Alice E. Stone

November 12th marks 102 years since the death of Alice (Gosnell) Stone.

The family was one of the more complicated to research, as their gravestone has no dates on it, only names.

Alice was born on April 29, 1845 in Maryland, the daughter of Thomas Gosnell and Mary Lockard.  Her father was a veteran of the War of 1812, having served as a Private in Captain Jeremiah Ducker's Company.  After the war, Thomas worked as a carpenter in Baltimore City.  The 1850 census shows Thomas as the head of a rather large household, likely made up of extended family members. He owned real estate valued at $900.  Young Alice was about six years old at the time.

By 1860, the household was reduced in size.  Alice was the youngest member, and at age fifteen, was attending school.  The value of Thomas' real estate had increased slightly to $1,000, and he was now listed as a "master" carpenter.

Sometime in the mid-1860s, Alice married Pinkney M. Stone of North Carolina, though it is unknown how the two of them met.  During the Civil War, Pinkney had been conscripted on October 15, 1862 to serve as a Private in the 45th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.  At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 10, 1864, Pinkney was shot in the leg, and retired from active service later that year.

In the 1870 census, the Stones were living in Rockingham County, North Carolina, where Pinkney operated a dry goods store.  The couple had two children:  Thomas, age 4, and Emma, age 3.  Also living in the household was Pinkney's store clerk, David Martin.

Pinkney and Alice would have two more daughters, Mary and Nellie, before Pinkney's death on November 2, 1874.  Pinkney was buried in the Stone family's small cemetery in North Carolina, in what would later become the town of Stoneville.

After Pinkney's death Alice returned with her children to Baltimore City.  Her father Thomas had passed away while she was living in North Carolina, so in the 1880 census, Alice was living with her widowed mother and three older siblings.  One of her brothers, Franklin, had taken after their father and was working as a carpenter.  Alice's two middle children were attending school.

Five years later, Alice's mother Mary passed away.  In her will, she left Alice her house, with all its furniture, on East Madison Street in Baltimore City, "so long as she remains a widow, to hold and enjoy the same, in trust for [Mary's] son George W. Gosnell during his natural life."  Two other sons, John and Frank, were instructed to "use their best endeavors to make it an agreeable home."

Alice's eldest daughter Emma passed away on Christmas Day in 1887 at the age of 21.

In 1891, son Thomas passed away at the age of 26.  He was interred in the Stone family cemetery in North Carolina.

In the 1900 census, Alice was living with her younger daughters Mary and Nellie, now 29 and 27 years old respectively, both of whom were working as teachers.  Alice's older siblings Franklin and Martha (a widow, with no children), were also living in the household.

By 1910, the family was down to just Alice and her two daughters.  None was listed as having an occupation.

Alice passed away two years later, on November 12, 1912 in Baltimore City, at the age of 67. 

Pinkney and Alice's children were:

• Thomas P. Stone, 1866-1891
• Emma V. Stone, c1867-1887
• Mary M. Stone, 1871-1957
• Nellie E. Stone, 1873-1934

Sources:
Ancestry.com (census records)

• Year: 1850; Census Place: Ward 6, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: M432_283; Pages: 193A-B.
• Year: 1860; Census Place: Ward 6, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: M653_460; Pages: 424-5.
• Year: 1870; Census Place: Mayo, Rockingham, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1157; Page: 283A.
• Year: 1880; Census Place: Ward 7, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: 499; Page: 403C.
• Year: 1900; Census Place: Ward 10, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: 612; Page: 15B.
• Year: 1910; Census Place: Ward 10, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: T624_556; Page: 11B.

Baltimore Sun

• "Died." Date: 28 December 1887; Page: 2.
• "Died." Date: 22 September 1891; Page: 2.
• "Died." Date: 14 November 1912; Page: 6.

FamilySearch.org (will)

FindAGrave.com (Pinkney & Thomas)

Fold3 (Civil War records)

Maryland Archives (death records)

Cemetery photos © AgateGS