John Young Stone

John Young Stone was born near Springfield, Illinois, on 23 April 1843. He was one of three children of parents Mary Ellen McLemore and William Langford Stone. The Stone family moved to Silver Creek Township, Mills County, Iowa, after his mother's death in February 1856, following his grandfather, Spencer Stone, who had acquired land in the township three years previously.^[1]

Stone served in the American Civil War with the Union Army from 1861. He was elevated to the rank of first lieutenant by the end of the conflict, after which he became a newspaper publisher. He was part-owner of the Glenwood Opinion alongside P. T. Ballard, and also edited the publication for two years, starting at the age of 22. Stone pursued a career in law as well, practicing alongside William Hale, with whom he had read law until passing the bar in 1868. From 1884, Stone began planting an apple orchard in Mills County. His land holdings later included a vineyard, and by 1892, numbered 800 acres, 100,000 trees and 75,000 grapevines. This venture ended after blight and a cold winter heavily affected yield.^[1]