Monongalia County, West Virginia Biography of Harry Outen COLE ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , April 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 128-129 HARRY OUTEN COLE. It is generally a difficult matter for the layman to even partly appreciate the work accomplished by one of those men who are essentially an outcome of twentieth-century progress, the construction engineers, for the public for the most part has no realization of the impor- tance of the work of those who labor for the service of mankind in this special direction. No man can enter upon this important field of endeavor without a careful and com- plete preparation if he desires to succeed. His training must include a sound knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, hydraulics, mechanical engineering and elec- tricity, while he must have a practical knowledge of geol- ogy, surveying and architecture, and be fully acquainted with the nature and strength of the materials which he may be called upon to use. Among the leading construc- tion engineers of West Virginia, one who has won a well- merited position and reputation in his calling is Harry Outen Cole, of the firm of Cole Brothers. Mr. Cole was born on Dent's Run, near the City of Mor- gantown, April 3, 1874. His great-grandfather, Coverdale Cole, came from Delaware into Monongalia County in 1794, and bought 700 acres of land, paying for it the sum of 800 pounds sterling. He was the pioneer of the family in West Virginia, and his son, Draper, was the grandfather of Harry O. Cole. Nimrod Cole, the father of Harry O., was born on Bent's Bun in 1836, and died in 1910. He married Sarah Jane Lough, daughter of Matthew Lough, whose wife was a member of the well-known Willey family, which came to Monongalia County from Red Stone, Penn- sylvania. Harry O. Cole was reared on the home farm and acquired his early education in the public and select schools of his native neighborhood. In the spring of 1893 he entered the University of West Virginia, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1898, receiving the de- gree of B. S. C. E. In that same year he commenced en- gineering work with the Keystone Bridge Works at Pitts- burgh, and during 1900 was with the National Steel Com- pany of Youngstown, Ohio. During 1901 and 1902 and a part of 1903 he was "employed by the American Bridge Company of Philadelphia, and from 1903 to 1907 was with V. G. Bogue, a consulting engineer of New York City, as assistant in charge of design of bridges for four different railroad companies. During a portion of 1908 Mr. Cole was employed as special expert computer with the investi- gating commission on the Queensborough Bridge, New York City. In the same year he became identified with the Isthmian Canal Commission, and continued to be connected with that commission until 1914, as follows: From 1908 to 1909, as office engineer in charge of designs for the Pa- cific Division; 1909-1910, assistant engineer in charge of the office and also in the Municipal Division, including Panama City; 1910-1911, resident engineer in charge of lock and dam construction of the Pacific Division; 1912- 1914, engineer in charge of Pacific Division, covering con- struction of locks, canal excavations, hydraulic work, elec- trical department, quarries and municipal work in Panama City, reporting direct to the chairman and chief engineer. From 1914 to 1916 Mr. Cole was president of Cole Brothers Company, construction engineers of Baltimore and Morgantown, engaged in general engineering and contract construction work, and from 1916 to 1920 was employed by the Guggenheim Brothers, 120 Broadway, New York City, as follows: 1916-18, assistant construction engineer; 1918-1920, construction engineer in charge of designs and construction of copper plant development work for the Chile Exploration Company and the Braden Copper Com- pany, with headquarters in New York City, which work covered the designs, specifications, purchase of materials, transportation and field construction work for the two com- panies in South America, with expenditures approximating $65,000,000. During this period he made occasional trips of inspection to South America, also during the war ren- dered considerable assistance to the United States War Department by supplying expert engineers in various gov- ernmental branches, Mr. Cole having some 300 experts in the engineering department of his New York City office from whom to draw. Since 1920 Mr. Cole has been in construction and con- tracting business as senior member of the firm of Cole Brothers at Morgantown, having handled during 1921 nu- merous contracts for bank and office buildings, railways, highways and general construction work in the surround- ing counties. Mr. Cole is a member of the American So- ciety of Civil Engineers, and in 1921 was elected vice presi- dent of the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce. He is prominent in Masonry, a member of Sojourners Lodge at Cristobal, Panama, and a Knight Templar, and a Shriner, having been made a member of the latter body at the time, in the Miraflores Lock Chamber, the ceremonial was put on by Osmar Temple of St. Paul, Labor Day, 1913, one of the greatest ceremonials in the history of Shrinedom. He belongs to the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. His re- ligions connection is with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Cole married Miss Mabel Wilson, daughter of A. A Wilson, an attorney of Cumberland, Maryland, and they have one daughter, Catherine, born January 26, 1905.