Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone is a native of Hinesburgh, Vt. She was born September 30, 1814. Her parents were Aaron Hinsdale and Lucinda Mitchell Hinsdale. She was educated at Hinesburgh Academy and in the Female Seminaries of Middlebury and Burlington, Vt. She has traveled extensively in Europe and in Egypt and some parts of Asia. She married Rev. James A. B. Stone, [10 June 1840 Kent County, Michigan] for twenty years president of Kalamazoo College. Mrs. Stone has been for twenty years principal of the ladies department of Kalamazoo College, and she is also a journalist of note. Has published many letters from Europe and Egypt and Palestine. She was the first American woman to take young ladies abroad for educational travel, and was one of the pioneer organizers of literary clubs. Her post office address is Kalamazoo, Mich.

Newpaper articles: Kalamazoo Gazette Thursday, March 15, 1900 p.1; Friday, March 16, 1900 p.5

Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph March 14, 1900 page 1

LIFE HAD LEFT
An Impress On Her Generation.
MRS. L. H. STONE
Passed Quietly Away This Morning.
MOTHER OF WOMAN'S CLUBS
Leaves Behind Her Sweet Memories of that Motherhood.
A True Woman Whose Exceptional Intellectual Attainments Won for Her a High Place of Honor a n d Esteem on Both Sides of the Atlantic .
Mm. Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, Ph.D., passed peacefully away at about 9:30 this morning at her home, 114 east Lovell street. Death came to close a long, eventful and in many ways a remarkable life. It would almost seem as though death resulted from a gradual breaking down and from the pressure of increased years rather than from disease. Her mind had been clear until about 2 o'clock this morning when unconsciousness took place. The end was so peaceful that those near scarcely knew when the soul slipped away from its mortal habitation. Mrs. Stone's son James Helm Stone of Detroit, his wife and children attended Mrs. Stone as did also her son's wife Mrs. Clement Stone of Ann Arbor. A member of the family said to The Telegraph that about 10 o'clock Tuesday evening the Rev. Caroline Bartlett Crane recited to Mrs. Stone Tennsyon's "Crossing the Bar," Whilter's "Eternal Goodness,'' and a hymn by David Wasson which she had previously requested Mrs. Bartlett Crane to have sung at her funeral. She also recited new testament passages and sentences from Emerson and from Browning's "Rabbi Ben Ezra. " Mrs. Stone indicated her comprehension. The funeral will be held Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the People's church. A letter was found addressed to the Rev. Caroline Bartlett Crane, giving directions for the funeral services and other matters connected with her death. Owing to ill health the former is unable to officiate and the service will be conducted by the Rev. Ernest 0. Smith, minister of the People's church. Mrs. Stone's wishes will be followed in every particular. Interment will be by the side of her husband, the Rev. J. A. B Stone, D. D., and her two sons, Clement W. and Horatio H., at Mountain Home. Mrs. Lucinda Hinsdale Stone was born in Hinesburg, Vt., Sept. 30, 1814. This place although small, was the seat of one of the best New England academies. The town is located about half way between the University of Vermont in Burlington and Middlebury college, Mrs. Stone believed that proximity to these institutions of learning had great influence on her later life. After leaving the academy Mrs. Stone attended ladies seminaries at Middlebury and at Burlington. The influence from a religious standpoint on the min d of the child, Lucinda Hinsdale was of the strongest New England orthodoxy. As the years passed by Mrs. Stone's exceptional min d expanded m many ways and more liberal thought came to be hers. She was a thinker along religious lines rather than one who accepted creeds without personal investigation. During a long-life Mrs. Stone had been identified with various churches, for many years with the First Baptist church; later a member of the First Unitarian church, and then of the People's church. With advancing years and as more liberal thought became a part of her very life. Mrs. Stone had the courage of her convictions and always identified herself with the religious movement which the most exemplified in its teachings the creed of her own heart. One of the parlors of the People's church is named the Stone parlor in memory of her whom this article would honor. Anent her early education it may be said that Mrs. Stone dug Greek roots, pursued Latin stems and wrestled with the stupendous problems of mathematics with the young men who were preparing for college although it must be remaindered that in those days young women were not permitted in the colleges. Three of the principal places where Mrs. Stone received early education were at Hinesburg academy, in Mrs. Cook's female seminary at Middlebury and in the Burlington female seminary, in all of which institutions she afterwards taught.
