I Come From an Unbroken Line of Men Who Helped Establish and Defend America
My 5th great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Cole, Jr. (1750-1826) traveled from Ulster County, NY, with his wife Remember Cole, other relatives, and families to far western Virginia in 1775-6. They settled on farmsteads near what is now the small town of Chilhowie in Washington County. Captain Cole, along with his father Sargent Joseph Cole, Sr. were members of the Washington County Militia, a part of the Virginia Militia. They answered the call for militia to head toward Kings Mountain, in western South Carolina in 1780.
They became known as a part of the Overmountain Men who turned the tide of the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.
A depiction of the Battle of King’s Mountain
This victory of the Patriots over the Loyalists was the first major setback for Britain’s southern strategy and started a chain of events that led to Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown. A monument was erected on the battle site with names of the officers. Capt. Joseph Cole is the third name from the top of the monument.
The Kings Mountain Monument
Captain Cole is buried in the St. Claire Bottom Baptist Church cemetery near Chilhowie, Virginia along with at least four generations of Coles. He is registered with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as Ancestor #: A024196.
Captain Cole descends from James Cole, his 4th great-grandfather, who emigrated from England to settle with his wife and two young sons in Plymouth Colony in 1633. He established the first inn and tavern in the colony on the hill that overlooks Plymouth Rock (to this day called Cole’s Hill), operating it until his death in 1692 at the amazing age for that era of 92!
Vintage postcard of Cole’s Hill
I continue to be amazed that I am a direct descendant in an unbroken line of male Coles since James arrived in Plymouth in 1633. The more that I research my forebears and learn their stories I become even more fascinated. The fact that those who came before me all survived battles (the Revolutionary War, the Civil War), traveling through the young country as they moved from Massachusetts, to New York, to Virginia, to Missouri, to Iowa, to now Florida, conquering hardships and disease. I would not be writing this if they had not done so!
Many thanks to John Cole for sharing his fascinating family history with us. Explore more American Family Stories and discover how ordinary families experienced extraordinary moments in U.S. history on MyHeritage’s America 250 hub.
