Billy Stone was probably born in 1828 (calculated from his death certificate), and probably in Savoy, Berkshire County, Massachusetts as his death certificate stated (the informant for which was probably his next-youngest brother, Ward Stone). Their parents, Oren and Joanna (Turner) Stone, were residing in Savoy by the time Billy was born, but no birth registrations for any of their children have been found. What we do know is that Billy worked as a farm laborer all of his life and was cross-eyed.
Billy was about 18 when his mother and Turner grandmother died in Savoy in 1846 and his home and family life seemed to disintegrate. In the 1850 census enumerated in August Billy was age 23 and living in Windsor, Massachusetts (hometown of his father and Stone grandparents) with the Howland Capen family, farmers, surrounded by farmers with family-affiliated surnames of Hathaway, Mason, Beals, and Pierce. His two younger brothers, Ira N. (Newell) Stone, age 10, and Ebenezer (Frank) Stone, 17, were also in Windsor, living with other families. Brothers Henry and Ward were working as laborers and living with other families in Worthington. Their father, Oren Stone, cannot be found anywhere in the 1850 census, and seemingly was not much of a presence in his children's lives thereafter. Enumerated later in October of that same year was another William Stone, also age 23, living in Peru in the household of farmer and wife Timothy H. and Cynthia French. This was probably the same Billy, starting his life of itinerant farm labor in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
The September 1855 state census found William A. Stone, age 26, Laborer, living in the household of Isaac Webster, farmer in Otis (Berkshire Co.). The 1860 census found him in Peru (Berkshire Co.), age 26, Laborer, living ajacent to his brother Ward and family. In 1865 he was in Lee (Berkshire Co.), living in the farming household of Henry M. Bassett, his wife Lydia, and their four young children, listed as: "Wm Stone, age 38 [sic], male, born in Savoy, Mass., Laborer, Ratable Poll, Legal Citizen." If he had served in the military during the Civil War, his records have not been found.
1870 found him in Tryingham, a farm laborer, living in the household of George L. Barnes, 32, farmer, with wife and three small children. The 1880 census lists the only possibility that could have been him: "Servant" William Stone, age "55" and single, birth info unknown, living with single farmer Byron Hall, 47, and his elderly mother, Delia, 75, and a 50-year-old servant, Mary Cadwell, in New Marlborough (Berkshire Co.).
William A. Stone died 19 October 1894, age 66 and single, of pneumonia, in Plainfield (Hampshire Co.), Massachusetts. His was the ninth death in Plainfield that year. "Billy" died about 15 miles from his brother Ward's farm in Peru, and not far from Ward's children and grandchildren spread around the Berkshires (it was his nephew, Joseph Turner Stone, growing up in Peru, who recalled his Uncle Billy being cross-eyed.) So surely Billy's life and death did not go unremarked upon at the time of his passing. But no obituaries have been found.
His body was sent to Windsor, Massachusetts for burial. ("Massachusetts Town Deaths Index, ca. 1640-1961", database, FamilySearch; original image). Presumably it was an indigent burial-- otherwise he might have been buried in Center Cemetery in Peru by his brother Ward, or buried with his mother, brothers, grandparents and Turner relatives in the remote Turner cemetery plot at Savoy Center. The prime candidate for his burial location in Windsor would have been Hill Cemetery, where his father's parents and siblings and other Stone and Hall ancestors were buried. Unfortunately there is no record of his burial there. William A. Stone may never even have had his final resting place marked with a tombstone at all. At this point, almost 130 years after his death, we'll probably never be able to confirm his burial place more definitely than "Windsor." But Hill Cemetery is a good speculative ending place for the search.
Billy was about 18 when his mother and Turner grandmother died in Savoy in 1846 and his home and family life seemed to disintegrate. In the 1850 census enumerated in August Billy was age 23 and living in Windsor, Massachusetts (hometown of his father and Stone grandparents) with the Howland Capen family, farmers, surrounded by farmers with family-affiliated surnames of Hathaway, Mason, Beals, and Pierce. His two younger brothers, Ira N. (Newell) Stone, age 10, and Ebenezer (Frank) Stone, 17, were also in Windsor, living with other families. Brothers Henry and Ward were working as laborers and living with other families in Worthington. Their father, Oren Stone, cannot be found anywhere in the 1850 census, and seemingly was not much of a presence in his children's lives thereafter. Enumerated later in October of that same year was another William Stone, also age 23, living in Peru in the household of farmer and wife Timothy H. and Cynthia French. This was probably the same Billy, starting his life of itinerant farm labor in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
The September 1855 state census found William A. Stone, age 26, Laborer, living in the household of Isaac Webster, farmer in Otis (Berkshire Co.). The 1860 census found him in Peru (Berkshire Co.), age 26, Laborer, living ajacent to his brother Ward and family. In 1865 he was in Lee (Berkshire Co.), living in the farming household of Henry M. Bassett, his wife Lydia, and their four young children, listed as: "Wm Stone, age 38 [sic], male, born in Savoy, Mass., Laborer, Ratable Poll, Legal Citizen." If he had served in the military during the Civil War, his records have not been found.
