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George F. Cotterill Papers, 1839-1958

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Cotterill, George F. (George Fletcher), 1865-1958
Title
George F. Cotterill Papers
Dates
1839-1958 (inclusive)
Quantity
12.78 cubic ft.
Collection Number
0038
Summary
Washington State senator, Seattle mayor, moral reformer, surveyor, and engineer.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Civil servant, elected official, moral reformer, surveyor, and engineer, George Fletcher Cotterill helped shape the city of Seattle in the literal as well as the figurative sense.

Cotterill was born in England to Alice and Robert Cotterill on Nov. 18, 1865. In 1872, the Cotterill family immigrated to the United States and settled in Montclair, New Jersey. Cotterill graduated from high school as class valedictorian in 1881, and studied surveying and engineering under the tutelage of a New Jersey county engineer for the next three years. During this time he participated in the platting and construction of Arlington cemetery.

Cotterill migrated to the Pacific Northwest in 1884. For several years he worked as a surveyor on various land, mining, and railroad projects before being hired by surveyor R.H. Thomson. With Thomson, Cotterill surveyed for the city's first sewer system and platted additions to rapidly expanding Seattle. When Thomson was appointed city engineer in 1882, Cotterill became his assistant. Among his responsibilities as assistant city engineer, Cotterill was assigned to the city water department and became instrumental in the development of the Cedar River water supply. The city, needing a fresher and less expensive source of water than the Lake Washington pumping system, approved the Cedar River gravity system in the mid 1890s. At the time, the city was out of funds to pay for the new water system, and Cotterill, a member of the task force responsible for improving Seattle's water supply, proposed the novel revenue bond system for municipal ownership of public utilities. The first of its kind in the United States, this public utilities plan was approved by citizen vote in 1896. Cotterill was also involved in the project to convert the tide flats south of the city into property capable of development.

Cotterill's advocacy of public utilities drew him into the political arena. In 1900 the nonpartisan party, through which he was promoting public utilities, nominated him for mayor. Cotterill accepted the nomination contingent on backing from the Democratic Party, which he received, and he ran as a Democratic candidate. Though Cotterill had grown up a Republican, the recent campaign of William Jennings Bryan had made him a Democrat. Cotterill did not win this election or the next, but in 1906 he ran for the state senate and won. One of his principal accomplishments while in office was the framing of the successful amendment to the Washington State constitution recognizing female suffrage. Because of this amendment, he recalled later with pride, his mother had been able to cast a ballot for the first time at the age of 75. Cotterill received the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1908 and again in 1910, but lost both times.

In 1912 Cotterill again ran for mayor, this time on a platform demanding moral reform. In an "open" city where vice had flourished since the Klondike gold rush, his campaign targeted Hiram Gill's legacy of graft in city government as well as rampant prostitution and gambling houses. Cotterill won this election, helped in part by the new ability of women to vote. Cotterill's term was punctuated by conflict and controversy, due to corruption in municipal government and the police department, labor unrest, an unsympathetic Seattle Times , and other causes. He regularly confronted opposition to his moral reform agenda, which was for the most part driven by strong temperance beliefs.

At the center of Cotterill's commitment to moral reform was his life-long crusade on behalf of temperance. His parents had joined the United Kingdom Temperance Alliance in 1865, consequently indoctrinating Cotterill from birth. As a child in England, Cotterill attended the local chapter his mother had formed of the Band of Hope, an organization for children's temperance education. Cotterill attended his first convention of the International Order of Good Templars in 1897 and remained involved in this organization for the rest of his life. He served for a time as Grand Secretary of the Washington State division and later as Chief Templar of the national division. In addition to his work with the Templars, he was a member of the Anti-Saloon League. In 1909, Cotterill was appointed by President Taft as U.S. representative to the International Congress against Alcoholism; in 1913 President Wilson reappointed him.

Cotterill did not seek a second term as mayor; instead he worked as a surveyor and engineer in private practice. From 1916 to 1919 he served as chief engineer of the state Highway Department. He returned to Seattle politics in 1922, running for Seattle port commissioner. He won, and served four consecutive three-year terms, 1922 to 1934.

