Orsamus Cole

The Honorable Orsamus R. Cole
6th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office November 11, 1880 – January 4, 1892
Appointed by	William E. Smith
Preceded by	Edward George Ryan
Succeeded by	William P. Lyon
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
In office June 1, 1855 – January 4, 1892
Preceded by	Samuel Crawford
Succeeded by	Silas U. Pinney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851
Preceded by	Mason C. Darling
Succeeded by	Ben C. Eastman
Personal details
Born	(1819-08-23)August 23, 1819 Cazenovia, New York, US
Died	May 5, 1903(1903-05-05) (aged 83) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Resting place	Forest Hill Cemetery Madison, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican Whig (before 1855)
Spouses	Julia A. Houghton (m. 1848; died 1874) Roberta C. Noe Garnhart (m. 1879; died 1884)
Children	Sidney H. Cole Orsamus Cole
Parents	Hymeneus Cole (father) Sarah Salisbury (mother)
Alma mater	Union College

Orsamus R. Cole (August 23, 1819 – May 5, 1903) was an American lawyer and judge. He served as the 6th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and, until 2013, was the longest-serving justice in the Court's history, with nearly 37 years on the high court. He also represented Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 31st Congress (1849–1850). His name is frequently misspelled as Orasmus.

Early life and career

Orsamus Cole was born in Cazenovia, New York, the son of Hymeneus Cole and Sarah Salisbury. Both of his grandfathers had served in the American Revolutionary War. Cole attended the common schools and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1843. He studied law, and, in 1845, he was admitted to the New York bar. That same year, after a brief stop in Chicago, he moved to Potosi, a lead mining town in Grant County, Wisconsin Territory. At Potosi, he entered a prosperous law practice partnership with William Biddlecome.

Political office

In 1847, he was chosen as one of Grant County's delegates to the 2nd Wisconsin Constitutional Convention. The constitution was ratified by a referendum in May 1848, and, that fall, Orsamus was nominated by the Whig Party as their candidate for Congress in Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district. In the November general election, Cole defeated his opponents, Democrat A. Hyatt Smith and Free Soil candidate George W. Crabb, and earned a seat in the 31st United States Congress.

In Congress, Cole sided with the anti-slavery Whigs and refused to support the fugitive slave provisions of the Compromise of 1850. He ran for re-election in 1850, but was defeated by Democrat Ben C. Eastman.

He resumed the practice of law in Potosi, but, in 1853, stood on the consolidated Whig and Free Soil ticket as their candidate for Attorney General of Wisconsin. The Whig and Free Soil ticket was defeated in nearly all of the statewide races that year, and Cole again returned to his law practice.

Supreme Court

Following their defeat in 1853, Whig and Free Soil remnants went on to form the new Republican Party. In the 1854 elections, the new Republican Party was very successful and captured a majority of the Wisconsin State Assembly. That winter, they selected Cole to be their candidate against incumbent Associate Justice Samuel Crawford in the April 1855 Supreme Court election.

Cole defeated Crawford, largely because of his opposition to the fugitive slave laws, and took office the following June. He was re-elected to six-year terms in 1861, 1867, 1873, and was then re-elected to ten-year term in 1879. In November 1880, Cole was appointed by Governor William E. Smith to fill the vacant Chief Justice role created by the death of Justice Edward George Ryan. He was elected to a full ten-year term as chief justice in April 1881.

Justice Cole served thirty six years and seven months on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and was the longest-serving justice in the history of that court until he was surpassed by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson in 2013.

At the end of his term in 1892, he retired to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he died on May 5, 1903. He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Personal life and family

He married his first wife Julia A. Houghton in 1848. They had two children, Sidney, who lived to adulthood, and Orsamus, who died as an infant in 1853. Julia died in 1874. He married his second wife, Roberta C. Noe Garnhart, the widow of John H. Garnhart, on January 1, 1879, at Madison, Wisconsin. She died June 17, 1884.

His former home, now known as the Carrie Pierce House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1848, 1850)

Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District Election, 1848

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election
	Whig	Orsamus Cole	6,281	45.23%
	Democratic	A. Hyatt Smith	5,690	40.97%
	Free Soil	George W. Crabb	1,916	13.80%
Plurality			591	4.26%
Total votes			13,887	100.0%
	Whig gain from Democratic

Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District Election, 1850

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election (partial returns)
	Democratic	Ben C. Eastman	7,262	55.38%
	Whig	Orsamus Cole	5,852	44.62%
Plurality			1,410	10.75%	+6.50%
Total votes			13,114	100.0%	-5.57%
	Democratic gain from Whig		Swing	15.01%

Wisconsin Attorney General (1853)

Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 1853

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election
	Democratic	George Baldwin Smith	31,705	57.15%
	Whig	Orsamus Cole	23,776	42.85%
Plurality			7,929	14.29%
Total votes			55,481	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1855)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1855

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, April 3, 1855
	Nonpartisan	Orsamus Cole	32,881	55.95%
	Nonpartisan	Samuel Crawford (incumbent)	25,733	43.79%
	Nonpartisan	James H. Knowlton (Write-in)	64	0.11%
		Scattering	90	0.15%
Plurality			7,148	12.16%
Total votes			58,768	100.0%

External links

• United States Congress. "Orsamus Cole (id: C000611)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.