As a Teacher. Much of the influence of the life of Lucinda Stone may be said to have been that of the noble art of leaching. When but 16 years of age she first taught in a summer district school. Her next work was in the female seminary in Middlebury, an institution second only to the Troy female seminary, at the head of which was the famous Miss Emma Willard, who was a relative of Mrs. Stone. The subject of this sketch was later a private instructor for three years in the family of a planter near Natchez, Miss. The father of the family was a wealthy slave owner and it was there that Mrs. Stone studied for several years prior to the civil war, the institution of slavery in all of its varying vicissitudes. Surrounded by the influence of a southern plantation in the antebellum days the young teacher from the north thoroughly believed that from its primary principles slavery was wrong. An earnest abolitionist, she yet found much in southern life to admire and her friendship for this old southern family has been to her always a pleasure. While living there Mrs. Stone frequently met Miss Varina Howell, later Mrs. Jeff Davis. Miss Howell resided on a neighboring plantation and was a frequent guest at the Helm mansion
On coming north Mrs. Stone first went to Grand Rapids, Mich., to reside as several members of her family lived in that place. It was there that she was married June 10, 1840, to the Rev, J. A. B. Stone, D. D., who at that time was pastor of the Baptist church at Gloucester, Mass. After a residence there of three years, Mr. Stone was called to a professorship in the theological seminary in Newton, Mass., while the incumbent of a chair was away.
Came to Kalamazoo. In 1843 Prof. And Mrs. Stone came to Kalamazoo to take charge of a school known now as the "Old Branch, " at that time connected with the University of Michigan. This institution later became Kalamazoo college and Dr. Stone was its president for about 20 years. Mrs. Stone was principal of the Indies' department. On the resignation of Dr. and Mrs. Stone from this institution, Mrs. Stone established a private school and built a home for that purpose on Mount Carmel—the location of the home years afterwards occupied by the lamented C. R. Bates and later by Senator F. B. Stockbridge, later deceased. The school was continued for about five or six years, after which Mrs. Stone frequently took classes of young women to Europe for the study of history and art, and of this method of pursuing the higherr culture this educator proved herself almost the founder. In 1885, Sept. 23 and 24, there was a reunion of former pupils of Dr. and Mrs. Stone. Ladies and gentlemen came from many states and there was great rejoicing. As teacher and foreign traveler Mrs. Stone has accomplished much. Still greater has been her influence in the line of the larger culture. Familiar with the writings of all ages and all countries she possessed the power of imparting to others much of their meaning to her. It is not too much to say that she was a woman of the highest culture and that no literary work was too abstruse for her comprehension.
The Mother of Clubs. The memory of Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, Ph.D., will be perpetuated in history as "The Mother of Clubs" The New England Woman's club of Boston was the first woman's literary club in the United States. The Ladies' Library club of Kalamazoo was the first in Michigan and the second in date of establishment in the United States. She once wrote: "The Ladies' Literary club was the first one formed in town end really the first woman's club that I know of anywhere unless it was a similar club that was formed in the town of Flint, in this state. The Ladies' Literary club was formed by a few ladies in Kalamazoo in 1852, though it was not called a club, but an association for some years; the object was for self-improvement. It was conducted in all respects almost precisely as it is now, and as it was it when it took the name of club twenty years after, and after the Sorosis and the New England Woman's club were formed. It has been claimed that nearly every woman's club in Michigan is the outgrowth of the Kalamazoo club. In 1891 for the purpose of preparatory study for the world's fair Mrs. Stone established the Isabella club of Kalamazoo, from which developed the Twentieth Century club of which she was president at the time of her death and of which Mrs. W. F. Upjohn is the efficient vice president. Mrs. Upjohn in every way has relieved Mrs. Stone and assumed for her the duties of this important office. Some years ago, Mrs. Stone established the Douglass club of Kalamazoo. This was for colored people in whom she had always taken the most active interest. She at one time conducted literary classes in Grand Rapids and the outgrowth of these is now one of the most powerful woman's clubs in Michigan—the Ladies' Literary club, whose meetings are held in their beautiful clubhouse. In many of the towns and cities of Michigan has Mrs. Stone taught classes and among them are Grand Rapids, Jackson, Bay City, Dowagiac, Coldwater, Saginaw, Port Huron, St. Clair, Alpena, Adrian, Monroe, Hillsdale, Lansing, Charlotte, Jackson, Detroit, Eaton Rapids, Flint, Dearborn and Battle Creek. Clubs for women have followed these classes. Mrs. Stone's great work of training hundreds and thousands of young women in literary lines throughout the state was recognized by the University of Michigan in 1891 when that institution conferred upon her the degree of Ph.D. Mrs. Stone was the first woman to be thus honored by the U. of M. A large portrait of her which was purchased by various women's clubs of Michigan hangs in the art gallery at the University. The picture is an enlarged photograph which hung in the parlor of the Michigan building at the world's fair, Chicago. She has been honorary member