William Hinson Cole was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician and Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

Biography

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Cole attended private school and studied medicine and law. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Baltimore in 1857. He later moved to Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

, to practice law, and also served as a member of the Kansas Territorial House of Representatives. He graduated from the University of Louisiana (present day Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

) in 1860.

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Cole enlisted in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 as a surgeon of Francis S. Bartow

Francis S. Bartow

Colonel Francis Stebbins Bartow was an attorney, Confederate States of America political leader, and military officer during the early months of the American Civil War...

's Eighth Georgia Regiment. He served in the Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

, then took charge of the wounded in General James Longstreet

James Longstreet

James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...

's corps. He was captured and held as prisoner at Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...

 in Baltimore for six months, until he was returned South and acted as surgeon on the staff of Gen. Bradley Johnson

Bradley Tyler Johnson

Bradley Tyler Johnson was an American lawyer, soldier, and writer. Although his home state of Maryland remained loyal to the Union during the American Civil War, Johnson served as a general in the Confederate States Army, leading efforts to raise a Maryland Line in the CSA, and rising to command...

 of Maryland until the close of the war.

After the war, Cole was appointed deputy register of Baltimore in 1870, but resigned when he was elected chief clerk of the first branch of the Baltimore City council. He served as a reading clerk of the Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 from 1874 to 1878, and later became a reporter on the Baltimore Evening Commercial, and later its proprietor. He connected with the Baltimore Gazette, and afterward with its successor, The Baltimore Day, continuing with the press until 1885. It was at this point he was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth Congress, and served from March 4, 1885 until his death in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. He is interred in Bonnie Brae Cemetery of Baltimore.

External links

• William Hinson Cole entry at The Political Graveyard
  The Political Graveyard
  The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 224,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information.-History:...