John Cole "the immigrant"

The Family of John Cole (Coales, Coles) was of Northampshire, England were he was born, Baptized the Son of Thomas Coles, Married Ann Yorke, and had his Children John, Anne, Job, Samuel, & Nathaniel Baptized. No other children are recorded in Parish Records then these Born in Northampshire, England. Mary & Lydia being born in the USA.

I have included in Sources the Baptism of John, John, Jr. Anne, Job, Samuel & Nathaniel and a source link to the Marriage Record of John Coles & Ann York at Ancestry.com. The Children Listed above are the only children listed in his Will, except for Mary who died before her Father.

From “Early Genealogies of the Cole Families in America” page 21-22 (document attached)

The children of John Cole were:

1. . John.
2. . Job. mentioned in his father’s will as living in England.
3. . Samuel. b - d. 1694
4. . Mary, b. June 27, 1654, probably died young.
5. . Anne, b. -, d. 1696. Married Andrew Benton.
6. . Lydia, b. -, d. -. Married John Wilson.
7. . Nathaniel, b. -, d. in Hartford, April 28, 1700.

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WikiTree - Death Date

(NOTE 1. THIS JOHN COLE, 1605-1685, (OF HARTFORD) WAS NOT A SON OF JAMES COLE, AN ORIGINAL FOUNDER AND EARLY PROPRIETOR OF HARTFORD, CT, JAMES COLE HAD NO MALE DESCENDANTS IN NEW ENGLAND.

(NOTE 2. RECENT DNA TEST RESULTS OF SEVERAL LIVING COWLES MEN CONFIRM NO CLOSE RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN THE COLE & COWLES FAMILIES OF GREATER HARTFORD, CT.). HOWEVER THE DNA HAPLOGROUP FOR BOTH FAMILIES IS IDENTICAL AND MANY ALLELES (MARKERS) DO MATCH, PROBABLY INDICATING A COMMON ANCESTOR IN THE DISTANT PAST, MOST LIKELY IN ENGLAND).

(NOTE 3. RECENT DNA TEST RESULTS BY SEVERAL LIVING COLE MEN CONFIRM A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HARTFORD, CT AND THE EASTHAM, MA COLE FAMILIES. THESE RESULTS WERE UNEXPECTED).

(NOTE 4. RECENT DNA TEST RESULTS CONFIRM NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HARTFORD, CT COLE FAMILY (JOHN COLE) AND THE PLYMOUTH COLONY, MA COLE FAMILY (JAMES COLE). THUS NO RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN THE EASTHAM AND PLYMOUTH COLE FAMILIES EITHER). THESE RESULTS WERE EXPECTED).

(NOTE 5. RECENT DNA TEST RESULTS CONFIRM A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HARTFORD, CT COLE FAMILY AND THE BOSTON, MA COLE FAMILY (SAMUEL COLE, THE CONFECTIONER AND INN KEEPER). THESE RESULTS WERE UNEXPECTED).

(NOTE 6. BASED ON RECENT DNA TEST RESULTS BY SEVERAL LIVING COLE MEN, THERE APPEARS TO BE NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HENRY COLE OF HARTFORD AND LATER OF WALLINGFORD, CT AND JOHN COLE OF HARTFORD).

(NOTE 7. THERE IS PROBABLY A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HENRY COLE (OF HARTFORD, LATER OF WALLINGFORD) AND JAMES COLE, AN EARLY PROPRIETOR OF HARTFORD (BASED ON HARTFORD RECORDS AND JAMES COLE'S WILL) ALTHOUGH THIS CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY yDNA ANALYSIS SINCE JAMES COLE HAD NO MALE DESCENDANTS IN NEW ENGLAND).

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John Cole...... "A Godly man of some public trust"...Colonial Hartford records.

John Cole was not an original Hartford proprietor, but was a later settler, according to the publication "The Original Proprietors" first published in 1886 by the Society of The Descendants of the Founders of Hartford, Inc.

There is no proof that his father was James Cole, an original proprietor, even though some genealogical books and documents list him as such.

