George Stone wrote “Genealogy of the Stone Family” on 22-June-1929: “The tradition is: An Englishman by the name of STONE was a Captain who sailed the seas in British Ships. The Sea Captain had three sons, who after coming to mans estate emigrated to America. One of these sons settled at Baltimore, Maryland, one in Boston, and the other in New York. The one who settled at Baltimore was the ancestor of our Family”.

George, after trying his luck at farming, mining in the west, and the mercantile business in Texas and Missouri, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Richmond Missouri in January of 1880.
In 1863 George crossed the plains by covered wagon, spent a year mining in Idaho, started back home to Missouri but lost his money in a bad mining investment, wandered California while penniless and unable to find work, joined the army, desserted, worked in mining again, returned home via Central America and New York City in 1865. In 1932 he wrote a lengthy story of this trip. It is available on the Woodruff-Stone History CD and (probably) various places on the web.

Picture from Stone Family Tree - Philip Allen seen Oct 22, 2011.
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/6876519/person/-1204365104