In 1900, Winthrop Stone became President of Purdue University. In the fall of that year, Lauson Stone, his much younger brother, enrolled as a freshman. What was life like for a student whose older brother was running the university?
Winthrop Stone in 1902; Lauson Stone in 1904
A 21-year age gap between the brothers meant that by the time Lauson was born in 1883, his brother Winthrop was already a college graduate who had left the family home. After studying in Germany around the time of Lauson’s birth, Winthrop moved to Tennessee. He later became a Professor of Chemistry at Purdue, in 1889. When Winthrop’s oldest son was born in 1890, Uncle Lauson was only seven years old.
Winthrop Stone was promoted from being the first Vice President in Purdue’s history to being President after the sudden death of President James Smart on February 21, 1900. It’s unlikely that the brothers spent very much time together before Lauson’s arrival at Purdue in the fall of that year.
Lauson became famous early in his college career for being the president’s brother. The Debris yearbook, created by seniors who usually had little time to spend on freshmen, included a joke about the Stone brothers in its 1901 volume:
Great disturbance in the Dormitory! A Freshman kicking posts out of the banisters, just to see ‘em drop down the stairs. Prof. Alford rushes wildly upon the scene. “Stop that noise, immediately! Who is the cause of all this disturbance?” “I, sir.” “Report to Dr. Stone at once! No explanations are necessary. Save them for Dr. Stone.” Dr. Stone is greatly surprised to receive, within the next few minutes, an official call from his brother. (p. 301)
Despite the attention, or maybe because of it, Lauson was a popular student active in many clubs, including the Chemical Society, Mechanical Engineering Society, Minuet Club, Irving Literary Society, and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was also a Cadet Captain in the Cadet Corps, Associate Editor of the Debris yearbook his junior and senior years, Junior Class Secretary, and part of the Senior Class Banquet Committee. When the 1903 Debris yearbook made humorous suggestions for the following year’s yearbook titles, one suggestion was, “How I was Chased by All the Frats at Purdue, by L. Stone.” (p. 296)
Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1904. Lauson Stone is in the center row, fourth from the right.
Lauson contracted typhoid fever in late 1903, and his prolonged absence from school meant he would not be able graduate with the Class of 1904 as planned. Still, he was listed among the seniors in the 1904 Debris with this thorough biography:
Lauson Stone has labored under three handicaps in his college career, any one of which would have had nine out of ten of us down and out before we had passed the Sophomore milestone. In the first place the incubus of being a brother to the president of the University has weighed upon him in the shape of his nickname of “Doc,” which was bestowed on him early in our Freshman year, and has clung to him ever since. Secondly, at about the same time as above mentioned, he developed what is technically known as a “case,” which has not become any less acute with years, and which was partly responsible for his attempt to take both Mechanical Engineering and the Science Course at the same time. Lastly, a six months’ tussle with typhoid did indeed send his chances of graduating with us glimmering, but he is an ’04 man through and through, even if he does have to fall back on ’05 for his sheepskin. He is from Amherst, Massachusetts. (p. 112)
Lauson spent the following year working as a student assistant in the Practical Mechanics department while completing his coursework, and finally graduated in spring 1905 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1909, he married Helen Estelle Darby, a fellow member of the Purdue Class of 1904. Their marriage announcement in the Exponent student newspaper makes no mention of Lauson’s notable brother. It also misspells Lauson’s first name.
Helen Estelle Darby, 1904
The marriage of Miss Helen E. Darby and Mr. Lawson Stone occurred yesterday at 3 o’clock at the Darby home on East Main street. The ceremony was performed by Rev. G. W. Switzer and was witnessed by the relatives and a few intimate friends of the bride and groom. Both Mr. and Mrs. Stone are graduates of Purdue of the class of ’04 and have a host of [f]riends at the University. Mr. Stone holds a government position in the department of the interior at Pittsburg[h]. He is a member of the S. A. E. fraternity. (March 28, 1909)
Lauson did not stick around Purdue after graduation. He spent his career in Pennsylvania, first in a teaching position at Western Reserve University, then with the United States Geologic Survey, and later in the steel industry.
Meanwhile, as Winthrop and Lauson Stone were advancing their career and education at Purdue, their middle brother, Harlan Fiske Stone, was building his legal and political career and eventually became the most notable member of the family. Harlan served as Dean of Columbia University Law School, United States Attorney General, Associate Supreme Court Justice, and eventually Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
All images from the Debris Yearbook.