James Cole (born in 1600, England; died at age 92 in 1692, in MA)
Mary Tibbes (born in 1598, England; died at age 62 in 1660, in MA)
7th great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters and our first known direct Cole ancestor in America.
James Cole married Mary Tibbes in 1624 in England and they had 4 children: James, Hugh, Mary and John. They came to Saco, Maine, in 1632, and located in Plymouth, Mass, in 1633. James was admitted as a freeman the same year. He was the first settler of what is known as Cole’s Hill, the first burial ground of the Pilgrims. This land is also where Plymouth Rock lies. After his arrival in Plymouth, he opened the first tavern and inn, which were located in his home. This inn was first run by James and his wife, and then by James, Jr., until 1698.
Excerpts from
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=34205577&ref=acom
A tablet mounted on the granite post at the top of the steps on Cole’s Hill bears this inscription:
“In memory of James Cole
Born London England 1600
Died Plymouth Mass 1692
First settler of Coles Hill 1633
A soldier in Pequot Indian War 1637
This tablet erected by his descendants 1917”
James Cole opened the first tavern and inn in the Plymouth Colony on a piece of land that is today known as Cole’s Hill, which stands in front of Plymouth Rock overlooking the harbor. His lands extended to Swansea, Mass.
Of particular interest is James Cole’s apparent lack of church membership among the scores of early prominent settlers whose places of prominence in the community were usually paralleled by leadership roles with in the church.
James obtained from the colony a license to operate a public house, and by 1637 his first violation of the liquor control laws was recorded in the court records. By 1640 the court withdrew his license to sell liquor, after which he was fined for selling liquor without a license. His license was restored in 1645.
James was apparently financially successful and acted as surety on bonds at various times, and also loaned money. He undoubtedly won the respect of the townspeople. He was elected constable in 1641-42 and again in 1644. He was also appointed highway surveyor several times beginning in 1642.
James, as well as his wife, continued to experience problems in operating the tavern within legal boundaries after his license was restored. James and Mary were fined for allowing drunkenness in the tavern, selling liquor on Sunday, and selling liquor to Indians. James himself was cited three times by the court for being drunk, the last time in 1671. In defense of his third offense he claimed to have an infirmity which caused him to appear drunk, and was not fined.
Despite the rowdy reputation of Cole’s tavern, the court in 1653 decided to pay James Cole for his expense of operating an “ordinary,” and provided him with “necessaries” for entertaining strangers. In 1659 the court again paid Cole 10 pounds for improvements in his “ordinary.”
In 1670 the operation of the tavern succeeded to James Cole, Jr., who was not charged the excise tax that year because he was beginning a new business. The operation of the tavern went smoothly after James, Jr. took it over, and there were no more fines for license and liquor violations, although one of the patrons was charged with “drinking, gaming and uncivil reveling” in 1671 when he rode a mare into Cole’s parlor. Although James Jr. was not held responsible, he was cautioned to “keep good order in his house … with no reveling there.”
Excerpts from http://www.drweed.net/ColesHistory.pdf:
On Plymouth Colony’s earliest extant freeman’s list, James “Coale” is listed between those admitted freemen on 1 January 1633/4 and those accepted on 1 January 1634/5. The Plymouth tax list of 27 March 1634 shows that James Cole was assessed nine shillings. The conclusion that he arrived at Plymouth in that year is based on these records.
As a dutiful participant in the civic affairs of Plymouth, James sat many times as a juryman, was twice elected constable, and served four terms as surveyor [overseer] of highways. James Coale appears on a 1637 list of Plymouth men who, “if they be pressed,” will serve in the war against the Pequots. On 2 July 1638 and again on 4 September 1638, he served as surety for Richard Clough in a criminal case; the associated records call him sailor and innkeeper, respectively. As James Cole Sr., he is recorded in the Plymouth section of a 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms. In 1654, “the boate of James Cole, of Plymouth, with seamen to goe in them” was impressed to transport soldiers.
