From Proud Heritage, Vol. 1 by DCPA, not currently in print.
The second and oldest girl in the John Cole (born 1795) and Polly McDonald Cole (born 1794) family was Malinda Cole. She was born February 22, 1818 in Tennessee in either Sumner or Robertson County. She moved with her family to Arkansas and lived in Crawford County and Washington County until the winter of 1843. The twenty five year old Malinda moved to Texas with her family in December of 1843 and settled where Dallas County would be located.
There is a record in the Dallas County marriage records indicating that a Malinda Cole married Horace Burnham October 4, This may be John’s Malinda, but it is known that she was married to James N. Smith for a number of years.
Malinda Cole Smith died in Dallas County April 21, 1863 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
By Homer Warlick, Dallas
