Isaac Hugh Stone 1870-1925
Lineage of John Stone, Blockmaker

By Spessard Stone

Chapter 6 Isaac Hugh Stone 1870-1925


     Isaac Hugh Stone, son of Shade Sutton Stone and Olive Elizabeth (Griffin) Stone, was born 3 September 1870, Calhoun County, Florida. On 25 November 1903 at Cypress, Jackson County, Florida, Isaac Hugh Stone married Lula Viola Williams, born 22 January 1879, Tifton, Berrien County, Georgia, daughter of Thomas Franklin Williams and Sophronia (McClellan) Williams. At the time of their marriage, Hugh managed the family naval stores business (turpentine), and Viola was a schoolteacher.
     In 1912 Isaac Hugh and family left Jackson County. They first settled in Wauchula, Florida where Isaac Hugh farmed. In September 1917, they resettled on Bare Beach on Lake Okeechobee, Florida. There Hugh established a farm on a section of land purchased by a group of Wauchula farmers. He also opened a store and operated a boat line which carried freight to points on the lake from Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. One boat was the Queen of the Lake, which he later sold to the Clewiston Development Company.
     Lawrence E. Will in A Cracker History of Okeechobee (1964), Chapter 33, "Why Call It Bare Beach?," pages 215-216, related:
     "This Bare Beach settlement, as I've said, was once an important place. It really got its start in 1916 when William C. Hooker from Arcadia, together with his brother Steve and the Alderman Brothers from Wauchula began to raise tomatoes there. The next year Isaac H. Stone, another Wauchula man, farmed, financed other farmers, and built a store. The winter of 1921-22 was the biggest and last season here, for after that the high water compelled everybody to leave, then later on the sugar company gobbled up the land so there was no place left to farm. Bill Hooker went to Clewiston, became a county commissioner and gave his name to Hooker's Point, which never was a point at all but a high knoll back from the lake. But before he left, Hooker had replaced Stone as the main promoter. Before it was drowned out, Bare Beach supported the stores of Charles G. Price, who had fished here in 1911, Charlie Hurd from Moore Haven, J. W. Putnam and Ferrell Revels, besides the drug store of Dr. Harbin, later run by Penick Suther, Bohannon's garage, four tomato packing houses, a light plant, a post office, two church houses and a school. It even had a cemetery, too. On opposite ends of the hammock two long docks reached into the lake, The Wauchula dock, big enough that a team could drive out and turn around, was between Hurd's store and the school where the pumping station stands now, while Stone's was on the west side of the hammock. Freight boats from Ft. Lauderdale and W. Palm Beach would haul carloads of tomatoes from these docks."
     After leaving Bare Beach, the Stones moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. There Isaac Hugh was employed as a real estate salesman.
     Bonnie Stone Durrence on 25 September 1995 recalled: "When we left Bare Beach we moved to West Palm. The back water and lake water flooded the town of Bare Beach and the Salvation Army came in and we moved to W. Palm on a barge. We got off at Loxahatchee. We lived on Military Trail and I went to sixth grade there. I then went through the 9th grade in town. When Papa died I attended a Business College and then went to work in First Bank of Clewiston for 8 years (till 1935) when I was married."
     Isaac Hugh Stone, of 35th Street, West Palm Beach, died of carcinoma pancreas at 4:00 p. m. on 8 December 1925 and was buried 10 December 1925 in Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach. He had been under the care of a physician, Dr. Dawson, since 15 November 1925 and had been operated on 22 November 1925. His death certificate, the informant being Lula V. Stone, gave his age as 56 yrs. 3 mos. 5 ds. and his father as Richard Stone. His tombstone has 1870 for his birth year. His father Shade was nicknamed Dick so it would appear Mrs. Stone mistakenly gave the "proper" name for her father-in-law.
     Viola Stone and family moved to Clewiston, Florida afterwards. She owned and managed a boarding house and several rental houses.
