Coole, Arthur Braddan

Arthur and Ella Coole were Methodist missionaries serving in North China between the years 1924 and 1947. Reverend Coole worked both as a teacher and administrator, and Mrs. Coole taught English, raised their adopted daughter Mona Jean, and was active in church affairs.

Arthur Bradden Coole was born January 6, 1900, in Birmingham, Kansas. His parents, Dr. Thomas H. and Cora Coole, moved with him in 1906 to Kutien, Fukien, China, where Dr. Coole served as a medical missionary until 1913. In 1917, Arthur Coole entered Northwestern University, where he remained for a year before joining the Army. Following World War I, he completed his A.B. at Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas, his M.A. at University of Denver in 1922, and married Ella Frances Endres later that year

After teaching for one year in Oklahoma, Rev. and Mrs. Coole made their first trip to China in 1924. After intensive study at Peking Union Language School, Rev. Coole in 1925 was assigned to teach at the Tientsin Hui Wen Academy, where he and his wife remained until 1937, with the exception of one year's furlough. During that year they returned to the U.S., and Rev. Coole began to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Science at Northwestern University. However, he didn't complete his studies, since in 1938 he was asked in emergency to return to China and resume administrative work with the Methodist Church in Peking. In 1940, Mrs. Coole and Mona Jean returned to the U.S., where Rev. Coole joined them the next year.

From 1941-1944, Rev. Coole was the Soldier's Pastor at Fort Riley, Kansas. He again returned to China in 1944 to work as Field Treasurer of the Methodist Church and later as National Treasurer of the National Council of Churches. After coming back to the U.S. in 1946, Rev. Coole taught Political Science at Baker University for one year. He and his family then went to China for a final stay in 1947, when both Rev. and Mrs. Coole again taught at the Hui Wen Academy and Rev. Coole acted as financial adviser to the school treasurer. After settling in the U.S. later that year, Rev. Coole began a twelve-year period as a Methodist minister to a number of communities throughout Kansas. Having completed forty-three years of faithful church service, Rev. and Mrs. Coole retired to Denver, Colorado, in 1964, and Rev. Coole devoted his time to numismatology, researching and writing several articles and a book on Chinese coinage. He has since been regarded as a leading authority in that field.

The correspondence and papers of Dr. Thomas H. and Cora Coole are also included in this collection. Born in 1868 in Douglas, Isle of Man, Thomas Henry Coole lived in England until he was twenty, then moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He entered Baker University in 1889, where he later met Cora Louisa Shepard Boynton during her first year in 1893; both graduated in 1897. After they were married in the summer of 1897, Thomas Coole served as a Methodist minister until he entered Northwestern University Medical School in 1902. After receiving his M.D. in 1906, Dr. Coole and his family went to Kutien, Fukien, China, where he was a medical missionary for nearly thirty years. Mrs. Coole taught at a local school and worked in church affairs during their missionary service.

From the guide to the Arthur and Ella Coole papers, 1908-1974, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)