John Charles Stone

John Charles Stone was born in Bone Gap, Illinois on January 11, 1867, the eldest child of James Scott Stone and Elizabeth Sarah Hocking. His father traced his roots to Somerset, England, and his mother to Cornwall.

He became an eminent author of mathematics textbooks, adopted for exclusive use in many states and cities. He wrote or co-authored some seventy textbooks across all forms of arithmetic and geometry, and was recognized for his gift of making students enjoy mathematics. He wrote many of his books in Greensboro, Vermont, on Caspian Lake. He retired in 1934 after fifteen years as Chairman of the Mathematics Department at the State Teachers' College in Montclair, New Jersey, where a dormitory — Stone Hall — is named in his honor. He died in 1940 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was buried in Greensboro, Vermont. He was listed in Who's Who in America in every edition from 1912 to 1942.

"Most noteworthy is Professor John C. Stone, head of the Mathematics Department. Stone Hall was named in Professor Stone's honor. He was a prolific publisher of mathematics textbooks. It is estimated that one of every five schoolchildren in the United States was using math textbooks that Stone had written by the time he retired in 1934."

— Montclair State University Library

Stone Hall at Montclair State

A residence hall at Montclair State University is named for him. Built in 1955 and named for the "highly regarded mathematics professor," Stone Hall was taken offline in 2011 and reopened, beautifully renovated, in 2016. In his 2016 Opening Day Address, the University's president reflected on it:

"Even in its ragged condition, something in the DNA of the building has always nurtured a tight community feeling among its residents… for reasons that are mysterious, students have always loved humble and somewhat decrepit Stone Hall, and so we are very pleased to open the building this term once again to 145 students who will bring Stone back to life… We trust that, once again, what was called over the years Stone Pride will become a tradition for the next generation of students."

The family has kept up the connection. John C. Stone III visited Stone Hall on March 22, 2025, and made a gift to the College of Science and Mathematics in his great-grandfather's honor. Marcia Stone — wife of John C. Stone II — recalled an earlier visit:

"John and I visited Stone Hall about ten years ago. The University pulled out all the stops to engage us. There was a brass sculpture of JCS I outside that the students touched before exams for good luck. We met with a teacher who had been his student. He was hard working, known for cranking out math textbooks by the armful — and considered a great teacher, who ran the prep school connected with the college with his co-author, whose name is on a dozen of the textbooks."