Alonzo Stone, son of Betsey Fay and Moses Stone
THE FAY FAMILY HOMEPAGE

GENEALOGIES
   
ALONZO STONE
SON OF BETSEY FAY AND MOSES STONE
   
RELATED PAGES
Betsey Fay and Moses Stone
Alonzo Stone's New Testament
Selections from the Bible and other sources
The list of children born to Moses and Betsey Stone
Three pages of Anc. and Desc. of Gregory Stone
photographs
   
Alonzo Stone was born August 14, 1823. The date of his death is not known. In fact, we know little about him. According to the Stone genealogy, he was "b. 14 Aug. 1823; went West abt. 1870, then unmarried; later history unknown."
   
In 1850, Alonzo was unmarried and living with Moses and Eliza Stone, and two of his siblings, Eliza and Peter, in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Peter was a painter; Moses a farmer. And for Alonzo, an occupation label I have never seen before: "Quack."
   
   
In 1860, Moses is gone, and Alonzo and his mother Eliza are living together. This time, the occupational designation is a bit kinder: "Botanic Physician."
   
   
We would know little more about Alonze if it weren't for the discovery of a New Testament belonging to him.
   
In this Bible, among other things (listed and discussed here), is an advertisement for "Alonzo Stone's Vegetable Pain Curer." Notice that he is referred to as a "Botanic Physician." Such a concoction was a product of the times, designed to appeal to the times. For background and discussion of similar "medicines," read A Cure for What Ails You.
   
Although there seem to have been 'schools,' a 'botanic physician' was often self-taught. Consider the following textbook:

Mathes, A. H. The Botanic Physician, Or Family Medical Adviser: Being An Improved System, Founded On Correct Physiological Principals. [sic] Comprising A Brief View Of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Hygieine [sic], Or Art Of Preserving Health: A Materia Medica, Exclusively Botanical, Containing A Description Of More Than Two Hundred And Thirty Of The Most Valuable Vegetable Remedies: To Which Is Added A Dispensatory, Embracing More Than Two Hundred Recipes For Preparing And Administering Medicine. The Diseases Of The United States, With Their Symptoms, Causes, Cures, And Means Of Prevention. Likewise A Treatise On The Diseases Peculiar To Women And Children. By J.E. Carter. Written by A.H. Mathes. B. Parker & Co. Madisonville, TN. 1837 (Medical Antiquarian Books).
Even for a 700 page book, this seems like a large amount of material! It perhaps helps to explain the sweeping claims made for Dr. Stone's formula.
   
In 1860, Stone was practicing as a Botanic Physician. According to Bartlett, he left New Hampshire and went west; while Eliza stayed on presumably and died in Fitzwilliam 9 years later. Repeated searches of the census of Fitzwilliam for 1870 have shown neither Alonzo nor Eliza. If Eliza did not die until 1879, she should be in the census for 1870. One mystery. Census indices for 1870 show only four Alonzo Stones born in New Hampshire. One is a 46 year old man named Alonzo F. Stone. Both age and the middle initial are correct.
   
   
This Alonzo is insane, and being taken care of in the Tewksbury Asylum, Tewksbury, Middlesex, MA. Could this be our Alonzo? yes, but there is not yet any definite evidence to prove it is. People do get omitted in the census; and he might have gone west as Bartlett thought, and then died before the census of 1870. However, there is only ONE Alonzo who is 36 in the census of 1860, and that is ours. And if Alonzo had become insane, and been committed by the family, the story might have been given out that he was travelling. And if he did die here in Massachusetts, it makes it easier to understand how his Bible might have reached Maine. Mystery two.