Mrs. Harlan (Agnes) Stone
“Behind every great man is a great woman!” And in the case of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Stone, that woman was Agnes Harvey Stone, his devoted wife. According to their son, Lauson, her major interests were "her family and taking care of Father". However, these responsibilities and the demands made by her husband’s position, did not deter her from serving as a very active and effective philanthropic leader in Washington, DC. Throughout her life she was active in numerous organizations such as Travelers Aid Society, Visiting Nurse Association, YWCA, Council of Social Agencies, Red Cross, and Sulgrave Club, a private women's club.
Born Agnes Ella Harvey on Nov. 19, 1873, in Chesterfield, NH, she was the daughter of Hermon and Ella Harvey and attended New England Academy as a young girl. The Harveys were close friends and neighbors of the Frederick Stone family.
Rumor has it that Agnes and Harlan met when she was one day old, and he was a year old. The encounter evolved into childhood sweethearts with them marrying in 1899, one year after Mr. Stone graduated from Columbia University Law School. Stone’s career took him to NYC and New Jersey. Agnes’ life focused on the family with her two sons, Marshall and Lauson, remembering her outstanding culinary skills and strict housekeeping. “She believed in rules of society and was always formal and dignified in her entertaining.”
The Stone family moved to Washington DC in 1924 and built a home that, because of the couple’s love of books, Agnes described as “built around a library”. There Agnes' love of entertaining earned her a reputation of being an exceptional hostess. Her famous (but intimate) Monday afternoon teas were known for their outstanding conversations and drew in high Washington society. However, it was noted that she still personally did the marketing and supervised other domestic household affairs. She devoted at least half of her day to philanthropic activities and, when able, enjoyed listening to legal arguments during court sessions.
Throughout her life, Agnes was interested in the arts, including sketching and painting. But it wasn’t until she and Harlan were empty nesters that this interest started to blossom. During vacations, she enjoyed capturing the essence of each area they visited in her artwork. With WWII gas rationing, their adventures became restricted to their summer home on the Isle au Haut, ME. Justice Stone was very proud of her work and would make a point of hanging her paintings in his office and directing attention to her artwork.
Self-taught, she became quite accomplished in watercolors. During her life, her works were exhibited in several well-known galleries, including Corcoran Gallery of Art, the George Washington University Library, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Also, some of her works are cataloged in the Smithsonian Institute.
Agnes died on Nov. 23, 1958, at the age of 85, and is buried next to her husband in Washington DC. Much to the delight of her grandchildren, in 2004, her artwork was again put on exhibit at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center (NJ).
It is with a great deal of pride that the Stone House Tavern Museum has been gifted by the Stone Family a large collection of her watercolors as well as two needlepoint chairs completed by Agnes. These chairs originally sat in the US Supreme Court Offices and now can be viewed in the Stone House Tavern Museum parlor.
