Cole FANs: Henry A COLE (1812-1897)

Introducing Cole FAN: Henry A COLE.  

In an earlier post, "Cole FANs: Joshua Levi Cole", I introduced the youngest child of my brick-wall ancestors - and founding Canadian COLE family members - Henry "Harry" COLE (Abt. 1790-1849) and his spouse Elizabeth "Eliza" CHURCHILL (Abt. 1790-1875). Now meet Joshua's oldest sibling, Henry A COLE.

Fig. 1: The immediate family of Henry A COLE (1812-1897)
(click to enlarge)

Henry A COLE was the oldest of nine known children born to Canadian founders and parents Henry COLE and Elizabeth CHURCHILL. Of Irish Palatine and English-Irish descent, Henry was (probably) born in Ardcanny, County Limerick, Ireland and baptized on June 7, 1812. At the age of 12, he immigrated to Canada with his parents and younger brother Peter (and possibly sister Mary Jane) and settled near Streetsville in Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario. 

Not a lot of information survives about his family’s early years. But it is known that Henry’s father petitioned for land in Toronto Township, Peel County in 1825, and they settled to farm 100 acres at Lot 8 Concession 6 near the Streetsville Post Office. During the Rebellion of 1837, it is possible (although not fully confirmed) that Henry A COLE served in the militia.

In mid-February of 1849, at the age of 37 – and just 10 months before the death of his father – Henry married Ann Elizabeth SPARLING, the oldest daughter of John SPARLING and Elizabeth MILLER (SPARLINGs and MILLERs were also Irish Palatine families). Ann Elizabeth was a farmer’s daughter, and her family immigrated to Canada from Ireland around the same time as the COLEs and were close neighbours in the Streetsville area.

Map 1: Border region between Peel and Halton Counties in Ontario, Canada
(click to enlarge)

The couple settled in Esquesing Township, Halton County about 1851 where they raised their family of nine children in a 1½ storey frame house. Land records show that Henry bought 100 acres in the township – Lot 29 Concession 7 East ½. Close neighbours were Henry’s brother Peter (Henry’s land adjoined one of Peter’s parcels), and that of Peter’s in-laws the PRICEs. Later, in 1865, Henry bought another parcel of 25 acres, part of Lot 28 Concession 8.

Time passed and eventually Henry’s children left the family home, marrying and raising families of their own – with the exception of James Albert and Elizabeth Alvina, his children remained in Esquesing Township. But sadness touched the family when, in 1875, Henry’s mother Eliza (Churchill) COLE died.

On December 8, 1897, Henry died of at the age of 85 after a general decline in his health for about 8 weeks. Henry was buried in Georgetown, Esquesing Township at Greenwood Cemetery (Section D, Plot 162).

Fig. 2: Snipped from a Google Maps image of Greenwood Cemetery in Halton County, Ontario
(click to enlarge)

                                        

Sources

Research data and information on Ancestry.ca public tree, Brant-LeComte Family Tree.

Brant, Kimberly. Research Profile: "Henry A[lbert?] COLE, Abt. Jun 1812-December 8, 1897." (Last updated: December 18, 2024).

Brant, Kimberly. The Cole Family of Peel County, Ontario, Canada, Volume 2: Henry A Cole, 1812-1897. (A private family history.) Langford, BC, Canada: Self-published, 2025.

Map and Cemetery Photo Credit: Google Maps search result for Greenwood Cemetery, Halton, Ontario, Canada.