From Memorial and Genealogical Record of Dodge and Jefferson Counties, Wisconsin, publ. 
1894 - Page 105-107
 
THOMAS COLER.  Not to make mention of Thomas COLER in this volume devoted to eminent 
and old citizens would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out, for he has been prominent 
in the annals of Dodge County for nearly half a century.  He owes his nativity to Orange County, 
N.Y., his birth occurring in the famous military city of West Point, July 31, 1833, but his father was 
born in the Province of Alsace, France, where he was reared and eventually married Mary 
Magdaline MULLER.  In 1828 they took passage for the New World and first made a settlement 
at West Point, N.Y., where the father followed his trade of carpenter and joiner, and he was 
exceptionally skilled as a cabinet-maker.  He resided in West Point up to 1846, then came West 
to Wisconsin, and located in Dodge County, and was engaged in contracting and building here for 
some time, a number of the buildings which he erected still standing as monuments to his skill.  
Eventually he removed to Clyman, and spent the last years of his life there, dying at the age of 
seventy-six years, and his wife at the age of eighty-seven.  Thomas COLER is the youngest and 
only survivor of seven sons born to this couple, and he has three sisters who are also living at this 
writing.  He was a resident of the State of New York up to the age of seventeen years, and at the 
age of eighteen years joined his father in the State of Wisconsin, with whom he made his home 
until 1854, when he decided to seek his fortune in the famous gold regions of California, and the 
long journey thither was made via New York and the Isthmus of Panama.  He arrived in that State 
in June 1854, and he soon began working in the gold mines of Nevada County, Cal., and from 
that time until 1860 mined in different counties; then went to the State of Nevada and continued 
mining there for five years.  His trip from Nevada to Montana was made on horse back, over 
1,000 miles, and from Montana to Portland also horse back, 900 miles.  In 1866 he went to 
Montana, where he continued to mine for one year, in which occupation he met with fair success.  
He then decided to return East, and made his way through Idaho to Portland, Ore., thence by 
steamer to San Francisco, from there by water to the Isthmus of Panama, thence to New York 
City, and from there home, where he arrived in February 1867.  While in the West he was in 
California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, and 
since his return to Wisconsin he has visited many States in both the East and West.  Mr. COLER 
was united in marriage in Dodge County, April 5, 1868, to Miss Anna DUFFEY, who was born in 
Vermont and removed to Wisconsin with her father, Patrick DUFFEY, in 1845, the latter being 
now a resident of Clyman Township and a hale old man of eighty-seven years.  He has been a 
widower since 1873.  Mrs. COLER was born in Vermont and educated in Clyman Township, and 
after her marriage she and her husband settled on the old COLER  homestead, in Clyman 
Township, and there Mr. COLER tilled the soil successfully for twelve years.  He then rented his 
farm and moved to Juneau, and here improved the property on which he is now residing, 
consisting of fifteen acres of valuable land, to the cultivation of which Mr. COLER devotes his 
leisure time.  He has been a very active man all his life, is shrewd, yet always honorable in all his 
business dealings, and is justly accounted one of the prosperous citizens of Dodge County.  He 
has always identified himself with the Republican party, and his first presidential vote was cast for 
Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.  Although he has never been an office seeker, he has held a few 
minor positions of trust, and always to his credit.  In 1880 he was census enumerator of his 
township.  He and his wife are members of the Catholic Church, and although his life has been a 
checkered one, it has always been strictly honorable.
 
Submitted by Carol