Samuel Cole

Samuel Cole IV (February 8, 1815 – September 8, 1885) was an American mechanic, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served four years in each house of the Wisconsin Legislature, representing Lafayette County. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate in 1861, 1862, 1865, and 1866, and was a member of the State Assembly in 1851, 1860, 1864, and 1868.

Biography Samuel Cole was born in what is now Stanstead, Quebec, in the domain then known as Lower Canada. His family was from Vermont, but he was born when they were living on the Canada side of the border.

He learned the blacksmith trade as a young man and came to the Wisconsin Territory in 1838. He settled in what is now the town of Gratiot, Wisconsin, in Lafayette County, where he resided for the rest of his life. He opened a blacksmith shop shortly after arriving. He was also chosen as the first justice of the peace in Gratiot, and served at least 30 years in that office. and went on to serve in Senate for the 1861 and 1862 legislative sessions.

After the start of the American Civil War, Cole became affiliated with the National Union coalition and never returned to the Democratic Party.

The following year, he ran for another term in the Wisconsin Senate, and was elected on the Union ticket, defeating the Democratic incumbent James Earnest. The 1864 election sparked a controversy, and his opponent formally contested the results, challenging the validity of some of the soldiers' absentee votes. The Senate, which then had a substantial Union majority, delayed hearing the challenge until March, and ultimately ruled in Cole's favor.

Cole sought renomination for another term in the Senate in 1866, but the convention instead chose Allen Warden. He returned a year later, however, and was the Republican Party nominee for State Assembly again. His district again comprised roughly the eastern half of the county. He defeated Democrat Elias Slothower in the general election.

Cole did not run for state office again after serving in the 1868 legislative session, but remained active in the Republican Party of Wisconsin for most of the rest of his life.

He contracted Typhoid fever in January 1885, and suffered the lingering effects of the disease for several months. He died at his home in Gratiot on September 8, 1885.

Personal life and family

Samuel Cole IV was one of at least eight children born to Samuel Cole III and his second wife Sarah ( Hartshorn). Samuel Cole III served as a sergeant in the New Hampshire militia during the American Revolutionary War. The Coles were direct descendants of Thomas Cole, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in the 1640s.

Samuel Cole IV married Jane Connery, an Irish American immigrant, in April 1841 at Gratiot. They had at least four children.