Cash Cole
Office5th Speaker of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives
Term startMarch 5, 1923
Term endMarch 2, 1925
PredecessorAndrew Nerland
SuccessorC. H. Wilcox
Office 1Member of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives from the 1st district
Term start 1March 7, 1921
Term end 1March 2, 1925
Birth nameClarence Cash Cole
Birth dateFebruary 12, 1891
Birth placeHenderson Bay, Washington, U.S.
Death dateNovember 8, 1959 (aged 68)
Death placeBellingham, Washington, U.S.
PartyRepublican
SpouseRuby C. Worth (m. 1915)
Ruth Marcella (Marsh) Gudbrandon (m. 1945)
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
OccupationPolitician, businessman

Clarence Cash Cole (February 12, 1891 – November 8, 1959) was an American politician and businessman from Juneau, Alaska, who served in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives from 1921 to 1925, representing the 1st electoral district as a Republican in the 5th and 6th territorial legislatures. He served as the fifth speaker of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives from 1923 to 1925 in the 6th territorial legislature.

Early life and education

Cole was born in Henderson Bay, Washington, on February 12, 1891.[1][2] He moved to Treadwell with his parents when he was four years old. Cole was educated at public schools in Juneau, Alaska, and attended the University of Minnesota.[1]

Career

After college, Cole worked in the business sector in Juneau, engaging in draying, docking, and contracting. He was the president and general manager of the Cole Transfer Company.[1]

Cole served two terms in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives, representing the 1st electoral district from 1921 to 1925 as a Republican in the 5th and 6th territorial legislatures. He served one term as the fifth speaker of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives from 1923 to 1925 in the 6th territorial legislature.[3]

Outside of the Alaska Territorial Legislature, Cole worked as an agent for American Railway Express.[2] He also served as Alaska's territorial auditor from 1929 to 1932.[1][4] Additionally, Cole was a candidate for delegate to the United States Congress from the Territory of Alaska in 1940.[5]

Cole won the popular vote on a referendum for governor of Alaska in 1923.[2] Despite this, Republican George Alexander Parks was appointed territorial governor in 1924 through official federal channels.[6]

Personal life and death

Cole married Ruby C. Worth in Juneau on March 7, 1915. They had three children: James Cash Cole (born June 25, 1916), Thomas Phillip Cole (born June 23, 1917), and Jerry Worth Cole (born March 22, 1926).[1]

Cole and Worth divorced prior to 1940. He remarried to Ruth Marcella (Marsh) Gudbranson on January 20, 1945.[1][7]

Cole was a member of The Elks and the Pioneers of Alaska.[1][2] He served as president of Juneau Men's Igloo 6 in 1938.[1][8] In the 1920s, Cole served as Exalted Cyclops of Mt. Juneau Klavern No. 2, a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Juneau.[9][10]

Cole was a Presbyterian.[5]

Cole died at the age of 68 in Bellingham, Washington, on November 8, 1959.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Cole, Clarence Cash". Pioneers of Alaska. Archived November 26, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  2. ^ "Cash Cole". 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature. Juneau, Alaska: Alaska State Legislature. Archived July 5, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  3. ^ "Alaska Constitutional Convention". Alaska State Legislature. pp. 9–10. Archived December 20, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  4. ^ "Cole House". City and Borough of Juneau. Archived November 12, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  5. ^ "Cole". The Political Graveyard. Archived December 6, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Alaska Daily Empire. Juneau, Alaska. February 13, 1924.
  7. ^ Ferrell, Ed. Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950. Vol. 3. p. 66.
  8. ^ "Past Igloo Presidents". Pioneers of Alaska. Archived December 3, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  9. ^ "MS10 Captain Lloyd H. "Kinky" Bayers Collection, 1898–1967 Juneau Historical Subjects Files". Alaska State Library. Archived December 30, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  10. ^ "ALASKKKA – The Invisible Empire in the Last Frontier: A Look into the 1920s Klan of the North". ScholarWorks@UA. University of Alaska System. Archived February 5, 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 7, 2026.