     Viola (Williams) Stone died 2 March 1943 at Clewiston and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. Her death certificate gave her death as 3:30 p.m., the cause of her death as "craniocerebral injury crushing injury to head" sustained in an auto accident when a "truck ran over head." Ironically, she was enroute to see a doctor at the hospital. The death certificate, the informant being Foy Durrence, in error gave her late husband as Tracy Hugh Stone.
     The Clewiston News, of Friday, 5 March 1943 reported:
     "MRS. VIOLA STONE IS VICTIM OF TRAGIC ACCIDENT TUESDAY
     "Mrs. Viola Stone, 64, one of the pioneer residents of the south lake section, was killed instantly here Tuesday afternoon when she was thrown from the seat of the little pick-up truck in which she was riding, directly beneath the wheels of a heavily-loaden dump truck owned and operated by the City of Clewiston.
     "The accident occurred about three fifteen at the intersection of Francisco Street and Sugarland Highway at the Parkinson Store corner. The truck in which Mrs. Stone was riding was driven by L. L. Lowe, a friend and neighbor of many years, who was taking her to the hospital for medical examination following several days of illness. According to the best information available Mr. Lowe was watching a sugar corporation truck which was stopped on the north side of the highway as he approached the highway from the south and failed to note the advance of the city truck coming along the highway from the east. Starting on across the highway he suddenly saw the truck almost upon him and wheeled sharply in an attempt to avoid it. There were no doors on his truck and Mrs. Stone was seated in a bucket-type seat which was reported not to have been fastened to the floor. The sudden lurch of the little truck threw her out unto the highway and under the dual rear wheels of the approaching truck. The driver of the city truck, John T. King, is said to have wheeled so hard to the right to try and avoid the collision that he struck the sugar company truck parked on the north side and the Lowe truck only a glancing blow. Mrs. Stone's death is said to have been instantaneous.
     "Mrs. Stone was born at Tifton, Ga., on January 22, 1879, and moved to North Florida with her parents ten years later. She was married to T. H. Stone [sic] in Quincy [sic] in November of 1903 and in 1917 they came to South Florida in a covered wagon, settling at Bare Beach, then one of the most progressive settlements in the Everglades. Here they operated a store and Mr. Stone carried on extensive farming and boating enterprises until his death in 1925. For the past several years she has made her home in South Clewiston and has led a very active life.
     "Funeral services were held Thursday morning at eleven o'clock at the Baptist Church with Rev. H. C. Meador, pastor, conducting the services with Rev. J. N. Montgomery of the Community Church assisting. The church altar and walls were lined with scores of floral sprays attesting to the high esteem in which Mrs. Stone was held by her countless friends in the lake section. A chorus consisting of Miss Mary Markette, Mrs. C. R. Kreuger, Miss Doris Hodges, W. N. Martin and Dennis Small sang 'In the Garden' and 'Rock of Ages' and Mr. Small sang as a solo, 'Nearer to Jesus.'
     "Services were concluded at the graveside in Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach, where interment was made at two o'clock in the afternoon.
     "Pallbearers were Glen E. Etherton, Elbert L. Stewart, J. W .Lolly, Dan B. Allen, J. A. Cane and Urey Waldron.
     "Mrs. Stone is survived by three daughters and two sons, all of whom reside in Clewiston: Mrs. W. C. Hooker, Mrs. Foy Durrence, Mrs. Clayton S. Waters, Tracy Stone and Munselle Stone; four sisters, Mrs. R. B. Bunyard, Mrs. Irwin J. E. Boettcher, Mrs. Zolena Lee, and Mrs. Alvah Johns, all of West Palm Beach; one brother, John Williams of Jessup, Ga.; six grandchildren, Mrs. George E. Crowe, Bonnie Faye Durrence, Miss June Hooker, Elbert and J. D. Hooker and Hugh Tracy Stone and one great grandchild, Billie Sue Crowe.
     "A coroner's jury was impanelled led by Coroner G. H. Small to make an investigation of the accident and after hearing several witnesses adjourned until this (Friday) afternoon. On the jury were I. S. Bell, foreman, H. J. Oglesby, Howard Leonard, A. C. Bembrey, L. A. Wolff and J. T. Paul."