Following his port commissioner post, Cotterill ran unsuccessfully for at least five various city and state offices between 1932 and 1951. He also ran for governor in 1928. Besides these campaigns, Cotterill worked a variety of jobs. Many of these were temporary positions, such as his position as consultant to the State Planning Council, and Cotterill faced some financial difficulty during the depression. He met with marginal success in his endeavors to get work under the WPA, in large part due to his advanced age. But Cotterill kept working, retiring at 84 only because he was forced out of his job as draftsman in the King County Assessor's office by a new county regulation of compulsory retirement for all employees over 70.

Cotterill was also active civically. He was a founding member of the Queen City Good Roads Club, and served as chairman of the paths committee. He was responsible for designing, surveying, and laying out over 25 miles of bicycle paths throughout Seattle, which became the basis of the city's boulevard system. He also wrote on Seattle and Northwest history, and in 1928 he published The Climax of a World Quest , a history of Puget Sound.

Cotterill's entire immediate family eventually migrated to the Puget Sound area. Cotterill married Cora Gormley in 1890, and in 1892 daughter Ruth was born. Ruth died in 1900, and George and Cora had no more children of their own. They did, however, raise a niece, Marjorie Avery nee Smith, as a foster daughter. Cora died in 1936 and Cotterill later married Katherine Owens. He died in 1958, at 92.

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Content Description

The George Cotterill papers encompass a broad array of subjects including Cotterill's involvement in the temperance movement, Seattle municipal government, Washington state politics, and his career as a surveyor and engineer. Personal and family life is represented to a limited degree through letters, diaries of relatives, memoirs, and photographs. The strength of this collection is in the diversity of materials it contains, offering rich sources about a dynamic time in Seattle's history. In particular, turn of the century Seattle politics is revealed through Cotterill's correspondence, writings, and various printed materials that he collected, as well as through his scrapbooks of campaign clippings. Also evident in the papers, principally in letters, writings and other documents relating to Cotterill's occupation as a surveyor and engineer, is Seattle's rapid growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in terms of its population, industry, and infrastructure.

This collection may present a challenge to users, however, in terms of the headings materials are filed under. The inventory listing does not always adequately detail what is actually in each file, and so it is easy to overlook items of significance. Users are cautioned to peruse folders carefully and to not rely too heavily on the inventory.

Accession no. 38-1 spans 1839-1954; however, bulk dates are 1895-1930. This accession begins with a biographical series that includes memoirs written by Cotterill, a completed biographical sketch form, and personal items belonging to Cotterill such as passports and membership cards. Genealogical materials of Cora Gormley Cotterill are also present. This series provides information about other subjects as well. One item of note appears to be a draft of a report pertaining to a blowout in the Cedar River dam in 1918. In it Cotterill relates a general history of the Cedar River water and power supply projects and the extent to which he was involved in them, both as an engineer and later as mayor.

Correspondence comprises approximately one third of this accession. Cotterill's manifold involvements in civic and political arenas are well documented in this series, and if perused carefully, it is a rich fund of information regarding Seattle's development. Letters are filed alphabetically under name of correspondent or simply in a "miscellaneous" file for each letter of the alphabet. It should be noted that the "miscellaneous" headings do not imply material of apparent lesser interest; they, too, contain much information pertinent to the activities of Cotterill and the development of Seattle.

Cotterill's career as an engineer for the city, state, and in private practice is documented in the correspondence series, but rather sporadically. Letters written to or relating to Cotterill as a city engineer can be found in the "Seattle. City Engineer" file (7/8), as well as other various correspondence files. Many letters pertain to Seattle's infrastructure development and discuss topics such as the construction and maintenance of Seattle's street cars and the development of the tide flats. The Cedar River water and power supply project is also documented in the correspondence. Outgoing letters include "A statement concerning the proposed Cedar River water supply system," unsigned but probably written by Cotterill, and a placating letter that Cotterill wrote to J. McGilvra, who was initially suspicious of the public ownership of utilities. Incoming letters from his term as chief engineer of state highways (1916 to 1919), as well as from his private practice are dispersed throughout the correspondence, filed by name of sender. Letters from R.H. Thomson span more than twenty years, loosely outlining the relationship of the two engineers.

Cotterill as mayor is partially represented in this collection; most of his mayoral records are located at the Seattle Municipal Archives. Nevertheless the papers contain a fair amount of information regarding his mayoralty, most of it present in both the incoming and outgoing correspondence.

