From Memorial and Genealogical Record of Dodge and Jefferson Counties, Wisconsin, publ. 
1894 - Page 95-97
 
HON. JESSE STONE.  A man's life work is the measure of his success, and he is truly the most 
successful man who, turning his powers into the channel of an honorable purpose, accomplishes 
the object of his endeavor.  He who weds himself to a great principle lays the foundation of a 
successful life, and in the study of every man's life some mainspring of action is found - 
something that he lives for.  In Jesse Stone it seems to be an ambition to make the best use of 
his native and acquired powers, and to develop in himself a true manhood.  Nearly all the 
successful business men of the West are self-made men, and with limited means they have 
fought their way in life's battle to prominence and honor.  Not only this, they have stamped upon 
the industries and institutions of their section their own characteristics, and have thus given 
permanency to every enterprise.  In their lives and success is found demonstrated, "The rank is 
but the guinea's stamp - The man's the man for a' that."
 
Mr. STONE owns his nativity to Lincolnshire, England, where his eyes first opened on the light 
August 23, 1836, and in 1842 he was brought by his parents, William and Mary (KENT) STONE, 
to America, and with them located at Waterford, N.Y., where the father's attention was given to 
various occupations.  He was city roadmaster of Waterford for several years and was quite 
successfully engaged in the foundry business.  In his native land he had been a minister of the 
Methodist Church, but after coming to the United States he became what is known as a local 
minister.  After a useful and well-spent life he was called to his long home in 1875, his wife 
surviving him but one year.  Eventually three sons and three daughters gathered about their 
board, named as follows: Mrs. Emma TATE, of Waterford, N.Y.; Eliza, Jabez, Jesse, and Jason, 
and one that died young.  The public schools of Waterford, N.Y., afforded Jesse STONE a good 
practical education, and at the close of his school days he began learning the machinist's trade, 
at which he worked until he had attained the age of twenty-eight years, when he went to 
Louisville, Ky., and engaged in the bakery business.  Two years later, in 1869, he returned as far 
north as the city of Chicago, where he opened and conducted a bakery for a short time, but 
August of 1869 found him in Watertown, Wis., where he purchased an interest with WOODARD 
Bros., in a cracker and confectionery manufactory, being a one-third owner with WOODARD 
Bros.  A year later he purchase half interest in the establishment, and has since been one of the 
leading members of the firm of WOODARD & STONE.  It has been his firm belief that the best 
way to increase the consumption of any article of food is to improve the quality, and for years he 
has worked along this line, aiming not only to make the goods more palatable but more 
wholesome, so that they shall become a family luxury, a necessity and a blessing.  The trade of 
this firm is not confined to the locality in which their plant is located, but extends over a wide 
territory  Mr. STONE has been actively interested in the public affairs of Jefferson County, and, 
being an active and influential Republican, he was elected on that ticket in 1879 to the State 
Legislature from this county, was re-elected in 1881, and in the last session was chairman of the 
Committee on Claims and a member of the Railroad Committee.  His career as a legislator was 
marked by sound judgment, activity and the most undeviating honor, as well as by faithfulness to 
his party's interests and the interests of the section in which he resided.  He was a member of the 
Republican State Central committee for a number of years and was a delegate to the National 
Convention in 1888, and also in 1892, and in every responsible position which he has held he has 
acquitted himself with dignity and honor, and in the discharge of his official duties did not 
unreasonably discriminate against those who differed from him politically.  Local as well as 
general politics have interested him greatly, and he has wielded a wide influence, and that for 
good, among the citizens of the locality in which many of the active years of his life have been 
spent.  His standing among its people is of an enviable character having taken great pride in its 
prosperity and progress, and being a believer in truth, justice and right advocates these principles 
on all occasions, and in his useful and well-spent life he has followed them by example as well as 
by precept.  Since 1885 he has been vice-president of the Bank of Watertown, and socially is a 
prominent figure in Masonic circles, in which honorable order he has attained to the thirty-second 
degree.  In 1855 he led to the alter Miss Sarah J. WELCH, by whom he has one son, William C., 
who is a member of the Cracker Manufacturing Company.  Mr. STONE has had a hand in many 
matters for the public welfare, and being an optimist he strives for and believes in the coming of a 
better day for all men.
 
Submitted by Carol