DESCENDANTS OF PETER A. AND PLEASANT (HARPER) COLE

Written By Wanda Ware DeGidio [email protected]

FOREWORD

The path to a German Reformed Church in the Philadelphia area began in Europe in 1517, when Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) composed his 95 Theses, initiating the “Reformation.” Within six years of Luther’s Theses, Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1484-1531) published the charter for the Zurich (Swiss) Reformation. These doctrines developed further as Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) and John Calvin (1509-1564) carried them into the western Holy Roman Empire.

German and German-Swiss farmers, laborers, artisans, and redemptioners (indentured servants) brought their religious practices to Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region as they migrated to find economic opportunity, peace, and freedom of worship. By the late seventeenth century, German immigrants had settled near Philadelphia in a town they named “Germantown” (incorporated into Philadelphia in the nineteenth century) and began farming in Montgomery and Bucks Counties. With their personal faith, but without pastors, they worshiped in their homes.

In 1733 German settlers from Pennsylvania helped to organize a church under Elder William Wenner. Wenner was the founder of both the church and the town of Lovettsville in the northwest corner of Loudoun County. The congregation was originally called New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church and later renamed St. James United Church of Christ. A partial list of the names of the first early settlers of Lovettsville follow below, the list coming from the Lovettsville, Loudoun County 1810 census. Lovettsville, Virginia, is located in northern Loudoun County, about two miles south of the Potomac River, which is the state line between Virginia and Maryland. It is about 15 miles north, northwest of Leesburg, the County Seat, and about 52 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.

Marriages found among the Maryland Church Records 1668-1841 Document 890:

William Cole (1742-1820), married Elizabeth Hardesty 21 April 1769 in Baltimore County, Maryland, and lived in Loudoun County, Virginia.

John Cole (1755-1841), William's brother, married Elizabeth Cullison 8 August 1782 in Baltimore County, Maryland and lived in Loudoun County, Virginia.

William Wenner (c1790-), married Elisabetha Schart 15 April 1813 in Baltimore County, Maryland and lived in Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia. He was the founder of New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia and also a teacher.

GENERATION ONE

UNKNOWN COLE BORN: Bfr 1740 DIED: Bfr 1810 MARRIED: Unknown Spouse

Children:

1. Martin Cole (c1765-Aft 1810)

2. Dennis Cole (c1767-Aft 1810)

GENERATION TWO

MARTIN COLE BORN: Bfr 1765 DIED: Aft 1810 MARRIED: Unknown Spouse

1810 LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA CENSUS

MARTIN COLE

Male 0 1 1 1 1

Female 0 0 1 0 1

The son in the 10/15 male category (first 1 in the male category) is Peter A. Cole. Peter named a son Martin after his father.

GENERATION THREE

PETER A. COLE BORN: 1800 Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia DIED: Aft 1870 Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia MARRIED: Pleasant V. Harper d/o John and Eusacia Harper

1850 Loudoun County, Virginia Census

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Peter Cole Male 45 VA

Pleasant Cole Female 44 VA

Jno Cole Male 14 VA (1836)

Martha Cole Female 12 VA (1838)

Volatin Cole Female 10 VA (1840)

Martin Cole Male 6 VA (1844)

Catherine Cole Female 4 VA (1846)

Susan Cole Female 2 VA (1848)

Daughter Mary Jane Cole (1824-1883) was married by 1850.

1870 Loudoun County, Virginia Census

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Peter Cole Male 70 VA

Pleasant Cole Female 67 VA

Martha Cole Female 28 VA

Next Door is

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Henry Cole Male 25 VA

Mary Cole Female 33 VA

Pleasant Cole 2 VA

Children:

1. Mary Jane Cole (1828 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-1883)

2. Charles William Cole (1830 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-) m. 2/24/1854 Harrison, WV to Sarah Elizabeth Anderson (1831 Loudoun Co., VA-) d/o John and Nancy Anderson

