Jay Stone (1851–1932) was the 'Chief of the Correspondence Division' in the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In a period without 'Assistant Secretaries', this was the second highest-ranking civil service position in this cabinet-level department, under the Chief Clerk (who sometimes served as Acting Secretary of War). Stone retired in 1928 as the department's longest-serving civilian employee (50 years). Born in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, Stone enlisted in the cavalry at 18 and went west. In 1877, he was chosen as "phonographic reporter and Indian interpreter" to Gen.

Alfred H. Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union army, Union Major general (United States), general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 18 ...

's Commission sent to negotiate with Sioux chief

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

, who had fled to Canada after winning the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Stone had learned the new skill of

stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

(then called phonography), and, according to a newspaper report, was the first stenographer ever employed by the War Department. He continued for some time to work at Terry's headquarters, but by 1881 was listed as the 'private secretary' to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln (the President's son) in the administration of

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

. Stone was on Garfield's funeral train after his assassination that same year. Secretary of War Lincoln stayed on in the administration of

Chester Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th U.S. vice president, vice president un ...

, and Stone was promoted to 'Chief of the Correspondence Division'. In 1882 he became Acting Chief Clerk during a leave of absence of Chief Clerk John Tweedale. Stone would take dictation for three Secretaries of War before being sent to New York to serve as Chief Clerk of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, the post from which he retired.Gastonia (NC) Daily Gazette, Mar. 26, 1928, p. 5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Jay 1851 births 1932 deaths People from Bangor, Maine United States Department of War officials