STONE, CHARLES W., was born in Groton,
Middlesex county, Mass., on the 29th day of June, 1843, and was the
eldest of the three sons of Warren F. and Mary (Williams) Stone. His
mother was of Welsh extraction, and her ancestors had settled in this
country during the early years of its history. His father, who was of
English descent, and whose ancestors were related to General Nathaniel
Green, of Revolutionary fame and were pre-Revolutionary inhabitants of
Massachusetts, was a carpenter by trade, and though of feeble health,
was distinguished by a strong, clear, and active mind. The year prior to
his death, in his forty-second year, he was a member of the Legislature
of Massachusetts. He had a keen appreciation of culture, and to his
tendency to intellectual occupation, and his early words of inspiring
encouragement, is due much of the success that has waited on his son,
the subject of this sketch. The boyhood and youth of C.W. Stone were
passed on a farm with his grandfather, with the exception of one year,
during which he worked at the trade of his father. At an age when most
boys have no thought for the morrow, he conceived an ambition for a
liberal education, and determined to obtain it, notwithstanding the
somewhat straitened circumstances of the family, and his own delicate
health. He prepared for a collegiate course at Lawrence Academy, and in
1860 was sufficiently advanced to enter the sophomore class at Williams
College. In order to supplement his limited means, he taught in a
private family, sawed wood, and did other "chores" during college terms,
and, free from debt, was graduated in 1863 in the section of first ten
in a class of fifty. Soon after his graduation he became principal of
the Union school at Warren, Pa., and in March, 1865, relinquished that
position to accept that of superintendent of common schools of Warren
county. In the fan of the same year he was chosen principal of the
academy at Erie, but this situation he resigned in November, 1865, and
went to Mississippi in company with F. M. Abbott and Colonel A. P.
Shattuck, both of whom afterward became prominent cotton planters in
that State. At the close of December, 1866, he returned to the north,
and having been admitted to practice law in the courts of Warren county,
on the first day of January, 1867, entered into partnership with his
present partner, Judge Rasselas Brown. This partnership has now
continued longer without interruption than any other law partnership in
Warren county. In 1868 he was elected school director and served nine
years; the last three as president of the board. He was also for three
years a member of the borough council.
So soon were Mr. Stone’s abilities known and appreciated, that as early
as the fall of 1869 he was elected to the House of Representatives of
Pennsylvania, from the district composed of Warren and Venango counties.
Unlike too many men in public life, he did not look upon the position as
an honor merely, a sinecure, but a trust which demanded the best of his
talents and endeavors. He was a prominent figure in his first session in
the Legislature. A movement, led by Senator Lowry, of Erie, in the Upper
House, and Representative, Ames, of Titusville, in the Lower House, was
initiated for the formation of a new county to comprise Eldred,
Southwest and half of Spring Creek townships in this county and portions
of Venango and Crawford counties. Mr. Stone and J.D. McJunkin, from the
Venango district, opposed the measure, and Mr. Stone made a powerful
speech against it, which materially aided to produce its defeat. The
effort was complimented throughout the State in the press, even the
opposition bearing witness to its force and effect. The struggle was a
very severe, laborious, and exhaustive one to Mr. Stone, but it was the
occasion of his re-nomination and re-election in the fall of 1870,
without an opposing nominee, the Democratic party paying him the high
compliment of not putting an opposing candidate in the field. The honor
was well deserved, for the division of Warren county would have deprived
it of some of the richest portions of its territory, and would have
injured Warren by making Titusville the county seat of a new and rival
county. Although at the beginning it seemed destined to be regarded as a
local question, it engendered such a fight as to assume the proportions
of a State question. The odds against which Mr. Stone and his confrere
contended may be partly appreciated when it is stated that the
victorious party were led by two young men in their first term against
political veterans.
An important feature of his labors in the session of 1871 was the part
he took in a measure to protect the harbor of Erie. In consequence of a
communication from the United States secretary of war to Governor Geary,
relative to depredations said to have been committed upon the Peninsula
protecting and forming the harbor at Erie, and thus endangering the
harbor, a committee of five was appointed to investigate, and Mr. Stone
was made chairman. The committee made two elaborate reports, which
undoubtedly operated to save the harbor from destruction, and restore
the Marine Hospital (now the Soldier’s Home) property to the State.
At the expiration of the second term in the House of Representatives Mr.