3. Unknown Cole (1832 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-)

4. Unknown Cole (1834 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-)

5. John Thomas Cole (1836 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-) per 1850 Loudoun Co., VA census

6. Martha Cole (1838 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-1888)

7. Volatin Cole (1840 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-)she was married prior to 1850 census

8. Deceased Cole (1842 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-Bfr 1850 Lovettsville, Loundoun Co., VA)

9. Martin Cole (1844 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-)

10. James Henry Cole (1844 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-2/19/1918 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-2/19/1918) m. Mary Elizabeth Tribby on 2/20/1868 Loudoun Co., VA (on 1870 census as Henry Cole)

11. Hannah Cole (1846 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA-) m. George H. Allen, son of James and Susan Allen, on 28 May 1872 Loudoun Co., VA

12. Catherine Cole (1846 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA)

13. Susan Cole (1848 Lovettsville, Loudoun Co., VA)

GENERATION FOUR

JAMES HENRY COLE BORN: 1844 Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia DIED: 19 Feb 1918 buried Mount Olivet United Methodist Church Cemetery, Loudoun County MARRIED: Mary Elizabeth Tribby (Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940)

James Henry Cole, son of Peter and Pleasant Cole, were the parents of seven children and also raised two grandchildren, Harvey Arthur Cole and Vertie Kent, both children of daughter Emily Pleasant after her death from tuberculosis in 1899. There is no grave marker for James Henry Cole. However, cemetery records show that he purchased an 8 grave plot prior to the burial of his grandson, Roy W.Cole and daughter Emily Pleasant Cole Kent. James Henry Cole enlisted in Co. B of the Independent Loudoun Virginia Rangers (USA) on Aug. 5, 1864 at Morrisonville, and was mustered in on Aug. 22, 1864 as a private, at Harpers Ferry. He was mustered out May 31, 1865 at Bolivar, WV.

Children:

1. Emily "Emma" Pleasant Cole

2. Alverta "Vertie" C. Cole

3. James William "Bud" Cole

4. Mary Amanda Mollie Cole

5. John T. Cole

6. Martin Luke Cole

7. Sarah Margaret "Maggie" Cole

GENERATION FIVE

JOHN THOMAS COLE BORN: 29 Aug 1876 Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia DIED: Aft 1940 Lovettsville, Loudoun County, Virginia MARRIED: Tacy Victoria Jacobs

Note: Listed in the household of Richard Talley in the 1940 Census

GENERATION SIX

WILMER FRANKLIN COLE

BORN: 1 May 1906 Lovettsville. Loudoun County, Virginia DIED: 18 Sep 1961 Eden, Rockingham County, North Carolina MARRIED: Minnie E. Dillon

Note: Wilmer F. Cole is listed in the household of Harry L. Dillon in the 1930 census.

Note: Wilmer F. Cole is listed in the entry for Jack D. Cole and Ruth M. Long in North Carolina County marriages 1762-1979.

GENERATION SEVEN

JACK DEMPSEY COLE, SR BORN: 14 Feb 1931 Leaksville, Rockingham County, North Carolina DIED: 28 Apr 1997 Eden, Rockingham, County, North Carolina

MARRIED: Ruth Marie Long on 16 Jul 1949 Leaksville, Rockingham County, North Carolina, daughter of Thomas Luther Long b. 1895 North Carolina d. 6 Jul 1978 Eden, Rockingham County, North Carolina, and Etta Mae Grant.

Note: Thomas was the son of William M. Long, Jr. b. 1869 Spray, Rockingham County, North Carolina d. 11 Sep 1937 Spray, Rockingham County, North Carolina and Louisa E. “Lula” Wilkins. William M. Long, Jr. was the son of William M. Long, Sr., b. 1835 d. 1922 and Martha Bowes who m. on 18 Mar 1860. William M. Long, Sr. was the son of Matthew Long b. 1810 d. 1889 and Barbara Green Satterfield who married on 12 Aug 1834. Matthew Long was the son of James Long b. c1674 d. 1756 who married Ann Taylor. James Long was the son of Samuel Long b. c1640 in England who married Jane Minshall on 15 Feb 1667 in Marumsco, Somerset County, Maryland.