1870 found him in Tryingham, a farm laborer, living in the household of George L. Barnes, 32, farmer, with wife and three small children. The 1880 census lists the only possibility that could have been him: "Servant" William Stone, age "55" and single, birth info unknown, living with single farmer Byron Hall, 47, and his elderly mother, Delia, 75, and a 50-year-old servant, Mary Cadwell, in New Marlborough (Berkshire Co.).
William A. Stone died 19 October 1894, age 66 and single, of pneumonia, in Plainfield (Hampshire Co.), Massachusetts. His was the ninth death in Plainfield that year. "Billy" died about 15 miles from his brother Ward's farm in Peru, and not far from Ward's children and grandchildren spread around the Berkshires (it was his nephew, Joseph Turner Stone, growing up in Peru, who recalled his Uncle Billy being cross-eyed.) So surely Billy's life and death did not go unremarked upon at the time of his passing. But no obituaries have been found.
His body was sent to Windsor, Massachusetts for burial. ("Massachusetts Town Deaths Index, ca. 1640-1961", database, FamilySearch; original image). Presumably it was an indigent burial-- otherwise he might have been buried in Center Cemetery in Peru by his brother Ward, or buried with his mother, brothers, grandparents and Turner relatives in the remote Turner cemetery plot at Savoy Center. The prime candidate for his burial location in Windsor would have been Hill Cemetery, where his father's parents and siblings and other Stone and Hall ancestors were buried. Unfortunately there is no record of his burial there. William A. Stone may never even have had his final resting place marked with a tombstone at all. At this point, almost 130 years after his death, we'll probably never be able to confirm his burial place more definitely than "Windsor." But Hill Cemetery is a good speculative ending place for the search.
Billy Stone was probably born in 1828 (calculated from his death certificate), and probably in Savoy, Berkshire County, Massachusetts as his death certificate stated (the informant for which was probably his next-youngest brother, Ward Stone). Their parents, Oren and Joanna (Turner) Stone, were residing in Savoy by the time Billy was born, but no birth registrations for any of their children have been found. What we do know is that Billy worked as a farm laborer all of his life and was cross-eyed.
Billy was about 18 when his mother and Turner grandmother died in Savoy in 1846 and his home and family life seemed to disintegrate. In the 1850 census enumerated in August Billy was age 23 and living in Windsor, Massachusetts (hometown of his father and Stone grandparents) with the Howland Capen family, farmers, surrounded by farmers with family-affiliated surnames of Hathaway, Mason, Beals, and Pierce. His two younger brothers, Ira N. (Newell) Stone, age 10, and Ebenezer (Frank) Stone, 17, were also in Windsor, living with other families. Brothers Henry and Ward were working as laborers and living with other families in Worthington. Their father, Oren Stone, cannot be found anywhere in the 1850 census, and seemingly was not much of a presence in his children's lives thereafter. Enumerated later in October of that same year was another William Stone, also age 23, living in Peru in the household of farmer and wife Timothy H. and Cynthia French. This was probably the same Billy, starting his life of itinerant farm labor in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
The September 1855 state census found William A. Stone, age 26, Laborer, living in the household of Isaac Webster, farmer in Otis (Berkshire Co.). The 1860 census found him in Peru (Berkshire Co.), age 26, Laborer, living ajacent to his brother Ward and family. In 1865 he was in Lee (Berkshire Co.), living in the farming household of Henry M. Bassett, his wife Lydia, and their four young children, listed as: "Wm Stone, age 38 [sic], male, born in Savoy, Mass., Laborer, Ratable Poll, Legal Citizen." If he had served in the military during the Civil War, his records have not been found.
1870 found him in Tryingham, a farm laborer, living in the household of George L. Barnes, 32, farmer, with wife and three small children. The 1880 census lists the only possibility that could have been him: "Servant" William Stone, age "55" and single, birth info unknown, living with single farmer Byron Hall, 47, and his elderly mother, Delia, 75, and a 50-year-old servant, Mary Cadwell, in New Marlborough (Berkshire Co.).
