Chester Cole
Chester C. ColeJune 4, 1824-October 4, 1913
Originally submitted by Kristen Bramhall on November 29, 2011, Drake University
Early Years
Great men who do great things are often considered to be on a higher plane of life than those of us who consider ourselves mediocre do. These great men, who seem almost unreal to us, did in fact have a beginning, and in this particular case, an end. This case, being Chester C. Cole, truly one of the greatest men to leave his handprint upon Drake University, began on 4, 1824 in Oxford, New York. He was born into a wealthy New England family who began his education early. He studied at the Oxford Academy until age eighteen.[1] When he was expected to enter into the junior class at Union College, he was forced to continue his education at home because of contracted illnesses and a lack of immunity. At age twenty-two when his health was significantly improved he entered the law school at Harvard University. He was taught by some of the University’s best instructors and graduated in two years rather than three.[2]
Career After leaving Harvard and his home in Oxford, Cole moved to Frankfort, Kentucky and headed the legislative department of "The Commonwealth," one of Frankfort’s daily papers. He then relocated to Marion, Kentucky where he was finally admitted to the bar and began what would be a long, prosperous, and influential legal profession. In 1857, Cole felt the need to leave Kentucky.[3] He felt, “intense feelings of being engendered in the hearts of the southern people against the Federal Government and because he was in full sympathy with the cause of the northerner.”Cole moved to Des Moines, Iowa in May of 1857. In February, 1864, he was appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court. The next autumn he was elected to the same office by an unprecedented majority, and reelected in 1870. In 1869 Chester Cole became the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.[4] He also served several years as the editor or the Western Jurist.[5] In 1876 Cole decided to retire from the court and return to the bar. It was at this time that he decided to work with fellow judge George F. Wright and found a law school in Iowa. The original school was located in Iowa City and was connected with the University of Iowa, and was also loosely affiliated with Simpson College.[6]
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