This file part of www.watertownhistory.org website

 

Cole Family

 

John and Luther Cole [ brothers ]

Watertown Daily Times, 08 17 2000

 

The Cole family name is not heard of much in Watertown these days, although members had a prominent hand in city development. Longtime residents recall the origins of Cole Street and the Cole Hall associated with the Watertown Public Library, but no family members remain residents of the city.

 

Cole family members will hold a reunion in the city this weekend to see and hear some of the accomplishments of their forebears, although family ties to the city are a bit of a stretch.

 

John and Luther Cole were prominent city pioneers and businessmen, but other members of their family are less well known. The Cole family members attending the reunion this weekend are descendants of Zenas Cole, brother of John and Luther.

 

Foster Cole of Minneapolis, Minn., has organized the gathering here, although he said he really doesn't know much about Zenas.

 

"John and Luther were my great- great-great uncles," he said, in a telephone conversation from his home. "Zenas was my great-great-great-grandfather but I'm not prepared to give any background on him."

 

Noting that he has never been to Watertown, Foster said he was encouraged to visit the city by a favorite aunt related to the Coles by marriage. She died last year, but her inspiration has remained.

 

Foster said, "Aunt Norma Cole suggested that we find out more about our ancestors. She lived in Michigan for many years and was a retired school teacher. She moved to Kentucky where she built a log cabin and was always telling old stories about the area. She was a local historian who connected people back to their roots."

 

Norma was also an author of children's books, and in appreciation of her inspiration, Foster Cole is donating a set of her books to the Watertown Public Library. "She was a Cole by marriage, and she and her husband were divorced. However, they remained close and her ex-husband, Harold, who lives in Kentucky, is coming to the reunion," Foster said, noting that the event will be attended by about 17 family members.

 

In addition to Harold, Foster and his wife Elaine will attend the reunion with Foster's parents, Ann and Jack Cole of Minneapolis, two of Foster's three sisters, two cousins from Michigan and other family members.

 

Cole Home

 

They will meet Friday night at the Upper Krust restaurant where historian Bill Jannke will regale them with tales of the Cole brothers and other family members. On Saturday, they will tour the former Cole home at 802 N. Fourth St., now owned by Ken and Donna Grugel. The family will visit the library, Oak Hill Cemetery where Cole family members are buried, and also take in other sights around town. The weekend reunion will conclude on Sunday afternoon with a visit to the Octagon House where the Watertown Historical Society is holding its annual ice cream social. Some furnishings formerly owned by the Cole family are on display at the Octagon House.

 

"John willed $86,000 to the city of Watertown when he died. Part of the money was used to build Cole Hall at the library, part of it was put in a children's book fund, and part was used to build the Main Street bridge," said Foster, who added, "I'm not terribly interested in history, but Norma inspired us all."

 

Although he claims that he is not a history buff, Foster has managed to trace the Cole family back to the 1600s when members arrived in Massachusetts. "I don't know the nationality or where they were from, but somehow the family went from Massachusetts to Vermont. John,. Luther, Zenas and another brother, Ebenezer, came here from Vermont, but two sisters, Lucy and Persis, stayed in Vermont," he said, relating information gathered from Mormon Church genealogy records.

 

Jannke will impart more history about the Coles in Watertown, and he will also show some of the artifacts from the Cole family, such as old pictures of the inside of the North Fourth Street home and the Cole family Bible.

 

"John and his brother Luther opened the first general store on Main Street in November 1841," Jannke related, adding that it was located on the southwest corner of Main and Second streets. They also built another store on Main Street in 1854.  John and Luther are considered the first settlers of Dodge County, and they lived out where the country club is now located. They were farmers, so if people needed something from the store during the day, they had to make an appointment. The Coles opened the store at night for customers.”

 

Jannke also related how John Cole became owner of Tivoli Island for a time. "Jesse DeCoy told John's wife, Elizabeth (Fisk) in the 1840s that if her first child was a boy, the Coles would be given the deed to the island. The child was indeed a boy and the Coles became owners of the island.  They sold it to the Concordia Opera Society sometime between 1860 and 1870."

