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biography
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Cole, Samuel, the efficient station master of the Chicago & Fort Wayne Railroad at Allegheny,
was born in Pittsburg, June 9, 1845, son of John F. and Elizabeth M. (Greatrake) Cole. The father, who was born at Harrisburg, and came to Pittsburg when a boy, became the owner of
steamboats that plied up and down the lower river. He was accidentally killed by the falling of a limb of a tree. His wife, Elizabeth, a daughter of Joquett Greatrake, a Baptist
minister of French extraction, died in 1883. They had four children, namely: Charles L., who is now the general freight agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburg; Samuel F.,
the subject of this sketch; Mrs. C. B. Casselberry, now of Philadelphia; and Mrs. John F. Marthius, who resides in Pittsburg. Both parents were members of the Baptist church on Sandusky Street, Allegheny.
Samuel F. Cole was educated in the public schools of Allegheny. In 1869 he went into the employ of the Pittsburg, Chicago & Fort Wayne Railroad, taking the position of passenger brakeman.
He was made conductor in 1872, and in 1877 he was promoted to the post of station master at Allegheny. The business of the station master was at that time comparatively light.
To-day the office entails heavy responsibilities. Mr. Cole to-day has charge of all arriving and departing trains, including thirty suburban trains, yet no accident has ever occurred under him.
The Allegheny yards are run on the North-west system, and he has the supervision of one hundred and sixty-four men, who daily come to him for orders, as Allegheny is the headquarters for the
trainmen of this system. In 1883, associated with others, he began a livery business, which has rapidly increased in size; and they now own what is claimed to be the largest establishment
of the kind between Philadelphia and Chicago, comprising four stables and three offices. Mr. Cole is the financial manager. A lover of fine horses, he owns several high-bred trotters, among
them Harry Superior, by Superior, who has no race record, although he has made 2.20, He also owns an Electioneer horse of Hambletonian ancestry, reckoned among the finest and fastest at Sewickley.
On September 11, 1889, Mr. Cole married Miss Amelia Ihmsen, daughter of C. Ihmsen, of the Ihmsen Glass Factory, S. S., Pittsburg. They have two children — Elizabeth and Marie. Mr. Cole attends the Baptist church, and aids materially in its support.
Biographical review: containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897, Author: Anonymous.
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