James was perhaps the first innkeeper in New England. Plymouth Colony records show that his tavern, situated in his home, was a lively place in which behavior, including his own, was not always exemplary. On 7 June 1637, “James Coale of Plymouth” was fined ten shillings “for selling less than a Winchester quart for ijd. [two pence] . . . but not in ignorance.” On 5 May 1640, “James Cole, of Plymouth, is prohibited by the Court to draw any wine or strong water until the next General Court, nor then neither without special license from the Court.” On 2 June 1640, John Kernan deposed that “there was such disorder in James Cole’s house, by throwing stools, & forms, & fire, until within a hour of day, or thereabouts, that they could hardly sleep, and in the morning he found them on sleep by the fire.” On 1 September 1640, James Cole, “for drawing wine without license & contrary to the express prohibition of the Court, & for his contempt & disorders suffered in his house, is fined £5.” A coroner’s inquest of 26 July 1652 found that Robert Willis had been up all night drinking at James Cole’s before he went out fishing and accidentally drowned. On 5 October 1652, James was presented for “entertaining townsmen in his house, contrary to order of the court.” On 5 March 1660/1, James Cole Sr. was fined ten shillings for selling wine to the Indians. He was fined five shillings on 3 October 1665 for allowing Richard Dwelley to be drunk in his house. On 2 March 1668/9, James Cole Sr. and Mary, his wife, were presented at court for selling strong liquors to an Indian and for allowing James Clarke, Phillip Dotterich, Mary Ryder, and Hester Wormall to drink on the Lord’s Day. On 8 March 1670/1, John Sprague was fined for “highly misdemeaning” himself at the house of James Cole, including riding his mare into the parlor. Despite such incidents, the Cole establishment was sufficiently important to the town that on 9 June 1653 it was ordered that “James Cole, the ordinary [tavern] keeper of Plymouth,” be paid “for what he expendeth in keeping the ordinary.” On 7 June 1659, the court authorized ten pounds for the “repairing of the house he now liveth in, so as it may be fitted as an ordinary for the entertainment of strangers.” James seems to have been partial to the intoxicants of which he was the leading purveyor. On 2 January 1637/8, the Plymouth court noted that he had been drinking excessively at the house of Mr. Hopkins. On 5 June 1671, James Cole Sr. was fined “for being found drunk the second time.” On 29 October 1671, when presented for suspicion of being drunk, “he pleaded infirmity of body, which may make some think that sometimes he is drunk.”
On 2 January 1636/7, James Coale was one of four men granted “seven acres apiece, to belong to their several dwelling houses in Plymouth.” On 16 September 1641, James Cole was granted fifty acres of upland at Lakenhame Meadow, and some meadow to be laid out “upon view.” On 27 September 1642, he was granted “an enlargement at the head of his lot.” On 9 September 1661, Samuel Dunham of Plymouth, planter, sold to “James Cole Senior of [Plymouth], shoemaker, all that his part, portion or share of land at Punckateeset.” On 31 October 1673, James Cole Sr. of Plymouth gave his right to land at Saconnet to his son Hugh Cole of Swansea.
James Cole is often identified as the person after whom Cole’s Hill—the first Pilgrim burial site, opposite Plymouth Rock—was named.
Hugh Cole I (born in 1627, England; died at age 72 in 1699, in MA)
Mary Foxwell (born in 1635, MA; died at age 53 in 1688, in MA)
6th great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Hugh Cole married Mary Foxwell in 1654 and they had 10 children: James, Hugh, John, Martha, Anna, Ruth, Joseph, Ebenezer, Mary and Benjamin.
Hugh and his older brother, James, were born in England and came to America with their parents in 1632.