 

Jannke will also be on hand for the tour of the former Cole home on Saturday where he will relate more information to the descendants about their ancestors. "John Cole built the house in 1854-1855, but the family only lived there a short time. They lived there about five years and then lived separately in other places," he said, adding that, "Elizabeth was a bit feisty and she would ride down Main Street on a white charger."

 

John and his wife are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.

 

John Cole

 

Derived from: The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin by C. W. Butterfield, 1879

 

Ebenezer

 

John W. Cole, Watertown; is the third son of Ebenezer Cole, and brother of Luther A. Cole, was born the 28th day of December, 1814, in Charleston, Orleans Co., Vt.; until the age of 22, he worked upon the farm of his parents, and with his father at his trade of carpenter and joiner. 

 

In the fall of 1836, he started West, and first came to Milwaukee, where he remained until January, 1837, cutting timber on the Milwaukee River, when he moved to Watertown, making the trip with ox-teams, carrying flour and pork, and with his brother, Luther A., and five others, kept what was called the “bachelor’s distress” for four years. 

 

He engaged with his brother in the general merchandise business, having built the first store in Watertown.  Having dissolved partnership with his brother, Mr. Cole built a store on the north corner of Second and Main streets, and carried on a general merchandise business for about fifteen years, part of this time being also engaged in the manufacture of saleratus and potash. 

 

In 1854, he built the block of stores on the southeast corner of Second and Main streets, since which time Mr. Cole has lived retired from active business in Watertown.  For two years he held, in Osage Co., while living there, the office of County Commissioner. 

 

In 1855, he held the office of Mayor of Watertown, and has also been Supervisor of Jefferson Co. 

 

He married Miss Eliza C. Fisk (daughter of James L. and Laura Fisk, of the State of New York) Nov. 19, 1844; they had three children, one living – Oscar A., and two deceased – one named Johnnie, the other dying in infancy.

1894

   John W Cole’s Will

 

(03 05) John W. Cole's will disposes of his property about as follows: The executors and trustees named therein are Christian May, C. B. Skinner and Oscar Cole, to whom the residence of the estate is given, and after paying expenses one third goes to Mrs. Cole and two thirds to Oscar Cole. His residence is to be deeded to the city for an old ladies' home at the discretion of the trustees. A farm at Lake Mills and lots in the first ward go to Mrs. Cole and Oscar in fee simple. The trust continues during the life of Mrs. Cole and son; after Oscar's death the farm north of this city in Emmet is to be used as a city driving park. All the property on the death of Mrs. Cole and son goes to the city for the purpose of maintaining a public library, business men's club and a home for aged and poor people. Should the city refuse to accept the property, the next of kin are entitled to it.

 

Luther Cole

 

Derived from: The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin by C. W. Butterfield, 1879

 

 

Luther A. Cole, Watertown, was born in West Charleston, Orleans Co., Vt., Nov. 1, 1812; his father, Ebenezer Cole, was the fourth settler in that town.

 

At the age of 22, he started West, and landed at Detroit in 1834; the following June he took passage in the schooner Supply, a little craft of but fifty feet keel, for Green Bay and Grand River.  The passage to Green Bay occupied twelve days; after remaining there two days they started for Grand River, which they reached the fourth day, making sixteen days’ sailing from Detroit.  He remained at Grand River, and in its vicinity, for about eleven months, being employed most of the time at building saw-mills and log houses. 

 

He then resolved upon visiting Wisconsin, and taking passage at Grand Haven, at the mouth of Grand River, in the schooner White Pigeon, in company with Philander Baldwin and Elisha M. Osborn, reached Chicago after a sail of about twenty-four hours.  Two or three days afterward they started on foot for Milwaukee, following Indian trails most of the way, and finding on the route but an occasional settler. 

