Wylie Paul Cole displays the book he wrote about his great-grandfather, John Hunt Cole, who is buried in the Vian Cemetery. Cole wrote about the stories that his great-grandfather Cole told to his son and were passed down to him. Linda Copeland • Times
“For as long as I can remember I have heard the stories handed down through my grandfather that my great-grandfather was General John Hunt Morgan,” Cole said.
“This story is not about General John Hunt Morgan but it is about a man who claims to have been one and the same person as General Morgan,” Cole said.
Cole said he started on the book in the 1970s and with help from his cousin has research records, searched out papers, and interviewed every available person in an effort to know the truth.
“The family tree of John Hunt Cole can be traced no further back than Jasper County, Ill., in the year of 1864, the exact same year history indicates the life of John Hunt Morgan ended in Greenville, Tenn,” Cole said.
“We have done everything we can to prove they are the same person. We exhumed Dr. Cole’s body and hired a certified pathologist to come and shift through his remains. The pathologist found a few bone fragments and a tooth. A lab in Seattle, Wash., told us after a few months that there was no DNA left in the fragment,” Cole said.
“I am certain that the stories my great-grandfather left with his family can never be proven. I am just as certain that because of a lack of documented facts that neither can it be disproved,” Cole said.
“So this is his story as told to those he loved and trusted most throughout his life,” Cole said.
On page 10 of the book Cole wrote…
“Then the door opened, a gentleman with a neatly trimmed beard, a black suit and hat, carrying a small bag made his way to the side of the big horse. Jim stood in the back door crying and saying over and over, ‘Massa, don’t go,’ Morgan swung into the saddle, waved to his two friends and galloped down the alley into the darkness of the approaching night. The date was Sept. 30, 1864.”
The book can be purchased from Cole by e-mailing him at wylie_cole @yahoo. com.
