Orsamus COLE, Congress, WI (1819-1903)

COLE, Orsamus, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Cazenovia, Madison County, N.Y., August 23, 1819; attended the common schools and was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1843; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Chicago, Ill.; moved to Potosi, Grant County, Wis., the same year and continued the practice of law; member of the State constitutional convention in 1847; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1851); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress; resumed the practice of law in Potosi until 1855; associate justice of the State supreme court 1855-1880, and chief justice from April 1881 to January 4, 1892; resumed the practice of law; retired in Milwaukee, Wis., where he died on May 5, 1903; interment in Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Wis.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present