James Omar Cole (1828-1923)
J.O. Cole, of Peru, Miami County, Indiana
He was reputed to be "the richest man in Indiana". He went to California in the Gold Rush (1849) and started a dry goods business that laid his fortune before returning to his native Indiana. There, he went on to successfully speculate in coal and timber. His fortune allowed for the lifestyle and education of his famous and supremely gifted grandson, the singer/songwriter Cole Porter
