Francis H. Cone

Francis Hiram Cone (September 5, 1797 – May 18, 1859) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia State Senator, who is primarily remembered for fighting and severely wounding U.S. Representative and future Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens at the Atlanta Hotel in 1848.

Francis H. Cone was born on September 5, 1797, to Joshua Cone and Chloe Chapman in East Haddam, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1818, and subsequently moved to Greene County, Georgia to practice law. During this time, Cone came to know Alexander Stephens, who practiced law in nearby Taliaferro County. On January 8, 1829, Cone married Jane Williams Cook, a ward of US Senator William Crosby Dawson.

In 1841, Cone was elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Four years later, he was elected to the position once again.

Like many other Democrats, in 1848, Cone became furious at the Whig politician Alexander Stephens for tabling the Clayton Compromise, and publicly denounced Stephens as a traitor to the South. When Stephens confronted Cone over this charge in August 1848, Cone discounted the rumors. However, Cone immediately regretted retracting his statements about Stephens. On August 26, Cone wrote a letter to Stephens demanding that Stephens apologize for the confrontation.

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