Fred P. Cone
American politician (1871-1948)

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.
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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.
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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.