Excerpts from http://www.drweed.net/ColesHistory.pdf
Swansea records of proprietors’ grants indicate that “At a Meeting of the Trustees Ordered by the Court at New Plymouth for the Settlement of the Town of Swanszey the Ninth of the 1st month 1668 [9 March 1667/8] … [it was] Ordered that Hugh Cole shall have 40 acres of Land lately Bought near Matapoiset.” He was nevertheless still “of the Towne of Plymouth” on 1 August 1669, when he purchased of Joseph Turner land in the eastern part of Swansea (now in Somerset). Hugh and his family presumably removed to Swansea not long before he became the sixth admitted inhabitant to sign the town covenant, dated 22 12th month 1669 [22 February 1669/70]. The Coles settled on the aforementioned forty acres, located in Swansea’s Touisset section, on the western bank of what is to this day named, after Hugh Cole [popularly Cole’s] River.
Active in civic affairs, Hugh was elected to many terms as Swansea selectman, or town magistrate and also as deputy from Swansea to the Plymouth Colony General Court, which was both a judicial and legislative body. The town of Plymouth had occasionally used his skills as a surveyor, and in Swansea’s early years, the townsmen appointed him to survey the land grants made by the town to its proprietors. Records of Plymouth Colony and Bristol County describe him consistently, across several decades, as a ship’s carpenter (also his brother John’s occupation).
At Swansea, Hugh became friendly with neighboring native inhabitants, including Metacomet (called King Philip by the English), chief sachem (leader) of the Wampanoag confederacy and leader of its Pokanoket tribe. (Metacomet’s father, Ousamequin—inaccurately known to most Americans by his title, Massasoit, or Great Sachem—had come with ninety men to the 1621 harvest feast at Plymouth, popularly known as the First Thanksgiving.) The Pokanokets lived nearby on the peninsula of Mount Hope (from Montaup, the native name), in present-day Bristol, Rhode Island. Hugh negotiated with sachems such as Metacomet for land that he and others purchased from them. As relations with the Wampanoags, Narragansetts, and other Indian groups deteriorated, Plymouth Colony authorities asked Hugh to report to them on the natives’ moods and activities, which he occasionally did.
Tensions finally exploded in June 1675, when Pokanokets attacked Swansea, destroying the settlement of mostly scattered farms and marking the beginning of King Philip’s War, which engulfed southern New England for the next fourteen months. This was proportionally the bloodiest war in U.S. history: Twelve out of ninety New England towns were destroyed, and many more were damaged; about five percent of the colonists were killed. Suffering far greater losses, the native population of southern New England was reduced by perhaps forty percent—and of those who survived, many were sold into slavery.
In his 1908 Cole genealogy, Ernest Byron Cole relates a fascinating story:
In June 1675, at the commencement of the war with King Phillip, two of Hugh Cole’s sons were made prisoners by the Indians and taken to Phillip at Mount Hope. Phillip ordered them set at liberty, because, as he said, Hugh Cole had always been his friend. He sent word to Hugh that he could no longer restrain his warriors, and for him to take his family and immediately remove to Rhode Island. This Hugh did, and one hour afterward his home was in flames. While he had been on such friendly terms with Phillip, his was the first home burned.
Hugh had returned to Swansea by 12 October 1676, when it was ordered that “the Selectmen Chosen 1675 shall stand for this year 1676, vizt. … Hugh Cole.” Instead of rebuilding his house on the site of the original, he located near Kickemuit River in present-day Warren, Rhode Island, on the western side of Touisset Neck (his original house had been on the eastern side). Secondary sources sometimes claim that Hugh Cole was made a freeman at Plymouth in 1657. (Only freemen enjoyed full rights of colony citizenship, to include eligibility for colony-level office.) The list of that year on which he appears, however, is of those who took the Oath of Fidelity, for men other than freemen; the latter affirmed their loyalty to crown and colony by way of the Freeman’s Oath. That Hugh was a freeman at Swansea, however, is recorded in that town’s section of a list of Plymouth Colony freemen dated 29 May 1670.
Benjamin Cole (born in 1678, MA; died at age 70 in 1748, in RI)
Hannah Eddy (born in 1680, MA; died at age 88 in 1768, in RI)
5th great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Benjamin Cole married Hannah Eddy in 1701 and they had 7 children: Hopestill, Jonathan, Benjamin, Hannah, Israel, Ebenezer and Andrew.
