Nathan Cole Jr. facts for kids
Nathan Cole Jr. (1860–1921) was one of the two people who started a very important newspaper called the Los Angeles Daily Times. Today, this newspaper is known as the Los Angeles Times. He lived from 1860 to 1921.
Nathan Cole Jr.'s father, also named Nathan Cole, was a wealthy politician and banker in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1881, when Nathan Cole Jr. was 21 years old, he and his friend Thomas Gardiner worked together to print the very first copies of their new newspaper. Later in his life, Nathan Cole Jr. also worked with real estate, which means buying and selling land and buildings. He even became a police commissioner for the city of Los Angeles, helping to oversee the police department.
Starting a Newspaper
Nathan Cole Jr. first worked for a newspaper in St. Louis. After that, he traveled west to Portland, Oregon, and then to Woodland, California. He came to Los Angeles specifically because he wanted to start a new newspaper.
However, the newspaper soon faced money problems. In 1882, a man named General Harrison Gray Otis took over the newspaper. Nathan Cole Jr. then went back to St. Louis to work with his father, who had been a U.S. Representative in Congress and the Mayor of St. Louis. But Nathan Cole Jr. soon returned to Los Angeles, where he stayed until he passed away on December 7, 1921.
A Life in Politics
When Nathan Cole Jr. first started his career in Los Angeles, he was a Republican and worked on a Republican newspaper. However, he later changed his political views and joined the Democratic Party, becoming a leader for the Democrats in the local area.
He was an important member of the Democratic Party during Woodrow Wilson's first campaign to become president. Nathan Cole Jr. was also an early member of the Jonathan Club, a social club. He was a Mason, which is part of a fraternal organization, and a member of the Sons of the Revolution. The mayor of Los Angeles at the time, Arthur C. Harper, appointed Nathan Cole Jr. to the police commission.
Nathan Cole Jr. was survived by his wife and two daughters, Gladys Cole and Mrs. R.L. McCrea. He also had two sons, Nathan and Richard H.