Of particular note are letters documenting Cotterill's efforts to get vice and corruption in hand. In the "Seattle, Police Department" file (7/13), there is a report to chief of police Claude Bannick, forwarded to Mayor Cotterill, from an officer working to uncover gambling operations. The officer identifies police who accept payoffs and summarizes a plot uncovered by the investigation to drive a wedge between the mayor and the chief of police. Additionally, in the miscellaneous "M" file and elsewhere, there are several letters from mayors and police chiefs from other cities responding to Cotterill's request that they review an ordinance that prescribes penalties for police officers, presumably enacted under Gill's administration. Responses all state that the ordinance is unknown to them and one asserts that it is a deliberate measure to hinder law enforcement, enacted on behalf of the criminal. In an outgoing letter written to Bannick on his retirement as chief of police, Cotterill praises him for remaining honest in the face of such vicious corruption.

Other controversial events of Cotterill's mayoral term include the requested resignation of R.H. Ober, superintendent of buildings, believed by Cotterill to be abusing his position in the interpretation of building codes. The public works file contains general correspondence on this subject, and includes a letter from Ober that refutes charges made against him.

The many congratulatory letters Cotterill received upon his election in 1912 reflect his constituency to some degree. Also reflected in these letters is Cotterill's image as an upstanding civil servant; a couple of letters from citizens claim that though they didn't vote for him on account of his radical views, they still wished to applaud him and pledge their support.

Correspondence to Cotterill as state senator (1907-1911) is limited; however, there are quite a few letters from citizens to Cotterill while he was in office that request his attention to various issues and problems. Correspondence from Cotterill's four terms as port commissioner (1922-1934) is limited as well.

As a politician, Cotterill's relationship with the voting public is indicated in the correspondence. One letter from a citizen asks Cotterill to state his position on various issues, which he does in his own hand on the same letter. A lengthy thank you from the same citizen follows. There is at least one other letter from a different person thanking Cotterill for responding to a similar request. Democratic Party Correspondence is useful for a broad picture of Seattle politics, and includes copies and drafts of platform statements from various years.

Cotterill's major correspondent was Robert Montgomery, editor of the Puyallup Valley Herald . Cotterill regularly wrote editorials and other pieces for the Herald . The letters discuss political issues as they relate to the press and ask Cotterill for articles on various topics or for revisions to submitted articles. This correspondence, dating from 1916 to 1936, documents a friendship over many years. Additional letters from Montgomery, who served for a time as a University of Washington regent, can be found in the University of Washington files. Articles that Cotterill wrote for the Puyallup Valley Herald are in the Speeches and Writings series.

Letters regarding temperance and prohibition are plentiful and include correspondence from the Anti-Saloon League of America and other prohibition groups. There are also many letters from individual members of the International Order of Good Templars (I.O.T.G.) filed by the name of the individual. Anything on official I.O.T.G. letterhead is in the I.O.T.G. subgroup.

Correspondence also contains information about the Queen City Good Roads Club; both the miscellaneous "D" and the University of Washington files contain club petitions to build or maintain bicycle paths.

Family correspondence is minimal, but there are a number of letters from Cotterill's brothers Frank and Roland, both of whom discuss current issues of the day. Outgoing correspondence also includes a notebook recording in- and out-going letters that appears to have belonged to Alice Cotterill, George's mother.

Legislative records include Washington senate and house bills, at least twelve of which were introduced by Cotterill. Also included are Seattle city ordinances, some relating to the city's infrastructure. One in particular is a street naming ordinance that gives the old and new names of Seattle streets and the rationale for the changes. Also among them is an ordinance against unreasonable search and seizure by law enforcement, dated Dec. 1912.

Legal papers are comprised of a miscellany of documents both public and private. Among them is the Queen City Good Roads Club agreement to incorporate, signed by the fourteen founders. Another, more complete copy of this agreement can be found in the court papers series. There are also many real estate contracts, agreements, and mortgage documents in this series that provide information about Cotterill's apparently frequent property sales. Also, multiple blank "surrender of contract of sale" forms for property in the tide lands indicate Cotterill's involvement in the tide flats project while a city engineer. Various bills of sale are also present; at least two are for timber from Cotterill's land. Another from 1892 records the sale of the Washington Temperance magazine by Cotterill and a partner to the "American Publishing Company" for $600. More material regarding this transaction is in the financial records series.

The engineering and survey notes represent a variety of projects worked on by Cotterill, especially Seattle's extension into the tide flats.

