of Mill Grove, some twenty miles east of Buffalo. Roswell, at 19 years of age, accompanied his parents to Mill Grove. They travelled much of the way on the then newly constructed Erie Canal. Roswell helped drive the team of horses along the towpath. At Mill Grove, Roswell married Catherine Harvey. He taught in the public schools for ten years.Soon after arriving at Mill Grove, he was one of those who witnessed the notable meteoric shower of November 13, 1833. With his father and other members of the family, Roswell was deeply interested in the message of William Miller, but did not identify himself with it, believing that when God would herald His second coming, the messengers would be observers of the seventh-day Sabbath.
John Cottrell spent the remainder of his life at Mill Grove. In 1851, one year before his death, he became a Seventh-day Adventist.
Joins with Sabbatarian Adventists
In 1851, the Roswell Cottrell family became Seventh-Day Adventists. Soon after accepting the message of Christ's imminent return, he entered the gospel ministry, devoting his full-time to preaching and writing, and for a time serving as president of the New York Conference. For 41 years up to the time of his death in 1892, R. F. Cottrell supported the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.Earliest Known Published Sermon by a Sabbatarian Adventist
The May 14, 1857, issue of the Review and Herald contains the earliest extant record of a sabbatarian Adventist sermon. Roswell F. Cottrell preached it to the Seneca Indians. This is also the earliest record of a Sabbath-keeping Adventists sharing his faith with members of an American Indian tribe.On February 2, 1857, R. F. Cottrell reported to the Review and Herald that he and William Ingraham had visited the Seneca Indian Reservation on Tonawanda Creek, located about 10 miles from Cottrell's home. Both Cottrell and Ingraham preached, through an interpreter, at the reservation's small Baptist church of fifty members. In the June 10, 1858 Review and Herald, a second sermon by Cottrell entitled "A Discourse Written for the Seneca Indians, to be delivered through an Interpreter, No. 2" was published.
In reporting on the meetings, Elder Cottrell wrote:
"We gave two lectures through an interpreter in their chapel. They manifested much interest. Their elder and deacon, and those among them who can read English seemed anxious to read, and we distributed some of our tracts among them gratuitously. Some said they believed from the signs that the coming of the Lord was near."
The Review and Herald and Other Church Journals
After the office of the Review and Herald was moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1855, he served for a time as a member of the paper's editorial committee along with J. N. Andrews and Uriah Smith. From that year onward, Cottrell was a regular contributor to the Review. He wrote close to 1700 articles for church papers over a period of 40 years.The Review and Herald grew considerably over its first two decades of operation. In the
Review of Nov. 25, 1873, it was reported that the net earnings of the office for several months had been about $1000 per month. This made it possible to purchase another press, a Cottrell and Babcock cylinder — weighing 14,675 lbs., at a cost of $3400.
The Youth Instructor
James White asked Cottrell to develop and present a series of youth Sabbath School lessons. These were published in the Youth's Instructor in 1854 and 1855.
As an Evangelist
Early Adventist evangelists used tents to conduct their meetings. For example, during the summer of 1856 tents were used in Wisconsin, Michigan, New England, and in the State of New York. In New York, Cottrell's home state, he and evangelist Ingraham assisted Loughborough in such tent meetings. These tent meetings brought considerable success with new people joining the movement. In the States of New York and Pennsylvania, there was not much money available. During haying and harvesting time, Loughborough's team worked in the fields four and one half days each week. Their evangelistic pay amounted to two dollars per weekend. They conducted meetings on both Sabbath and Sunday. Including what they had earned in farm labor, Ingraham and Loughborough earned four dollars per week. Cottrell was paid three dollars per week for acting as tent-master and speaking occasionally.Cottrell and Adventist Colleagues
RhodesLoughborough
James White
Ellen White
John Nevins Andrews
Uriah Smith
'''Dudley M. Canright'''
At the Time of His Death
Cottrell died at 78 years of age in 1892. S. H. Lane reported that the entire denomination had become familiar with his initials "R. F. C." and that his poetry has been read and sung with delight everywhere. According to Lane, Cottrell was a 'superlative' writer. Right up to the time, Cottrell studied his Bible and wrote both prose and poetry. The last night of his life, with a pencil and tablet, he wrote nearly all night and up to the time he died. At the time of his funeral, neighbors and friends, Adventists and otherwise, remembered him as a true Christian; a person true to his faith and to his church.Spicer Looks Back
Elder William A. Spicer, writing in the "Review & Herald" of 1951, paid this tribute to the memory of "our pioneer, Eld. Cottrell:Poet and Hymn Writer
Elder Cottrell wrote a number of poems through the years that were published in the Review and Herald. In addition, he wrote several hymns, two of which are included in the current Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. His poetry is playful and thought-provoking.Titles for Cottrell's poems
Progeny
1878-1970 Roy Franklin Cottrell
Roswell's grandson, Roy, was born at Ridgeway, New York, in 1878. He graduated from Mount Vernon Academy in Ohio and Pacific Union College in California. After a period of service as pastor-evangelist, he became Bible teacher at the South Lancaster Academy. In 1908, he and his wife Myrtie accepted a call to mission service in China, where they worked for twelve years to 1920.While in China, he travelled extensively. He baptized hundreds of native converts, and wrote numerous tracts and booklets in the Mandarin language. He prepared the first subscription book, HERALDS OF THE KING, used by Seventh-day Adventist colporters in China.
Since 1920, Roy lived in southern California where he worked as a pastor in Glendale, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Huntington Park and Los Angeles. He wrote for various religious journals, prepared eight series of international senior Sabbath School lessons, and for a considerable time conducted a weekly column entitled "The Newspaper Pulpit" which appeared in the three leading metropolitan papers of Los Angeles. He authored twenty-five books and booklets, ten in the Chinese language and fifteen in English. He retired from active pastoral service in 1950 and lived in Escondido, California. Roy Franklin Cottrell died in 1970.
1912-2003 Raymond Forrest Cottrell
Raymond Cottrell, the great-grandson of Roswell Fenner Cottrell and nephew of Roy Franklin Cottrell, was born in Glendale, Calif., in 1912. He is a graduate of La Sierra Academy and received his B.A, and :M.A, degrees from Pacific Union College.After his marriage to Elizabeth Landis of Phoenix, Ariz., and a period of service as teacher, evangelist and pastor, he was called to mission endeavor in Manchuria, China, where he labored for seven years. Returning to America, he taught in the Bible departments of Lodi Academy, Pacific Union Academy and Pacific Union College.
In 1952, Mr. Cottrell accented the invitation to connect with the Review and Herald Publishing Association as Associate Editor in the production of the seven-volume Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, On completion of that monumental project, he became Associate Editor of the "Review & Herald'.
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