Ethan Stone
Ethan Stone | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1767 Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | 1852 |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney, financier, politician, benefactor |
| Years active | 1802–1820s |
| Known for | Real estate investor, president of Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio House of Representatives member |
Ethan Stone (1767–1852) was a prominent American attorney, financier, politician, and benefactor based in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a significant real estate investor, he gained considerable influence in state governance, with his fortune closely tied to the fluctuations of the regional property market. His estate financed the first elections in the area that permitted female participation, connected to the state’s lengthiest trust litigation.
Career
Originally hailing from Massachusetts, Stone relocated to Cincinnati in 1802 where he launched a legal career. He amassed extensive holdings in real estate and ultimately achieved millionaire status. Stone held a seat on the Cincinnati Select Council in 1805 and served as its clerk in 1810. Between 1805 and 1806, he was elected to represent Hamilton County in the Ohio House of Representatives as a member of the Federalist Party, and also fulfilled duties as a justice of the peace.
In 1810, Stone utilized his political connections to obtain a lease for Section 29 of Cincinnati Township from the Ohio General Assembly, which he then leased out. He became the inaugural president of the Bank of Cincinnati when it was established in 1814. Both he and the bank experienced substantial financial setbacks during the property market collapse between 1818 and 1820. Nevertheless, an amendment to his lease in 1821 allowed him to rent the land for $40 per year over a 99-year term with indefinite renewal options, resulting in considerable long-term gains.
Stone made two unsuccessful bids for Ohio's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives elections of 1812 and 1818. By the early 1820s, deteriorating eyesight compelled him to retire from banking activities.
Mill Creek bridge
Around 1816 or 1817, Stone was commissioned by the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners to construct a bridge spanning Mill Creek. In spring 1822, a flood destroyed the structure before it was officially accepted, causing Stone losses exceeding $100,000 and nearly leading to financial ruin. Over the following two decades, he completed a more sophisticated bridge made of stone and wood under contract terms; this bridge was ultimately purchased by the commissioners and designated as toll-free. Another flood in 1832 swept away the wooden section downstream; it was subsequently dismantled and transported back to Cincinnati by flatboat. The bridge eventually succumbed to fire damage years later.
Religion and philanthropy
Stone was deeply involved with the Episcopal Church. In 1817, alongside other civic leaders, he co-established Christ Church in Cincinnati and served as its first warden as well as delegate to the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.
Circa 1823, Stone assisted Dr. John Locke in founding the Cincinnati Female Academy, a secular institution catering to the city’s upper class. He also contributed significantly at the inception of the College of Cincinnati.
Personal life
Stone married Abigail Maria Storrs in 1795; notably, Storrs Township in Hamilton County derives its name from her family surname.
His nephew Dan Stone held office in the Illinois General Assembly and acted as an Illinois circuit court judge.
Death and legacy
Stone generated substantial income through subleasing ministerial lands within Storrs Township; these earnings were earmarked for supporting Christian churches and educational institutions. Upon his death in 1852, annual revenues from these leases exceeded $32,000. His will—prepared by Alphonso Taft—allocated funds to entities including the Cincinnati Orphan Asylum, elderly care homes, churches within Storrs Township, and Cincinnati College. When Cincinnati College declined to allocate funds toward Episcopal clergy training, these resources were redirected to the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio (subsequently Southern Ohio).
Following Cincinnati’s annexation of Storrs Township in 1869, administration of Stone’s trust was postponed until intervention by Hamilton County Probate Court in 1881. In 1893, the court ordered that trust disbursements be determined every decade through elections open exclusively to Protestants aged fifteen and older—the sole local elections permitting female voters until women gained suffrage nationally with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. The last such election took place in 1993, awarding funds to Price Hill United Methodist Church.
By 2003, diminishing returns from land leases rendered further elections financially unfeasible. In 2012, Stone’s trustee petitioned for full ownership transfer to lessees. This legal matter concluded on March 22, 2019—167 years posthumously—marking it as Ohio’s longest-running trust dispute and potentially one of America’s oldest active court cases.