The Life and Art of Thomas Cole Born on February 1, 1801, in Bolton le Moors, Lancashire, England, Thomas Cole began his life far from the landscapes that would eventually define his name. His family emigrated to the United States in 1818, seeking a new beginning in a land of vast, unmapped territories. In those early years, he was a man of many trades, working as an engraver and later finding steady work as a portrait painter startin…