Truman Lewis Stone

TRUMAN LEWIS STONE, keeper of the County House at Varysburg, N.Y., was born in Orangeville, Wyoming County, N.Y., July 1, 1853. Harvey Stone, his father, was born in Orangeville, February 14, 1818, and married February 20, 1840, Eliza Lewis, a daughter of the Hon. Truman and Lucy (Porter) Lewis. Oliver Lewis, grandfather of Eliza, was a descendant of William Lewis, who came from England in the ship “Lion,” landing in Boston, September 16, 1632.

By this marriage three children were born, namely: Almira A., born August 20, 1841, who became the wife of George L. Parker, a merchant in Buffalo, N.Y., and now resides at No. 2319 Main Street in that city, they having no children; Morris L., now a resident of Wamego, Kan., of which city he is Mayor, born August 8, 1843, who married February 21, 1867, Frances E. Stanley, a daughter of Edwin Stanley, of Middlebury, they having but one child, Mary Eliza; and Truman Lewis, of whom this biography is written. Mr. Harvey Stone died January 7, 1887, leaving a good property to be divided among his children. He was always a resident of the town of Orangeville, and was a farmer and dairyman. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years, was Supervisor in 1855, and was elected Session Justice of the county for two terms. In political faith he was a Whig and a Republican. He was a regular attendant and a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Eliza Lewis Stone was born February 20, 1820, and died October 15, 1894.

Reuben Stone, the father of Harvey and grandfather of Truman L., was born at Hancock, Berkshire County, Mass., January 26, 1790, and died at Orangeville, April 11, 1869. He was married twice—first, in September, 1815, to Almira Merrill, daughter of Noah Merrill, who was a Revolutionary soldier and an early settler in Orangeville. Almira was born in Colebrook, Conn., June 13, 1792, and died in Orangeville, December 22, 1831. By this marriage Reuben Stone had seven children, namely: Lois, born July I8, 1816; Harvey, born February 14, 1818; Sarah, born October 28, 1820; Lucinda, born in 1822, and died young; Reuben, born in 1824, died young; Lucinda, born September 28, 1826; and Caroline, born December 22, 1828. He married second, April, 1832, Mrs. Julia Dunham, a widow, by whom he had two children —Edwin, born April 17, 1833; and Lucy C., born January 22, 1838. Reuben Stone left Hancock, Mass., in 1790 or 179I with his father’s family, who settled in Greenville, N.Y. In 1809 or 1810 he with his brother Joel removed to Livonia; and in September, 1813, he came to Orangeville, and settled on the farm of nearly four hundred acres, on which he continued to live until his death. He was a leader and worker in the organization of the town, placing public roads and schools, and in the organization of the First Presbyterian Church, of which he became a member. He was one of the earliest dairymen on the Holland Purchase, selling home manufactured cheese in Canada and Eastern markets as early as 1823.

Russell Stone, Reuben’s father and the great-grandfather of Truman L., was born at the old homestead, in the house now standing at the corner of Broad and River Streets, Guilford, Conn., January 26, 1759. He was a descendant of the Rev. Samuel Stone, of England, and John Stone, who came with his brother William from Surrey County, England, in the Rev. Henry Whitfield’s Guilford colony, landing in New Haven in July, 1639, their ships (for there were two) being the first vessels to enter that harbor. Russell married in 178I Lois Stone, who was a descendant of William Stone, the brother of John the emigrant. Russell was a private in the second battalion of General Gates’s army, Thaddeus Cook Colonel, Edwin Russell Major. He was wounded in the hand at the battle of Stillwater, September 19, 1777; but his wound was not so serious as to cause him to leave the service, as he was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777. He died at Greenville, N.Y, December 11, 1803. His epitaph is, “The law of kindness was written upon his heart.”

Truman L. was educated in common and select schools and the Warsaw Academy. He married December 2, 1874, Miss Helen A. Lewis, born July 18, 1852, at Hinsdale, N.Y. She is the daughter of Oliver and Louisa (Preston) Lewis, her father being a descendant of William Lewis, the emigrant. Mrs. Stone’s parents are still living on a farm at Great Valley, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. She has one brother, Charles Lewis, who resides in Buffalo, N.Y., a railroad man, and one sister, Mrs. David Frost, who resides near her parents at Great Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have one daughter, Theo E. Lewis Stone, who is a member of the class of 1896 at Houghton Seminary, Clinton, Oneida County, N.Y., where she is a diligent student.

Mr. Stone has held the office of Justice of the Peace for fourteen years, and has been keeper of the Wyoming County Poor House since 1885. This institution is located one half mile from the village of Varysburg, N.Y., on a farm containing two hundred and fifty-one acres of land, a great part of which is best adapted to grazing. About one hundred acres of it, however, are very productive; and here are raised all the necessary vegetables, potatoes, fruit, wheat, butter, beef, and pork consumed on the place. There are sixty inmates in the institution, that are comfortably and kindly cared for; and through the liberal appropriations made by various boards of supervisors of the county, the Board of Superintendents of the Poor and the Keeper have caused the buildings to be placed in such condition that there is an atmosphere of home life given to the place, which is very elevating to the unfortunate men and women domiciled within its walls. The main building is two stories high, measures forty by forty-four feet, with kitchen, dining-room, and laundry extending back for a distance of two hundred feet, while the men’s building, connected by a covered corridor on the east, measures thirty by sixty feet, and the women’s building, connected by a covered corridor on the west, measures thirty by sixty. In the rear is that part of the establishment which is devoted to the feeble-minded.

Bibliographic information:

• Title Biographical Review; this Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, New York ... Volume 7 of Atlantic states series of biographical reviews
• Publisher Biographical Review Publishing Company, 1895
• Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Digitized Sep 1, 2011
• Length 683 pages
• Page 547
• https://books.google.com/books?id=R8wpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA547&lpg=PA547&d...

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CHILDREN OF HARVEY AND ELIZA 67(LEWIS) STONE, ALL OF WHOM WERE BORN AT ORANGEVILLE, N. Y.

158. i. Almira A., was born August 20, 1841. She married, July 5, 1858, George L. Parker. He is a merchant, and resides at Buffalo, N. Y.

159. ii. Maurice L., was born August 8, 1843. He married, February 21, 1867, Frances E. Stanley. He is a merchant, and resides at Wamego, Kansas.

They have one child:

1. Mary Eliza.—Born February 1, 1873.

160. iii. Truman Lewis, was born July 1, 1853. He married, December 2, 1875, Helen A. Lewis, daughter of Oliver 127 Lewis, of Great Valley, N. Y., and grand-daughter of Jason 48 Lewis. He lives at Varysburg, N. Y., and is the Keeper of the Wyoming County Insane Asylum and Almshouse.

They have one child:

1. Theo. E. Lewis.

Bibliographic information:

• Title Book VXIII. of the Genealogy of the Lewis Family
• Author Simeon Dunham Lewis
• Publisher C.W. Moulton, 1891
• Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Digitized Apr 16, 2007
• Length 66 pages
• Page 50
• https://books.google.com/books?id=KOswAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=...