My father was Woodrow Cole, his father was Wiley and Wiley’s father was a man named Robert Cole, also known as Bob Cole. Bob was born about 1841. His mother was a lady named Dicey Cole, but his father was unknown. He’s listed in the 1870 Census as a mullato. Bob came out of slavery and over the course of his life he acquired about 300 acres of land. I’ve documented that.

In addition to that, he operated a mercantile store. When he died in 1931, his death notice appeared on the front page of a local newspaper in Newton, Mississippi. I had heard that he had lived well, some say he lived like a white person in terms of his financial situation. So, I went down to Newton County, Mississippi... I had located the date of his death in a family bible and contacted the Mississippi Department of Archives and had got his death certificate. It said he was buried in Shiloh Baptist Cemetary in a town near Newton. [In Newton] I saw an old man in the road helping a young lady with her car. I pulled over because that’s who I was looking for: the elders in the community. So I asked the old man, “do you know where Shiloh Baptist Church is?” He said, sure, as soon as her husband come I’ll take you around there."

He took me around there and sure enough, his headstone was there with his wife and some of his kids. So, I went on into town and went to the local newspaper. I said, well, if he’s all that they make him out to be—I didn’t think it was true–maybe they would have said something in the newspaper about him. So, I went to the newspaper and asked them about issues dating back to 1931. They said, Mr. Cole, if we kept papers all the way back to 1931 we couldn’t do no business in here! But, they said, you might be fortunate. They microfilmed some of our papers at the local library. So, I said great, let me go down to the local library and see if I can prove anything. Sure enough, I went to the local library, looked at the microfilm, went back to 1931, looked around his death date and on the June 4th issue of the Newton Record in 1931, his death notice was on the front page.

June 4, 1931, Newton Record newspaper in the town of Newton, Mississippi.

“Respected colored man passed away in Newton. On last Monday night, Bob Cole, a highly respected colored man in Newton, died at his home at the ripe old age of 92. The life of Bob Cole is a living example of the possibilities of any man in this country to succeed regardless of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude. When the Civil War was declared, Bob was 22 years of age and was 26 when the treaty was signed. And notwithstanding the fact that he was a slave until he reached his majority, by honesty, thriftiness and perseverance he had accumulated considerable property in this county and always lived in a good home with no debts hanging over it. Many men of this community have known Bob for all their lives and he was never suspected of being a party to or sympathizing with anything that was calculated to do harm to anybody. His influence and his advice to his people being the very best. By living such a life, he was honored by his race and respected by all white friends who knew him.”

-As told by Anthony A. Cole of Chicago, Ill.

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