I don't think you need to defer too much, Patti. The relatives probably have hidden agendas or support one version of a family legend or another, without any support for their position. Someone not in the clan may be a lot more objective.

Anyway..............

Here is what I have for John W Bone: born 9 Mar 1823 in MO, died Nov 1883, location unknown, but probably near Waco. Son of Alfred Stevenson Bone and Rachel Tygert, both of whom died in Fannin County 1861 and 1863. John had 6 children including James Stevenson Bone, b. 1850.

The wife of John W Bone was Amanda Weeks Cooper, born about 1825 in Tennessee. Death unknown. Her mother was Catherine Cooper, born about 1803 in NC. Amanda's father unknown. Date and place of marriage unknown.

That middle name makes me wonder if she had a previous husband. Could the W in John W stand for Weeks?

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and about the 13 brothers:

I get 9 sons of Alfred and 6 sons of Agoneh adding up to more than 13. This includes James, Leonidas, and two Johns. James and the second John are in some dispute as to their existence. Leonidas is unknown - he was(?) brother to Enoch, but why was he not in the 1850 census at age 9?

Dropping one John, as well as James and Leonidas gets to 13.

The problem is that there is as yet no demonstrable relationship between Alfred and Agoneh. The name Agoneh is probably Azariah misspelled. No provable relationship to Azariah either.

Their families seem to have been living and moving together for perhaps 4 generations from NC to TN to MO to TX, so they may have believed they were cousins or something, but maybe they were not actually.