Howard W. Cole, a key figure in Brown County’s agricultural and stock-growing sectors, was born on March 29, 1857, in Eureka, Montcalm County, Michigan. The son of Leander T. and Sarah Jane (Stout) Cole, he moved to South Dakota in 1881. Cole established a successful farming partnership and was elected sheriff of Brown County in 1902. He served in various civic roles, including postmaster and township board member, and was active in several fraternal organizations. He married Theresa M. Howell in 1880, and they had five children.
Howard W. Cole, who has been prominently identified with the development of the agricultural and stock-growing industries in Brown County, and is at the present time rendering effective service as sheriff of the county, was born in the town of Eureka, Montcalm County, Michigan, on the 29th of March, 1857, and is a son of Leander T. and Sarah Jane (Stout) Cole. The father of our subject was born in the state of New York, where he was reared to the age of fourteen years, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Michigan, the family settling in Jackson County. In 1851 he took up his residence in Greenville, that state, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Sarah J. Stout, whom he wooed and won as a companion on the journey of life. Immediately after their marriage they located on a farm in Eureka township. The father died January 17, 1900, the widow still surviving. Mr. Cole served for two years as a member of the Twenty-first Regiment of Michigan Volunteer Infantry during the war of the Rebellion, receiving his honorable discharge at the close of the great conflict through the results of which the perpetuity of the Union was insured. Leander T. and Sarah J. Cole became the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest.
Howard W. Cole was reared under the invigorating discipline of the homestead farm and his early education was received in the public schools. He continued to be associated with his father in the work and management of the farm until his marriage, in 1880, at the age of twenty-three years, and he then came to what is now the state of South Dakota, arriving in Brown County on the 9th of August, 1881, and settling on a pre-emption claim ten miles north of the present town of Groton. In 1882 he sold this property and took up a homestead claim in what is now Claremont township, his claim being the southeast quarter of section 25, township 125, range 60, and shortly afterward he entered the employ of H. M. Fuller as foreman on the latter’s farm. In the spring of 1884 he entered into partnership with S. W. Weber, F. D. Adams, and H. C. Sessions and they effected the purchase of what is known as the Fuller farm, to which they added from time to time until the same has now an area of twelve hundred and eighty acres. The co-partnership continued until the death of Mr. Adams, in 1898, and our subject still retains his interest in this fine property. He continued to reside on the ranch until the autumn of 1902, when he was elected sheriff of the county and forthwith removed to Aberdeen, the judicial center of the county, and entered upon the active discharge of his official duties. He has proved a most discriminating, fearless, and faithful executive, and his course has been such as to amply justify the confidence reposed in him by the voters of the county in making him their choice for the shrievalty. Mr. Cole assisted in the organization of Claremont township and for a number of years was an active and valued member of the township board. He also served for nine years as treasurer of his school district, and represented his township in nearly all of the county and state Republican conventions, having ever been a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the “grand old party.” He served for two years as postmaster of Huffton, and has at all times been recognized as a loyal and progressive citizen. Concerning the fraternal relations of Sheriff Cole we enter the following data: He is affiliated with Cement Lodge, No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Claremont; Aberdeen Chapter, No. 14, Royal Arch Masons; Damascus Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, at Aberdeen; Adah Chapter, No. 52, Order of the Eastern Star, at Claremont; and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in which division of Masonry he holds membership in James C. Bachelor Lodge of Perfection, No. 6; Aberdeen Chapter, No. 4, Rose Croix; Albert Pike Council, No. 4, Knights of Kadosh; and South Dakota Consistory, No. 4, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. He is also identified with Claremont Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Order of United Workmen; Claremont Tent, No. 25, Knights of the Maccabees; and Claremont Camp, No. 6199, Modern Woodmen of America, all of Claremont.
On the 9th of December, 1880, Mr. Cole was united in marriage to Miss Theresa M. Howell, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, whence she accompanied her parents to Michigan when a child, being there reared and educated and having been a resident of Montcalm County, that state, at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Cole became the parents of five children, all of whom are living except the eldest, who died in infancy, the names, in order of birth, being as follows: Charles Henry, Arthur Maxwell, Mildred N., Mary J., and Walter G.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.