     Issue of Isaac Hugh Stone and his wife Lula Viola Williams:

     1. Jewel Stone, born 13 Jun 1905, Sneads, FL; died 17 Jul 1972, Hialeah Hospital, Hialeah, FL; married (1) 29 Mar 1921, William Columbus Hooker, son of William Henry Hooker and Mahala Clementine (Langford) Hooker; (2) Loyde Dennison (1907-74). Bill Hooker was born 5 Mar 1886 in Manatee Co., FL and died 12 Oct 1956, Clewiston, FL. He was a farmer and served as a county commissioner of Hendry County, FL. Bill and Jewel are buried in the Clewiston, Florida Cemetery.
     Issue:
     a. Willie Viola Hooker, born 9 Oct 1921, Bare Beach, FL; married (1) George E. Crowe, divorced; (2) in Miami, FL on 13 Jun 1951 Charles Gordon Munro.
     b. John Douglas (J. D.) Hooker, born 8 Feb 1923, Bare Beach, FL; married in Jacksonville, FL on 23 Jun 1944 Ruth Palmer.
     c. Roberta June Hooker, born 2 Apr 1924, Sebring, FL; died 5 Nov 2005, Tampa, FL; married in Clewiston, FL 30 Apr 1944 Lou Emerson Place.
     d. Elbert Fletcher Hooker, born 17 Nov 1925, Sebring, FL; died 26 Apr 1967, Clewiston, FL; married Joan Louise Walker.

     2. Tracy Hugh Stone, born 24 Jun 1908, Sneads, FL; died 10 Jul 1972, Bowling Green, FL; married Anne Rae Hendry 1 Apr 1939. See Chapter 7.

     3. Bonceil Stone born 26 Oct 1911, Sneads, FL; died 24 Aug 2001, Denton, Texas; married at Miami Beach, FL 6 Jul 1935 James Foy Durrence, born 24 Dec 1904 at Glennville, GA, son of Troy and Leona (Padgett) Durrence. Foy, a retired U. S. Sugar Corporation executive, died 9 Apr 1981at Clewiston, FL. They are buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery, Clewiston. "Bonnie" and Foy lived at 339 N. Owen Ave., Clewiston.
     The Clewiston News of August 29, 2001 published her obituary:
     �Bonceil (Bonnie) Stone Durrence
     �Bonnie Durrence, 90, died in Denton, Texas, on Friday, August 24, 2001. She lived in Clewiston for the past 70 years. Mrs. Durrence was born in Sneads, Florida in 1911 and moved with her family to Wauchula, Florida in 1912. In 1917, the family traveled in a mule drawn covered wagon to Bare Beach, Florida where they farmed and operated a general store. When the back waters of the Everglades flooded the southern interior of Florida, the family was evacuated to West Palm Beach via the Palm Beach Canal on her brother-in-law�s barge. She witnessed the great hurricanes of 1926 and 1928.
     �She attended the Palm Beach School in the early 1920�s which is now the site of the School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. She graduated from business school and moved to Clewiston in 1927. Mrs. Durrence became one of the first tellers at the First Bank of Clewiston. In 1935, she married James Foy Durrence, originally of Glennville, Georgia, who preceded her in death in 1981.
     �Mrs. Durrence enjoyed volunteer work as a Pink Lady at the hospital and helping at the polls during elections. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and the Golf Association. She continued to play golf until she was 84 years of age and was a City Women�s Champion. She was an active member of Clewiston Community Presbyterian Church. She fondly remembered and greatly appreciated the additional support and love she received from her church and longtime friends as her health began to fail.
     �She is survived by her daughter, Bonnie Faye Johnson and son-in-law Stephen of Corinth, Texas; her son, Michael Durrence and daughter-in-law Nancy, of West Palm Beach; four grandchildren Kelly Johnson and wife Suyapa of Corinth, Texas; Jason Johnson and wife Maura of Coppell, Texas; Jennifer Durrence of Washington, D.C. and Jeffrey Durrence of Wellington, Florida; and four great-grandchildren Luis, Gabriela, Caleb, and Colin Johnson of Texas.
     �Funeral services will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at the Community Presbyterian Church in Clewiston at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in her name to the Community Presbyterian Church at 407 n. Royal Palm Ave. in Clewiston.�
     Issue:
     a. Bonceil Faye Durrence, born 26 Jan 1941, Clewiston, FL; married at Clewiston, FL 12 Aug 1962 Stephen Randall Johnson.
     b. James Michael Durrence, born 18 Sep 1945, Clewiston, FL; married at Belle Glade, FL 7 Sep 1968 Nancy Ellen Norman.

