Frederick Preston Cone
Oil on canvas, Clyde May, 1937
Frederick Preston Cone
(1871–1948)
Twenty-seventh governor
January 5, 1937 to January 7, 1941
Fred Cone was born in Benton in Columbia County on September 28, 1871. He was admitted to the Florida bar in 1892 and practiced in Lake City, where he also was a banker. He served in the Florida Senate from 1907 to 1913 and was president in 1911.
During Cone's administration, Florida had an outstanding exhibit at the New York World's Fair. In addition, the state highway patrol, financed by drivers license fees, began operation.
Cone was defeated in 1940 for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. After his term as governor ended, he returned to Lake City, where he died on July 28, 1948.
