Spouse: Hannah Rolfe. Children were: Hannah Colburn.

Spouse: James B. Hadley. Agnes Lulu Colby and James B. Hadley were married.

Spouse: Lloyd C. Beecher. Alice Abbie Colby and Lloyd C. Beecher were married.

Spouse: Margaret Ramsay. Margaret Ramsay and Edwin Colby were married about 1884. Children were: Agnes Lulu Colby, Alice Abbie Colby, Charles Reynolds Colby, Mazie Colby, Rosalie Colby.

Spouse: Charles E. Keyes. Mazie Colby and Charles E. Keyes were married.

Children were: Hannah Colcord.

Spouse: Thomas Dearborn Deacon. Hannah Colcord and Thomas Dearborn Deacon were married on 28 December 1665. Children were: Ebenezer Dearborn.

Spouse: Andrew Benton Capt.. Children were: Ebenezer Benton Feeble Minded, Lydia Benton, Hannah Benton, John Benton.

Spouse: John Max Jones. Edna Mae Cole and John Max Jones were married on 21 September 1934 in New Hartford, New York. Children were: Barbara Kyle Jones, Patricia Lou Jones, Beth Lee Jones, Richard Max Jones, Kathy Ann Jones, Marcia Sue Jones.

Spouse: Martha J. Bridgeman. Martha J. Bridgeman and Eli Cole were married.

Spouse: Elijah Lamberton. Elioenai Cole and Elijah Lamberton were married.

Spouse: Norman Wellington Bliss. Eunice C. Cole and Norman Wellington Bliss were married. Children were: Albert Norman Bliss, Imogene Bliss.

Spouse: Frederick Bliss. Hannah Patience Cole and Frederick Bliss were married. Children were: Charles Bliss, Simeon Bliss, Aruna Bliss, Lucy Bliss, Lewis Bliss, Polly Bliss, George Bliss, Nancy Bliss, Cyrus Bliss, Pliny Bliss, Alonzo Bliss, Celinda Bliss, William Riley Bliss.

Spouse: Roxanna (Ann) Bemis. Roxanna (Ann) Bemis and Henry Cole were married. Children were: Martin Cole, Frank Cole, Augustus Cole, Riley Cole.

Spouse: Samuel Lamberton. Joanna Cole and Samuel Lamberton were married in 1833 in Marshfield, Vermont.

Children were: Ann Cole The Witch.

Children were: Margaret Cole.

Spouse: Willard M. Austin. Lucretia Jane Cole and Willard M. Austin were married.

Spouse: John Drake Esq.. Children were: John Drake.

Spouse: William Wallace Bates. Mary Cole and William Wallace Bates were married. Children were: Lindon Wallace Bates, Mary Elizabeth Bates.

Found on the Friends of Historic Forest Grove website:
The Cole Sisters: A Lifetime of Education
By Skip Buhler

I first learned about Alice Huldah Cole (1885-1965) and her sister Nellie (1882-1960) while investigating my neighborhood's homes and histories of their former inhabitants. Cole Kindergarten, which was located at the corner of 19th Avenue and Elm Street kept popping up in directories and census records, but since it was not on my specific block (block 37 for those of you who were wondering), I put it off for another day.

I found obituaries on Alice and Nellie last year while at the Hillsboro library, and was immediately stuck by just how full their lives had been. Both sisters were born in Erzurum, Turkey, in the region known as Greater Armenia during the Ottoman Empire's rule to Protestant missionary parents, Royal M. and Lizzie C. Cole. The Coles had worked in Turkey since 1868, and were well known for their hard work and frequent reporting on eastern Turkey for the American Press. In addition to Alice and Nellie, another sister named Mary (1886-1921) and brother Nelson were all schooled in Erzurum and Bitlis while their parents ministered to the significant Armenian population in the two cities, as well as serving as medics. In addition to witnessing the oppression, poverty, and hunger of their mission, the Cole parents lost a number of their children before the birth of Alice, Nellie, and Mary. In Bitlis, while the siblings were finishing secondary school, the family lived in the midst of the horrific massacre of Armenian s by Sultan Abdul Hamid II's military of Turkish and Kurdish forces, a massacre that began October 1895, and grew more brutal with each passing year. The slaughter of Armenians was publicized around the world, as was the build-up in atrocities, and the Cole family, though somewhat safe because of their American passports and connections, nevertheless confronted violence, heartache, and death repeatedly. Such brutality was the likely reason for the girls' permanent return to the United States around 1903, and
the parents' return in 1907. Once back in the States, Nellie majored in childhood education at Oberlin College (Ohio), and graduated from the Oberlin Kindergarten Training School in 1909. She then returned to Turkey to do missionary work in the city of Trebizond, teaching childhood education to future teachers there. Nellie returned to America to further her education, first studying at the University of Washington, then at Pacific University.

