Charles Cleaves Cole (May 22, 1841 – March 17, 1905) was an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the

Supreme Court of the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

Education and career

Born in Hiram,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, Cole read law to enter the bar in 1866, and received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from Harvard Law School in 1867. He was a private in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, serving in the 17th Maine Infantry, from 1862 to 1865. He was in private practice in Portland, Maine from 1866 to 1867, in West Union,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

from 1868 to 1870, and in

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

, West Virginia from 1870 to 1874. He was prosecuting attorney of

Doddridge County Doddridge County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,808. Its county seat is West Union. Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, West Virginia from 1869 to 1870, and was city solicitor of Parkersburg from 1874 to 1876, thereafter resuming his private practice in Parkersburg until 1878, and in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1878 to 1891. He was the

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is the United States Attorney responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the ...

from 1891 to 1893.

Federal judicial service

Cole was nominated by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

on December 12, 1892, to an Associate Justice seat on the

(now the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

) vacated by Associate Justice

Charles Pinckney James Charles Pinckney James (May 11, 1818 – August 9, 1899) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, James graduated from Harvard University in 1838. He was in privat ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on January 28, 1893, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 22, 1901, due to his resignation.

Later career and death

Cole thereafter returned to private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1901 until his death there on March 17, 1905.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Charles Cleaves 1841 births 1905 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia People from Hiram, Maine People from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from West Union, West Virginia United States Army soldiers United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia United States federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison 19th-century American judges Lawyers from Washington, D.C. West Virginia lawyers United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law