Stone, W. T.

W. T. Stone was born in Wellsville, Montgomery County, Missouri, on October 30, 1876, to Z. J. Stone and Mary McCollough Stone. Raised on his father farm and educated in the district schools, he married Josie Menz at the age of twenty-two. After farming in Missouri for two seasons, he moved west with his wife and young daughter, arriving in Sanger, Fresno County, California, on March 1, 1901. He then spent nine years working at the Sanger Lumber Company planing mill before transitioning into agricultural management in 1910.

For five years, W. T. Stone served as the experienced superintendent of the eighty acre Harper ranch, owned by S. D. Harper of Fresno and located one mile west of Del Rey. In this role, he directed between one and thirty workers overseeing land dedicated to muscat grapes, Thompson Seedless grapes, and twelve acres of peaches. Together with his wife, he raised three children in Fresno County: Mary Nellie, William Joseph, and Dora May. A member of the Modern Woodmen of America, he earned a reputation as an expert manager whose skilled agricultural oversight contributed significantly to the prosperity of Del Rey.