Coles was born on August 24, 1861 in
Glen Cove, New York, the son of
Isaac Coles and Mary Willits. His father was a merchant and civil engineer who served in the
New York State Legislature in
1862. He was a descendant of settler
Robert Coles. Coles initially attended the Glen Cove Public School, followed by the
Friends Academy in
Locust Valley. He then went to
Cornell University, where he was a member of
Theta Delta Chi, editor for the
Cornellian in 1883, and was involved with the Cornell
Sun. He graduated from Cornell with a
B.S. in 1884. He worked as a teacher in the Friends Academy from 1884 to 1886, and then at the
Friends' Central School in
Philadelphia from 1886 to 1887. He then attended the
University of Pennsylvania, graduating from there with an
LL.B. in 1888. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania state bar shortly afterwards. He was admitted to the New York state bar in 1890, at which point he began practicing law in
New York City, with an office at
150 Nassau Street. He still resided in his native Glen Cove. In 1917, he was elected to the
New York State Assembly as a
Republican, representing the Nassau County 2nd District. He served in the Assembly in
1918 and
1919. He was chairman of the original Glen Cove Charter Commission, and while in the Assembly he introduced a bill that made Glen Cove, then an unincorporated part of
Oyster Bay, the right to be its own city. By 1925, he moved his law practice to
Brooklyn, with an office at 215 Montague Street. Coles was first elected to the Board of Education in 1895, later becoming president of the board. He became a trustee of the Glen Cove Public Library in 1894, later becoming executive head of the trustee board. He was an organizer and president of the Nassau County Bar Association. He was a member of the
Society of Friends. In 1906, he married Carolyn Reed. They had a son, Robert Reed. He was buried in Matinecock Friends Meeting House Cemetery in Locust Valley. == References ==