Alexander D. Cole was born May 17, 1839, in Moosup, Connecticut, to Caleb Cole and Hannah Crandall. The Coles were fairly prosperous farmers.
In October 1862, Cole enlisted in Company A, 12th Rhode Island Infantry, for a period of nine months. His regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg that December. After that, it was on guard duty in Kentucky and Ohio. Cole reenlisted at the end of his initial hitch and served until July 29, 1865.
On January 16, 1868, Alexander Cole wed Ella Augusta Lord in Boston, Massachusetts. The young couple was living in Southbridge, Massachusetts, when their first child, Fannie, was born on November 20, 1869. Alexander was employed in a woolen mill.
Although little Fannie thrived, the Coles’ next three children—Charles, Henry and Gertrude—did not live long enough to see their first birthdays. It wasn’t until October 28, 1876, that Ella gave birth to a son, George Elbert, who would grow to adulthood. One more child, Nellie, was born May 26, 1882.
Over the years, Alexander and Ella seem to have parted ways, as he is listed as divorced on the federal census of 1900; he gave his occupation as ‘landlord’. He and his two daughters had moved to Phoenix around 1895, possibly because Fannie was suffering from a malady which caused her joints to ossify, limiting her mobility (may have been something like rheumatoid or osteoarthritis).
At first, Fannie was active in the local Presbyterian church and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.T.C.U.). In time, however, she was confined to bed, unable to bend her arms and legs. On September 17, 1901, her doctor tried a surgical intervention to ‘break’ her joints, but Fannie died of shock following the operation. After a funeral conducted by Rev. McAfee of the Presbyterian Church, she was buried in Rosedale Cemetery.
While living in Phoenix, Alexander Cole joined the John Wren Owen G.A.R. post. In March, 1907, he applied for an invalid pension and received Certificate #969811. He passed away on October 5, 1907, of cardiac dilation, and was buried next to his daughter Fannie in Rosedale.
Nothing further is known of Cole’s younger daughter, Nellie; likely she married. Cole’s son George Elbert lived in Phoenix for a brief time, at least. In 1910, his nine-year-old daughter Ella died of tuberculosis while residing at 716 West Madison. She too was buried in Rosedale, probably in the Cole family plot.
by Donna Carr
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