Hon. Alfred E. Cole
Hon. Alfred E. Cole, of Maysville, Ky., was born at West Union, Adams County, Ohio. March 15, 1839. His father, James M. Cole, has a separate sketch herein. His grandfather Ephraim Cole, married Sophia Mitchell, the daughter of a large slave owner in Maryland. His father-in-law offered his son-in-law a gift of slaves which was declined. His grandfather, James Collings, married Miss Christiana Davis, who was an aunt of Hon. Henry Winter Davis, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Both of his grandfathers, Cole and Collings, were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Ephriam Cole located m Mason County, Kentucky, in 1704. and resided there till 1806, when he removed to Adams County, near West Union. James Collings moved to Adams County from Cecil County, Md., in 1794. Our subject is the youngest son and child of his parents. His twin brother. Allaniah B. Cole, resides in Chillicothe, Ohio. His parents had fifteen children, eight boys and seven girls. The sons made honorable careers in their professions and in business, and the daughters were all women of strong character, and married men who were successful in life. Our subject resided on his father's farm and attended the common schools until he was seventeen years of age. He then was sent to the High school at Manchester and afterwards attended the Normal school at Lebanon, Ohio. He followed the profession of teaching for several years, and then began reading law with the Hon. R. H. Stanton, of Maysville, Ky., and afterwards read with his brother, the late George D. Cole, of Waverly, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar at Waverly, Ohio, at the District Court in April, 1864. The court was then composed of Judge Wilde, of the Supreme Court and Judges John Welch and Philadelph Van Trump, of the Common Pleas. After his admission, Mr. Cole located at Vanceburg, Ky., to practice law, but remained there only till May, 1865, when he removed to Flemingsburg. Ky. He was elected County Attorney of Fleming County, August, 1866, and re-elected to the same office in 1870.
In 1874, be was elected Commonwealth Attorney for the Sixteenth Judicial District. In 1880, he was elected Circuit Judge of the same district, defeating the Hon. George M. Thomas, of Vanceburg, after one of the most exciting contests ever made in the district.
In August, 1886, he was re-elected without opposition. After his retirement from the bench in November 1886, he changed his residence from Flemingsburg to Maysville. In 1892, after his retirement from the bench, he began the practice of his profession with his son, A. E. Cole, under the name of A. E. Cole & Son.
Mr. Cole is a Democrat, as were his father and grandfather. It is a family trait that they should be attached to the Democratic party, and they have been firm in that political faith ever since the party was organized. Mr. Cole is a member of the Methodist Church as were his forefathers and foremothers ever since the existence of Methodism.
Mr. Cole was married May 26, 1864, to Miss Abbie T. Throop. She was a daughter of Dr. Throop and a niece of Hon. R. H. Stanton. His. wife died April 18, 1894, and on the twentieth of November, 1898, he was married to Miss L. B. Newman, of Hardin County, Ky., one of Kentucky's most beautiful and accomplished women. Mr. Cole had six children, three of whom died in infancy and three of whom are now living. His oldest son, Allaniah D. Cole, graduated at the Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1883, at the age of seventeen. He then entered the Harvard University, in the Academic Department, and graduated at the age of nineteen. He had law with the Hon. William H. Wadsworth at Maysville, Ky. His second son, William T. Cole, resides in Greenupsburg, and is a practicing lawyer. He graduated from the Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1888 and then entered the Vanderbilt University Law School and graduated in two years. Mr. Cole's youngest son, Henry W., is now a student of the High school at Maysville, Ky. His two oldest sons. Allaniah and William, are making their mark and stand high in their profession. As a lawyer, Mr. Cole stands high in his profession. As a judge, he made an excellent record. As a citizen, he is most highly esteemed.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900