John's birthplace and date is listed in LDS International Genealogical Index (IGI)-British Isles - IGI LDS Batch Number PO 14361.

John Coles marriage to Anne Yorke, of Moulton, on November 22, 1632, can be found in the Northamptonshire Parish Registers on page 106. The vital records of the Cole and Yorke families are well documented in the Northamptonshire records. There are conflicting records on the wife (or wives) of John. Some records say Ann and others say Mary. Possibly he had two wives....but there is no solid proof about a second wife.

John Cole's (and family) immigration information has not been found.

John Cole was a cooper, a carpenter and also a surveyor. He owned land in the Hartford area and was financially comfortable. He served as a Hartford town constable in 1657. His will was probated in Hartford and he left a generous estate to his wife and children. A son, Job, who was born and lived in England was also a beneficiary of this will, but it's unknown if he ever received his share.

John Cole lived on Wethersfield Lane and was admitted as a freeman by the General Court of Election in May 1657 (Public Records of CT). John is listed as a freeman on "ye south side" of Hartford in October 1669. John and his family were members of the 1st Church of Hartford but because of religious issues concerning baptism, they separated and were among the group that founded the 2nd Church which established a new meeting house on the southern edge of town. John and his family were original members of the new church.

In 1655, John Cole bought land in Hartford from Elizabeth Sillivant who, as Elizabeth Lamberton had married Daniel Sillivant after his first wife, Abigail Cole Sillivant had died. It is believed that Abigail was the only offspring who came to New England with her father, James Cole, an Original Proprietor, and Abigail's stepmother, Anne in 1634. James Cole was apparenty not related to John Cole, although there may have been a close friendship of the families, based on their common surname and separatist religious beliefs.

John was listed in 1670 census of CT. Also, John was listed as a freeman on "Ye south side of Hartford in October 1669 (Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut 1665-1678).

John King, who had come from England at age 16, lived in the John Cole household until he was 21, possibly as an apprentice or indentured servant. An inventory of John Cole's will was over 396 pounds. A wealthy man.

John Cole was an active participant in town and church affairs in Hartford and his name is noted numerous times on town, church and legal documents. A prominent man.

He was possibly buried in the now extinct cemetery at Meeting House Square in Hartford.

The children and grandchildren of John Cole married into many of the prominent early families of Hartford....Hart, Stanley, Benton, Davis, Goodman, Cowles, etc....And they eventually settled in many of the nearby communities....Wethersfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Newington, Berlin, Kensington, etc...and some later moved to Fairfield County, eventually to Wilton Parish, Norwalk, CT.

John Cole is listed in the Connecticut Death Index for Hartford, CT.

This compilers descendancy line from John Cole of Hartford, CT is as follows. John -> Samuel -> Samuel -> Jonathan -> Thomas -> Samuel -> Alonzo -> Friend -> William -> William.

• Ref: "List of Officials- Civil, Military & Ecclesiastical of the Connecticut Colony (1636-1677)", by Donald Lines Jacobus. "Early Families of Hartford" by Lucius Barbour. "A Digest of Early Connecticut Probate Records, 1635-1700", 237)

"The Medical Journal of John Winthrop" (Cole, page 84, Hartford) lists some of the children of "John Cole the carpenter". Not all of John's children are listed. Some had died earlier and some were not living in Hartford when the list was compiled. But the list does include Rachel Hart, a daughter-in- law of John. •Change Date: 8 AUG 2012 at 01:00:00

