Cross & Crescent

Swansea and the Cole Family

Settled in 1663, Swansea, Massachusetts, is a town of about 16,000 located in a somewhat rural area of southeastern Massachusetts. Like many older towns of today, there is a large retail business area clustered along major highways bordering the town.

When Warren A. Cole (Boston 1912) was born there on November 15, 1889, Swansea was a thriving town with ironworks, farms, fisheries, and many small businesses. Since Cole’s birth, Swansea has managed to retain much of its late 19th century charm.

While Cole may have spent most of his life within a 50-mile radius of his birthplace, he did manage to create an international fraternity that has initiated more than 250,000 members who are scattered throughout the world.

In 1969, Cole’s daughter, Irma Cole Pollard, stated that the family could boast of a former lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, Massachusetts Congressman Major Everett Horton, and Hugh Cole, the first selectman of Swansea, Massachusetts.

In addition, the nearby Cole River was named after one of his family relatives. Without question the extended Cole family was important to the political and economic history of Swansea, Massachusetts, and the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Pollard also reported that an old family tradition established that the name Lambda Chi Alpha has an older, esoteric meaning than most of our members are not aware of today.

She claimed that Cole selected the letter “L” to represent the first name of his first wife Lottie, the letter “C” to represent the family’s last name of Cole, and the letter “A” to represent the first letter of the Greek alphabet!

Since the current meaning of Lambda Chi Alpha was not adopted until the Second Assembly in 1913 it is possible that this story is true. The current meaning of our Fraternity’s Greek letters was adopted more than two years after Cole married Lottie Mae Hathaway.

If nothing else, Pollard’s story adds another layer of confusion to the original meaning of our Fraternity’s name.

Cole graduated from Durfee High School in 1908. After graduation, a year of work, and a few weeks as a student at Brown University, he entered the law school at Boston University.

Creating Our Fraternity

It appears that the idea of creating a college fraternity was on Cole’s mind from the start of his education at Boston University.

The genesis of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is surrounded by differing stories, interpretation of facts, time lines, and an underlying controversy that has not been resolved to this day. Without question it is a story worthy of its own telling at another time.

Founder Cole graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1912. He then set about the work of building an international fraternity.

Cole made remarkable contributions to the development and growth of Lambda Chi Alpha in its earliest days. He served as either Grand High Archon or Grand High Alpha from its beginning to the end of the historic Ann Arbor Assembly in January 1920.

In addition to holding Lambda Chi Alpha’s highest office, he was the administrative and traveling secretary, and the editor and treasurer of the Purple, Green, and Gold Magazine throughout World War I. During his tenure in office, the Fraternity grew to 53 functioning chapters.

Cole’s Married Life

Cole was married twice. His first wife was Lottie Mae Hathaway. They were married on September 13, 1910. The couple lived in Boston at 22 Joy Street and later at 12 Newberry Street.

Both of these places served as meeting sites for Alpha Zeta. Lottie Mae Cole became a favorite of early members of the chapter. She spent many hours helping the members of Alpha Zeta put their living quarters in good order. Cole and his first wife had three children together.

Cole married his second wife, Ethalyn Brayton Chace, on August 28, 1919, in Barrington, Rhode Island. Cole had three more children during his second marriage.

It is interesting to note that his sons, Albert Warren Cole and Nathan Warren Cole, never became members of our Fraternity.

Cole held many different jobs during his lifetime such as store owner, jewelry salesman, employee of the Brown University Student Union, member of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, insurance salesman, and Pinkerton detective.

Other Fraternal Groups and The Last Years

Throughout his life, Cole was an energetic and involved fraternity man. Like many adult men of his day, he was a “joiner.” In addition to founding Lambda Chi Alpha, he was Grand Chancellor of the Rhode Island Knights of Pythias and a better than 50-year member of the Pioneer Masonic Lodge in Somerset, Massachusetts, the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange), and the Loyal Order of Moose.

Although Cole resigned shortly after the Ann Arbor Assembly, he was reinstated by the Grand High Zeta in 1957. In 1959, he was the honored guest at the 50th Anniversary observance of the founding of Alpha Zeta in Boston.

Cole died on December 29, 1968, at Truesdale Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts. His immediate cause of death was attributed to cerebral arteriosclerosis.

For the last 15 years of his life, Cole lived with his daughter, Irma Cole Pollard in Fall River, Massachusetts. However, he spent a part of most days at his Barrington, Rhode Island home with his dog, chickens, and garden work.

Funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Allen Webster Joslin, the Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Swansea, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1969.

Cole was buried at the ancestral birthplace of his mother near Swansea, Massachusetts.

A Mystery Remains to be Solved

In the next part of this article, the mystery of the “lost grave site” will be uncovered and revealed to all. It is a story of two expeditions sent to Swansea, Massachusetts in search of Cole’s final resting place. Stay tuned.