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Andrew Cone |
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ANDREW CONE, deceased, was twice consul of the United States, first at Para, from February, 1876, to July 24, 1878, and subsequently at Pernambuco, Brazil, till November, 1880. His father, Andrew Gayler Cone, a descendant of that stalwart old “Sentinel of Puritanism,” Conant Cone, was born in May, 1785, at Westminster, Vermont, and served his country in the war of 1812. He came to New York in 1817, and buying three hundred acres of land in Wheatland, Monroe county, he became a farmer. Afterward he bought three hundred acres in Riga and built a home there for himself, to which he brought as his wife, January, 1820, Polly Lewis, daughter of Nathaniel Andrews of New Britain, Connecticut. Another daughter of Nathaniel Andrews became the wife of President Charles G. Finney of Oberlin College, whose oldest daughter, Helen, is now the wife of General Jacob D. Cox, ex-governor of Ohio, and a younger daughter, Julia, the wife of James Monroe, who represented his state in congress, and the United States abroad, as consul general at Rio Janeiro, Brazil, from 1864 to 1868. A son of Nathaniel Andrews, George Andrews of Syracuse, New York, is the father of Bishop Edward Andrews of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of Charles Andrews, judge of the court of appeals of New York. On their land in Riga Mr. and Mrs. Cone endured the hardships of pioneer life whilst changing the forest into the cultivated fields of their beautiful farm. Here their two sons were born; the oldest, Edward A., September, 1820, and Andrew, August 7, 1822. Here the parents spent the remainder of their useful lives, enjoying the fruits of their labor, and the esteem of all who knew them, for they were excellent people in word and deed. Edward A. Cone, M. D., left home early, married Miss Mary A. Mudge, and settled in Milford, Michigan, in the practice of his profession. Andrew remained on the farm with his parents, where he received a good common school education, and afterward spent a few terms at Middleburg Academy, Wyoming county, New York. When only twenty-one years of age he married Miss Mary E. Hebbard of Frederick county, Maryland. He managed the farm successfully and took care of his parents through years of declining health till death released them, and paid to his brother, Doctor Cone, his portion of the estate. Andrew Gayler Cone died October 13, 1847. His widow, Polly Lewis, died December 26, 1848. After losing his parents, Andrew Cone sold his farm, and removing to Milford, engaged in commercial business. Here, April, 1858, he lost his young wife, who left one child, Anna Hebbard Cone. In June, 1859, Mr. Cone married Belinda S., daughter of Calvin Morse of Eaton, New York. This estimable lady died also at an untimely age, leaving two infant daughters, Lizzie M., and Jessie G. After various vicissitudes, Mr. Cone removed to Oil City, then in its infancy, in February, 1862, where he became prominent as one of its pioneers; he was superintendent of the United Petroleum Farms Association, owner and publisher of the Oil City Weekly Times, vice-president of the Oil City Savings Bank, and among the founders of the Baptist church of Oil City, being one of its deacons and superintendent of its Sunday school. He enjoyed considerable reputation as a writer, his principal work on a book entitled, “Petrolia” being a review of the oil speculating agitation and a history of the oil fields of Pennsylvania. In October, 1868, Mr. Cone married Mary Elvisa, eldest daughter of Isaiah Thropp of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a cultured essayist and magazine writer, and the authoress of “The Valley Forge Centennial Poem.” In April, 1873, Mr. Cone was appointed as state commissioner to the Vienna World’s Exposition by Governor Hartranft. Accompanied by his wife he sailed in the steamship Pennsylvania, the first of the line from Philadelphia. After fulfilling his official duties so creditably that he elicited praise from the Vienna papers, Mr. and Mrs. Cone traveled through Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain, Mrs. Cone writing letters meanwhile, as foreign correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Oil City Derrick. In the beginning of 1876, Mr. Cone’s health failing, he was advised to seek a warmer climate and of the five consulates offered him by President Grant, he chose that of Para, Brazil, especially as he had entertained the Brazilian emperor, Dom Pedro, during his visit to Oil City. Mr. Cone discharged his arduous and responsible duties on the Amazon for two and a half years, with the same indefatigable fidelity and correctness that marked the performance of every duty in life. In July, 1878, he was appointed consul of the United States at Pernambuco, Brazil, where he remained over two years. September 30, 1880, he returned on his first leave of absence to New York, after nearly five years of hard service, hoping rest and change would restore his shattered health. This leave of absence proved final, for in Philadelphia, November 7, 1880, he entered into rest. Mr. Cone’s high social qualities and attractive manners drew around him many admiring friends. An innate gentleman, he was refined and courteous as he was fearless and liberal. Modest as the gentlest of women, he ever kept himself in the background, and the dross of envy, meanness, and prejudice was not in him. “He was pure gold all through”; in the truest sense he was a Christian, manifesting a daily beauty in his life, in his reverence for age, his tenderness for women and children, his faithfulness in all things. His record at the department of state is said to be among the best there, and he was already marked for promotion. Certainly the United States government had in its service no more loyal or conscientious representative, and no consul or officer has ever been more sincerely esteemed at home or abroad.
History of Venango County, Pennsylvania
: its past and present, including its aboriginal history, the French and
British occupation of the country, its early settlement and subsequent
growth, a description of its historic and interesting localities, its rich
oil deposits and their development, sketches of its cities, boroughs,
townships, and villages, neighborhood and family history, portraits and
biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, statistics, etc.,
etc.
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