Elmer K. Cole

COLE, KESTER, KIRBY, VENEMAN

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 8/15/2004 at 09:58:14

“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

Among the men whose initiative and business ability have been used not only to secure their own advancement, but also to further the commercial growth of Winterset is Elmer K. Cole, co-partner in the Scarless Remedy Company and Munson Manufacturing Company, both of Winterset. He is a native of this county, born on the 10th of May 1877, a son of John S. W. and Flora (Kester) Cole The father, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1847, accompanied his parents to Ohio in 1855, and ten years later came with them to Douglas township, this county. He immediately began farming here and successfully managed his agricultural and live-stock interests. He became owner of one of the first threshing machines in Madison county and followed threshing in the fall of the year for several years. In 1874 he was married to Miss Flora Kester of Dallas county, Iowa, and to this union were born six children, five daughters and one son: Ethel, Elmer K., Bertha, Elizabeth, Lenore and Lela, all growing to maturity except Lela, who died at the age of four months.

In 1879 the Cole family removed from Douglas township to Scott township, where they resided until 1893, when they moved to Winterset. During the active years of his life John S. W. Cole was a public-spirited and progressive citizen, taking part in the affairs of his township and county. During his residence in Winterset he was engaged in different lines of business until his health failed and he was forced to retire, passing away in 1906. He was an active member of the greenback party and later of the populist party. His wife, a daughter of Aaron Kester, was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1850, and came with her parents by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi river to Keokuk, Iowa, and overland to Palmyra, Warren county, Iowa, in 1855. At that time Palmyra was the center of a large Quaker settlement, and Aaron Kester having been raised a Quaker naturally sought those of the faith of his fathers. He was engaged in the mercantile business in Warren county for some time. His wife passed away a short time after their arrival in Iowa, leaving three small children, who were taken back to Ohio and cared for by friends until the father had made a new home for them. In the early '6os the Kester family removed to Guthrie county, Iowa, where they resided for several years. Flora Kester secured an education in the public schools of Guthrie and Dallas counties and was a successful teacher prior to her marriage. She is at the present time making her home with a daughter in Jasper county, Iowa.

Elmer K. Cole received his education in the district schools of Scott township and during parts of two winters spent in the grade schools of Winterset. He followed farming until the year 1896, when he became interested with his father in the general delivery business in Winterset, which he followed for a short time, later being employed in a furniture store. In 1897 he began taking private lessons in short hand and in 1898 began work as a stenographer in the law office of J. P. Steele and C. A. Robbins, where he read some law. In 1900 he became interested with I. J. Ketman in the manufacturing of Scarless Liniment, and spent several years in placing this preparation on the market, first by canvassing the country selling to farmers and stockmen, and later selling to the trade. This venture was the beginning of the Scarless Remedy Company, which now has a line of fourteen preparations for stock and poultry which are sold quite generally over the central part of the United States. In 1913 he became associated with I. J. Ketman, H. H. Munson and Clarence Macumber in the formation of a new concern known as the Munson Manufacturing Company, which makes the Little Daisy revolving cultivator shields and which has proven to be a great improvement over the old style shields. Mr. Cole finds that his connection with the two above named concerns makes heavy demands upon his time and is concentrating his attention upon directing those industries.

In 1903 Mr. Cole married Miss Alberta Veneman, who was born and grew to womanhood on a farm near Maxwell, Story county, Iowa, a daughter of Hon. W. J. and Margaret (Kirby) Veneman, who were born in Indiana and came to Iowa in an early day, the father being one of the early settlers at Cory Grove, Polk county, Iowa. In 1861, when but seventeen years of age, he became a member of Company B, Thirty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, enlisting at Des Moines. He served throughout the Civil war, and at one time was taken prisoner and confined at Milan prison for several months. Following the close of the war he returned to Polk county, Iowa, and there taught in the rural schools for a time. In 1866 he was married to Margaret Kirby and in a short time removed to Story county, Iowa, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Veneman has always been active in political and religious circles, was a member of the legislature in 1898 and 1900, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife passed away in 1912. They were the parents of six children, Mrs. Cole being the fifth in order of birth. By her marriage she has become the mother of three children: Donald V., born June 6, 1904; Dorothy, born October 23, 1906; and Elizabeth, whose natal day was the 27th of May, 1909. Mrs. Cole is quite active in church and Sunday-school work, and the Cole residence is a favorite meeting place for the many friends of the family.

Mr. Cole is one of the leaders of the progressive party and has been chairman of the county organization since the birth of the party. In 1912 he was appointed mayor of Winterset and his administration was characterized by the efficient management of municipal affairs, as he applied the principles of business to the government of the city. On the 29th of March, 1915, he was elected to that office for a term of two years. He does not allow his business and political interests to monopolize his time, however, and is quite prominent in church circles, being a trustee in the First Baptist church, and has served as superintendent of the Sunday school. His energy and efficiency have made it possible for him to take an active part in still other phases of the community life, and he was one of the men who made the Madison County Chautauqua Association a success. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order and is at present junior warden of the local blue lodge. Men such as he, notable alike for their ability and public spirit, are among the best assets that a community can have, and he is deservedly held in the highest respect by his fellow citizens.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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