William Milo Stone (October 14, 1827 – July 18, 1893) was the sixth Governor of Iowa (1864–68).

Early life and education

Stone was born in

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United Stat ...

, and moved with his family to

Coshocton, Ohio Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States approximately 63 mi (102 km) ENE of Columbus. The population was 11,216 at the 2010 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Cos ...

in 1834. He

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

there and was admitted to the bar in 1851.

Career

In 1854, he moved to

Knoxville, Iowa Knoxville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,595 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 7,313 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Knoxville is home of the National Sprint Ca ...

, where he opened a law practice and bought the local newspaper. In 1856, he was a delegate to the convention that formed the Republican Party, and he was an elector for 1856 Republican presidential nominee

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

. He was an enthusiastic supporter of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

at the 1860 Republican convention, and was so again in 1864. From 1857 to 1861, he served as a state district court judge. He married Caroline Mathews in 1857; they had one child, William A. Stone. After the attack on

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...

in 1861, Stone enlisted as a private in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. He was quickly promoted to captain, and then major, of Company B, 3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He fought and was wounded at the

Battle of Liberty The action at Blue Mills Landing, also known as the Battle of Liberty, was a battle of the American Civil War that took place on September 17, 1861, in Clay County, Missouri. Union forces unsuccessfully attempted to prevent pro-Southern Missouri ...

, but returned to fight at the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

, where he was taken prisoner. Stone was paroled by

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

and sent to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to negotiate an exchange of prisoners; after initially failing to reach an agreement, he returned to Confederate captivity, was again paroled, and was released after an exchange agreement was reached. In 1862, Stone was promoted to colonel of the

22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 22nd Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 22nd Iowa Infantry, also known as the "Johnson County Regiment", was organized at Iowa City, Iowa and mustered in ...

. He led that unit in the

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi Riv ...

, and was again wounded on May 22, 1863, during a major Union assault undertaken as part of the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...

. Stone was named the Republican nominee for governor in June 1863, and resigned from the Union Army in August. He was elected by a large margin in the general election, defeating Union general James M. Tuttle. He was reelected in 1865. During his tenure, he dealt with several difficult issues, including making sure Iowa met its 1864 draft quotas, and supporting voting rights for black Iowa citizens. It is reputed by some sources that Stone was present in April 1865 when Lincoln was assassinated at

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...

, and that Stone helped carry the wounded Lincoln across the street. However, no known primary or contemporaneous accounts describe that happening, and in fact, it is otherwise known that four members of a Pennsylvania artillery regiment actually handled the President. On February 22, 1866, Stone appointed Emily Calkins Stebbins as a notary public which made Stebbins the first such woman to hold that position in the United States. After leaving the governor's office in 1868, Stone served one term in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

(1877–78), and was appointed Assistant Commissioner and Commissioner of the

United States General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department ...

Death

He died of pneumonia in 1893 in Oklahoma, where he had moved to practice law and live with his son. He is buried at Graceland Cemetery in

References

External links

Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 131

* ttp://22iowa.com The 22nd Iowa Infantry {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, William M. 1827 births 1893 deaths People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln Republican Party governors of Iowa Deaths from pneumonia in Oklahoma Iowa state court judges Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Union Army colonels People of Iowa in the American Civil War People from Jefferson County, New York People from Knoxville, Iowa Union Army officers Commissioners of the United States General Land Office People from Coshocton, Ohio Union (American Civil War) state governors American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians