STONE, GEORGE D.
STONE, MCNEIL, TUTTLE, GRAHAM, FINCH, ASHLING, DELEMOS
Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/20/2003 at 17:54:54
Biography reproduced from page 636 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:
George D. Stone is one of the large land owners and prosperous farmers of Portland township, Kossuth county, where he operates a farm of six hundred acres of well improved and valuable land three miles beyond Burt. Mr. Stone is a native of Illinois, having been born in Lee county, near Dixon, on September 2, 1861. His father, Burrel Stone, was born near Buffalo, in the western part of New York, and spent his early childhood in that section. He moved west with his father, Luther Stone, and settled in Lee county, Illinois, where for many years he was numbered among the pioneer residents. Burrel Stone grew to manhood in Illinois and there married Miss Isabelle McNeil, a native of Scotland. The father of our subject was a prosperous farmer in Lee county, where he owned several well improved tracts of land. He died in 1886 and his wife survives him, making her home with a daughter, who lives in California.
George D. Stone received his education in the common schools of his native section. He was reared upon his father’s farm and early became acquainted with agricultural pursuits. He remained at home until he had reached young manhood and rented a part of his father’s farm and was successful in its operation for five years. In 1884 he established his residence in Iowa, purchasing a section of land in Portland township. The property which he bought was cultivated to some extent and there was a rude log house upon the land. Mr. Stone immediately began its further development, built two comfortable dwellings upon his property and installed labor-saving machinery. He has divided his acres into two sections, each part completely equipped with barns and outbuildings. He has built fences and planted an orchard and now has one of the most productive properties in Kossuth county. He does general farming and also raises high-grade cattle. Mr. Stone’s farm is valuable and well cultivated. The labor which he has bestowed upon it makes it every year more fertile and productive. His stock-breeding interests are constantly growing and form at the present time an important item in his activities. He has attained in agriculture a success which always crowns concentrated effort along worthy and useful lines. He has given much of his attention to farming but has not allowed this branch of activity to monopolize his attention. He was one of the promoters and is now a stockholder in the Burt Creamery Company and is a stockholder in the Burt National Bank.
On December 29, 1880, Mr. Stone was united in marriage at Sterling, Illinois, to Miss Susan Elma Tuttle, who was born in Indiana. He and his wife are the parents of five children: Evelyn, the wife of A. A. Graham, a farmer in Portland township, and the mother of one son, George A.; Anna Belle, who married Delbert E. Finch, an agriculturist in the same section, and whose only child, Ores Oliver, has passed away; Clara V., the wife of E. Adelbert Ashling, of Rock Falls, Illinois, by whom she has one son, Elwin Adelbert; George H., a student in the Bancroft Parochial school; and Helen E., who lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have an adopted son, Leslie S. DeLemos, who now lives in California and is married. They raised him from the age of fourteen years.
Mr. Stone was one of the promoters and organizers of the Doan Methodist Episcopal church of Portland township and he is now a member of the board of trustees. He and his wife are active workers in the cause of religion and are well known in church circles. He is a member of the Burt Lodge, I. O. O. F., and he and his wife are connected with the Rebekahs. Mr. and Mrs. Stone also belong to the Yeoman Lodge. Politically he gives his allegiance to the republican party but has never been an office seeker, although for many years he served as a member of the school board. He has been a resident of Kossuth county since 1884 and is one of the active and industrious citizens of the section. He has aided materially in its development and expansion and is a man of high commercial ability and careful and conservative business methods. He has added to the resources of his community by developing his farm along lines of expansion and by advocating and following legitimate and honorable commercial principles.
Kossuth Biographies maintained by Linda Ziemann.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen