Descendant of James Cole, Plymouth

I consider one of my biggest achievements researching my own family was establishing the Cole lineage. My greatest challenge was discovering my great grandfather’s parent’s names. While I suspected I had the connection, the problem was dates. According to Ernest Byron Cole’s 1908 book Cole, The descendants of James Cole of Plymouth 1633 : also a record of the families of Lieutenant Thomas Burnham of Ipswich, 1635, Lieutenant Edward Winship of Cambridge, 1635, and Simon Huntington of Norwich, England, 1635 : with a complete record of the Cole, Coole, and Cowle families of America in the Revolution (New York: Grafton Press, 1908), Frederick Cole, my grandfather, was born in 1861. From what I could tell from census records, it was 1860.

It wasn’t until I obtained a copy of their marriage certificate that I connected Frederick Theodore Cole with Orange Theodore Cole and his wife Minerva Garrison (or Harrison). Once that connection was made, the rest was history, as they say.

Here is my direct line of descent from James Cole, one of the early New England settlers. It represents 15 generations of Coles in America.

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James Cole
b. Abt. 1600, England
d. Abt. 1688 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
m. 01 May 1625, Mary Tibbes

James Cole arrived in New England before 1633 but the name of his ship is unknown. James was, however, one of the first settlers of the area known as Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He owned land along Plymouth Harbor that included Cole’s Hill – which may or may not have been named after him – and the property upon which Plymouth Rock now stands.

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Hugh Cole
b. Abt. 1627 in London, England
d. 26 Jan 1700 in Swansea, Massachusetts
m. 08 Jan 1654, Mary Foxwell

Hugh was fined 20s in June of 1655, nearly a year and half after he married Mary. From the court orders, “Item, wee psent Hugh Cole, and Mary Foxwell, his now wife, in keeping company each with other in an vndecent manner, att an vnseasonable time and place, before marriage.”

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Hugh Cole
b. 16 Mar 1658 in Swansea, Massachusetts
d. 17 Feb 1737/38 in Swansea, Massachusetts
m. 06 May 1681, Deborah Bucklin

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Hugh Cole
b. 30 May 1683 in Swansea, Massachusetts
d. 14 Jun 1753 in Swansea, Massachusetts
m. 13 Dec 1705, Martha Luther

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Hugh Cole
b. 29 Sep 1706 in Swansea, Massachusetts
d. Abt. 1785 in Scituate, Rhode Island
m. 13 Aug 1730, Jane Sisson

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Richard Cole
b. Abt. 1745 in Swansea, Massachusetts
d. Dec 1816 in Richfield, New York
m. Abigail Walker

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Hezekiah Cole
b. 23 Sep 1765 in Foster, Rhode Island
d. 03 Jul 1844
m. 31 May 1787, Bethany Arnold

Lieutenant Colonel Hezekiah Cole was one of the oldest soldiers to serve in the War of 1812. Although he was born in Rhode Island, he later moved to the town of Richland, New York. Hezekiah served in the 13^th Rhode Island Militia after the Revolutionary War and through the War of 1812.

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Arnold Cole
b. 15 Sep 1787 in Scituate, Rhode Island
d. 12 Feb 1861, Burlington Flats, New York
m. 07 Sep 1806, Ruth Hopkins

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Hezekiah Walker Cole
b. 28 Jul 1810 in Scituate, Rhode Island
d. 11 Feb 1892, Oswego, New York
m. 01 Jan 1832, Charity Washburn

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Orange Theodore Cole
b. 12 Oct 1834
d. 21 Jul 1903
m. Aug 1860, Minerva Garrison

Orange was a Civil War veteran, signing with the Union on 3 Aug 1863 at Oswego when he was 27 years old. Mustered in as a private with Company I of the Twentieth Regiment, New York Cavalry,  he served three years and mustered out as a sergeant 31 Jul 1865 near Manchester, Virginia.

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Frederick Theodore Cole
b. 11 Oct 1860 in Oswego, New York
d. 07 Dec 1947 in Oswego, New York
m. 09 Mar 1914, Rose Beatrice Dattler

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Howard Theodore Cole
b. 27 Nov 1919 in Syracuse, New York
d. 21 May 1987 in Angola, New York
m. 01 Mar 1964, Judith Ellen Hinton

Howard was a veteran of World War II, a tail gunner aboard a B-29 bomber. Between March of 1944 and November of 1945, he was involved in no less than five battles and campaigns: China, Central Burma, Air Offensive Japan, India Burma, and Palembang-Sumatra in western Indonesia.

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John Robert Cole
b. Buffalo, New York
d. —
m. Wendy Yacone

John is a Commander with the United States Coast Guard.

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Tracy Ann Cole
b. Buffalo, New York
d. —