Researching Tom Cole

Cole is one of four Native Americans in Congress who are enrolled tribal members. The others are Markwayne Mullin, also of Oklahoma (Cherokee), Yvette Herrell of New Mexico (also Cherokee), and Sharice Davids of Kansas (of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin).

Cole was born in Australia. He was a left-arm round-arm bowler who was the first exponent of round-arm bowling in Adelaide. He was the first bowler in Adelaide cricket to take ten wickets in an innings. He played senior club cricket in Adelaide and represented South Australia in several matches in the 1870s. He took nine wickets in the match against W. G. Grace's English team in 1873-74. The opening round of matches in the Adelaide competition in the 1881-82 season was held in his benefit.

His sole Test match as umpire was the First Ashes Test played between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval in December 1884, when the Australian captain Billy Murdoch refused to accept the experienced English player and administrator James Lillywhite as umpire. This was also the only Test match umpired by fellow Australian umpire Isaac Fisher.

A timeless Test, the match lasted four days, starting on 12 December and ending on 16 December, with 14 December as a rest day. Despite the batting prowess of Australia's Percy McDonnell (124 and 83 out of Australia's totals of 243 and 191), England won by 8 wickets, with Bobby Peel taking 8 wickets in the match (3/68 and 5/51) and Billy Bates 5/51 in Australia's first innings. The Australian side had been weakened by the absence of Fred Spofforth and Billy Midwinter; George Giffen played despite suffering from rheumatism, and Alec Bannerman damaged his finger attempting to stop a ball in the field and was absent hurt in the Australian second innings.

Cole was still umpiring in Adelaide senior cricket in the 1890s. He worked as a bootmaker in Adelaide. He died at his home in Adelaide aged 79.

He was born at Jamberoo to emancipist farmer William Cole and Annabella Mackenzie. He was involved in stock shows from 1876 in partnership with his brother. On 6 November 1882 he married Margaret Thorburn. He expanded his property holdings and moved away from the partnership to show cattle alone. On 6 March 1889 he married for a second time, to Agnes Dixon Lamond, with whom he had a daughter. From 1882 to 1890 he was an alderman at Kiama, and he was an unsuccessful Free Trade candidate for Kiama at the 1889 and 1895 elections. In 1895 he moved to Nowra, and he later relocated to Sydney, where he promoted the dairy industry, particularly co-operation across the colony.

From 1899 he was manager of the Scottish Australian Investment Company's farms near Adaminaby, where he integrated his own Illawarra stock. In 1907–08 he transferred to Darbalara. In the ongoing contention between the Milking Shorthorn and Illawarra Dairy Cattle strains, Cole was the leader of the Milking Shorthorn party, and his animals won most awards for the breed in the 1910s and early 1920s. His herd at Darbalara was the first to receive regular government testing, and it was publicised widely. One of his cows broke world production records twice, and he was awarded by the New South Wales Chamber of Agriculture in 1925 for eminent service.

In 1926 the Darbalara herd was discontinued, and Cole retired. He died at Glebe in 1927.