Evening star., 1924-11-03
COLE
D|ESAT AGE Of 1O2.
ColorfuI Career Starting With
Gold Rush to California
in '49 Comes to End.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
Los ANGELES. November 3. -
Cornelius Cole former United States
senator, 1o2 years and 2 months of
age. died at his residence here today.
The direct cause of death, physi-
clans announced, was incipient pneu-
monia. old age and a touch of heart
disease. He had been in frail health
for several months, SO much so that
celebration of his last birthday was
limited to members Of the family at
his residence.
Ex-senator Cole was a survivor of
the most striking and picturesque
period in the history of California
the era OF the placer miner, the Vigi-
lantes, the pony express and the
railway builders; of
political and social con-
troversies, startling crimes and sum-
mary punishments.
Mr.. Cole, who celebrated the 10p.h
of his birth September
II, 1922, arrived in California when
he was II years of age, and become
a member of the first gold king,
party to reach the Sacramento Valley
overland from the East in the rush of
l849. Every one Of those hardy pi-
oneers, who survived the perils of the
trail and trooped into the golden
West in the stirring days of '49, had
just one object in view-the discovery
of pay dirt-and Cornelius Cole was
TO exception.
Prime Mover in G.. o. =.
But as time wore on and the cease
less hunt for gold came TO be regard
ed in the light of a permanent insti-
tuition, there yet were some who call
ed up memories of the comfortable
civilization that had been left behind
in the distant East, and with these
memories came a desire for leaders.
Among the latter Cornelius Cole was
an exception.
He continued to mine for gold, as
did everyone else, but he also found
time to serve the new county of Sac
ramento in the capacity of district
attorney at a moment when the legally
constituted authorities were taking
from the Vigilantes, the reins
of law and order. This guided
his steps along other political paths,
and he became the real leader in
the fight to keep California on the
list of free states. He took proml-
nent part in organizing the Republi-
can party Of the Golden State, and
tional committee as the first Cali
fornia representative.
AS an indication of the range Of his
political career and that of his wife,
who shared his early experiences, 1t
is sufficient to note that he was
chosen a delegate to the convention
which nominated Fremont for Presi-
dent, and Mr.. Cole was member
of the delegation to the convention
that nominated Charles +. Hughes for
the same office more than half a
century later. During the Civil War
Mr.. Cole occupied a seat in the House
of Representatives. and in 1866 was
elected to the United States Senate
from California, serving until 1873.
Spoke 80 Years Later
Nearly so years after Senator Cole
had closed his desk in the National
Capital and returned to the State of
his adoption, he appeared once again
in Washington and took his old place
in the Legislative chambers, there to
receive the tribute of a new genera
tion that was guiding the affairs of
the Nation. He was a centenarian
then-or within a few months of the
100-year MARYLAND as he stood in
the Senate to speak, he saw none who
had been there in his day.
Despite his advanced years, MIR.
Cole insisted upon making the trip
East in the early Summer of 1922 to
receive the degree of doctor of laws
from Wesleyan College, his alma
mater, IS years after his graduation.
He also visited Hobart College, which
he had attended in his youth. The
tour included a visit to New York,
which the pioneer had not seen for
more than 40 years. Hale and
hearty as a man of half his years, and
without a wrinkle on his face, the
aged visitor spent an active week in
the metropolis after meeting the
heavy demands made upon him in
Washington, where he had been well
coined by President Harding and
many other high officials of the Gov
ernment, as we'll as the House and
Senate.
Studied Under Seward.
Mr.. Cole was born at Lodi, n. Y,
September II, 1922. Completing his
academic work, he studied law in the
office of William II. Seward, who later
became Secretary of State under Lin
coin. In 1S49 he struck out for the far
West. and with three companions,
"panned" gold with varying success
until in famed Oregon Gulch they struck
rick pocket one days work on which
netted them s1,S49. They were
prompted to sell the claim for song,
however, when a mining camp rumor
drifted in telling of better pickings
elsewhere, but all lived to see the
Oregon Gluch subsequently produce
millions of dollars worth of coarse
gold.
Years after this venture. Mr.. Cole
was one of a group of men who met
in the law office of Coils p. Hunting
ton and Mark Hopkins, in Sacramento,
to organize the Central Pacific Rail-
road Company. Later, as a member
of Congress, he brought about the
enactment of laws that made the
building of the transcontinental rail-
way possible.
Defeated for Reelection.
When he was elected to the Senate,
however, he actively opposed a bill
granting Goat Island, in San Fran
cisco Bay, to the Central Pacific as
terminal site, and thereby, he felt, in
CURED the enmity of his former
friends and associates. To their op-
position and that of the so-called
whisky ring and national banking in
tereStS. which he had anita ronized he