William H. Stone

William Henry* Stone born on the 29th of Dec 1811 to Robert Stone and Rebecca French in St. Winnow, Cornwall England. Born 8 months and 16 days after the bride and groom said I do. William met an 18 year old girl by the name of Henrietta Dennis born on the 1st of Jan 1817, and they married on the 22nd of Aug 1835 in the same town.

They started having children right away, 14 in total.
The 1st child James Stone – (abt) 1836, William Henry Stone – (abt) 1837 possibly a junior, John Billing Stone – 23 Feb 1840. The 1st Daughter named after Williams mother, Rebecca Stone – (abt)1841, Frederick Stone – 13 Feb 1843, Robert Francis Stone – 02 Feb 1845 named after Williams father. Edward Albert Stone – 09 Feb 1847, Glenville Dennis Stone – 06 Aug 1849 carrying on the mothers maiden name as his middle name. George Williams Stone – Sep 1853 using William again, probably naming him after his Grandfather who he never met, but perhaps heard stories about. Charles Stone – 06 Dec 1854, Henrietta Stone – 05 May 1856 dies 1863. Augustine St. Clair Stone – (abt) 1857, Lucy Stone – (abt) 1861 and finally Henrietta Hancock Stone – 07 April 1863 this last child is a bit of a mystery for me, because she has the same name as the daughter who died that same year, which makes me think that the mother Henrietta might have been going through denial about the lost of her child, or maybe William convinced her to name her Henrietta because they wanted her name to live on. It makes me believe that Henrietta might have known she was going to die soon. maybe she was ill. The strangest of all these things, is that the babies middle name is Hancock which ends up being the last name of her step mother. I wonder if she was a family friend to the Stones and was there to help William after Henrietta passed away on 24 of Jan 1864 at the age of 47 of Typhoid fever. (more info to come)

William within a couple of years married Catherine Hancock born the 14th of Dec 1841. In march of 1866 at the age of 54 William and 24 year old Catherine were married. Living in Llantrisant, Glamorgan Wales, they had 4 children. The 1st child which was Frank Stone – (abt) 1867, Catherine Stone – 27 Jun 1868 named after her mother. Rebecca Stone – 03 Sep 1870 again another daughter named after Williams mother. Having lost his daughter Rebecca (daughter of Henrietta Dennis) in 1864, the same year as her mother, left no female to carry the name, unfortunately she too passed away at the age of 5 on 24 Oct 1875. They had one last child Bessie Stone – 08 Jan 1878

William Stone Died on 10 Jan 1885
He passed away most likely in his sleep at the age of 73. He was upstairs in his two story house.

William Charles Stone His Grandson (son of Charles Stone) recalls the day of the funeral when he was almost 3 years old.
“My earliest recollections of youth occurred when I was 3 years old. When my grandfather Stone died, I will remember the day of the funeral. He passed away in a room on the second story of his home. Because the stairway leading up to the top floor was so crooked or winding, it was impossible to carry the casket with the body, down the crooked stairway. (I learned this after I grew up). They, therefore, used long planks to reach the upper story on which they slid the casket with the body down the runway to the outside ground.

I saw the men lower the casket on planks leaning against the window through which the body passed. I recall a man at the bottom of the plank who had red hair and a red beard, who waited to catch the casket as it was being lowered to the ground below. When I was recalling this to my dad, he told me that I was only 3 years old at the time and that would be the longest thing in my life that I would remember.”

*most likely the H. means Henry, do to the recurring of the name in his children and grandchildren.