Benjamin Cole was born in Plymouth, Mass, and was the youngest of 10 children of Hugh and Mary Foxwell Cole. He was a strict man of the church and was a deacon from 1718 until his death; he was known as “Deacon Benjamin.”
His beautiful home, built in 1701, is located on Old Warren Road in Swansea, MA. The house is the oldest documented building in Swansea and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It has a central chimney that feeds six fireplaces, and also has an “Indian Room”, whose exterior walls were constructed with two-inch-thick planks. During Indian attacks, the children were put in the room (now a large closet) to protect them from arrows. Benjamin’s will, probated on 4 Oct 1748, mentions his wife and all 7 of his children. The home farm was given to the youngest son, Andrew, with his wife Hannah to have a home in the house as long as she remained single.
Benjamin and his wife Hannah are both buried in the Kickemuit Cemetery in Warren, Rhode Island. Benjamin’s gravestone bears the following epitaph:
“Such as you are, such once was I,
Such as I am, such you must be.
Since ‘tis your fate that you must die,
Prepare for death and follow me.”
Ebenezer Cole (born in 1712, MA; died at age 82 in 1794, in VT)
Mary Bosworth (born in 1714, MA; died at age 25 in 1739, in MD)
Mary Wilson (born in 1714, MA; died at age 80 in 1794, in VT)
4th great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Ebenezer Cole married Mary Bosworth in 1734 and they had 2 children: Susannah and Mary.
Ebenezer married Mary Wilson in 1740 and they had 6 children: David, Freegift, Parker, Lydia, Benjamin and Priscilla.
Excerpts from The Shelby Republican, June 28, 1917:
Ebenezer Cole, the son of Benjamin, was born in Swansea, removed to Rhode Island then to Dutchess County, New York, where his son Benjamin was born.
In 1762 he removed to Bennington, VT. The house built by Ebenezer Cole is one of the most noted in Vermont and possibly in New England. It stands upon a ledge some 30 feel up the side of the Green Mountains, facing what is known as West Mountain, a spur of the Green Mountains, and has a view up and down the valley between them. It is built of smooth dressed white Vermont granite. It has eight rooms, four on the first floor, the same on the second floor; each room is 20 feet square. There is a hall 15 feet wide in which is built the stairway. The walls are three feet in thickness and extend to the cellar or basement which is 40×55 feet. Leading from this basement is a tunnel leading quite a long distance to the foot of the hill. This tunnel is wide enough that a two-horse wagon may be driven through it. Midway of the tunnel is a deep well the full width of the tunnel, which has a drawbridge. When the bridge is drawn, anyone passing through the tunnel would fall many feet to the water. This house was an almost impregnable castle and in the basement was stored the arms of the Shaftsbury company and at an alarm all assembled here.
Excerpts from The Descendants of James Cole of Plymouth by E. B. Cole:
Ebenezer Cole was born in Swansea, Mass, March, 29, 1712. He married Mary Bosworth in Swansea on May 19 1734. She died in Rehoboth, Mass. on July 16, 1739. He married his second wife, Mary Wilson, in Rehoboth also on June 10, 1740. She was born 10/17/1714, and died in Shaftsbury, Vt. on March 26, 1794. About 1737 he removed to Rehoboth, and soon after his second marriage removed to Portsmouth, R.I. In 1740 the records show he was appointed one of a committee of three for the preservation of deer at Portsmouth. In 1745 he removed to Oblong, New York. In 1762 he removed to Bennington, VT. He purchased 1,800 acres of land and with others was one of the founders of the town of Shaftsbury, VT. He was a civil engineer and surveyor. At a meeting of the proprietors of land composing Shaftsbury, held in Bennington, he was chosen one of a committee of three to subdivide the land and lay out the town of Shaftsbury. At the commencement of the Revolution, he held a commission as magistrate for the Crown, and under his oath of office was disposed to enforce the law, and immediately received a notice from the town committee to leave the township. One of his sons accepted the commission as captain in the British Army. But after the first year of the war Ebenezer became a staunch supporter of the Revolutionary cause, and three of his sons served as soldiers in the Shaftsbury Company, including his son David, who had previously accepted a commission in the British Army. Ebenezer died in Shaftsbury on the 22nd of March, 1794 at the age of 86 years old. He is buried in the Shaftsbury Center Cemetery with his wife Mary Wilson who passed four days after her husband.