     4. J. E. Stone, born 1914, Wauchula, FL; died 1917, Wauchula. FL; buried Wauchula Cemetery. He died of pesticide poisoning after eating on a cucumber in his father's field.

     5. Mae Lily Stone, born 2 Feb 1917, Wauchula, FL.; died 9 Aug 1981, Fort Myers, FL.; buried Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach, FL; married (1) Clayton S. Waters, divorced; (2) Dean Waters, divorced; (3) Frank Springer of Lake Worth, FL, who died 16 Nov 1978 in Miami, FL, buried Lake Worth. No issue. Mae Lily took a business course and worked in banks but in her later years was employed as a waitress.

     6. Hector Munselle Stone, born 11 Nov 1922, Bare Beach, Hendry Co., FL; died 11 Jun 1966, Clewiston, FL; buried 14 Jun 1966, Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach; married 16 Sep 1941 at Gainesville, FL Winnifred Juanita “Winnie” Bozeman , born 29 Jul 1921, LaBelle, Hendry Co., FL; died Dec 1982, Naples, Collier Co., FL. He was nicknamed "Money." Winnie divorced Money 7 Jun 1965 at Fort Myers, Lee Co., FL.
     During World War II, Hector M. Stone served from 22 Jun 1943 to 30 Dec 1945 in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant at Camp Blanding, FL. He had served stateside and in Northern France with the 1194th Engineer Base Depot Company where he supervised and was responsible for the maintenance and repair of military vehicles, supervised motor and body repairs, oiling and greasing of trucks and cars, requisitioned supplies and equipment and tools, kept records of the use of the vehicles, repairs made, supplies and equipment. He received the Good Conduct Medal, EAMETO Medal, World War II Victory Medal. He served as a private for four months, engineer basic trng.; 23 months as tec-4 as a cook; 3 months as a s/sgt., motor transportation noncommissioned officer. He was described as following: “color eyes haz, color hair brn, height 5-8, 145 pounds.” His Army serial no. was 34 788 043.
     He variously was a grocery store manager, salesman for a bakery in the 1950s and 1960s in Auburndale, Florida, and finally a bartender. At the time of Zell’s birth, he was manager of Margaret Ann Mkt. They then lived at 1704 - 14th St. West, Bradenton. When Gena was born, they lived at 2732 Ave. R. N. W., Winter Haven, FL. He then was employed by Butter-Krust Bakeries. When he died, he was living at the Golf View Motel, Clewiston, FL.
     Issue:
     a. Viola Lynne Stone, born 2 Apr 1943, Clewiston, FL; married Robert Cadenhead.
     b. Zell Stone, born 23 Nov 1949, Bradenton, FL.
     c. Betty Eugena Stone, born 30 Sep 1959; married Scott Gundeck.

     Acknowledgments: Family records of Bonnie Stone Durrence, Michael Durrence, J. D. Hooker, Spessard Stone; file of Hector M. Stone, Veterans Administration; Social Security Death Index..

     July 31, 2001 & Sept. 18, 2001, 2 November 2005, 5 February 2006, March 13, 2002, Feb. 16, 2009, April 20, 2011.