This is my working hypothesis - the way I see it as of this moment!! 
also being researched by David B Gammon who has contributed much to this page
looking for male line Cotten/on desc. to take part http://cottondna.family.nf/ 

 Roderick Cotten 16 Mar 1786 - 1814 Edgecombe Co
    married 27 Aug 1807 Mary Topping Braswell 1786 - ca 1866 
          dau of Solomon Braswell of Edgecombe County -- loose estate records

Roderick was the son of  Samuel Cotten Jr ca 1750-1795 and wife Elizabeth Ewell.
Samuel Cotten Jr was the son of Samuel Cotten and his first wife Elizabeth.
Samuel Cotten was the son of John Cotten who died in Bertie in 1728 and his wife Martha Godwin.

              i. Agnes LeRoy Cotten  17 Mar 1867 Tarboro - 22 June 1928 
                   married Jan 1891 Julian B Timberlake Jr of Raleigh 
                        1.  Julian B. Timberlake
                               married Charlotte Jordan 
                        2.  Agnes Cotten Timberlake 
                               married Lon Newton.
             ii. Robert Randolph Cotten Jr 19 July 1868 - 1884 d y
                      who drowned in the Tar River at age 15
             iii. Frederick Lewellyn Cotten 20 March 1870 - 22 April 1870 d y
             iv. Alla Clary Cotten 25 March 1871 - 19 Nov 1873 d y
             v. Bruce Cotten 3 March 1873 Wilson NC - 1954 Baltimore, MD
                  married 4 Aug 1910  Edyth Johns [Tyson] of Baltimore d. 1942
             vi. Lyman Atkinson Cotten 18 Dec 1874 Wilson NC - 12 Jan 1926 Norfolk VA
                              grad U S Naval Academy 1898
                   married Elizabeth B Henderson 
                           1.  Lyman A. Cotten  
                           2.  John Henderson Cotten 
            vii. Sallie Dromgoole Cotten 4 July 1876 - 
                    married Russell B Wiggin of Boston, Mass
            viii. Preston Sims Cotten April 1878 Falkland NC - lived Boston Mass
                     married 26 June 1915 Willa Strange of Danville, VA
                           1.   Robert Randolph Cotten.
              ix.  Elba Brown Cotten 
                     married Douglas B Wesson of Springfield, Mass? 
                                                               they had four children