Inscription on Ebenezer Cole’s tombstone:
“You see the place where I am laid
Death is a debt that must be paid.
And as by me you find it true.
And time will prove it so by you.
Let not your time then run to waste,
In vain delights that please your taste,
But for an endless world prepare,
For time is short, you must be there.”
Benjamin Cole (born in 1750, NY; died at age 72 in 1822, in Shelby County, IN)
Prudence Hard (born in 1755, CT; died at age 68 in 1823, in Shelby County, IN)
3rd great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Benjamin Cole married Prudence Hard in 1778 and they had 8 children: Abel, Anna, Calvin, Arvilla/Aurella, Edward, Almena, Arletta and Seth Martin.
Benjamin Cole was born in Dutchess County, NY. When he was 12 years old, his family moved to Shaftsbury, VT. He was the fifth boy in the family. He moved with all of his sons and sons-in-law to western New York at age 53, and then on to Indiana, where he died on 25 Oct. 1822. He is the only Revolutionary War soldier buried in Hanover Cemetery, one mile south of Morristown, IN. He was a Private in Capt. Bigelow Lawrence’s Company, Walbridge’s Regiment during the Revolution. He signed up again in Capt. Galusha’s Company, Col. Herrick’s Regiment, Vermont Militia, and then in Capt. John Pratt’s Company, in Col. Bridge’s Regiment.
Benjamin brought his wife, three sons and four daughters to the Hanover community in 1819 and entered land there on Oct. 12, 1820. In the early settlement of this corner of Shelby County, there were two centers of population, both near Blue River. One was at Hanover, settled by the Yankees from New England and New York and was known as Yankeetown. The other, north of this near the Brookville state road, was made up of people from Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky. These places were settled in 1820 as shown by the Brookville Land registry. The original plot of ground for the Hanover Cemetery was donated by Seth M. Cole and Moses Blood, and the first burial was that of Benjamin Cole, father and father-in-law respectively of the donors. The first church at Hanover was organized July 26, 1823, by a group of people who met at the house of Moses Blood for the purpose of uniting together in Church Order. The first school was held there in 1833 in the homes of the settlers at night, and was taught by Levi Young, Moses Blood and John Kitchen. The first teacher regularly employed (subscription school) was Moses Blood, who taught a term in 1824 in a log cabin.
An interesting history of the early days of Hanover, written by Mrs. Amaret Pollitt Logan, vividly portrays the life of the early settler, excerpts of which follow:
“This was the period when the Indians, once bloodthirsty and revengeful, had become friendly. When they passed through the country and had to stop at a farm house for a favor, the mother would lean the board, upon which her baby was strapped, against a fence while she did her errand. There were a few wild animals in the forests. The howl of the wolf could be heard at night and the cry of the panther, which for an instant one thought might be the cry of a lost child. “These were lonely times for the mothers, as the fathers were compelled to ride far for the necessities of life, and they could not make the trips between daylight and dark. While there was nothing to fear from the Indians, yet there was a feeling of fear which the mother could not shake off as she watched and looked for the footsteps of the father. There was a Sunday school at Hanover. The people came from all directions on horseback, two-horse wagons and barefoot. On a bright Sunday morning the children would start from home carrying their shoes and stockings and resume their journey, but not so free and easy as before, for now their feet were bound. The main reason for this was to save their Sunday shoes, for money was not plentiful. Hanover was at one time a real town. There were within its borders a church, school house, post office, blacksmith shop, one store with dry goods and groceries combined and a steam saw mill with a great yard full of logs. There were two depots, one a freight and the other a passenger, which were on the old Knightstown – Shelbyville Railroad. And there were, of course, many houses and cottages. The town of Hanover is no more. Everything changes with the passing of time. In the cemetery, that silent city of the dead, fathers, mothers and loved ones lie sleeping. This ends the story of the once thriving settlement, the town of Hanover, named after Hanover, N.H.
