The Stone Family Association was formed at a meeting of members of the Stone Family held at Marshall P. Wilder Hall, No. 18 Somerset Street, Boston, Ma., January 26, 1897. [The English Ancestry of Simon and Gregory Stone, by William E. Stone, 1897, Cambridge, MA.
Prior to the formation an Annual Reunion was held. The Tenth Annual Re-union was held September 8th., 1896 at Guilford, CT., hosted by the Descendants of John and William Stone.
Annual Meetings of The Stone Family Association were held for at least 17 years, 1897 - 1914. Printed records of many of these Annual Meetings are at the Rhode Island Historical Association. No records were found after the 17th. Annual Meeting, held November 27, 1914, in Chipman Hall, Tremont Temple, Boston, MA. It is likely however, that the Association continued because they sponsored the publication in 1926 of the Genealogy of Simon and Gregory Stone, by J. Gardner Bartlett.
Any one of the Stone name, lineage, or marriage connection was eligible to join. In 1901, a Catalog of Members with Lines of Descent was published by the Association, Agnes W. Lincoln, Editor. Nearly 300 members are listed. It is available to view at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The Catalog # is CS/71/S88/1901.
Among it's many activities, in addition to sponsoring the publication of the Simon and Gregory Stone Genealogy, was the installation of a Memorial Stained Glass Window at their Parish church in England; contributions to the restoration of the Cooper House ,21 Linnaean Street in Cambridge, MA.which was opened to the public on Thursday, October 31, 1912. John Cooper was a son-in-law of Gregory Stone; sponsorship of several research papers, based on research projects of various members. The Association authorized at it's Annual Meeting, Dec. 12, 1913, to undertake the preparation of a Stone Genealogy to include the descendants of;
Simon Stone of Watertown, Mass.
Gregory Stone of Cambridge, Mass.
John Stone of Salem and Beverly, Mass.
Hugh Stone of Rhode Island
An article "STONE of Much Bromley, Essex, England" , published by the Stone Family Association, October, 1908, Boston, deals with variations of Coat of Arms associated with Simon and Gregory of MA., John and William of Guilford, Ct., Gov. William of Maryland and Hugh of Rhode Island. Because of the importance of a Coat of Arms, as one clue, in tracing English Origins, the full text of this article is published. At the very least, the article explains why a variation of this Coat of Arms appeared in the 1866 Genealogy of Hugh Stone of Rhode Island and the 1888 Genealogy of John and William Stone of Guilford, CT. In both cases there was no explanatory note in the genealogy.