of more than fifty western clubs which have followed the first club organized by her and was the honorary president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Among the clubs of Michigan in which Mrs. Stone was an honorary member was the Ladies' Literary club of Mendon. A few months ago, she wrote to Mrs. Alex Custard of Mendon a letter which closed with these words: " My dear friend, we have to get near the end of life before we can realize truly what life is." Mrs. Stone throughout a long literary life displayed prodigious industry, study and a wonderful versatility. When over 70 years of age she took up the study of Spanish. As a Writer. Not only as a student, thinker, teacher and organizer, will her name be remembered through the years, but as a writer she has enshrined the personality of her thought. The conditions and experiences of early days in the west have been conserved by Mrs. Stone in her book, "Western Side. " She composed its pages half a century ago amid the many duties of her remarkably busy life. The beauty of her thought and language has been preserved in magazines. Grand as is the mission of a good book, a thoughtful article in magazine, there is yet another field for the pen which reaches thousands upon thousands of readers every day and every evening. The press is the six-day pulpit, and from the press, the pinnacle of plain literature, has Mrs. Stone reached hundreds, of thousands of readers. Social and moral issues have been freely discussed in the columns of the newspapers by Mrs. Stone. Among the many newspapers in which her articles have appeared is the Kalamazoo Telegraph, which has from time to time published many interesting columns from her pen. Mrs. Stone's letters of travel in foreign countries have been published in many newspapers and are very comprehensive. The style is strong and the diction pure. Mrs. Stone's zeal for truth and progress was remarkable in its strength. For years Mrs. Stone had been the honorary president of the Michigan Woman's Press association. The literary work of Mrs. Stone was continued almost at the close of life. Among the last articles from her pen was a contribution to the Twentieth Century club regarding the daughter of the Scotch poet, Robert Burns. Coterie of Friends . Few women in this century have had closer acquaintance with a larger number of men and women distinguished in public life than Mrs. Stone. She had intimate association with antislavery leaders, among whom were William Lloyd Garrison, Lydia Maria Childs, Parker Pillsbury, and Frederick Douglass. She was a most earnest colleague of those recognized as great reformers—Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone Blackwell and Susan B. Anthony. In Mrs. Stone's home have been entertained a number of these distinguished men and women. She not only knew personally many public people but kept herself in close touch with their work. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mrs. Stone were close friends and with this foremost American she corresponded for years. Emerson gave her earnest letters of introduction to some of his literary friends in Europe—Mrs. Gaskell and Miss Muloch. Then there was Bronson Alcott, a great follower of Emerson, who visited Dr. and Mrs. Stone a week at a time and in whose home Mrs. Stone was also a guest. Admiral Dewey in his younger days was a friend—met on one of her sojourns in Greece, Mrs. Stone's large mental activity commenced when the "new " woman was not yet heard of, but with rareness and richness of a wonderful mentality there was withal a sweet simplicity of nature, a charming refinement, and all of true womanliness. With a remarkable intellect, she was not less the 'true mother. Engaged in study, in teaching, in writing, in organizing clubs and in the general promulgation of knowledge, this woman has been the mother of three children—Clement, deceased, of Ann Arbor; Horatio, deceased, of Kalamazoo; and James H. Stone of Detroit, the three of whom were one time owners of the Kalamazoo Telegraph. Of Mrs. Stone's son James H., it may be said that he is senior member of one of the largest printing houses in Detroit. In 1874 he went to Port Huron as publisher of the Times. In 1878 he assumed the management of the Post and Tribune, Detroit, now the Tribune. Later he became owner of that paper which he finally sold. Mr. Stone has also been collector of internal revenue at Detroit and is now publishing many of the periodicals issued in that city. Rest has come to this Kalamazoo woman of whom all are justly proud. Living, she belonged not alone to those of her own kin, for hers was an activity which touched the lives of every woman in this city. Entered upon that journey "from whose bourne no traveler returns, " and into the rest eternal, the memory of her life that seemed touched with a fire divine, belongs not alone to her lineal descendants who bear her name, but to the people of this city who rejoice that her home was in Kalamazoo. Her life is enshrined the deepest in the hearts of those who knew her best and who were permitted to call her friend. Years will never be so many that her name-her deeds, her life, will be forgotten in Kalamazoo, in Michigan, and in many parts of the United States. Even those of foreign lands will call her blessed. All honor be to her sacred memory. May the years of the great beyond be lovely throughout eternity to our friend—the woman so loved—Mrs. Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, Doctor of Philosophy. Mrs. Stone's lineal descendants have been as follows: Clement, deceased; his children. Dr. C. P. Stone, a dentist practicing at Saginaw; Mich., Carrie Lucile Stone, it student at the U. of M.; Horatio, Mrs. Stone's son who died in 1870 unmarried. A son. James H. Stone of Detroit, whose children are Webster, Lucile and Blinn, all of Detroit.