In 1881 Bones was elected vice-president of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and annually re-elected for nine years.

Her father, James A. Wilkins, was born in Clarion County, where he resided for forty-eight years, prior to relocating to Iowa.

The local Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Webster, South Dakota discharged her after a year of service for her participation in the non-partisan convention.

"[4] As a pioneer settler in her town, Bones secured a donation of a block of lots for a courthouse and county buildings.

Her actions to have the South Dakota state capital located at the geographical center, attracted the attention of the board of trade in the city of Pierre, SD.

Bones was an able assistant of Matilda Joslyn Gage in organizing the Woman's National Liberal Union.