Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816 – April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party.

With rival militia units converging on the state capitol in Madison, Bashford was sworn in quietly in the chambers of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, by Chief Justice Edward Whiton, on January 7, 1856.

Bashford was represented in the case by Edward G. Ryan, who, two decades later, would serve as Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

[4] As governor, Bashford appointed the first Black officeholder to Wisconsin state office when he made barber and entrepreneur William Noland a notary public in 1857.

Mere weeks later, an investigation was launched regarding bribes that he and members of his administration had accepted from the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad Company in exchange for approval of a major land grant.

His position required him to journey throughout the Territory, frequently travelling through land considered "hostile Indian country", but he executed these duties without incident.

He and his wife Frances Adams had seven children: Belle (who had died at age 11), Edward, Elizabeth, Helen, Lillian, Margaret, and William Coles.