Stone returned with renewed energy to the practice of law, from which he
had been drawn by the press of public duties. But he was not long
permitted to enjoy his retirement. In 1876 he was chosen to a seat in
the State Senate, and took his place in the beginning of 1877. In that
body he served as chairman of the general judiciary committee, and while
taking a leading part in all its deliberations was recognized as the
special champion of the interests of the oil-producing sections of the
State, and, as in the Lower House, was esteemed very clear, able, and
impressive in debate. Perhaps his ablest effort was his speech in
support of the free pipe bill, in the winter of 1878. The bill was then
defeated, but has since been passed and is now in force. In 1878 he was
brought forward as the best candidate for the position of
lieutenant-governor of the State. The opposition in the convention was
but nominal, the vote standing 182 against 59, and in the subsequent
election he was chosen by a majority of 23,250 votes. He served with
distinguished ability from January, 1879, to January, 1883, the entire
term. The importance of this office, which is of recent institution in
Pennsylvania, is at once apparent from the following section of Article
IV, of the new constitution of the State:
"Sect. 13. In case of the death, conviction, or impeachment, failure to
qualify, resignation, or other disability of the governor, the powers,
duties, and emoluments of the office, for the remainder of the term, or
until the disability be removed, shall devolve upon the
lieutenant-governor." It also provides that he shall be ex officio
president of the Senate and member of the board of pardons. It fell to
him to preside over the joint assembly during the protracted contest for
election of United States Senator, which resulted in the selection of
John I. Mitchell, and though he was called upon to make more rulings
than were ever before or since made in a similar assembly, not one of
his rulings, either in the Senate or joint assembly, was ever reversed
or even appealed from, a statement which cannot be made concerning any
other lieutenant-governor in the history of the State. During that
contest Mr. Stone had the general support of the press of northern and
northwestern Pennsylvania for the senatorship, but he declined to enter
the field.
It is a custom for the Senate, at the close of each term of its
presiding officer, to extend him a vote of thanks. This vote may have
meaning and it may not, but there can be no mistaking the sentiment that
impelled the Senate, at the close of Mr. Stone’s term, in 1883, by the
co-operation of every member of both parties, to present to him a gold
watch of superior workmanship, bearing the following inscription:
"Presented to the Hon. Charles Warren Stone, lieutenant-governor of
Pennsylvania, January 16, 1883, by the members of the State Senate for
the sessions of 1879, 1881, and 1883, as a testimonial of their high
regard and great esteem for him as a public officer, and for the
impartial and faithful performance of his duties as president of the
Senate." To the heavy gold chain, which was presented with the watch, is
attached, as a charm, a miniature gavel with diamond settings. The
presentation address was made by Senator John Stewart, since the
independent candidate for governor, to which Mr. Stone feelingly
replied.
In 1883 Mr. Stone was one of the three commissioners that located the
United States public buildings at Erie. In 1884 he received the
unanimous support of the delegates from Warren county for the
congressional nomination for this district, though he made no canvass in
the other counties. In 1886 he was strongly urged from Warren and Erie
counties to go into the fight, but declined, in January, 1887, however,
he was appointed by Governor Beaver as secretary of the Commonwealth, a
position which he fills at this writing.
Notwithstanding his activity in political affairs, Mr. Stone has borne
his share of the labor and received his share of the honor in business
and social life. His standing as a lawyer is attested by the fact that
he is president of the Bar Association of Warren county. In recent years
he has engaged to a considerable extent in lumbering and oil operations
in the Clarendon field and elsewhere. Although in rather more than
comfortable circumstances, he has not accumulated so much property as he
is commonly accredited with, having made it a rule, as well as
possessing the inclination, to spend all that is necessary for his own
enjoyment, or that of others, as he "goes along." He is a member of the
State Historical Society, and since its origin has been prominently
identified with the Warren Library Association. His ability as an orator
is recognized throughout the State, and he is in demand, not only during
political campaigns, but on Independence Day celebrations, and like
occasions.
On the 30th of January, 1868, Mr. Stone married Elizabeth, daughter of
Thomas Moorhead, of Erie, Pa. They have six children— Grace Mary, Annie
Isabel, Ralph, Warren, Elizabeth Moorhead, John Lyon, and Clara Rebecca.
He has two brothers, both residing in the city of Bradford, Pa. One, R.
B. Stone, is a prominent lawyer; the other, George F. Stone, is city
superintendent of schools.
History of Warren County:
With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent
Men and Pioneers, J. S. Schenck, Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co., 1887.
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