 

They arrived at Milwaukee on the 10th day of May, 1836.  There he worked at the carpenter and joiner business until December, when, taking his blanket and provisions upon his shoulder, he started for Johnson’s Rapids (now Watertown) passing over the road which had been cut out by Mr. Johnson a few week’s previously, arriving on the evening of Dec. 27, 1836.  Amasa Hyland accompanied him. 

 

A few months before, Mr. Cole had, through the agency of a friend, made two claims at the Rapids, one covering the farm now owned by John W. Cole, and the other the farm now owned by heirs of Benj. A. Morey.  About the same time, he also made a claim three miles south of Prairieville. 

 

In January following, he purchased, at Milwaukee, three barrels of flour, and three of pork.  He paid $20 a barrel for the flour, and $40 a barrel for the pork.  Building a cabin, in company with Mr. Hyland, and his brother, John W., they commenced keeping what they called “bachelor’s distress,” which they continued for nearly four years. 

 

In the season of 1837, Mr. Cole worked on the saw-mill and dam of Charles F. H. Goodhue & Son, at Watertown.  From that time, until the fall of 1839, he was occupied mainly at lumbering and farming. 

 

In November of the latter-named year, in company with Mr. Hyland, John A. Chadwick, David Griffith, William P. Owen, William Stanton, Jr., Brice Hall, John Dimick, he started for Arkansas for the purpose of spending the winter in chopping steamboat wood.  They floated down Rock River in skiffs, and were eight days reaching the Mississippi.  They remained in Arkansas until the following spring, each making a clever-sized “pile,” when they returned to Watertown. 

 

The same season, Mr. Cole, in company with Mr. Hyland, Mr. Stanton, Edmund S. Bailey and his brother, John W., purchased 400 acres of land on what is known as Hyland Prairie, in Dodge Co.  There was then no inhabitant in the town of Fairfield, in which that prairie is situated.  The only thing in the shape of a road, at that time leading north from Watertown, was an Indian trail. 

 

In 1841, he and his brother, John W., erected the building on the corner of Main and Second streets (now occupied by August Fuermann as a saloon and restaurant), and opened the first store in Watertown.  The next year, Mr. Bailey and Mr. Cole purchased of Seeley Kidder 750 acres of land on the east side of the river, at Watertown, including the present site of the village, as also the mill and water-power.  They were to pay 1,000,000 feet of lumber, to be delivered at Beloit within seven years.  They associated with them the next year Linus R. Cady and his brother, Ebenezer W., and in three years and a half from the date of the purchase, made the last payment; since which time the general business of Mr. Cole has been milling.  Selling out his interest in the mills at Watertown, in 1854, he carried on the “Rough and Ready Mill,” one mile east of Watertown, up to 1865. 

 

In 1866, he went to Nebraska with Mr. Lyons, and built a saw and grist mill forty miles above Omaha, on the Missouri River.  In 1867, he also built a mill on Platte River, ten miles south of Denver.  In 1869, he sold out his interest in milling, having engaged in it for twenty-eight years of his life, since which time, having retired from active business, he has resided at Watertown. 

 

Mr. Cole married Miss Mary Jane Brackett (daughter of Jerry C. and Uranah Brackett, of Vermont) Aug. 29, 1842, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vt.; they have four children, two living – Guy L. and Uranah B. (now wife of F. L. Clark, of Watertown), and two deceased – Guy G. and Martha.

 

 

[yet to be abstracted]

MEMORIES OF EARLY WATERTOWN

 

Watertown Daily Times, 01 20 2007, 01 27 2007 and 02 03 2007

 

Most residents know Timothy Johnson was Watertown's first white settler. He came here in early 1836 and pitched his tent and later his first home on the banks of the Rock River where County Highway Y bends just south of Highway 26. It was in that general area that he first settled the community. It was originally named Johnson Rapids, after the founder, and also the rapid fall in the river in this area. It later received the name of Watertown.

 

Now, we'll move ahead to January of 1851 when Watertown was becoming a bustling community and some of the early pioneers traveled to the Green Mountain House in Fort Atkinson to convene the second annual pioneer festival, a couple of days of socializing and some business. The festival brought some of the earliest pioneers from the area and included in the gathering were two incredible reports, one from Tim Johnson and the other from Luther A. Cole.

 

Those two narratives, which were put in written form in addition to being presented orally at the festival, prompted the formation of a committee from the surrounding townships to have one person from each community write an early history. It was good that they did this because the reports are a treasure trove of information.

 

Some time ago we published the narrative by Tim Johnson. We, like many of our readers, found that early narrative quite interesting.

 

Today we want to publish the narrative by Luther A. Cole, one of Watertown's leaders in its earliest years. It really gives a vivid report on what life was like in Watertown a century and a half ago.

 

Here's the report he gave at the second annual Pioneer Festival in January of 1851. It was later published in the Watertown Chronicle and is being reprinted here:

 

“Before entering upon a relation of my ‘experience' in this state, I ask this audience to bear with me a few minutes while I refer to my still earlier history.

 

“I was born in West Charleston, Orleans co., Vermont, on the 1st day of November, 1812. My father (Ebenezer Cole) was the fourth settler in that town. At the age of 22, I started for the west, and landed at Detroit in Dec. 1834. The following June I took passage in the schooner Supply, a little craft of but 50 feet keel, for Green Bay and Grand River. Our passage to the Bay occupied twelve days. After remaining there two days, we started for Grand River, which we reached the fourth day thereafter - making sixteen days' sailing from Detroit.

 

“I remained at Grand River and in its vicinity about eleven months, being employed most of the time at building saw mills and log houses. For about two months of this time, however, I was afflicted with the ague, ‘the old fashioned way' - only as that complaint can develop itself in Michigan! I then resolved upon visiting Wisconsin; and taking passage at Grand Haven, at the mouth of Grand River, in the schooner White Pigeon, in company with Philander Baldwin and Elisha M. Osborn, we reached Chicago after a sail of about twenty-four hours. Two or three days afterward we started on foot for Milwaukee, following Indian trails most of the way, and finding on the route but an occasional settler. We arrived at Milwaukee on the 10th day of May, 1836.

 

“At that time Lake Michigan had been visited but two or three times by steamboats - the object of these boats thus in straying so far from the usual channels of commerce at that day, being to provision the U.S. troops at Green Bay, Mackinaw and Chicago. There were a few schooners on the lake. During the season of navigation, one of them may have passed from Grand River to Milwaukee, every two weeks, on an average. They were principally engaged in the lumber trade.

 

“I worked at the carpenter and joiner business until December, with the exception of about two months which I devoted exclusively to the ague. Taking my blanket and provisions upon my shoulder, I then started for Johnson's Rapids, (now Watertown,) passing over the road which had been cut out by Mr. Johnson a few weeks previously -- Amasa Hyland accompanied me. A few months before I had through the agency of a friend, made two claims at the Rapids, one covering the farm now owned by John W. Cole, and the other the farm now owned by the heirs of Benj. A. Morey. About the same time I also made a claim three miles south of Prairieville.

 

“In January following, I purchased at Milwaukee three barrels of flour and three of pork. I paid $50 for the flour, and $100 for the pork. Building a cabin in company with Mr. Hyland and my brother John W. we commenced keeping what we called ‘bachelors' distress,' which we continued a greater part of the time for four years. The peculiar luxury of this method of living, can only be appreciated by those who have enjoyed it. I will only say here, that we made it a point not to wash our dishes until we could count the mice tracks upon them!"

 

 

January 27, 2007

 

COLE MEMORIES CONTINUE

 

Last week we printed the first part of the early recollections of early Watertown settler Luther A. Cole. The narrative was actually given in oral form at the annual Pioneer Festival which was held in Fort Atkinson in January of that year. The “old-timers” gathered once a year to reminisce and to preserve their stories for future generations.

 

When we ended the column last week, Luther Cole was talking about his initial years out in the wilderness we now call Watertown. We're resuming today with Luther recalling the year 1837, just a year after Timothy Johnson was the first white settler in Watertown.

 

His report continues:

 

“The season of 1837, I worked on the saw mill and dam of Charles F. H. Goodhue & Son, at Watertown. From that time until the fall of 1839, I was occupied mainly at lumbering and farming. In November of the latter named year, eight of us - Mr. Hyland, John A. Chadwick, David Griffith, Wm. P. Owen, Wm. Stanton, Jr., Brice Hall, John Dimmick and myself - started for Arkansas, for the purpose of spending the winter at chopping steamboat wood. We floated down Rock River in skiffs, and were eight days in reaching the Mississippi. The weather was cold, and being obliged to camp out nights, our sufferings were most severe.

 

“We remained in Arkansas until the following spring, each one of us making a clever sized ‘pile,' when we returned to Watertown. The same season Mr. Hyland, Mr. Stanton, Edmond S. Bailey, my brother John W. and myself, purchased 400 acres of land on what is now known as Hyland Prairie, in Dodge county. There was then no inhabitant in the town of Fairfield, in which that prairie is situated. The only thing in the shape of a road at that time leading north from Watertown was an Indian trail.

 

“In 1841, my brother John W. and myself erected the building on the corner of Main and Second streets, (now occupied by Wm. V. Ament,) and opened the first store in Watertown.

 

“The next year Mr. Bailey and myself purchased of Seley Kidder, (he having previously purchased of the Goodhues,) 750 acres of land on the east side of the river, at Watertown, including the present site of the village, as also the saw mill and water power. We were to pay 1,000,000 feet of lumber, to be delivered at Beloit within seven years. - We associated with us the next year, Linus R. Cady and my brother Ebenezer W. and in three years and a half from the date of the purchase, we made the last payment.

 

“My general business since then, as most of my acquaintances are aware, has been milling.

 

“I will conclude this sketch by relating a few incidents connected with the early history of Watertown:

 

“A few weeks after settling in that village, a man by the name of Thomas Bass was burnt to death in a cabin standing near the present wagon shop of Virgil D. Green. - He and two other men, Charles Seaton and Ezra Doliver, who were in the employment of James Rogan, had passed a drunken afternoon and evening, and in the morning Bass was found near the fire a corpse, one arm being nearly burnt off, and other portions of his person badly charred. A coffin from hewn pieces of basswood was prepared, and the remains interred a short distance from where the old school house now stands. A prayer on the occasion was made by Wm. Brayton, of Aztalan. Rumors of violence having been the primary cause of the death, a coroner from Milwaukee was sent for, the remains disinterred, an inquest held, Seaton and Doliver and arrested, tried at Milwaukee, and finally acquitted.

 

“In June or July following, a company of about fifteen of us causewayed Battletown marsh and other smaller marshes between Watertown and Summit, and otherwise improved the road. We were thus employed eight days, ‘working for nothing and boarding ourselves.' We camped at night in the open air. I have read of mammoth mosquitoes, but never saw any equal in size and voracity to those we encountered at Battletown. They ‘bit like a serpent, and stung like an adder!'

 

“In the spring of 1838, provisions and money were scarce. We had but little pork in the settlement, and subsisted mainly upon fresh fish, with which the Rock abounded. Our flour having failed us at one time, we were nearly a week without bread.

 

“The Winnebago Indians committed many petty thefts for some time after Watertown was first settled. One of them having stolen a watch from Mr. Griswold, a pair of mittens from Peter V. Brown, and a quantity of tobacco from me, we thought it best to make an example of him. Forming a ring and stripping him of his blanket, Griswold and I took turns in applying the lash to his back. But we tempered justice with mercy. No blood was drawn. The expedient worked to a charm. After that Indian thefts were hardly known in the settlement.

 

“The first frame barn in the county of Dodge, was erected in March, 1839, on the farm of my brother John W., a short distance north of the north line of the village of Watertown. It was framed by Wm. H. Acker. It was raised by 25 or 30 of us, and though it snowed hard all the while, we were only about two hours in putting it up. Two gallons of high wines had been provided, and many of the company not knowing the ‘bead' the liquor carried, soon found themselves in the very best of spirits. After completing the task, about one-half of us adjourned to the cabin near by, and had a right merry time of it. When the party finally broke up, a tin cup full of the liquor remained unappropriated.”

 

 

LUTHER COLE'S STORY ENDS

 

February 3, 2007

 

Last week Luther talked about a barn raising just north of the city limits in 1839. From there he mentioned he had been asked about some “adventures” he had while living in this community which was carved out of the wilds. Here's what he had to say on that topic:

 

“I have frequently been asked, if in any of my adventures in this country, when new, I ever came in contact with wild beasts. I never did. I may say, however, that upon one occasion I was thrown into as close proximity with them as was agreeable to me. About 8 o'clock one evening, in the winter of 1837-38, being at that time deputy sheriff of Milwaukee county, to which county Jefferson was attached for judicial purposes, I started from Watertown on foot, to serve a writ of attachment upon a man who had left Johnson's Creek for Milwaukee about six hours previously, with a horse and jumper. With the exception of Mr. Sacie's shantee, in the present town of Concord, there was no occupied building between Watertown and the tavern then kept by Major Pratt, and now by Samuel Putney. Upon reaching the marsh near the present tavern of Mr. Kellogg, the wolves opened their concert. With every step I took, their music seemed to increase in volume and terror. I increased my speed, but still I appeared to be in their very midst. It was dark, and I could not see them, nor did I desire to. I was quite willing that they should keep at elbow distance, and only feared that they would insist upon a closer acquaintance. Arrived at the eastern end of the causeway across the Battletown marsh, some three miles from the spot where the wolves first greeted me, I considered the Rubicon as fairly passed, and breathed more freely. They followed me no farther, and upon reaching Mr. Pratt's, I found the man I was in search of snugly stowed away in a bunk, and taking up my quarters on the floor, I awaited daylight for the service of the writ.”

 

That concluded the statement of Luther A. Cole at the Pioneer Festival. Following his recollections, several others offered comments including one by Jared Ostrandeer who said, “The Old Pioneers - may their last days be their best!”

 

Then, a Mr. Noggle, who was a guest from Janesville, took the floor for some brief comments. He said, “Ladies and Gentlemen: It is with difficulty I can express my gratification at witnessing this large assemblage of the pioneers of this county. The brief narratives of the old settlers which have just been read, forcibly remind me of similar scenes which I have seen, but with the relation of which I will not tax your patience.

 

“Though the call for this meeting was confined to the citizens of Jefferson county, I will improve the invitation which has been extended to me, to preface the toast I design offering by a few remarks.

 

“In the summer of 1836, I became a resident of the west. At that time the country west of Chicago was new and uncultivated. I had heard much in favor of our western prairies, openings and woods, and was induced to leave my eastern home. I came to Michigan. I was there told that there was a better country ahead, and I pushed on to Chicago. ‘A better country yet ahead,' was whispered in my ears. I thought it was so, as I passed the Des Plaines, and found myself in the Fox River country. ‘A little better country ahead,' was still the cry. - I came to the Rock River valley, and found that ‘the half had not been told me.' This is certainly the best country I ever saw. - The health and prosperity of its people abundantly prove it.

 

“It cannot be disguised, however, that the first settlers here met with privations and sickness. The narratives which have been read, show it. We were few and scattered, and had it not in our power to render every needful assistance to one another. But we were all friends. Though the nearest neighbors of some of us lived at the distance of 10 or 12 miles, a kindly feeling existed which many at this day cannot boast, having neighbors within a stone's throw of their doors. The grand secret of our happiness might have been found in the fact, that each strove to help his fellow. Those were happy days to me, Mr. President, and I doubt not to most present, even though we subsisted upon fish and prairie chickens, and had no better for gravy!”

 

That was an interesting report about the early days in Watertown. We're sure glad that some of the original Watertown settlers had the foresight to hold an annual “pioneer festival” before it was too late. Those who spoke at the early ones were certainly living the history that we find so interesting today.

 

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