     b. Mary Eliza Cotten 1841 - 1921
          married 1856 Lawrance Fountain 1832 - 1895 of Edgecombe Co          
            i. Ardelia Fountain ca 1858 -
                married Frank Harper
                                ancestors of Nancy Vick
          ii.Theodore Fountain 1859 -
                married  Margaret Leggett
         iii. Jefferson L. Fountain 1861 -
                married  Mary King ca 1868 -
                             of Pitt Co daughter of Capt. John
    *   iv. Mary Etta Fountain
                married W H Ellsworth
          v. Ellen Fountain
                 married John Mayo
         vi. LaFayette E Fountain
                  married Susan Lewis
        vii. Lawrence Fountain 
                 married Sally Barnes
       viii. Florence Fountain
                 married  John [Joseph] Peel
         ix. William [Willie] Fountain
                  married  Nora Peacock
          x.  Alice Fountain    [minor in 1895]  aft 1874 -
                  married  Mr. Peacock
    c. Delia Ann Cotten 20 Mar 1841 - 14 May 1928
          married 3 Feb 1859 Andrew Jackson Moore 3 June 1832 - 10 July 1907
                 lived at "Southwood" - farm manager for Bob Cotten for years
                  later years he was captain on the Old Dominion Steamship Line from Greenville to Tarboro, NC
               i. Cornelia Moore
                    married Edward Carman
               ii. Alice Anna Moore 1862 Pitt Co, NC -
                     married  1st Sylvestor Procter 
                    married 2nd Theodore Bryan
              iii. John Robert Moore
                     married Miss Blaker
              iv. William Henry Moore 30 Sept 1870 - 16 April 1952
                    married  Susan Lee Mayo 15 June 1871 - 6 July 1949
                         dau. of Dr P G Mayo & wife Susan Savage of Falkland
              v. Frederick Moore
                     married Miss Riddick of Virginia
             vi. Delia Elizabeth [Lizzie] Moore
                    married  William Williams  
     d. Cornelia Cotten  died young
     e.  Elizabeth Cotten d bef 1892
           married Henry Calvin Skinner ca 1831 - 1892  of Halifax Co
                  son of Uriah Skinner and wife Priscilla Whitehead alias Lewis
               i. George H Skinner ca 1866 - 
              ii. Mary Priscilla Skinner ca 1867 - 1900/10
                   married Halifax Co 25 Nov 1884 William Thomas Eure June 1846 - 1 July 1931 age 84
                               son of William Elliott Eure and wife Martha Elizabeth  Pope of Halifax Co
                             1. Lottie May Eure 20 Feb 1886 - 12 June 1969 unmarried
                             2. Mary Eure 10 Nov 1887 - 12 June 1973
                                  married Mr. Edwards
                             3. Ella/Ada Eure March 1890 -
                             4. William [Willie] Thomas Eure 28 Nov 1892 - 27 Sept 1965
                                    married Mary Bennett
                             5. Charles Wesley Eure 8 Jan 1894 - 2 May 1972 unmarried
                             6. Sadie Belle Eure 17 Dec 1896 - 18 July 1992 
                                    married 20 Dec 1922 Willis Henry Sanders
                                     a. Charles Eure Sanders 9 Aug 1927 - 3 Jan 1991
                                          married Marjorie Lee Downey
                    William Thomas Eure 
                     married 2nd Lizzie Powell
                                daughter of Ed Powell and Alice Hyman of Scotland Neck
             iii. Charles Uriah Skinner 26 Feb 1870 - 28 March 1940 Dunn NC
                   married Meter Godwin ca 1883 - 1910/20
                            1. Charles Uriah Skinner Jr ca 1905 -
                            2. Henry A Skinner ca 1906 -
                            3. George R. Skinner ca 1908 -
                   married 2nd Minnie Godwin
             iv. Robert E Lee Skinner ca 1871 - 12 Nov 1926
                              a druggist, lived in Morrisville, NC
                   married Irene Petway
                          1.  Oliver L Skinner ca 1901 -  
              v. Florence Jane Skinner ca 1873 - 
                   married Halifax Co 30 Jan 1895 Lorenzo Dow Vick 15 Dec 1870 - 1904
                                 lived in Dunn NC
                           1. Pearl Gladys Vick 28 July 1896 - 30 Sept 1974
                                 married Hugh W Perry
                           2. Florence Allene Vick ca 1899 -
             vi. Alice Bell Skinner 24 March 1877 - 9 Oct 1951
                   married Halifax Co 2 Feb 1896 Thaddeus Levi Vick lived in Enfield NC
                                marriage was held at Haywood's Church in Halifax Co
     f. John Milton Cotten ca 1845 - 3 Jan 1928 Granville Co
          married 18 January 1870 Alvania Watson of Halifax Co  died before 1893
               i. Roderick L Cotten ca 1874 - 25 Sept 1938 Washington NC
                         married Margarette [Maggie] Jane Higson
              ii.  Nancy Belle Cotten ca 1875 -
                       married Thomas Allgood of Beaufort
              iii. Kate Conner Cotten 1881 - 15 July 1946
                        married Henry Upchurch of Wake Co
               iv. Alvanier Cotten ca 1882 - 3 March 1953
                        married Wayland Upchurch of Wake Co
               v. Charles John Milton Cotten  
           married 2nd Fannie Thomas 28 March 1865 - 25 March 1935
                             of Beaufort, NC 
               vi. Leonard F Cotten 15 Jan 1893 - 28 Aug 1983  lived in Granville Co.
                        married Laura Estelle Spencer 23 April 1888 - 26 Dec 1967
    g. Martha Jane Cotten 1846 - aft 1920 Trinity NC
          married William Silas Weeks 
            i. Walter  W Weeks 28 June 1874 - 10 July 1895 dy
            ii. Robert Cotten  Weeks 4 April 1876 - 5 Dec, 1898 dy
            iii. James Pender Weeks 18 March 1880 - 15 December 1902 dy
            iv. William Silas  Weeks 14 Sept 1882 -
                            of Portsmouth, VA as of 1920 census   WWI reg.
                   married Nannie V Varner 
                                  widow of Amos Varner of the town of Troy in Montgomery Co NC
     h. Caroline Cotten 1848 - 1850
  