The ephemera series is an added source of information about Cotterill's campaigns and Seattle politics in general. There are many examples of Cotterill's campaign ephemera, as well as ephemera from other candidates. A number of political flyers are also present. A pamphlet from the "Bolo Club," a veteran's organization, offers an alternate take on Cotterill; several paragraphs are devoted to underlining Cotterill's shortcomings. There is also one unused Republican ticket from Washington's 1889 gubernatorial election. Prohibition and Seattle/Northwest development are also represented in the ephemera.

The court papers series include a deposition given by Joseph Lyons, Cotterill's opponent in the 1907 senatorial election, regarding a controversy that led the Republican Party to demand a recount after Cotterill's victory.

The speeches and writings series contain material from the broad range of Cotterill's career. Political writings and speeches are numerous, and include a transcript of a debate between A. Scott Bullitt and Cotterill on amending the Volstead Law. There are many articles and stories about Seattle and Northwest history, including drafts of The Climax of a World Quest . Also in this series are a number of Cotterill's speeches and writings as port commissioner.

The lists, maps, charts, and graphs files are comprised of sundry items pertaining to Cotterill's assorted projects and jobs. Included here are examples of the "Pacific Planisphere" map of the world, designed by Cotterill to better serve Pacific trade and commerce.

Cotterill's diaries and notebooks contain miscellaneous notes and record daily activities, and are generally not of a personal nature. Rare exceptions include two diary entries surrounding Cora's death in Feb. 1936. There is also a journal that Cotterill kept during his trip to Switzerland in 1897.

Scrapbooks include one substantial volume of clippings from Cotterill's 1900 campaign for mayor. More political and other clippings were kept in another book, and a third scrapbook with many temperance clippings appears to have belonged to Cotterill's mother.

Subgroups represent some of Cotterill's major activities. The International Order of Good Templars is the largest subgroup, the bulk being chiefly correspondence from national and international branches of the organization, spanning 1890-1949. The other subgroups are small and contain mostly minutes from various meetings.

Family miscellany consists primarily of the diaries and correspondence of other family members. Most of the diaries were Robert Cotterill's. A landscape gardener and florist, his entries are largely horticultural notes. One exception is his diary from 1864, which covers a variety of subjects, including temperance.

Lucy Gearhart's interview notes are a good source of information about temperance movement history, as well as biographical information about Cotterill. Cotterill was also interviewed by the Seattle City Water Department for what he could tell of the history of the Cedar River water supply, and the transcript of this interview provides a detailed account of the development of public utilities in Seattle.

Accession no. 38-2 spans 1931-1958. It provides a sketch of Cotterill's later employment, through his last term as port commissioner and afterwards. His work for state and federal agencies is documented predominantly in correspondence. Letters reveal the difficulty Cotterill faced in getting hired under the Works Progress Administration and elsewhere due to his advanced age. Also apparent is the financial difficulty Cotterill confronted during the depression. Cotterill ran for port commissioner again in 1940, and a letter from a citizen in the "B" correspondence file asks Cotterill if he is "the same George Cotterill" who as past port commissioner had been caught dipping into port funds to save his own property. There is also an application for federal employment in the "miscellany" file, dated 1943, that gives a synopsis of Cotterill's long and varied career in his own words.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from this collection in digital format.

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 2 accessions.

  • Accession No. 0038-001, George F. Cotterill papers, 1890-1956
  • Accession No. 0038-002, George F. Cotterill papers, 1931-1958

Acquisition Information

The collection's Accession no. 38-1 was purchased from Shorey's book store in 1959. Accession no. 113 was donated by Cotterill's friend and fellow temperance advocate, Lucy Gearhart, in 1960.

Processing Note

Accession nos. 0038-001 and 0113-001 were merged in 2003 and inventoried as Accession no. 0038-001. A second component of this collection has been inventoried as Accession no. 0038-002.

The photographs were transferred to the George F. Cotterill Photograph Collection, PH Coll 211, in the division. Two other cartons were added in 2003.

Separated Materials

Thirty maps, mostly topographical maps of Washington and Oregon, were transferred to the Maps section in 1994.

Related Materials

Cataloged in the division is a copy of an address delivered by Cotterill regarding municipal ownership of street railways, and a copy of a map he created detailing the preliminary plan for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2003 (Last modified: 7/17/2017)

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