Thursday, March 5, 2015

Marriage Records for Charles Newton and Hazel (Allen) Cone and Frederick Naaman and Helen (Newton) Cone - Woman's History Month Post #4

Still following Liza Alzo's "Fearless Females Blogging Prompts" alternating between my "Cone Chronicles" and "Letters to My Grandparents" blogs. The 4th prompt asks us to post marriage records for our grandparents and great grandparents.

Above: Cover for Marriage Certificate
Chas N. Cone to Hazel Allen
August 31, 1926
Images were obtained from Shelby County Register of Deeds
My grandparents, Charles Newton Cone and Hazel Bynon Allen, were married Saturday, 4 September 1926 at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Memphis. They applied for the marriage license the Tuesday before. Their ages are listed as 27. That was true for Charles but Hazel had turned 30 February 5th. She was always sensitive about being older that Charles so we do not know who provided the incorrect age.

Image of St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Memphis Tennessee
from www.wikipedia.org
Great grandparents, Frederick Naaman Cone and Helen Brown Newton, were married on Wednesday, 29 May 1889 at the Congregational Church in Worthington, Minnesota by her family minister Franklin L. Fisk. Her grandfather, John Champion Clarke, was one of the founding members of the church. Fred was 30 and Helen was only 18.

Original Marriage Certificate is in collection of great granddaughter Cecily Cone Kelly
Photograph of Tenth Street, Worthington with Congregational Church in the background
taken by Edward F. Buchan (1845-1941) about 1890
from Minnesota Digital Library's Minnesota Reflections Collection
Tomorrow I'll cover the 5th prompt, the stories of how they met.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Shared Names: Post 3 for Women's History Month: Flora Maria Cone

Those of you who read my other blog "Letters to my Grandparents", know that I am trying to follow Lisa Alzo's "Back for the Sixth Year: Fearless Females Blogging Prompts" writing about female ancestors to celebrate their lives and National Womens' History Month.  Today we are prompted to write about a female ancestor with whom we share a name. I am named for an ancestor, my mother's father Cecil Oscar Werst. Cecily is the English feminine for Cecil. Writing about that does not seem to be in keeping with the spirit of these prompts. Instead, I thought I would write about a name, Flora, that was passed down on the female Cone side.

From collection of her great niece Flora Lee (Dunlap) Long
Flora Maria Cone was the first child and only daughter of William Warner and Elizabeth "Eliza" Harriet (Utley) Cone. Her parents married 30 November 1854 in Hornellsville, Steuben county, New York. Flora was born there fourteen months later on 7 February 1856. Three years later, the little family was complete with the birth of her brother and my great grandfather Frederick Naaman Cone 29 March 1859.

The family moved to Guilford, Chenango county, New York before 1 July 1863, when William is registered as a brick maker by the local draft authorities. Flora lost her mother before she was ten and according to my grandfather Charles Newton Cone's recollections of his father (Flora's brother Frederick) remembrances became a sort of surrogate mother to her younger brother. The family situation may have been complicated by William's frequent absences during passenger pigeon hunting trips. A large clan of their mother's family, Pratts and Utleys lived nearby, so the children may have been cared for by relatives during William's hunting trips.

On 6 December 1867, 40 year old William married Eliza's younger sister Hannah Utley age 24. This marriage allowed Flora to train as a teacher, a career she pursued until retirement. Most often, as a single teacher, Flora lived with extended family members. In 1875 she is teaching in Masonville, New York and living with her mother's sister Alice Temperance (Utley) Teed's family. By 1880 she is in Worthington, Minnesota teaching school and boarding with John C and Lydia (Hornell) Clarke (the Clarke's granddaughter Helen Brown Newton would eventually become her brother's wife). By 1895, Flora is back in Masonville teaching at the Pleasant Hill Academy and living with her father and step-mother.

Flora never married but family was very important to her. She was an avid genealogist, tracing her heritage back to passengers on the Mayflower. Certainly she was pleased when her brother named his second daughter, born 26 April 1894, Flora Harriet Cone.

Flora Harriet (Cone) Brim
born 26 April 1894 Worthington, MN
died 1 November 1990 Ephrata, WA
photograph from collection of granddaughter Flora Long
Flora Maria Cone also lived long enough to know that Flora (Cone) Brim continued the tradition naming her second daughter Flora Elizabeth Brim.

Flora Elizabeth (Brim) Dunlap
born 23 August 1920 Kirkland, WA
died 12 February 2013 Elmer City, WA
photograph from the collection of Flora Long

The tradition did not end there, as Flora Dunlap named her youngest child Flora Lee.

Certainly Flora Maria Cone would be proud of all the Floras who followed her.


 5 March 2015 Update

Flora Lee Dunlap Long has let me know that in fact there is a 5th Flora. She named her first child Flora Marie. She added that her grandmother Flora Harriet (Cone) Brim gave her a tintype of Flora Maria Cone when she was a young girl. I'm certain the original Flora Cone would be especially pleased to know of all the Floras who followed her.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Searching for Cone Cousins at RootsTech

In a departure of my usual topics about the Cone family and research, today I am fortunate to be attending the world's largest Family History Conference called Roots Tech held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. More than 20,000 will attend the three day program that this year is being held in conjunction with the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference.
Since my grandfather Charles Newton Cone and his siblings grew up about an hour south of here in Mapleton, and his brother William L. Cone lived, worked and raised his family in Salt Lake, I expect I am not the only Cone in attendance. The problem is... how will we find each other? Cousins, if you see this comment on the post and we will figure out how to make contact.