CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Fred P. Cone

American politician (1871-1948)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ162590
Source-derived summary

Frederick Preston Cone (September 28, 1871 – July 28, 1948) was an American New Deal Democratic politician who served as the 27th Governor of Florida.

Early life

Frederick Preston Cone was born in the Benton community of northern Columbia County, Florida to William Henry Cone and Sarah Emily Branch on September 28, 1871. His father was a state senator prior to the American Civil War. He received his education at the Florida Agricultural College (precursor of the University of Florida) and Jasper Normal College. Although he never received a law degree, in 1892 he passed the Florida bar exam and began a successful law practice in Lake City, Florida. In 1911 Cone and eight other prominent Lake Citians decided to open a bank. With $50,000 in capital, the Columbia County Bank opened in February 1912 and grew with the community. Cone retained his leadership role on the board of directors until shortly before his death. The bank celebrated its centennial in 2012.

Personal

Cone married his first wife, Ruby Scarborough, and the union bore one child in 1902, a daughter named Jessie.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Fred P. Cone” as american politician (1871-1948). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1871, 1948, 1892, 1911—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1871-09-28. The account is most persuasive where Fred, Cone and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician (1871-1948). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q162590. VIAF identifies the subject as 16573302. The Library of Congress control number is n2001067587. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1871, 1948, 1892 and 1911.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fred P. Cone”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fred P. Cone primary sources, Fred P. Cone archive and Fred research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fred P. Cone”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Fred P. Cone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.