William Joel Stone

William Joel Stone was born in Madison County, Kentucky, on May 7, 1848, and died in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1918. He served as a Congressman from 1885 to 1891, Governor from 1893 to 1896, and United States Senator from 1903 to 1918. He was honored as a noble man, a wise, brave, patriotic statesman, an untiring champion of the common people, an upholder of civil and religious liberty, a defender of the constitutional rights of nation, state, and humblest citizen, and a man devoted to his country and his state who never failed a friend, avoided a foe, or shunned a duty. He declared, “God is and is good,” and said, “I am for America, our America, above all the world,” “I stand for the national sovereignty in national affairs and state sovereignty in local affairs,” and “The prosperity and happiness of the greatest possible number should be the highest aim of government.” In a speech delivered in the Senate of the United States on April 4, 1917, he said he would vote against “this monstrous mistake, this resolution for the declaration of war,” but if the constitutionally authorized powers decided for war, his eyes would be blind to everything but the flag of his country and his ears deaf to everything save its call in its hour of peril.

Nevada, Missouri · United States