newspaperman, author, b. near Pierceton, Ind. He graduated from DePauw Univ., Greencastle, Ind. (1892). After teaching school for a year, he came to Wisconsin in 1893 to work on the La Crosse Republican and Leader. In 1894 he moved to Baraboo and purchased an interest in the Baraboo News. He became sole owner (1906), was editor of the paper for many years, and continued as publisher until his death. An authority on the archeology and history of the Baraboo area, he was president of the State Historical Society and vice-president of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters. He was the author of several articles and books on the history of the Baraboo area; his best-known work, Stagecoach and Tavern Tales of the Old Northwest (1930), was published posthumously under the editorial supervision of Louise P. Kellogg (q.v.). Madison Wis. State Journal, Apr. 14, 1928; J. G. Gregory, S. W. Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1932); Wis. Mag. Hist., 11; H. E. Cole Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Harry Ellsworth Cole Papers for details.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]