Wilbert E. Cole Biography


	This biography appears on pages 161-162 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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				WILBERT E. COLE. 

	Wilbert E. Cole is cashier of the First State Bank of Ashton. His 
residence in South Dakota covers a period of twenty-four years and 
during that time he has ever been a factor in the growth and 
development of the state, for he has believed in its future and has 
recognized its possibilities. He lived for a time at Mason City, Iowa, 
before coming to South Dakota, and at a prior period his home was in 
Iowa county, Wisconsin. It was there that he was born on the 19th of 
September, 1862, his parents being John E. and Sarah J. (Sangwin) Cole. 
The father died in May, 1913, and his remains were interred in Mountain 
View cemetery at Pasadena, California. His widow makes her home at 
Alhambra. They were the parents of eight children: Wilbert E.; Ida, the 
wife of Charles I. Tenney, a gas contractor of Des Moines, Iowa; 
Charles G., an insurance agent at Seattle, Washington; Perry O., who is 
principal of the public school at San Gabriel, California; Edith, the 
wife of Gurdeon Vermilyea, a resident of Alhambra, California; Franklin 
J., who is judge of the superior court at El Centro, California; Elmer 
J., who is engaged in the laundry business in South Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin; and Grace, the wife of Austin G. Johnson, a school teacher 
of Springfield, Massachusetts. 

	W. E. Cole was quite young when the family removed from Wisconsin 
to Iowa, and in the schools of the latter state he pursued his 
education to the age of nineteen years. He afterward assisted his 
father upon the home farm until he reached the age of twenty four years 
and then took a course in a business college. About the same time he 
began learning telegraphy, at which he worked until 1891, when he took 
a position with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company in 
Orient, South Dakota, where he arrived May 29, 1891. He remained with 
that corporation until 1906, having in the meantime been transferred to 
Ashton, but in that year he was called to his present position as 
cashier of the First State Bank of Ashton. He is courteous and obliging 
in his treatment of the patrons of the bank, is loyal to the interests 
of its officials and by his close application and ability is 
contributing to the success of the institution. He is also conducting a 
good business as an insurance agent. 

	Mr. Cole votes with the republican party, but, while he keeps 
well informed on the questions and issues of the day, he does not seek 
nor desire office. He belongs to the Masonic lodge of Ashton, of which 
he is the secretary, and he also has membership with the Ancient Order 
of United Workmen. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church 
and in its teachings are found the motive springs of his conduct.