John Y. Stone

JOHN Y. STONE was born near Springfield, Illinois, on the 23d of April, 1843, and came with his parents to Iowa in 1856. He received a liberal education and at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion enlisted in the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry and served until peace was restored. He then returned to Glenwood and studied law with William Hale, afterwards entering into partnership with him. Mr. Stone was elected Representative in the House of the Twelfth and Thirteenth General Assemblies and to the Senate of the Fourteenth, serving four years in each branch. In 1875 he was again elected to the House, serving four years more, the last term as Speaker. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1876 and a member of the National Republican Committee from 1876 to 1880. He was again a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1884. In 1888 he was nominated by the Republican State Convention for Attorney-General and elected, serving three terms. During his busy life in law and politics, General Stone has found time to engage largely in fruit growing. He began many years ago to plant apple trees in Mills County and continued until over eight hundred acres were in orchard, upon which were growing more than 100,000 bearing apple trees. He also planted a vineyard of more than 75,000 grape vines; these with his apple orchard made the largest fruit plantation in the State.

SOURCE: Benjamin F. Gue, History of Iowa, Volume IV: Iowa Biography, p. 252