Book Source

• Cole, Frank Theodore. 1887. The Early Genealogies of the Cole Families in America. (Including Coles and Cowles). With Some Account of the Descendants of James, by Hartford, Connecticut, 1635-1652, and of Thomas Cole, of Salem, Mass., 1649-1672. Columbus, Ohio, USA: Hann & Adair. Available at: Archive.org.
  • p. 17 – “John² Cole (James¹), the only son of James Cole by his first wife, was b. in England. I am of the opinion that he came to the colony of Connecticut sometime after his father was established there. He was admitted as a freeman in 1655, three years after his father's death, and he may not have come to the colony till after that event. [Italics added.] He is stated as living on Wethersfield Lane and that was where his father had lived. In the will of James Cole his property was left to his daughter and her husband, subject to certain life estate of the widow. Soon after his death his son-in-law also died, and in 1655 John bought the interest of his sister in the property….
  • p. 21 – “…He died in 1685….”
• For the entire Bio in the book, please see the clean-copy excerpt posted in Sources.
• Notably, this book does not include children named Matthew and Sarah.
  • Notes RE Matthew Cole
    • Find A Grave lists Matthew Cole as a son of John and Ann Cole. (Find A Grave nor the bookTrue to form for too many F.A.G. profiles, there's no image of a legible headstone (or illegible) or any source citation(s).
    • A birth record in Harford for a Matthew to John Cole either doesn't exist, hasn't been found, or hasn't been digitized/published.
    • Both WeRelate and Wikitree show Matthew as a son of John and Ann, but neither provides a convincing rationale.
    • Search for Explanation of Marriage in Northampton, MA — Matthew married and died in Northampton, MA—a 45 mile trip on dirt-rock trails in horse and buggy times? Thus, it's worth questioning how a Matthew of Hartford met Susannah Cunliffe of Northampton.
    • An image of an original handwritten record shows a 16 Jul 1663 marriage between a Matthew Cole and Susannah Cunliff—devoid of naming places of residence—at Ancestry.com, or New England Marriages Prior to 1700 at Ancestry.com.
    • Finding a narrative history showing that Matthew—if he was indeed born of linked parentage in Hartford—was "from Hartford" when he supposedly met and married Susannah Cunliff is sorely needed to give credence to parentage. Did her family once live in or near Hartford and remove to Northampton? Hmm...

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Father: Thomas COLE(S) b: 8/08 MAR 1575/1576 in Northamptonshire, England
Mother: Joanne UNKNOWN b: ABT 1585 in Northamptonshire, England
Marriage 1 Ann YORKE b: 23 AUG 1605 in Lamport, Northamptonshire, England
Married: 22 NOV 1632 in Lamport, Northamptonshire, England
Note: Marriage listed in Northamptonshire Parish Register, 22 November 1632, page 106.
rootsewb:http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cole67&id...

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37682650

It is unknown when John came to New England, but he was in Hartford by 1655. He and his wife, Anne (Yorke) whom he married in 1632 in England), were early members of the First Church of Hartford, but separated to the Second Church when the First Church split over differences regarding baptism. They were charter members of the First Church. He purchased land from Elizabeth Sillivant (second wife of Daniel Sillivant -- his first wife was the daughter of James Cole). In May of 1657, he was admitted as a freeman of Hartford and was appointed constable. He was also a cooper/carpenter as was James Cole, which makes me wonder if they were not perhaps brothers. The inventory of John Cole's estate amounted to 396 pounds. He is probably buried in the first burial place in Meeting House Square in Hartford, a cemetery which no longer exists due to the tombstones being used for foundations for the houses in Hartford. The known children of John & Anne Cole:

John Cole, Jr. (1639-1689) m. Rachel Hart

Ann (Cole) Benton (1641-1686) m. Andrew Benton

Job Cole -- Stayed in England

SAMUEL COLE m. MARY

Sarah Cole (b. Feb. 7, 1647 - died in infancy)

Matthew Cole (1649-1665) m. Susanna Conliffe Matthew Cole - evidence needed for parents

Nathaniel Cole (1653-1709) m. Lydia Davis

Mary Cole (b. June 27,, 1654 - died in infancy)

Lydia (Cole) Wilson (1657-1732) m. John Wilson

Is it possible John Cole and Anne Yorke Cole also had a daughter name Emma Elizabeth Cole born abt 1645 that married Thomas Howerton.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37682650

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Nov 27 2016, 23:13:41 UTC
• not the same as John Cole baptized 26 Nov 1624 St Bartholomew the Great, London, England, was the son of James Cole and Alice.[1], married Mary Stephens 14 Jul 1646 in St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England.