  Nancy Bell Pennine Tart Johnson ca 1815 - 7 Nov 1881
     married 2nd 25 Dec 1849 William Henry Newsome 1817 -1862
                                                    [the overseer of Nancy's farm]  
        i. William Henry Newsome dy
        j. Nancy Ellen Newsome,
              married George Richard Gammon of Edgecombe Co 
                                     line of David B Gammon

 3. Edward Samuel Cotten 15 Jan 1812 - bef 1900 his estate divided 1904
     married 15 Mar 1847 Penelope [Penny] Hawkins  ca 1820 - bef 1900
      a. Mallisa Cotten 13 Oct 1848 - 25 March 1939 age 91
          married aft 1880 James Robert Hawkins
                                    son of John and Spicey Hawkins, her first cousin
           i. Thomas ca 1873 -
          ii. 
          iii.
      b. Mary Ann Elizabeth Cotton ca October 1851 - never married, but had two daughters
            i. Minnie Clyde Cotton  1 August 1882 - 26 July 1953 dsp
            ii. Malissa Viola Cotton  10 Feb 1893 -  13 Nov 1967 dsp
                         Malissa never married - - was a local eccentric.
       c. Artimise Cotton ca 1853 -     not on 1880 census with family
       d. John L Cotton 13 Aug 1856 - 2 Dec 1943 dsp
       e. Edward S Cotton 23 May 1860 - 14 Aug 1943 dsp
       f. Ford McDaniel Cotton 18 Sept 1864 - 24 Jan 1940 dsp
                research by David B Gammon
 4.  Peggy Ann Cotten 7 Jan 1814 dy

Parents of Sallie Southall Cotten

Thomas James Southall 1809 - 1886
& 1831 Susan Swepson Sims 1814 - 1872
& after 1872 Mary Holley
of Amelia Co VA

    This is my working hypothesis - the way I see it as of this moment!! 

    Thomas James Southall married on 15 September 1831 Susan Swepson Sims. He was born 9 Aug 1809 the son of James Southall and wife Elizabeth Parker daughter of Thomas Parker of Gates Co NC. James Southall was a brother of Daniel Southall the Merchant-Minister of Murfreesboro NC.
     Susan/Susannah Swepson Sims was born 26 Feb 1814 was a daughter of Rev. Richard Sims and Rebecca Walton.

Children of Thomas James Southall and Susan Swepson Sims:
1. Elizabeth [Bettie] Rebecca Southall 3 Jan 1833 -
    married William J Moore died 5 March 1855
    a. Elizabeth Rebecca Moore 3 April 1849 - July 1849 4mos
    b. John James Moore 21 Sept 1850 -
    c. William [Willie] Thomas Moore 24 Feb 1853 - 6 Oct 1886 Augusta GA
2. Mary Ann Southall 25 April 1834 - 4 June 1884
3. Susan J Southall 1 July 1839 -
    married 4 Sept 1866 Benjamin W Baley
4. Martha [Mattie] Thomas Southall 4 Feb 1842 -
     married 29 Oct 1867 Joseph W Butterworth
     a. Carey W Butterworth 22 Oct 1868 -
     b. Julian Swepson Butterworth 10 May 1870 - 5 July 1871
     c. Paul Sims Butterworth 7 July 1872 -
     d. Little Sister 11 Jan 1875 - 19 Jan 1875
     e. boy 5 Oct 1876 - 5 Oct 1876
     f. Olie Thomas Butterworth 17 May 1878 - 1930
5. Sally Swepson Sims Southall 13 June 1846 -
    married 14 March 1866 Robert R Cotten
6. Julia Dromgoole Southall 20 July 1850 - 31 May 1855
7. J. Richard Sims Southall 29 Aug 1852 -
    married M Belle Attaway 

sources include 
 the online Bible of Susanna Swepson Southall [pub 1937] -she started her record in March 1840.
The Cotten Family of North Carolina by Bruce Cotten 1929, revised by his sister Elba Cotten Wesson 1963