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Home / 📁 Tone / John A. Tone (1768-1825)

John A. Tone (1768-1825)

  • Born in New Jersey. Moved Scipio, NY by 1795 and to Bergen, NY in the early 1820s.

From a note on Ancestry:

John Andrew Tone (1768-1825) married his first cousin Margaret Manahan (1769-1832). John's father Andrew Tone (1743-1820) was the brother of Margaret's mother Elizabeth Tone (1747-1840)

This appears to be correct based on relationship details found at Ancestry and described in the 📄 Letter to Sumner LaRue Tone, Apr 3 1899.

I have a photo of a portrait:

A note included with the portrait describes it:

PORTRAIT OF JOHN A. TONE

This is a photograph of a portrait of John A. Tone of Bernards, N.J. done in 1790 by a French artist - Initials R. le B. - recently purchased by Frank J. Tone of Niagara Falls from the House of Peters, Inc., New York City. Mr. Peters stated that the portrait came into the possession of Senator George P. Lord of Dundee, NY. from a branch of the Tone family living in Cayuga County, N.Y., date not stated. From Senator Lord it came to his nephew George Lord of Penn Yan, N.Y and then to the latter's son Andrew R. Lord, 48-46 - 47th Street, Woodside, New York City. The estate of Andrew R. Lord was recently sold at auction and private sale by the House of Peters and this portrait was turned over to the House of Peters to find a buyer.

September 18, 1939

The portrait is in an envelope sent from Frank Jerome Tone (1868-1945) to Sumner Larue Tone (1864-1942) dated Oct 2 1939, with "Lewis" written on the front.

Scipio, NY

From Wikipedia, on Scipio:

Scipio was part of the Central New York Military Tract, which was land reserved as payment by the federal government to veterans of the Revolutionary War. The first settler arrived around 1790, and the town was formed in 1798 when Cayuga County was formed.

From Wikipedia, on the Central New York Military Tract:

The Province of New York (predecessor of the U.S. state) had already guaranteed each soldier at least 100 acres (0.4 km2) at the end of the war (depending on rank), but by 1781, New York had enlisted only about half of the quota set by the U.S. Congress and needed a stronger incentive. The legislature authorized an additional 500 acres (2 km2) per soldier, using land from 25 Military Tract Townships to be established in central New York State. Each of the townships was to comprise 100 lots of 600 acres (2.4 km2) each. Three more such townships, Junius, Galen, and Sterling, were later added to accommodate additional claims at the end of the war. The United States Congress approved in 1789, and the arrangement became final in 1799.

The "deadline to settle" (presumably the last opportunity to claim a tract) was 1799.

So, is this why John A. and family moved to Scipio?

  • He appears to have moved to Scipio between 1795 and 1797, which strongly suggests a connection.
  • However he would have been too young to serve in the revolutionary war, and had only lived in New Jersey before moving to Scipio, both of which make a connection less likely.
  • Could the land claim be inherited? Possibly, but
    • His father, Andrew Tone (1742-1820), does not appear to have lived in Scipio.
    • His father may have served in the US Revolution, also in New Jersey. But the Tone book mentions being stationed at Ticonderoga, which is in New York. Possibly his father qualified based on that?
    • His grandfather John Tone (1719-1791), served in the US Revolution, but in New Jersey.
    • His wife Margaret Manahan (1769-1832)'s father does not appear to have served in the US Revolution.
  • A list of recipients of revolutionary war bounty land in this tract has no listing for "Tone" or "Toan". https://www.cayugagenealogy.org/land/mtractac.html

An article on researching land grants notes that soldiers would often sell their grant. It's possible that John A's father helped arrange a sale from someone he knew from his wartime service.

Links:

Bergen, NY

Tone moved from Scipio to Bergen in the early 1820s. The Tone Book has a photo of his house there.

The same house appears in a family photo from the Katharine Tone album from about 1905.

In this photo (L to R): Florence May Tone (1871-1943), Sumner Larue Tone (1864-1942), Catherine D. Spafford (1836-1916), Elizabeth Torrence Tone (1898-1985), Katharine Spofford Tone (1904-1983), Emma Blanche Torrence (1868-1925), Jerome H. Spafford (1842-1910)

In 2018, Daniel Harrington (1971-) visited Bergen and took this photo of the house:

The house is located at 7887 Townline Road, Bergen, NY. The road is also marked as County Road 13 and as route 262. It's not obvious whether it's still a farm but it's adjacent to farmland.

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