Jay Stone
Encyclopedia
Jay Stone was the 'Chief of the Correspondence Division' in the United States War Department in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In a period without 'Assistant Secretaries', this was the second highest-ranking civil service position in this cabinet-level department, under the Chief Clerk (who sometimes served as Acting Secretary of War). Stone retired in 1928 as the department's longest-serving civilian employee (50 years).
Born in Bangor, Maine
, Stone enlisted in the cavalry at 18 and went west. In 1877, he was chosen as "phonographic reporter and Indian interpreter" to Gen. Alfred H. Terry's Commission sent to negotiate with Sioux chief Sitting Bull
, who had fled to Canada after wining the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Stone had learned the new skill of stenography (then called phonography), and, according to a newspaper report, was the first stenographer ever employed by the War Department. He continued for some time to work at Terry's headquarters, but by 1881 was listed as the 'private secretary' to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln
(the President's son) in the administration of James Garfield
. Stone was on Garfield's funeral train after his assasination that same year.
Secretary of War Lincoln stayed on in the administration of Chester Arthur, and Stone was promoted to 'Chief of the Correspondence Division'. In 1882 he became Acting Chief Clerk during a leave of absence of Chief Clerk John Tweedale. Stone would take dictation for three Secretaries of War before being sent to New York to serve as Chief Clerk of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the post from which he retired.
Born in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, Stone enlisted in the cavalry at 18 and went west. In 1877, he was chosen as "phonographic reporter and Indian interpreter" to Gen. Alfred H. Terry's Commission sent to negotiate with Sioux chief Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
, who had fled to Canada after wining the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Stone had learned the new skill of stenography (then called phonography), and, according to a newspaper report, was the first stenographer ever employed by the War Department. He continued for some time to work at Terry's headquarters, but by 1881 was listed as the 'private secretary' to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and Secretary of War, and the first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln...
(the President's son) in the administration of James Garfield
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
. Stone was on Garfield's funeral train after his assasination that same year.
Secretary of War Lincoln stayed on in the administration of Chester Arthur, and Stone was promoted to 'Chief of the Correspondence Division'. In 1882 he became Acting Chief Clerk during a leave of absence of Chief Clerk John Tweedale. Stone would take dictation for three Secretaries of War before being sent to New York to serve as Chief Clerk of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the post from which he retired.