Chester Cole

Chester C. ColeJune 4, 1824-October 4, 1913

Originally submitted by Kristen Bramhall on November 29, 2011, Drake University

Early Years

Chester C. Cole, truly one of the greatest men to leave his handprint upon Drake University, was born on June 4, 1824 in Oxford, New York.[1] Cole studied at the Oxford Academy [2]. Prolonged illness derailed his plans to enter into the junior class at Union College at the age of eighteen [3]. He later entered the law school at Harvard University. [4]

Career

After leaving Harvard, Cole moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he headed the legislative department of "The Commonwealth," one of Frankfort’s daily newspapers.[5] After returning to New York to marry Amanda M. Bennett, the couple relocated to Marion, Kentucky. [6] Cole was admitted to the bar and began what would be a long, prosperous, and influential legal profession.[7] In 1857, Cole moved to Des Moines, Iowa.[8] In 1859 he was nominated, but not elected, to serve as a justice on the Iowa Supreme Court.[9] In 1864, he was appointed to this office “in compliance with a legislative Act increasing the personnel from three to four members.” [10] The next autumn he was elected to the same office by a large majority, and reelected in 1870, again by a large majority.[11] His tenure on the court, which included serving as chief justice for one year, ended with Cole’s resignation on January 19, 1876. [12] Among other accomplishments on the court, Cole authored the landmark Clark v. Muscatine School Board opinion in 1868, which held racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional under the Iowa Constitution—eighty-six years before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that principle in Brown v. Board of Education [13]. He also served several years as the editor of the Western ////Jurist, edited a popular edition of ////Iowa Reports////, and played a critical role in shaping legal education in the state of ////Iowa.[14] Cole continued in the active practice of law until he was

eighty-nine years of age and died in Des Moines, October 4, 1913.[15]

At Drake University

In 1882, when Drake University was founded in Des Moines, Cole and Wright immediately sought to become involved with creating a law school on campus. The original law school was then moved to the Des Moines campus, where Chester C. Cole served as Dean of the Law School until 1907.[7] He continued in the active practice of law until he was eighty-nine years of age. Justice Cole died in Des Moines, October 4, 1913.[8]

References [1] Evans, E. B. (1905) Chester Cicero Cole. The Alumnus. [2] [File item Cowles Library Archives] Des Moines, IA: Drake University. [3] Evans, E. B. (1905) Chester Cicero Cole. The Alumnus. [4] Mrs. Cole is Dead. (1909, April 8) Times-Delphic. [5] [File item Cowles Library Archives] Des Moines, IA: Drake University. [6] Chester C. Cole from 1864-1876//. (2011). Retrieved November 22, 2011, from Iowa Judicial Branch website: http:www.iowacourtsonline.org/wfdata/frame1773- 1463/pressrel15.asp [7] Mrs. Cole is Dead. (1909, April 8) Times-Delphic. [8] Evans, E. B. (1905) Chester Cicero Cole. The Alumnus. [9] [File item Cowles Library Archives] Des Moines, IA: Drake University. [10] Drake University Law Library //[Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:libguides.law.drake.edu/libNutshell