Crone Family ~~ Characters Welcome!

If my project of tracing my roots was a cable network, “The Crone Family” would be USA: “Characters Welcome”.

This might be the hardest for me to begin to share because this is the grandparent I knew best, and yet have accomplished the least where research is concerned.  I don’t want to dwell on her, but rather her roots.  When I began working on my search of family history she was available and very willing to answer questions and scratch her memory for me.  It is difficult because right at the beginning, in her lifetime, in her immediate family, were two tragic deaths.  Her father and sister both died in untimely accidents.  I will share these stories with you, but not on the same day.

When my brothers, Scott and Mark were in school, each one, on separate occasions had the assignment “to write about a family member”.  They each chose Grandma’s brother, Uncle Frank.  He was a character.  At some point in their lives when Uncle Frank was alone and Grandma was alone he moved in with her on the farm.  We lived nearby for a year and were able to get to know him. 

At the time we had a Chevy station wagon.  The kind that the third seat faced backwards.  My memory is of Uncle Frank, who was getting up in years, climbing into the back seat of the station wagon and singing “Ring-o” all the way to town.  I don’t know if he knew the words or faked it until the chorus.  “Ring-o”.  It wasn’t about the Beatles. It was a song Lorne Greene put out about a cowboy.  Here is a link.  When we got to town we went to an ice cream parlor and he played it on the juke box the whole time we were there.

Uncle Frank put spinach on his hotdog and told us it was an Irish Hot Dog.  He would stand on the back porch and throw a handful of coins into the grass and have us scramble for the change.  On the Fourth of July he was riding in the back seat of the station wagon, again, to go and watch the fireworks.  Do you have a memory of Uncle Frank?   Share it with me so I can post it here.

Marshall Crone was married to Laura Hill.  Laura’s middle name was Louetta.  Her mom’s best friends were Lou and Etta.  Thus baby Laura’s middle name: Louetta.

Grandma Smith was the youngest of their seven children.  Three of her siblings had no children, but the children of the others all spoke lovingly of Aunt Ione.  It will be fun to find these cousins, where ever they are now.

I found a story about her father, George Hill, floating down the Ohio River to come to Illinois.  I plan to offer up some of the history of this part of the country, as it was settled largely as payment for military service.  This story was recorded in a cookbook put together by his granddaughters.  Get ready granddaughters of Iona Crone Fulton Davis Smith.  When I get to the Hill’s and share this story and recipes with you I hope you will share one of your recipes and we will put together the follow-up cookbook.  I am not sure we will ever make the recipes found in the old cookbook, but they are very interesting historically. It was George Hill who was remembered by Grandma as an invalid, having suffered wounds during his service in the Civil War.  I have his military record and will be able to tell you more about this character.  She said one of his children was born before the war, one during the war and one after the war.

George Hill was married to Eliza Jane Coykendall.  (Sounds like Kurtendall.)  I have been able to trace this family a little bit.  It looks like they go back to New Jersey and perhaps New York City when it was just beginning.  I feel certain we will find Coykendalls in the Civil War and perhaps in the Revolutionary War.

Marshall (also called Mark) Crone’s father was Elijah Crone.  Grandma knew he came from Pennsylvania and thought there was a spelling change from Krohn at some point.  My very early research showed him in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, but I am sorry to tell you I have lost that piece of information.  Since then, Cousin Gary Crone has done a lot of work on this family.  While primary evidence is elusive he has put together a good case for a connection to a Crone family in York, Pennsylvania.  What he has done is astonishing and convincing.  I hope to be in touch with him and share his thoughts on how Elijah goes to Illinois.  Perhaps the DAR genealogist can give us her thoughts on his deductions.

Then there is the Muckey Family.  Elijah Crone married Susan Muckey.  This family came from New York State and has the only Rev War soldier I have found, so far.  The catch to this is that he was a Hessian, hired by the British and captured during the Battle of Trenton on Christmas 1776.  I feel a history lesson coming on.  History changes for me when I find things like this.  I had an ancestor who not only fought at that battle and was captured; he was fighting for the English! 

Lots of characters to tell you about. 

I haven’t said much about Grandma Smith here.  I am hoping you will share your memories of her with me and the week of her birthday in May I will put up stories and photos of her.