Colonel Edmund William "King" Cole (July 19, 1827 – May 25, 1899) was an American Confederate veteran and businessman.

[2] Cole moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1845, where he worked as a store clerk and later as a bookkeeper in the post office.

[1] His first wife, Louisa McGavock, died in 1869; her funeral ceremony was conducted by reverends John Berry McFerrin and Robert A.

[10][11] Their wedding, conducted by Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, was attended by Confederate veterans Bushrod Johnson and Edmund Kirby Smith.

[1] The Coles first resided at Terrace Place, a three-story townhouse on Church Street in Nashville, until they moved into Colemere, a mansion designed for them by Confederate veteran and architect William Crawford Smith.

[14] After his death, his widow hired sculptor George Julian Zolnay to design his bust; it was installed in Kirkland Hall, the administration building of Vanderbilt University.

[1] When Kirkland Hall burned down in 1905, it was replaced with a marble bust alongside his widow's portrait by Willie Betty Newman.