John Marshall Stone Letter

John Marshall Stone was born in Tennessee on April 30, 1830, son of Asher and Judith (Royall) Stone who were natives of Virginia. The Stone family was not wealthy, so John did not receive a college education. As a young man, he studied seriously and taught school, apparently in Tennessee. In 1855 John Stone moved to Eastport (Tishomingo Co.), Mississippi, where he worked in business. When the Memphis & Charleston railroad was completed, he accepted the position of station agent at Iuka, a post which he filled until his enlistment in the Confederate army in April 1861.

Stone commanded Company K of the Second Mississippi Infantry which saw action in various Virginia battles until 1862. When a unit reorganization took place, Colonel Stone was placed in command of another regiment. During the later years of the war, he was offered a promotion to major-general but since it would have meant leaving his regiment, he declined it. In early 1865 Stone and his unit were captured and held prisoners in Kentucky, at Camp Chase in Ohio, and at Johnson's Island until the end of the war.

Upon his return to private life following the war, Stone was elected to public office-as mayor and treasurer of Tishomingo Co., Mississippi. In 1869 and 1873, Stone was elected to terms in the state senate. When Governor Ames resigned in 1876, John M. Stone, as President Pro Tempore of the Mississippi Senate, succeeded to the governorship. Stone was elected to the governorship in 1877 by a large popular vote. Defeated by Robert Lowery in 1882, Stone was again a candidate for governor in 1889 and served in the office from 1890 to 1896 because of the revision of Mississippi's constitution. Stone was a very popular governor because of his tax cuts, his involvement with railroad development in the state, and his support of the 1890 constitutional convention. He served as governor longer than any other man.

John M. Stone was married in 1872 to Mary G. Coman. Two children were born to them but they died young; the couple adopted three of his brother's children and reared them.

Stone died in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on March 26, 1900.