George Edward Cole (December 23, 1826 – December 3, 1906) was an American politician. He is remembered as the 6th Governor and 5th Delegate from the Territory of Washington.
Biography
Early years
George Edward Cole was born December 23, 1826, in Trenton, Oneida County, New York. Cole attended the public schools and Hobart Hall Institute. He was employed as clerk in a country store.[1]
Cole relocated to Walla Walla, Washington, in 1860.[2] He was elected as the Washington Territory's delegate to Congress in 1862 as a Democrat, serving as a member of the Thirty-eighth Congress from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865. He was the first Washington Territorial Delegate to Congress to hail from the East side of the state.[2] He would also be the last member of the Democratic Party to represent the Washington Territory in Congress until 1885.[3] Cole served for one term only, not being a candidate for renomination in 1864.[1]
In November 1866 Cole was appointed Governor of the Territory by Democratic President Andrew Johnson, serving in that position until March 4, 1867.[2]
Railroad official and Postmaster
With the Democrats out of power and himself out of office, Cole returned to Portland, Oregon, in 1867 where for the next four years he was instrumental in the operation of the Oregon & California Railroad, helping oversee construction of a line from Portland to the Southern Oregon town of Roseburg.[2] In the interim he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.[3]
In 1873 Cole was appointed Postmaster of Portland by Republican PresidentUlysses S. Grant, taking reappointment to the post by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877.[2] Following the expiration of his second term as Postmaster, Cole went to work for the Northern Pacific Railroad, remaining with the company through 1882.[4]
He also maintained extensive interests in mining, manufacturing, and farming.[1]
Death and legacy
George E. Cole died in Portland, Oregon, December 3, 1906. His body was interred in Lone Fir Cemetery in the city of his death.[1]
Footnotes
^ abcd"George Edward Cole," in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present. www.bioguide.congress.gov/
^ abcdefghHarvey K. Hines, An Illustrated History of the State of Washington: Containing a History of the State of Washington from the Earliest Period of Its Discovery to the Present Time, Together with Glimpses of its Auspicious Future, Illustrations and Full-page Portraits of Some of Its Eminent Men and Biographical Mention of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Citizens of To-day. Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1893; pg. 349.
^ abKent D. Richards, "George Edward Cole," in John T. Hubbell, James W. Geary, and Jon L. Wakelyn (eds.), Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995; pp. 1010-102.
^Hines, An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, pp. 349-350.
^Hines, An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, pg. 350.
