John A. Cole Biography


	This biography appears on pages 329-330 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				JOHN A. COLE. 

	John A. Cole, a farmer of Bon Homme county, was born April 1, 
1874, in that county, a Son of Thomas and Anna (Carroll) Cole. The 
latter was born in Castlereagh, County Roscommon, Ireland, and was a 
daughter of John and Nellie (Finan) Carroll, the former of whom passed 
away on the Emerald isle. The latter emigrated to America and passed 
away in Iowa. Anna Carroll, emigrated to America at the same time and 
for a time made her home with an uncle in Wisconsin, subsequently 
residing in St. Louis with another uncle. She was married to Thomas 
Cole in April, 1869, and now resides on the old home farm with her son 
Ben. Mr. Cole was one of four brothers, Bartholomew, Thomas, Barney and 
Timothy, who, together with their sister, the venerable Mrs. Cogan, 
played such a large part in the development of Bon Homme county. Their 
parents were Bernard and Catherine Ann (McCormack) Cole, natives of 
County Roscommon, Ireland, whence they emigrated to America and resided 
for a time in Newark, New Jersey, where the death of the father 
occurred. The mother came west with her sons, Thomas and Timothy, and 
her daughter, the other two sons having previously arrived in South 
Dakota. They had come west, expecting to make their home with a 
bachelor uncle who had been a soldier in the Mexican war, but owing to 
the severity of the latter's discipline, both ran away and Barney, who 
was then eight years of age, did not rejoin the family until he was a 
lad of sixteen. Mrs. Cole came west with her other children in order to 
find her two lost boys and lived for a time in Milwaukee and other 
Wisconsin towns and in Dubuque, Iowa, but finally took up her residence 
on a farm a few miles from Clarksville, in Pike county, Missouri, where 
the family was reunited. For many years Thomas Cole was his mother's 
mainstay upon the farm, as the other three boys were soldiers in the 
Union army. Thomas was drafted but as he was better able to carry on 
the farm work than Barney and as the latter was eager to enlist he went 
in his brother's place. 

	Thomas Cole learned the hatter's trade in Newark but after 
removing to the west devoted his attention to farming, filing on a 
homestead two miles north and two miles west of old Bon Homme. Later he 
purchased a farm in Cleveland precinct, which was his home at the time 
of his death. To him and his wife were born nine children: Nellie, the 
wife of William McMahon, now living near Parkston, South Dakota; Kate, 
who married Edward Hoey, who is hiving near Wagner, this state; 
Bernard, who died when nine months of age; John A., of this review; 
Thomas Jr., who lives near Wagner; Ben, who is at home upon the farm 
with his mother; Mary, who died when nineteen years of age; Susan, who 
died at the age of five years; and Bartholomew, now of Gouward, 
Alberta, Canada. 

	John A. Cole remained under the parental roof until he attained 
his majority, when he homesteaded in Charles Mix county, living on his 
land long enough to receive his patent. Returning to Bon Homme county, 
he rented the home farm until 1912, when he purchased his present 
place, which is the western half of section 15, in Cleveland precinct. 
There are good substantial buildings, extensive groves and a fine 
orchard on the place which is well stocked and is being developed into 
one of the best farms in the county. 

	Mr. Cole was married January 19, 1909, to Miss Mary Benesh, a 
native of Bon Homme county and a daughter of James an Barbara (Koftan) 
Benesh, both of whom were born in Bohemia. In the spring of 1871 Mr. 
Benesh sailed from Hamburg to America, the voyage lasting seventeen 
days. He made his way to Chicago and worked there for a year and a 
half, being in that city at the time of the great fire in October, 
1871. In the following year he removed to Pawnee county, Nebraska, 
joining a colony of his fellow countrymen and working at farm labor for 
nine years. He saved his money and purchased a farm and subsequently he 
removed to Bon Homme county and bought land north of Bon Homme church, 
still later becoming the owner of the farm he now occupies in 
Springfield precinct. Mrs. Cole is the seventh in a family of ten 
children and by her marriage has become the mother of four sons: 
Cletus, Firman, Vitalis and Nester. 

	Mr. Cole was at school with his brothers and sisters on the day 
of the great blizzard in 1888 but succeeded with his brother Thomas in 
reaching home, going more than a mile without a fence to guide them. 
His younger brothers and sisters remained over night at a neighbor's 
house. Mr. Cole is a democrat and belongs to the Catholic church, as do 
his family. He is a man of considerable influence in his locality and 
has a high place in the esteem of his fellow men, who know him to be 
able, determined and energetic, and he also has the sincere and 
unstinted liking of those who know him and who call him familiarly by 
his boyhood name, Johnnie. His life has been a successful one, not only 
in the accumulation of wealth but also in gaining honor and regard.