Reference: “Pioneer Settlement of Hanover, Once a Thriving County Community.” written by Louis A. Kuhn, news columnist Shelby County.
Seth Martin Cole (born in VT, 1795; died at age 82 in 1877, in Shelby County, IN)
Fanny Warren (born in NH, 1798, died at age 73 in 1872 in Shelby County, IN)
2nd great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Seth Cole married Fanny Warren in 1817 and they had 5 children: Warren Benjamin, Hiram, Eliza Jane, Emeline, and Juliette.
Excerpts from The Descendants of James Cole of Plymouth by E. B. Cole:
He removed to Jefferson County, New York, in 1804. He was a member of the 5th Co., 5th Battalion, New York Militia, and was at the battle of Sacketts Harbor, War of 1812. He removed to Hanover Township, Shelby County, in 1820. In 1822 he purchased from his father the land entered by him. This he sold and purchased the land originally entered by his brother-in-law, Isaac Benjamin, upon which he lived until the time of his death. He was known through the central portion of the state as a man of strict integrity, and was a successful, practical farmer. He was for many years a deacon and elder of the Hanover Christian Church.
The original plot of ground for the Hanover Cemetery was donated by Seth M. Cole and Moses Blood, and the first burial was that of Benjamin Cole, father and father-in-law respectively of the donors.”
Reference: “Pioneer Settlement of Hanover Once a Thriving County Community.” written by Louis A. Kuhn, news columnist Shelby County.
Eliza Jane Cole (born in Shelby County, IN, 1829, died at age 46 in 1875 in Shelby County, IN)
William L. Patten (born in Ohio, 1827; died at age 76 in 1903, in Shelby County, IN)
Great-grandparents of the Applegate sisters.
Eliza Jane Cole married William L. Patten in 1854 and they had 8 children: John, Charles, Juliette, Rebecca, Jessie, Hiram, William and Vernon Cole.
Eliza Jane Cole was the daughter of Seth M. and Fanny (Warren) Cole, New England people, whose ancestor, James Cole, had settled at Plymouth in 1632. Seth and Fanny had moved to Hanover Township in 1821. A little more than a year after their marriage, Eliza and William moved to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in Green Lake County. Members of the Cole family had preceded them; they resided there for five years and three of their children were born there. It was a beautiful prairie country, and the fertile soil yielded large returns, without the labor and time required to clear the forest, and it was with regret that they left there. In the spring of 1861 they returned to Indiana and bought land in the northeast corner of Hanover Township and lived there until 1892, when they moved to Morristown, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Eliza died in 1875 and William married Asenath Spencer in 1880. William died in 1903 and he and Eliza are buried in Hanover Cemetery, where five generations of her family lie.
Vernon Cole Patten (born in Shelby County, IN, 1870; died at age 88 in 1959, in Shelby County, IN)
Julia Anne Gordon (born in Shelby County, IN, 1881, died at age 40 in 1921 in Morristown, IN)
Grandparents of the Applegate sisters.Vernon Cole Patten married Julia Anne Gordon on 11 January 1905 and they had 4 children: Infant Patten, born and died in 1905, Margaret, William and Marian.
