Bio of STONE, H. Ward (b.1849 d.1913), Hennepin Co., MN
=========================================================================
USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information
on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities,
as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is
obtained from the contributor of the file.
These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or
presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to
use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written
consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter,
and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent.

If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives 
Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm
Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find 
the submitter information or other files for this county.
FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives

Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Laura Pruden
Submitted: June 2003
=========================================================================
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
========================================================
submitted by Laura Pruden, email Raisndustbunys@aol.com
========================================================

EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical

Vol II, pg 642-646
H. WARD STONE
During the last five years of his life, ended in 1913, H. Ward Stone was a
resi­dent of Minneapolis. He had previously been identified with Minnesota,
however, for many years and had made valuable contribution to the pioneer
development and later progress of the state. As a merchant, as a grain dealer
and as a factor in real estate circles Mr. Stone contributed in notable measure
to the material upbuild­ing of Minnesota and in many other ways to the progress
and development of the commonwealth. Previous to the period when he became an
active factor in Minne­sota's development his family had contributed to the
pioneer progress of Wisconsin. He was born at Waukau, Winnebago county, July 7,
1849. His parents had re­moved from Canada to that state in the early '40s and
there spent their remaining days.
H. Ward Stone was a pupil in the public schools of Eureka, Winnebago county,
through the period of his early boyhood and afterward attended Lawrence
Univer­sity at Appleton, Wisconsin. He arrived in Minnesota in 1870, soon after
attaining his majority, and took up his abode at Beaver Falls, Renville county,
where he remained for a year and then established his home at Montevideo,
Chippewa county, where he erected the first business building in the town. There
he and his brother, Lane K. Stone, opened a general merchandise store and also
conducted a banking business in connection therewith. With the building of the
railroad through Benson, the county seat of Swift county, the brothers opened a
general merchandise house at that place, at the same time continuing their
operations at Montevideo. The partnership between them was maintained until 1886
and ten years prior to this time they founded a bank in Benson, which proved one
of the strong financial institutions of that section and a most valuable factor
in the commercial growth and upbuilding of the region. H. Ward Stone was also
appointed receiver of the United States land office at Benson and continued in
that position until the election of Grover Cleveland to the presidency, when he
retired to be succeeded by one of democratic faith. He continued in the banking
business at Benson, largely associated in this undertaking with Senator Z. B.
Clark. Under the name of the Swift County Bank they conducted the business and
developed the institution into one of the strongest and most influential of the
small-town banks of Minnesota, with assets of fully a million dollars. Mr. Stone
remained as president of the bank until his demise and the success of the
institution was due in notable measure to his integrity and thorough
reliability, as well as to his business enterprise and initiative. He was
succeeded in the presidency by his elder son, Frank L. Stone, who continued in
that position to the time of his death and fully sustained the high reputation
of the father as one of the foremost financiers of Minnesota.
As the years passed H. Ward Stone made extensive and judicious investments in
property in Swift county and his holdings included a splendid farm near Benson,
on which he resided. There he engaged in the breeding of high-grade live stock
and became one of the foremost stockmen of the state. He gave considerable
atten­tion to shorthorn cattle and standard bred horses and a number of horses
bred on his farm won fame for him on the trotting turf. He likewise extended his
efforts as a breeder of fine horses to Tennessee and he at all times took great
pride in his fine stock, which he exhibited in the horse shows in New York city.
One of the horses bred by him was purchased by George Gould. Extending the scope
of his operations in the south, Mr. Stone became actively identified with the
manufacture of yellow pine lumber, operating sawmills in Texas and Oklahoma, in
addition to which he had valuable timber holdings in British Columbia.
His active connection with Minneapolis was as a grain commission merchant, in
which undertaking he was associated with H. G. Atwood. In 1907 they organized
the firm of Atwood, Stone & Company and under that style carried on business on
an extensive scale. They conducted their grain trade strictly on a commission
basis, owning no elevators but building up a business of large and extensive
proportions. Mr. Stone likewise became owner of much stock in banking
institutions in Minnesota and was widely known as one of the representative
financiers of the state. He owned valuable realty holdings in association with
his son, Frank L., including a large amount of property in Minneapolis and its
suburbs. They platted several additions to the city, including the Mississippi
Park addition and the Carter & Stone addi­tion, and they also operated in the
general field of real estate. It was in the year 1908 that H. Ward Stone took up
his abode in Minneapolis, while his son, Frank L. Stone, remained on the
beautiful old homestead near Benson. The father located at No. 407 Oak Grove
street, where his widow still resides. -While they largely passed the summer
months in Minneapolis, the winter seasons were spent either in Florida or in
California, but they had returned to their Minneapolis home ere Mr. Stone passed
away, on the 7th of April, 1913.
In politics Mr. Stone was always a stanch republican and his opinions carried
great weight in party councils. While not ambitious for political preferment, he
never neglected his duty and when called upon filled public office, discharging
his duties with marked credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.
He occupied the position of president of the village council of Benson and
treasurer of the board of education there. He also represented his district in
the general as­sembly as a member of both house and senate and his entire record
indicated his lofty patriotism and marked fidelity to duty. He worked most
earnestly and effectively to further the improvement of public highways, and
although his efforts did not bring the immediate results which he desired, the
seed which he planted has borne fruit in the later development of the state
roads. He was most zealous in his advocacy of any cause or project which he
deemed of public worth and it was this that caused his active connection with
the Chamber of Commerce and with the Civic & Com­merce Association of
Minneapolis. That he was appreciative of the social amenities of life is
indicated in the fact of his connection with the Minneapolis Club and the
Minneapolis Automobile Club and he also belonged to the Masonic fraternity.
In 1874 Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Clara L. Lowell, a daughter of
Julius Caesar and Frances Marie (Lowrey) Lowell, who were pioneer residents of
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, taking up their abode there in 1847. Her father was born
in Victor, New York, and her mother in Rutland, Vermont, and after removing to
Fond du Lac the father became a representative merchant there. The mother was
taken by her parents to Racine, Wisconsin, in pioneer times and afterward to
Fond du Lac, where she became the wife of Mr. Lowell. Three children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Stone. The eldest, Frank Lowell, born at Benson, Minnesota,
April 5, 1876, died May 12, 1922. In 1892 he had become cashier of the Swift
County Bank at Benson and filled that position to the time of his father's
death, when he was elected to the presidency. He was also vice president of the
grain commission corporation of Atwood, Stone & Company of Minneapolis, was
president of the Farmers & Merchants State Bank of De Graft* in Swift county and
had other important business interests which ranked him with the leading and
representative business men of the state and made him the worthy successor of
his honored father. He held membership in the Minneapolis, the Interlachen and
Athletic Clubs and his personal qualities made for popularity wherever he was
known. In 1900 he was united in marriage to Miss Frances Eleanor Thornton, a
daughter of Frank M. Thornton, who was identified with the building of the old
St. Paul & Pacific Rail­road and later became one of the prominent and
influential residents of Benson, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Stone had a family of
three children: Lowell Thornton, Elizabeth Eleanor and H. Ward. The other
children of the family were: Albert Lane, who is the first vice president of the
Swift County Bank at Benson; and Pauline, who is the wife of John M. Dillion, a
prominent iron and steel manufacturer living at Sterling, Illinois.
H. Ward Stone always centered his interest in his family, finding his greatest
happiness in promoting their comfort and welfare. He was very liberal in support
of church and charitable work, his wife and children being communicants of the
Protestant Episcopal church, of which Mr. Stone was a generous supporter. Mrs.
Stone is now a devout communicant of St. Paul's church in Minneapolis and is
promi­nent in the social circles of the city, where she has many friends. The
record of Minnesota's substantial development would be incomplete without
extended refer­ence to H. Ward Stone, for he was long a most active participant
in those affairs which have led to the material, social, intellectual and moral
progress of the common­wealth. Whatever he undertook he carried forward to
successful completion and his course was ever a constructive one. He never
builded his prosperity upon the wreck of other's failures. He wisely used his
time and talents, saw and improved his opportunities for wise investment and in
the upbuilding of his own fortunes also contributed to the prosperity and
progress of Minnesota.