website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Jesse
Stone
1836
– 1902
William
C. Stone
1856
- 1926
Watertown
Historical Collection
1898 oil portrait
of Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Jesse Stone.
Most likely
painted by Herm. Michalowski (1860-1903)
who did 1894
paintings in St. Bernard’s church
Businessman,
politician, born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. He migrated to the U.S. with his parents in
1841, settling in Waterford, N.Y. In
Waterford he learned the machinist's trade, moved to Louisville, Ky., in 1855,
and in 1869 settled in Wisconsin, where he became part
owner of a baking firm at Watertown. A
Republican, Stone was state assemblyman (1880, 1882, 1897-1898), a delegate to
his party's national conventions in 1888 and 1892, and a member of the state
central committee (1888-1894) . In 1898 he was elected lieutenant governor, was
re-elected in 1900, and served from Jan., 1899, until his death. Watertown Gazette, May 16, 1902.
1890
01 22 HELPING
CITIZENS OF MANCHESTER, S. D.
Thursday last a car-load of
clothing and provisions were shipped from this city, via the Chicago &
Northwestern railway, to Manchester, S.Dak., for distribution among the
suffering and destitute people of that section.
The contents of the car were made up of contributions from our citizens
and those of surrounding towns, all responding with a liberal spirit towards
the relief of the needy. Watertown and
vicinity have done nobly in this work of charity. WR
01 22 LETTER FROM
MANCHESTER, S. D.
[same date] Yesterday
W. C. Stone received the following letter, which explains itself and will be
read with interest by a large number:
MANCHESTER,
S. D., Jan. 24, 1890.
W. C.
Stone, Esq., Watertown, Wis. —
DEAR SIR:
— Relief provisions from the people of your city and the vicinity have been
received. It would be expressing too
little by far to say that they were thankfully received. We think that the people of Watertown have
done nobly; more than we could have asked.
May
the great dispenser of all things grant unto you all great grace for this and
for the new life as well. Will enclose
our instructions from Hon. Governor A. Mellette, to which we pledge fidelity.
Respectfully
Yours,
`
H. G. COOK, Chairman. WR
02 07 RETURN
FROM WINTERING IN CALIFORNIA
The
rumor current here for the past week, that Jesse Stone had disposed of his residence
and was about to remove from our city, is not correct. As yet his residence
has not been disposed of, and for the present he will remain here. Watertown can ill afford to lose such men as
Mr. Stone, and all good citizens and sincerely trust that he will continue to
make Watertown his home. He is a
valuable man in the community and has done much toward the prosperity of our
city. WG
1893
07 26 PRIVATE FORTUNE PLEDGED in case of
bank bankruptcy
1895
04 10 RETURN
FROM WINTERING IN CALIFORNIA
Hon.
Jesse Stone and wife arrived home Thursday afternoon from their winter's
sojourn in California. They visited many
places in the state, but passed most of the time in Los Angeles, where there is
quite a colony of former Watertown residents, all of whom Mr. Stone reports are
prospering. The past winter, Mr. Stone
says, was one of the most delightful in the weather line California has had in
several years, and hardly an inclement day was experienced. WR
1898
03 08 JESSE
STONE CANDIDATE FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
Jefferson
county has one candidate for place on the Republican state ticket – Hon. Jesse Stone,
of this city, for lieutenant-governor.
His faithful and helpful services to his party are well known; he is a
man above reproach in every way and certainly deserving of the honor he seeks. He is entitled to a handsome endorsement from
his home county and will surely go to the state convention with it. Thus far
Mr. Stone has no opposition in the nomination.
WR
08 31 Mrs. Jesse Stone and Mrs. W. C. Stone
gave a large afternoon reception from 4 to 7 o'clock last Friday, at the
residence of the former, 300
Washington Street. The appointments
and arrangements were all that could be desired to render the affair at once
elegant and inviting, and an air of cordial hospitality pervaded the spacious
home that implied a cheerful welcome to all present. During the receiving hours nearly one hundred
ladies paid their respects to the hostesses.
The rooms were beautifully decorated with flowers and plants, and
delectable refreshments were served in the dining hall. WR
11 02 On the eve of the elections The
Republican desires to say a word, not from a party standpoint, but in the light
of fellow-citizenship and with respect to home pride.
The
city of Watertown has a candidate for high office this fall in the person of
Hon. Jesse Stone, who is the Republican nominee for lieutenant-governor. He is a gentleman whom we all know full well
and whom we have all come to respect and esteem for his excellent character and
sterling citizenship. He is a co-worker
in the welfare of his city and an upbuilder of its
every interest a man in whom any community could well take high pride. He has lived in Watertown for thirty years
during which time his every energy has been towards the growth and betterment
of the city. From a small beginning he
has assisted in erecting an extensive manufacturing concern which gives
employment to a large force and is recognized as one of our leading and most
substantial institutions. He is also
interested in other business affairs here and is withal a public-spirited and
prominent citizen, always willing and ready to lend aid and encouragement to
anything that portends to the city's good.
WR
11 16 Jesse Stone, lieutenant-governor-elect,
came in from Watertown yesterday and spent most of the afternoon at the
Pfister. About the only appointment that
Mr. Stone will have will be that of a page for the session of the legislature,
and for this reason he is not troubled by the office-seekers as much as the
other state officers-elect. Mr. Stone
said that the only candidate he had heard of for chief clerk of the senate was
W. L. Houser, of Mondovi, who held the position at the last two sessions. "I think the next session of the
legislature will be one of the most important that has assembled in Wisconsin
in recent years," said Mr. Stone.
"By that I mean that the measures that will come up will be of
unusual interest. No, I don't know of
any specific bills that will be introduced, but the Republicans state platform
insures many important measures." Milwaukee Sentinel.
WR
1899
03 08 CARRIAGE
IN HARVEST CARNIVAL PARADE
1900
03 13 Lieutenant
Governor Jesse Stone, accompanied by Mrs. Stone, arrived in Milwaukee yesterday
afternoon after an absence in the East and South, where he has enjoyed an eight
week vacation. He will remain in the
city over Sunday, returning to his home in Watertown next week. Mr. Stone's trip was taken largely for his
health, and he returns feeling greatly rested.
At the Hotel Pfister last evening he said that he had kept little track
of political affairs during his absence.
1901
04 05 POST OFFICE LEASE
The post office building, owned by Lieut. Gov. Stone, has
been re-leased for ten years by the U. S. government, and several important
changes will be made to the interior arrangements. WG
1902
05 15 JESSE
STONE, 1836-1902 / DEATH AND FUNERAL
DEATH
Of LIEUT. GOY. JESSE STONE.
Funeral
Services at the Congregational Church. —Eloquent Sermon.
State
Officers and Members of Legislature in Attendance
Proclamations
of Gov. La Collette and Mayor Brusenbach.
Last
Sunday evening at 8:17 o’clock, after more than three years of noticeably
failing health that during the past year developed into cancer of the stomach,
Lieutenant Governor Jesse Stone, one of the best known and best beloved
citizens of our city and our state passed out of the here into the hereafter.
As the
news of his demise spread throughout the city and state, tokens of sincere
mourning for the great public loss as well as private bereavement were
evidenced at home by the Mayor’s proclamation and flags at half-mast on every
flag staff in the city while the Governor’s proclamation and hosts of telegrams
from all over the state and nation showed more clearly than words how
universally the dead had been respected and how generally mourned.
Senator
Spooner’s tribute is but a synopsis of what scores of others said as truthfully
and scarcely less eloquently:
“He
was Able, Honorable, Devoted and Lovable.”
No
heart throbbing with a sudden sense of the untimely loss of a true and
appreciated friend could have inspired a more expressive or more fitting tribute
to the genuine worth and real manhood of him whose death we are called upon to
mourn.
The
best monument to his memory abides in the hearts of those to whom he has been a
friend with all the term implies in a thousand ways, and the keen sense of
their great personal loss will become more acute as his absence brings out in
stronger relief the sum total of his unselfish work
and generous acts.
His
was a character to study, to revere, to emulate, and each may well ask himself
“Shall we ever meet his like again?”
On
Wednesday, the day of the funeral the body lay in state at the home residence
on Washington Street until removed to the church and hundreds of visitors from
at home and abroad took the opportunity to testify by their presence the sorrow
so generally felt and expressed.
Special
trains from Milwaukee, Madison, Oshkosh and the South
brought hundreds of sympathizing friends who came to pay in person their
tribute of love and respects.
Governor
La Follette and personal staff and the whole corps of State officers, with many
of the department employees came on Madison special. Ex- Governors Hoard, Peck, Upham and Scofield,
Ex-Lient. Gov. Emil Baensch and Fairchild, State
Senators Hagemeister, Reynolds, Green, Anson, DeVos, Eaton, Roehr,
O’Neil, Weed, Hatton, Whitehead. Harris, Krentzer,
Miller, Bissell, Munson, Stout, Riordan and Jones with
Ex State Senator Pierce and Kempf, and Chief Clerk W.
L. Hauser.
There was
also a large delegation of members of the assembly present.
The
funeral was held under the auspices of the Masonic order at the Congregational Church, Rev. Win, Fritzmeier officiating. Interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.
At the
Church the selections, “Rock of Ages” and “Nearer My God to Thee” were appropriately
rendered by Mrs. C. R. Feld, soprano, Mrs. Edward Sproesser,
alto, Will Sproessor, tenor, and Max Rohr, bass, with
solo “Eyes That are Weary” by Mr. Spoesser.
The
pall bearers were: Active: W. D. Spoesser, John
D. Throne, Ed. May, Geo. W. Webb, Geo. W. Hill, Geo. Hawkins.
Honorary: Ex-Governor Geo. W. Peck, of Milwaukee; E. W.
Keyes, of Madison. J. M. Whitehead of Janesville; H. J. Evans, of Chicago;
George Lugee, of Madison; J. B. Treat, of Monroe;
Col. A. Solliday,S. M. Eaton, Edw. J. Brandt, C. Wiggenhorn, Herman J. Strauss
and Herman Wertheimer, of Watertown.
Oak Hill Cemetery
05 18 Mr.
Stone was a kindly man — even gentle in his manner and spirit. His tact, fairness and integrity were shown
by his control of the warring senate last winter — there was no ripple from
either side in protest against him — and especially as he so conducted himself
towards the governor and toward the opposition that no fault is found . A less
serene or just man as presiding officer of the Senate, and especially of the
legatee of power during Gov. La Follette’s long illness, would have convulsed
the state. Men are prone to wax
enthusiastic over the virtues of the dead.
It is not wholly the excess of affection; often it is tardy
justice. When one thinks of this wealthy
manufacturer of Watertown, one highly honored by her fellows, and reflects that
we should not look upon his face again, it occurs to us how rare is such
faceless sympathy like dignity — all the time with character. His integrity and justice happily are not
lacking in men; but with those added qualities, his memory is altogether sweet
and his life and spirit shall linger with all dominion. Madison State Journal
Sara
Stone
1836
- 1922
1910
09 30 At
6 o'clock last Saturday evening Mrs. George C. Lewis gave a dinner party in
honor of Jesse Stone, who left on Wednesday to enter the Hyland Park Military
Academy. Covers were laid for twelve,
her guests being members of her class of the Congregational Church Sunday
School. The affair was a decidedly
pleasant one. WG
1922
Mrs. Jesse (Sarah) Stone
Esteemed Resident Called by Death
Widow of Lieutenant Governor Jesse Stone
Answers Final Summons This Morning
Came of Sturdy Irish Stock
The angel of death has removed from
this community another old and respected resident, Mrs. Sara Stone, who entered
into eternal rest in the family home this morning at 5 o’clock, closing a long
and active life, the most part of which was spent in Watertown. She had been in failing health the past two
years and for the past year her condition was critical, but she received the
tender care and solicitude of those about her until called by death.
Mrs. Stone, nee Welch, first saw
the light of day at Ticonderoga, N. Y. April 1, 1836. The family later removed to Waterford, N.Y.
where she was married to Jesse Stone in 1854.
Her husband died May 11, 1902 and he had served in several capacities of
trust and honor, among them that of lieutenant governor of the state. In 1869 Mrs. Stone and her husband came to
Watertown and she has since resided here, an esteemed and valued citizen whose
influence for good in this city was markedly felt and whose friendship was of
the lasting kind.
Mrs. Stone came of that sturdy
Irish stock, ever ready to assail an injustice or defend their principles. Her ancestors were among the defenders of
Fort Ticonderoga against the English in the revolutionary war and one of them,
Lieutenant Welch, was killed in the French and Indian war fighting in the ranks
at the age of 84. Her mother lived to
the advanced age of 87 dying as the result of an accident, active in her
household duties to the last. Four of
her brothers served in the Civil war.
Waterford, N.Y., where the family lived at the time of her marriage was
named after the place in Ireland where her ancestors lived for many years.
William C. Stone
Mrs. Stone was the mother of two
children, one of whom died in infancy.
One son, William C. Stone, survives her, as
does also two grandchildren, Jesse C.
Stone, Chicago, and Mrs. R. D. Easton of this city. There are also two great grandchildren.
Mrs. Stone was greatly devoted to
her home and ever found comfort and happiness in the company of those dearest
to her. She was a member of the
Congregational Church during her residence here and always generously
contributed to its welfare and by precept and example was a force for good
among its members. Her home was her
kingdom, a veritable sanctuary of all that was refined, cultured and religious.
In the passing of Mrs. Stone,
Watertown loses one of its most respected and esteemed women, one who was ever
ready to lend a helping hand in time of need or distress both in acts of
kindness and expressed sympathy. She was
a good neighbor and friend and goes to her reward with the consciousness of a
well spent life.
The funeral will be held on
Saturday afternoon with services in the home at 2 o’clock. The burial will be in Oak Hill
cemetery.
Cross References:
Stone, Jesse, Mrs, 1902,
Residence of, Picturesque Watertown booklet
Stone, Jesse, Mrs, 1908, First Congregational Church donation
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin