Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Stone family papers
- Dates:
- 1817-1965
- Abstract:
- Correspondence of Martha D. Stone and her extended family.
- Extent:
- 2.4 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
- Language:
- The records are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stone family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Correspondence of Martha D. Stone and her extended family. Martha D. Stone's correspondence contains letters and documents on family history, including those from 1908 to 1909. Besides the family members, the correspondents include Greenlee D. Letcher, Lawrence Washington (1836-1926) and Frank P. Flint. Also included are four letters, 1916 to 1918, from Jordan M. Stone describing his life in Banning and Pasadena, California, and photographs of Jordan M. and William Welch Stone at Hollister Ranch, California. Jonathan C. Gibson's correspondence includes two letters to his wife written while away from home; the letter of October 18, 1817, contains a vivid description of the flood of emigrants headed to "Mizura;" the letters to his daughter written between 1840 and 1846 discuss family and local news of Culpeper County and details of some cases that he argued. Also included is a letter, 1821, January, from his kinsman and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Fayette Ball (1791-1836), describing bills under consideration. Letters that Frances Ann Gibson Welch Burt and J. Mallory Welch exchanged in the summer of 1844, during her visit to Virginia. In the letter of August 10, 1844, written on pro-Clay pictorial stationery, she described a "Whig festival" in Dandridge, attended by some "thousand persons;" and on August 26, 1844, she gives an account of a Methodist camp meeting in "Prince William Springs." Also included are letters from her friends and relatives. The letter, January 1, 1847, of her friend Mary V. Moore describes her stay at the Olympian Springs, Kentucky, her wedding to a young man she met there, and the busy social life of a newlywed in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. There are also the journal and letters of Mary Emma (Mamie) Cathell Grace (1861-1937), a native of Philadelphia who attended New Orleans High School. The first portion of the diary covers the school year of 1878, the entries describe school studies, including lessons taught by Susan Blanchard Elder (1835-1923) and Mary Humphrey Stamps (1835-); the Mardi Gras festivities, particularly the parade staged by the Knights of Momus, the outbreak of yellow fever, etc. The second portion of the diary gives an account of her trip to Philadelphia to meet her father and siblings. In 1885, Mamie married Dr. Jesse Edward Grace (1852-1895) and moved to Weimar, Texas. The collection also includes photographs, newspaper clippings from The Asheville Citizen, and ephemera.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Martha ("Mattie") Dandridge Welch Stone (1844-1943), a longtime resident of Los Angeles, was born in Talladega County, Alabama. Her father was John Mallory Welch (-1847), a Talladega County lawyer and son of Reverend Oliver Welch (1791-1874), the founder of the Alpine Baptist Church. Mattie Stone's mother, Frances Ann Gibson Welch (1818-1901) came from Virginia. She was daughter of Jonathan Catlett Gibson (1793-1849), a Culpeper County, Virginia, lawyer and legislator, and his first wife Martha Dandridge Ball (1799-1822), daughter of Colonel Burgess Ball and Frances Ann Washington, George Washington's niece. In 1849, Mattie's widowed mother married James Creth Burt (1809-1896), an affluent tanner of Mardisville, Talladega County, Alabama. In 1860, Burt legally adopted Mattie. In June 1873, she married Isaac Jordan Stone (1846-1891), son of a Talladega County farmer. The Stones soon moved to North Carolina where Jordan Stone worked as a newspaper publisher; he was the proprietor and editor of The Raleigh Standard and The Asheville Citizen. Their children - Frances Jordan (1874-1943), Jordan Mallory (1883-1918), and William Welch (1886-1978) were born in North Carolina. In 1888, Stone sold his interest in The Asheville Citizen, and the family moved to Los Angeles. Stone became an importer and dealer in lime and cement. Mattie's mother came to live with them; she died in 1901 at her daughter's Los Angeles home. Jordan Mallory Stone came to Pasadena in April 1917 to take the position of assistant cashier of the Security National Bank. In July 1917, he married Evelyn H. Williams, but two months later succumbed to pneumonia. Frances Jordan (Fannie) Stone worked as a stenographer; she died in 1943. William Welch Stone, a bank executive, married Rebecca McMillan (1891-1981); the Stones lived in San Diego. In 1908, Martha D. Stone was involved in an attempt to receive reimbursement for the estate of George Washington lost by conflicting grants of the United States government. The effort was spearheaded by Robert E. Lee, Jr., the administrator of the Washington estates, and Greenlee Davidson Letcher (1867-1954) of Lexington, Virginia, the legal counsel. In 1909, the respective bills were introduced in the House (No. 5489) and Senate (No. 1238).
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of William Welch Stone, Jr., and Molly Nealson Welch, May 2010.
- Arrangement:
-
Organized in three series: Series 1: Mary E. Cathell journal, 1878-1880; Series 2: Photographs, ephemera, newspaper clippings, genealogical material, 1882-1950; Series 3: Correspondence and manuscripts, 1817-1965.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Camp meetings -- Virginia -- Personal narratives
Girls' schools -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Lawyers -- Virginia -- Correspondence
Methodism -- Virginia -- History -- Sources
Migration, Internal -- Virginia -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Revivals -- Virginia -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Women -- California -- Los Angeles -- Correspondence
Women -- Southern States -- Correspondence
Family papers -- Southern States -- 19th century
Family Papers -- California -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Southern States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century
Photographs -- California - Names:
- Whig Party (Va.)
Ball, Fayette, 1791-1836
Burt, Frances Ann Gibson Welch, 1818-1901
Elder, Susan Blanchard, 1835-1923
Flint, Frank P. (Frank Putnam), 1862-1929
Gibson, Jonathan Catlett, 1793-1849
Grace, Mary Emma Cathell, 1861-1937
Letcher, Greenlee D. (Greenlee Davidson), 1867-1954
Stamps, Mary Humphreys, -1835
Stone (Family)
Stone, Jordan M. (Jordan Mallory), 1883-1918
Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Estate
Washington, Lawrence, 1836-1926
Welch, J. Mallory (John Mallory), -1847
Welch, Oliver, 1791-1874 - Places:
- Alabama -- History -- 1819-1950 -- Sources
Culpeper County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Hollister Ranch (Calif.) -- Photographs
Kentucky -- History -- 1792-1865 -- Sources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Sources
Mount Sterling (Ky.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
New Orleans (La.) -- History -- 19th century
Rockingham County (Va.) -- History -- Sources
Talladega County (Ala.) -- History -- Sources
United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Virginia -- History -- 1775-1865 -- Sources
Virginia -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865 -- Sources
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-04-24 16:03:58 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stone family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191