Stone held financial interests in numerous companies and was president of the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Steamship Company, and in 1900 he and his associates formed the Eastern Steamship Lines He was chairman of the Pond Creek Coal Company and the Pike County, Kentucky, mining town of Stone was named in his honor.
Personal life
In 1889, he married Carrie Morton Gregg (1866–1945) of Boston and the couple eventually made their home in Brookline, Massachusetts. An avid yachtsman, in his later years, Stone owned the 188-foot (57.3 m) yachtArcadia.
Later life and recognition
Galen Stone Tower
Stone used his fortune for a number of charitable causes, many of which centered on the arts and education. In 1915, through the fundraising efforts of the educatorCharlotte Hawkins Brown, he became aware of Palmer Memorial Institute,[2] an African-Americanpreparatory school in Sedalia, North Carolina. Stone became the institute's largest benefactor. As well, his philanthropic work was recognized with the creation of the Galen Stone Professor of International Trade chair at the Harvard University Institute for International Development. A trustee of Wellesley College from 1915 to 1925, he donated the funds to build the Galen Stone Tower at Green Hall. The 182-foot (55.5 m) high tower is a focal point on the campus and houses the 32-bell carillon which is actively played by a student guild of carillonneurs for major College events as well as between and after classes. He was once vice-president of the trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[1]
Stone was honored for his philanthropy by initiation as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfoniafraternity in 1917 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. The fraternity's mission reflects Stone's values by developing young men to share their talents to create harmony in the world.
Galen Stone died of heart failure at his home in Brookline in 1926.[1]
