Cole Family Photo Collection

From the collection of Michele Komora

[email protected]

The Cole family moved to the St. Joe/Elkhart area a few years after Geo W. Cole was killed Bion went west and became a newspaperman.  A book was written about this family by Elizabeth Rogers Kellogg.

Geo Claimed to be born in Ohio
Story goes that the 5 children maybe more but the 5 kept in touch, were on a wagon train heading west and it was attacked by Indians and the parents killed (the parents may have been a marriage of white and Indian) the children were taken in by different families and separated. They were supposedly too young to remember who there parents were in later years or where they were born Died in Battle of Champion's Hill 1863

Marriage
Name: George M. Cole Spouse Name: Mary E. Rager Marriage Date: 21 Oct 1849 Marriage County: Wabash Performed By: J. P. John Aughinbough Source Title 1: Wabash County, Indiana 
Source Title 2: Marriage Records 1835 - 1854 Pt. I : 1835-1840 Pt.  Source Title 3: Compiled by Wabash County Historical Musuem Book: A  OS Page: 133 

Military Service
Name: George W Cole, Residence: North Manchester, Indiana Enlistment Date: 15 November 1861
Distinguished Service: DISTINGUISHED SERVICE Side Served: Union State Served: Indiana Unit Numbers: 598 598 Service Record: Enlisted as a Sergeant on 15 November 1861 Enlisted in Company B, 47th Infantry Regiment Indiana on 15 November 1861.  Promoted to Full Lieutenant 2nd Class on 22 October 1862 effective 22 October 1862 Killed Company B, 47th Infantry Regiment Indiana on 16 May 1863 in Champion's Hill, MS

Alphonso Ralph Cole	Bion Franklin Cole	Bion Franklin Cole	Inscription from Bion Franklin
George E. Cole	George Washington Cole

Here is a link for Wabash county Native BION COLE

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~neresour/OLLibrary/Legislature/1901/pages/nelg0166.htm

The five orphans were Mary, Mahala, Leonard, Alexander, Geo. W. (Bion's father ) Rhoda Cole was a deaf mute.

Return To: Saint Joseph County, Indiana INGenWeb Site

Started: Monday, October 01, 2007

Updated: Sunday, May 17, 2009 01:51:40 PM