Nathan Cole Jr. (1860–1921) was one of the two founders of the ''Los Angeles Daily Times,'' now the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. The son of Nathan Cole, a wealthy

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, politician and banker, he was 21 years old in 1881 when he and a colleague, Thomas Gardiner, put together the first issues of the new venture to be printed on the presses of the Mirror Publishing Company. Later he was a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

man and a Los Angeles city police commissioner."Early-Day Editor Is Summoned," ''Los Angeles Times,'' December 8, 1921, page I-1
''Access to this link will require the use of a library card.'' Cole worked on a St. Louis newspaper, then traveled west to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, and to

Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, located approximately northwest of Sacramento, and is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 61,032 at the 2020 census. Woodland's origins date to 1 ...

. He came to Los Angeles specifically to start a newspaper, which ran into financial difficulty and was taken over by General Harrison Gray Otis in 1882. Cole returned to St. Louis, where he went into business with his father, Nathan Cole, who had been a U.S. Representative in Congress and Mayor of St. Louis. Cole soon returned to Los Angeles, where he remained until he died on December 7, 1921. Cole began his Los Angeles career as a Republican editing a Republican newspaper, but he switched to the Democrats and became a leader of the local party. He was a Democratic committeeman in the first presidential election campaign of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. Cole was an early member of the Jonathan Club and was a Mason and a member of the

Sons of the Revolution Sons of the Revolution is a hereditary society which was founded in 1876 and educates the public about the American Revolution. The General Society Sons of the Revolution headquarters is a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation located at Willia ...

. He was appointed to the police commission by Mayor

Arthur C. Harper Arthur Cyprian Harper (1866–1948) was the 26th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, from December 13, 1906, to March 11, 1909. He was forced to resign in the wake of a recall drive due to dishonesty that marked his administration. While mayo ...

. Cole was survived by his wife and by two daughters, Gladys Cole and Mrs. R.L. McCrea, and by sons Nathan and Richard H."R.H. Cole, Mine Man, Succumbs," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 24, 1931, page A-3
''Access to this link will require the use of a library card.''

References

External links

"The Times' 128-Year History," ''Los Angeles Times Media Group''

Photograph of Nathan Cole Jr., holding a top hat, about age 20, in the USC Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Nathan Jr. 1860 births 1921 deaths 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from St. Louis California Republicans California Democrats

See also

References

External links