The ancestors of Vernon Cole Patten, M.D., settled in Shelby County, IN, in 1820, just two years after the region was settled. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Cole, was a Revolutionary War soldier and was the first person to be buried in Hanover Cemetery. Vern (Patty Doc to his family) was a general practitioner in Morristown, IN, from 1901 until his death at the age of 88 in 1959. When he began his medical practice, his mode of travel was a horse and buggy. He volunteered during World War I, served as a surgeon in the army and was stationed in Kansas and South Carolina. During that time, the country and the whole world were suffering through the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed more people than World War I. It has been estimated that up to 50 million people died of flu or its complications. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. Known as “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. Vern’s first wife, Julia, died on 1 September 1921 at the age of 40, from “ptomaine” poisoning (food poisoning). She and her children had gone on an outing and had taken a picnic lunch with them. She left behind her husband Vern and three children: Margaret, age 14; William, age 11, and Marian, age 9. On October 11, 1924, Vernon Cole Patten married Anna Mauzy Moore (Mama Pat to family). A few weeks later, their Morristown, Indiana, home was destroyed by fire, but the beautiful home was rebuilt. A tragic event resulted in the death of Mama Pat in 1955. She was preparing breakfast and her dressing gown caught on fire. She ran outside and she and Patty Doc finally put the fire out, but she suffered third degree burns over her back, chest and arms. She died three weeks later on 2 February 1955 at the age of 76. Patty Doc died on 29 March 1959 at age 88, from cerebral thrombosis and generalized arteriosclerosis. Mama Pat was a gracious lady who was a wonderful second mother to Patty Doc’s three children, and her grandchildren adored her. Patty Doc was a reserved, kind and modest man who was beloved by all those who knew him. He also had a soft spot for animals and always had two or three dogs who lived with them as family members.
Excerpts from the book, Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana:
Vernon Cole Patten was born in Shelby County, December 12, 1870. He attended the public schools of Hanover township and Morristown; taught in Hanover township, 1888-9; in the lumber business in Arkansas, 1889-90; student at Butler University, 1890-1; a student at DePauw University, 1891-2; taught at Morristown, 1892-3; manager of the Ingalls Lumber Company, 1893-4; a student at Kansas City Medical College, 1894-5; student, Indiana Medical College, 1895-7; practiced medicine in Chicago, 1897-1901; post-graduate student at the Chicago Clinical School, 1901; and physician at Morristown beginning in 1901. He was secretary of the local Board of Health, a member of the Shelby County Medical Society, of the Indiana State Medical Association, and of the American Medical Association. He was married January 11, 1905, to Julia Anne, daughter of Henry P. and Margaret (Hoffman) Gordon.
Margaret Patten (born in IN, 1906; died at age 75 in Kermit, TX, 1981)
Frederick Martin Applegate (born in IN, 1903; died at age 55 in Monahans, TX, 1959)
Margaret (Maggie) Patten was born and raised in Morristown, IN. She married Frederick Martin (Ted) Applegate of Corydon, IN, secretly in 1928 on Labor Day weekend. They married again, officially, on March 2, 1929. Maggie worked in Indianapolis while Ted completed medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine. Upon completion of Ted’s schooling and internship, they moved to Ted’s hometown of Corydon, where he opened his general practice. Maggie stayed at home raising 5 daughters in Corydon, and for a short time in Fort Bliss, TX, while Ted was in the Army Medical Corps during World War II and while he was stationed in England. Ted and Maggie and their five daughters lived in Corydon until September, 1948. The family then moved to Connecticut while Ted studied ophthalmology at New York Polyclinic. In May of 1949, the family moved to Monahans, Texas, and Ted opened his medical practice, specializing in eye, ear, nose and throat. During their ten years in Monahans, Maggie was active in the Presbyterian Church and community affairs, and she loved to read and play golf and bridge. In April 1959, her world was shattered when Ted died suddenly from a heart attack, at the age of 55. After her youngest daughter graduated from high school in 1961, Maggie decided to go back to work, which was a daunting change for her. She became a dorm mother at Texas Tech in Lubbock in 1962 and remained there until 1975, when she was required to retire. She found another position as a Delta Tau Delta fraternity house mother at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS, and was there from 1976 until 1981. Maggie was small in stature but was an intelligent woman, full of determination in anything she attempted. She taught her daughters to always do the right thing and to ‘have the courage of our convictions’. During discussions, she loved to pull a quote from the massive store she kept in her mind, and her daughters often find themselves remembering a quote they first heard from her. In December 1981, Maggie died at the age of 75, from a combination of heart and lung problems. Ted and Maggie are both buried in the cemetery in Monahans, TX.
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Applegate Sisters of Corydon, Indiana 