William A. Stone died 19 October 1894, age 66 and single, of pneumonia, in Plainfield (Hampshire Co.), Massachusetts. His was the ninth death in Plainfield that year. "Billy" died about 15 miles from his brother Ward's farm in Peru, and not far from Ward's children and grandchildren spread around the Berkshires (it was his nephew, Joseph Turner Stone, growing up in Peru, who recalled his Uncle Billy being cross-eyed.) So surely Billy's life and death did not go unremarked upon at the time of his passing. But no obituaries have been found.
His body was sent to Windsor, Massachusetts for burial. ("Massachusetts Town Deaths Index, ca. 1640-1961", database, FamilySearch; original image). Presumably it was an indigent burial-- otherwise he might have been buried in Center Cemetery in Peru by his brother Ward, or buried with his mother, brothers, grandparents and Turner relatives in the remote Turner cemetery plot at Savoy Center. The prime candidate for his burial location in Windsor would have been Hill Cemetery, where his father's parents and siblings and other Stone and Hall ancestors were buried. Unfortunately there is no record of his burial there. William A. Stone may never even have had his final resting place marked with a tombstone at all. At this point, almost 130 years after his death, we'll probably never be able to confirm his burial place more definitely than "Windsor." But Hill Cemetery is a good speculative ending place for the search.
Billy was about 18 when his mother and Turner grandmother died in Savoy in 1846 and his home and family life seemed to disintegrate. In the 1850 census enumerated in August Billy was age 23 and living in Windsor, Massachusetts (hometown of his father and Stone grandparents) with the Howland Capen family, farmers, surrounded by farmers with family-affiliated surnames of Hathaway, Mason, Beals, and Pierce. His two younger brothers, Ira N. (Newell) Stone, age 10, and Ebenezer (Frank) Stone, 17, were also in Windsor, living with other families. Brothers Henry and Ward were working as laborers and living with other families in Worthington. Their father, Oren Stone, cannot be found anywhere in the 1850 census, and seemingly was not much of a presence in his children's lives thereafter. Enumerated later in October of that same year was another William Stone, also age 23, living in Peru in the household of farmer and wife Timothy H. and Cynthia French. This was probably the same Billy, starting his life of itinerant farm labor in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
The September 1855 state census found William A. Stone, age 26, Laborer, living in the household of Isaac Webster, farmer in Otis (Berkshire Co.). The 1860 census found him in Peru (Berkshire Co.), age 26, Laborer, living ajacent to his brother Ward and family. In 1865 he was in Lee (Berkshire Co.), living in the farming household of Henry M. Bassett, his wife Lydia, and their four young children, listed as: "Wm Stone, age 38 [sic], male, born in Savoy, Mass., Laborer, Ratable Poll, Legal Citizen." If he had served in the military during the Civil War, his records have not been found.
1870 found him in Tryingham, a farm laborer, living in the household of George L. Barnes, 32, farmer, with wife and three small children. The 1880 census lists the only possibility that could have been him: "Servant" William Stone, age "55" and single, birth info unknown, living with single farmer Byron Hall, 47, and his elderly mother, Delia, 75, and a 50-year-old servant, Mary Cadwell, in New Marlborough (Berkshire Co.).
William A. Stone died 19 October 1894, age 66 and single, of pneumonia, in Plainfield (Hampshire Co.), Massachusetts. His was the ninth death in Plainfield that year. "Billy" died about 15 miles from his brother Ward's farm in Peru, and not far from Ward's children and grandchildren spread around the Berkshires (it was his nephew, Joseph Turner Stone, growing up in Peru, who recalled his Uncle Billy being cross-eyed.) So surely Billy's life and death did not go unremarked upon at the time of his passing. But no obituaries have been found.
His body was sent to Windsor, Massachusetts for burial. ("Massachusetts Town Deaths Index, ca. 1640-1961", database, FamilySearch; original image). Presumably it was an indigent burial-- otherwise he might have been buried in Center Cemetery in Peru by his brother Ward, or buried with his mother, brothers, grandparents and Turner relatives in the remote Turner cemetery plot at Savoy Center. The prime candidate for his burial location in Windsor would have been Hill Cemetery, where his father's parents and siblings and other Stone and Hall ancestors were buried. Unfortunately there is no record of his burial there. William A. Stone may never even have had his final resting place marked with a tombstone at all. At this point, almost 130 years after his death, we'll probably never be able to confirm his burial place more definitely than "Windsor." But Hill Cemetery is a good speculative ending place for the search.
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