Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon
Claud was the eldest child of Maud Ruthanar Burnap and Robert Lindford Cole. He was born at Prairie Creek, Oregon on August 24, 1888. Claud’s name sake was his paternal grandmother Catherine Lindford, 3rd wife of Rev. William Person Cole, AKA Wiley P. Cole Sr.
His elementary schooling was started there and completed in Touchet, Washington, and in Lost Prairie, Oregon where he graduated from the eight grade. He then took a Teacher’s Examination which gave him his first teacher’s certificate.
Claud taught in several out lying districts for the next few years, including Lost Prairie. It was here that his brother, Loyd and his three youngest sisters were all students of his. His first term of teaching was at Troy, Oregon in the fall of 1907 and his last school was Sunnyglade (outside Flora) in the early 1920’s.
On December 8, 1912 he married a neighbor girl, Grace Lee Berner. Grace was born Nov. 17, 1888.
As the school terms were usually three months in the fall and three months in the spring, Claud also did farm and ranch work. He did considerable amount of sheep-shearing and was considered one of he fasted in the country. While in Klamath Falls, Oregon in 1927 working at a sheep camp, he suffered a perforated ulcer and emergency surgery. Due to stomach ulcers he was in poor health the rest of his life.
Claud was an excellent natural musicians. by watching and listening to his father, he taught himself to play the fiddle at a very early age. In scrap book held by the Boone family there are newspaper clippings of him winning prizes in fiddling contests. He played for local dances accompanied by either his brother, Loyd, or his sister, Lelah. It was not unusual for him to “just make up a tune as he went along”. Many people remarked that Claud Cole could get the most beautiful tone from a violin they had ever heard.
Claud had a most pleasant personality and was well liked by those he worked with and those he taught. He was considered a “born” teacher by both his students and their parents. However, in later years he enjoyed recalling an incident that happened in his first term of teaching that made him wonder at the time if he would ever be accepted as a teacher! Claud had just had his 19th birthday when he started teaching and a number of the 7th and 8th grade boys were practically his age. One recess period Claud and the older boys were all out wading in the creek looking for fish bait when the Superintendent of Schools rode up. Claud laughed about it later but at the time his face was exceedingly red!
In the Spring of 1944, Claud died in the hospital at Enterprise, Oregon. He was survived by his wife, Grace of Flora, Oregon. Grace and Claud did not have any children. Grace was the daughter of James J. Berner and Gertie Belle Martin.
Maud Ruthanar Burnap was born 1/16/1870 in West Point, Ill. Robert Lindford Cole was born 5/5/1867 in Johnson County Nebraska. Robert and Maud had six children: Claud Linford, Lelah Hazel Ralls, Philip Loyd Cole, Hettie Gwendolen Price, Margie Juanita Blankenship, Cordelia Maud (Boone) Bollinger.
Robert was the 17 of 18 child of the Rev. William Person Cole Sr of Joseph Oregon. WP Cole had 18 children including:
Wiley and E. M. Ferrell had the following children:
+2 i. John Leonard Cole
+3 ii. Elizabeth Rebecca Cole
+4 iii. Evelinda Melinda Cole
Wiley and Elizabeth T. “Eliza” Marr had the following children:
+5 iv. Samuel Doke Cole
+6 v. James Allen Cole
+7 vi. Sarah Jane Cole
+8 vii. Charles Franklin Cole
+9 viii. William Chalen Cole
+10 ix. Joseph Cole
+11 x. Mary Cole
+12 xi. Mary Alice Cole
+13 Xii. Henry Hunter Cole
Wiley and Catherine Lindford Misner had the following children:
+14 Xiii. Hannah Eliza Cole
+15 Xiv. William P Cole
+16 xv. George L Cole
+17 Xvi. Albert E. Cole
+18 Xvii. Robert Lindford Cole
+19 Xviii. Sarah C. Cole
Information taken from page 38 of Burnap and Cole History, “Crossing the Plains” by Maud Burnap Cole. Compiled and printed by Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) in 1965.
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) Nov. 1,1926 – Oct 9, 1967 was the daughter of Cordilla Maud Cole and Everett Boone.