The sisters settled in Forest Grove in 1912, and Nellie graduated from PU with a bachelor degree in art, and with honors in 1919. It had been Nellie's dream to open her own Kindergarten school, and Forest Grove had the need, but her dream would have to wait. In the meantime, the siblings seem to have traveled back and forth between Armenia and the United States every other year, furthering their education. Alice also began taking classes at Oberlin College in 1903, majoring in English, playing on the Oberlin women's basketball team, and was an active member of the "Lesbian Society," the women's literary and poetry club, before graduating in 1909. Soon after, she began teaching high school in Minnesota, and later in La Grande, OR. Once the sisters had settled in Forest Grove, Alice joined the faculty at Forest Grove High School. Alice was an Oberlin Alumni secretary for Oregon for several years. Poetry was Alice's passion, and she would spend her free time composing lines, usually based on her travels here and abroad. One such poem was titled "Mt. Hood (as Seen from Hood Lodge):"

Thou great and lofty peak of ice and snow,
Which rises from the rolling hills below,
Thy trees are lyres for the passing breeze
And sing to God celestial harmonies,
While loud the rushing, roaring streams acclaim
The awe and majesty of thy great name.
And like a hero of our mortal race.
With battle scars upon thy noble face,
Thou standest erect, proud and high,
While weaker comrades fail, droop and die,
But thy eternal snows are ever white and fair,
And in thy presence God is surely there!

Alice published a few limited-edition collections of poetry, one of which, Treasured Thoughts (1921), was a compilation of works by famous poets and her own, including the poem cited above. According to her obituary, Alice was also "an accomplished violinist."

All three sisters were inseparable, and soon their parents moved into their Forest Grove home. Alice wrote papers for a number of education journals, one of which dealt with playwriting for high school students, and spoke at conferences in Portland on teaching methods. After graduating from Pacific University, Nellie too began teaching at Forest Grove High School. Sadly, in 1921, an awful event occurred which altered the family's lives. Their younger sister Mary, who the year before had married a Portland doctor, Arthur Trew Blachly, died unexpectedly some months after giving birth. The sisters took in and cared for the infant, named Alice Elizabeth, as well as caring for their ailing parents. During this period, Nellie, among other jobs, served on the advisory board of the YWCA at Pacific University. With the many new, unforeseen responsibilities, Alice was forced to quit teaching at the high school, but after the death of their father March 12, 1925, the daughters decided to finally open Cole Kindergarten. It was located on the SE corner of Elm and 19th at 1835 Elm Street, diagonal from where Olson Bike Shop is located now. Their niece Alice E. lived with them at the Kindergarten home until adulthood, married a man by the name of Malicoat, and eventually moved to San Diego, CA, before returning to Portland. So began a career lasting over thirty years, and, I might add, hundreds of children set on the straight and narrow.

Alice retired around 1956, and resumed writing poetry full time. One of the last years of the Kindergarten class included none other than our very own board member and OTS manager Don Skinner. Don recalls how patient and caring the sisters were, and exciting their backyard was, with paths leading through the flower beds the students could explore on good days. Most importantly, the sisters did not have a mandatory nap time for the kids, which was the reason for Don's switching from the more "tyrannical" Castle School. The sisters also gave the students eye tests, and used a pocket watch to test their hearing.

Sources:
Royal M. Cole, "Interior Turkey Reminiscences," Unpublished manuscript , Amherst College;
"America Missionary's Peril," New York Times, February 11, 1896;
"Services Held for Nellie A. Cole," Hillsboro Argus, August, 11, 1960, p.4;
"Alice H. Cole," Hillsboro Argus , April 12, 1965, p. 9;
Oberlin College Bulletin of General Information (Ohio: The College, 1918); and
Oberlin Alumni Magazine, March 1961 (Oberlin, Ohio), 31.)

Spouse: Dr. Arthur Trew Blachly. Mary Elizabeth Cole and Dr. Arthur Trew Blachly were married on 29 May 1920. Children were: Alice Elizabeth Blachly.

Spouse: Nathaniel Lamberton Jr.. Olive Cole and Nathaniel Lamberton Jr. were married.

Spouse: Lydia Jacobs. Lydia Jacobs and Ransom Cole were married in October 1838 in Marshfield, Vermont.

Spouse: Hannah Daggett. Hannah Daggett and Simeon Cole were married on 6 July 1749. Children were: Simeon W. Cole, Hannah Patience Cole.

Spouse: Jerusha Pitkin. Jerusha Pitkin and Simeon Cole were married on 24 April 1838 in Marshfield, Vermont. Children were: Charles Cole, Alvin Cole, Ralph Cole, Corilla P. Cole.

Spouse: Margaret Capron. Margaret Capron and Simeon W. Cole were married. Children were: Joanna Cole, Welcome Cole, Tabitha Cole.

Spouse: Squier Bullock. Tabitha Cole and Squier Bullock were married. Children were: Ira Bullock, Irena Bullock.

Spouse: Lucy Bliss. Lucy Bliss and Welcome Cole were married in 1817. Children were: William Frederick Cole, Eli Cole, Olive Cole, Eunice C. Cole, Mary Cole, Lucretia Jane Cole, Infant Cole, Henry Nelson Cole.

Spouse: Matilda Peck. Matilda Peck and Welcome Cole were married. Children were: Elioenai Cole, Hiram Cole, Simeon Cole, Simeon Cole, Ransom Cole, Roxanna Matilda Cole.

Spouse: Joseph Garnsey. Hannah Coley and Joseph Garnsey were married on 10 April 1673. Children were: Joseph Garnsey.

Spouse: Ann Prudden. Ann Prudden and Samuel Coley were married in 1640. Children were: Hannah Coley.

Spouse: Francis Joseph Dorman. Nanny Elizabeth Collins and Francis Joseph Dorman were married before 1920. Children were: Dorothy Faye Dorman, Frances Elizabeth Dorman.

Spouse: Margaret Ellen Raese. Margaret Ellen Raese and Phillip LeRoy Collins were married in 1958. Children were: Andrew Christopher Collins, Phillip Curtis Collins.