Raymond V. Banner wrote, saying this:
1. William Cone
(1) Ellston [Iowa]Centennial History 1881-1981 on the village of Wirt. The name was later changed from Wirt to Ellston. You will see a William Cone listed as being postmaster of Union Hill, three miles northeast of Wirt (Ellston). This article on Wirt was reprinted from Biographical & Historical Record of Ringgold & Union Counties, Iowa (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co, 1887), page 461.
This latter volume was republished by the Union County Genealogical Society in 1997 with a complete index, which allowed me to find William Cone in the book. I got the Mount Ayr Library to copy the sheet from the Ellston Centennial book as it was much easier to handle under a copy machine. You will see on this same sheet also a reference to a C. F. Cone, blacksmith in Wirt. This may be Conrad Cone, son of William and Rosanna Cone.
(2) The Union Hill Post Office (about three miles northeast of Wirt) was in existence from 2 August 1861 to 2 April 1882. At that time it was transferred to Wirt.
(Wirt had name changed to Ellston in 1895). I cannot tell you anymore about the post office than this.---source information from Alan H. Patera and John S. Gallagher, Iowa Post Offices (Lake Oswego, Oregon: the Depot, 1986), page 153.
(3) I found a reference in a Land Index book that Wm. Cone bought land from Henry Fries in Sect. 22, Township 70, Range 28 on Sept. 17, 1868. Range 28 is now a part of Union township; so undoubtedly this was land around the Union Hill community northeast of Wirt referred to above. The book that had information on the actual land transaction was missing.
(4) In Register of Deaths, Ringgold County, Iowa, Book One, page 20, I found that Wm. Cone died November 21, 1883. The death was not entered into the book until Feb. 19, 1884. His age was listed as 88 years, 11 months and 8 days. His occupation was listed as carpenter. His marital status was married. Cause of death was listed as heart disease. Place of death was listed as Wirt, Iowa and place of burial was listed as Union Hill on November 23, 1883. [I think the real age at time of death would have been 68 instead of 88, as 68 would agree more with census record. Probably either a copy error or a 68 that looks like an 88].
There is no Union Hill cemetery mentioned in Ringgold county records. I assume that Wm. Cone was buried on his own land. I also assume that the grave marker or markers that were once there have probably long since been gone. I do not know where Union Hill was located exactly.
2. Adam B. Cone
(1) Found a death record for this son of Wm. Cone in the same volume as above.He died May 1, 1883 at 24 years and 6 days old. He was married and a farmer. Death apparently caused by some obstruction of the bowels. He is also listed as being buried at Union Hill, May 2, 1883.
3. Michael F. Cone
(1) Michael F. Cone married Cynthia Arnold on 13 March 1873. Recorded in Ringgold county marriage records.
(2) Michael Cone and Cynthia (Arnold) Cone had a female baby on August 21, 1893 at Wirt, Iowa. It was listed as their 6th child in Register of Births, Ringgold county, Book One. The father, Michael, is listed as a blacksmith. (I did not find any other births recorded for Michael and Cynthia.)
(3) Michael F. Cone buried in Ellston, Iowa cemetery. Dates listed as 1848-1918.
4. Conrad F. Cone
(1) Conrad was mentioned as a blacksmith in the same article on Wirt in which his father William Cone was mentioned, and which I have enclosed a copy.
(2) Conrad F. Cone (age 28) married Eugenia Coffey (age 28) 10 April 1889.
Marriage performed by J. Hughey, justice of the peace. Recorded in Ringgold county marriage records.
5. Margaret ("Maggie") Cone
(1) Maggie Cone (age 16) married R R Arnold (age 23) on 4 October 1882 by _______?, justice of the peace. Recorded in Ringgold county marriage records.
(2) I did not find anything on an Ervin Arnold, child of Maggie and R Arnold. However, that does not mean that he was not born to them, as the records are inconclusive.
(3) On October 16, 1886 an infant baby girl by the name of Mary Arnold was born to Richard Arnold and Maggie (Cone) Arnold in Union township. It is listed as their third child.
(4) On January 8, 1889 a male infant, unnamed, was born to Richard Arnold and Maggie (Cone) Arnold in Union township. Listed as their fourth child. J.P. Maxwell of Wirt, Iowa was medical attendant and person making birth certificate for both the third and fourth child. (These two births found in Ringgold County Record of Births, Book One)
(5) Maggie (Cone) Arnold married W.H. Reynolds on 21 December 1889. The marriage was performed by J. Lineburg, justice of peace. Recorded in Ringgold County Marriage Records.
(6) After I returned home from the Library I found in my own personal copy of the Ellston cemetery sheet that Richard Arnold was buried in the Ellston cemetery with his death date listed as 3-6-1899 (38 years, 2 days of age). The strange thing is that Maggie I. Arnold is listed as buried in the same plot. However there are no dates at all behind her name on the cemetery sheet. Perhaps one or more of her children buried her there after her death; or perhaps her name was simply put on the stone as a memorial of her being his former wife and mother of the children. Or perhaps it was an infant or still born child named after its mother. I don’t have copying facilities this late in the day. A mystery!
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The only record of Cone’s buried in Ringgold county is in the Ellston cemetery.
Michael F. Cone (1848-1918) would almost certainly be the son of William and Rosanna Cone. The other Cone’s are probably descendants of the family.
There are no existing newspapers (except for a couple stray issues) of Ellston or Tingley going back to the late 1800s. I looked for an obituary in the Ringgold Record of Mount Ayr for William Cone without success.
The last address for the Union County Genealogical Society I have is 310 N. Maple Street, Creston, Iowa 50801.
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A few days ago when doing research for another party I ran across a paragraph in the Ellston, Iowa Centennial History Book, 1881-1981, page 86 that read:
"The Pumptown Cemetery is located on this farm [Anderson farm]. It is also the site of the former Union Hill Post Office, later moved to Wirt (Ellston) when the railroad came through."
This suggested to me that since William Cone was once postmaster of Union Hill and was buried there, and since the Pumptown cemetery was identified with the Union Hill community, that perhaps William Cone was buried in what is now called Pumptown cemetery. Of course there are no Cone’s mentioned on this cemetery sheet, so if any were buried there the evidence is now gone.
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