Cornelius Cole, (1822-1924) was born in Lodi, New York, on 17 September 1822. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1847. He studied law and practiced for a time in Auburn, New York. Following the gold rush, he went to California to work in the gold mines until 1850 when he established his law practice in San Francisco. As the Civil War loomed, Cole became politically involved with the Republican Party in California. To this end, he was commissioned a Captain in the Union Army in 1863 and was subsequently elected as a Union Republican in Congress and represented California in the House from 1863-1865. Following the war, Cole was elected as a United States Senator and served from 1867-1873. In 1880 he retired from public service and later died in Hollywood, California, in 1924.