Nathan Cole (July 26, 1825 – March 4, 1904) was a nineteenth-century politician, merchant and businessman from Missouri.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Cole attended common schools as a child and later took a partial course at Shurtleff College.

He engaged in mercantile pursuits in St. Louis, was a director of the Bank of Commerce for forty-three years, most of which time he was also vice president of the bank, and was a director in a number of insurance and other corporations.

Afterward, he resumed his former business activities in St. Louis until his death there on March 4, 1904.

[1] His son, Nathan Cole Jr., was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Times, in 1881.