|
|
|
|
|
  |
A. A. Cole
Born January 21, 1859 |
|||
|
|
A. A. Cole, proprietor and publisher of the Olin Recorder, is a man of wide experience and broad- gauged knowledge and is eminently fitted to shape the opinion of his locality through the medium of his paper. He was born on a farm at Nigger Point, afterward Pleasant Hill, Hale township, January 21, 1859, a son of John and Rebecca Cole. When he was but eighteen Mr. Cole, who had been attending the district school, began teaching in his home district and succeeded remarkably well, continuing there for several terms. When Professor C. L. Porter began agitating the matter of a college at Olin, Mr. Cole organized a summer school for him at Pleasant Hill in 1876, after which he with others assisted Professor Porter in carrying out his plans, and the college became an accomplished fact in September, 1878, and the following spring it was incorporated. Mr. Cole was one of the first pupils and graduated from the new college in the class of 1880.
Following this he had a varied experience, for the young man was ambitious and endeavored to find the work for which he was best suited. In the fall of 1882, he located in Olin, where he purchased a furniture store and conducted it for several years. In the meanwhile he studied law, and in October, 1900, he passed the examination before the supreme court of Iowa And was admitted to the bar, since which nine he has been in active practice. His inclinations, however, had always led him toward newspaper work and in 1896 he formed a partnership with his youngest brother, John L. Cole. and they bought the Olin Recorder. This association continued until February 28, 1907, when the junior member retired, and A. A. Cole has since continued alone, owning the printing plant and the building in which it is located, and acting as editor. Mr. Cole is a fearless writer and never hesitates to take a decided stand upon public matters, and his paper is regarded as an authority upon all subjects which he discusses.
On September 23, 1883, Mr. Cole married Miss Nancy Elizabeth Coleman and they have had seven children as follows: Raymond, who married Grace Switzer, lives in Olin and is foreman of his father's printing office: Clarence C. who married Hallie Clancey, lives at Coggon, Iowa, and is editor and proprietor of the Coggon Monitor; Glen F., Letha M., Ruth M., Esther M. and Frances L. are at home. Clarence C. has a school record of which his parents are very proud as he entered the Olin school when five years old and completed the entire course in twelve years without being absent or tardy.
Mr. Cole has often been called upon to represent the republican party in town and township offices and for fifteen years he has served faithfully on the school board of the independent school district of Olin, and his experience as an educator has been of considerable benefit to his people. In 1900 he joined the United Brethren church of Olin and was made superintendent of the Sunday school and with the exception of two years has given the church his services in this capacity ever since. Prominent in so many other ways, Mr. Cole also takes an interest in fraternal matters and is a member of the Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 200, A.F.&A.M., of which he is secretary; also Meridian Lodge, NO. 245, Knights of Pythias, of which he is chancellor commander, Big Wood Camp, No. 526, M.W.A. of which he is venerable consul; Olin Company, No. 9, Uniform Rank Knights of Pythias, of which he is captain; Hyacinth Temple, No. 72, Pythian Sisters, all of Olin; and of Ben De Meer Temple, No. 12, D.0., K. of Maquoketa. In legal circles, in newspaper work, socially, fraternally and in his church Mr. Cole easily dominates by reason of his personality and energy, and he is extremely popular, winning and retaining friends everywhere, so that there are few men of Jones county who are more widely known or who are better liked than he.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 198. |
|||
© Copyright 1997-2013, The Art Department, © Copyright 2014-2020, Richard Harrison.
| ||||