By Spessard Stone
Chapter 7 Tracy Hugh Stone 1908-1972
In the late 1920s, Tracy commenced working for the railroad department of the U. S. Sugar Corporation. In due time he became a fireman, and in 1940, he earned promotion to locomotive engineer. Due to the seasonal nature of sugar cane harvesting, which began in November and was completed by April or May, Tracy held a second trade as a sheetmetal worker, which led to his working elsewhere, mainly West Palm Beach, but also Sebring.
At Moore Haven, Glades County, Florida on 1 April 1939, Tracy married Annie Rae Hendry, born 18 August 1912 in the New Zion community near Ona, DeSoto (now Hardee) County, Florida, daughter of Rev. James Madison Hendry and Martha Frances (Wingate) Hendry. County Judge J. M. Couse officiated. In time Annie dropped the "i" in her first name and spelled it Anne. She is a 1933 graduate of Wauchula High School. At the time of their marriage, Tracy was 5 feet 6 inches, with brown eyes, black hair and light complexion. Anne was 5 feet six inches, with green eyes, red hair, and light complexion.In 1946, due to failing health (asthma & digestive ailments), Tracy resigned his dual vocations, and the family began a series of moves, all in Florida, to find a suitable home and livelihood. Bethany in rural Manatee County, West Palm Beach, and Oak Knoll (near Bethany) were their residences for the year. In late May 1947, they relocated to a 20-acre farm in the Lake Branch community in northeastern Hardee County where they lived until June 1948. They then moved to the Gillette community, near Palmetto, Manatee County. On 5 December 1949, the family purchased from Alfred Maurice a 10-acre orange and grapefruit grove in the College Hill area, west of Bowling Green, Hardee County where they settled. On 1 May 1954, they sold the same to Homes, Inc. aka Ferrell Revell Sr. On 17 June 1954 from G. W. Wood, they acquired a 40-acre tract on the Little Payne's Creek on the Hardee side of the Hardee-Polk counties' line, two miles west of Bowling Green. There Tracy farmed and eventually had a 13-acre orange grove. Tracy and Anne also harvested vegetables, picked oranges, and did other farm labor for neighboring farmers. The freezes of December 1970 and January 1971 severely damaged the grove; subsequently, Tracy sold 20 acres on 3 December 1971 to Lloyd Paschal, and 10 acres on 12 May 1972 to City Services Company. Anne Stone in the early 1960s began working in a tomato canning plant, A & R Markham and R. L. Knight Bowling Green Canning Co., and as a citrus sectionizer for Sunshine Packers, Inc.. of Fort Meade, Florida, continuing with the latter for about ten years.
Tracy Hugh Stone died on 10 July 1972 at his rural Bowling Green, Florida home. Burial was in Bowling Green Cemetery.
Anne Stone, after selling on 28 April 1975 the final 10 acres to USS Agri-Chemicals, moved with her son, Spessard, 12 June 1975 to the Oak Grove community, southwest of Wauchula, where she had purchased a house and 6-acre orange grove from Arilla Murphy Rich. On 6 February 1976, she sold it to Jerry and Patricia Currie, and on 14 April 1976 bought from Sherrick and Carol K. Stone a house on on Knight Road NW, Wauchula, to which she and Spessard settled into 27 June 1976. On 5 November 1993 she sold the same to Edward Bryan and Julie S. Benton and purchased a house at 220 S. 7th Ave., Wauchula, from George A. and Hazel A. Somerville. She and Spessard had earlier moved there 30 October 1993. Anne was a member of Bowling Green Baptist Church. An alto, she loved to sing hymns and the popular songs of her generation. From 31 May 2007 to 25 April 2010, she was a patient at Delta Health Center of Tampa, 1818 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa, FL 33612. Anne Rae Hendry Stone died 27 April 2010 at Melech Hospice House, Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, Florida where she had been a patient for less than two days. Burial was in Bowling Green Cemetery on 29 April 2010.
Her obituary was published in The Herald-Advocate, 4A, 6 May 2010:
“Anne Rae Hendry Stone
"Anne Rae Hendry Stone, 97, of Wauchula, died April 27, 2010, at Melech Hospice House in Temple Terrace.
“Born in the New Zion community, Ona, on Aug. 18, 1912, she was the last surviving child of the Rev. James M. “Boss” Hendry, the Baptist preacher who named Arcadia, and Martha Frances Wingate Hendry. A 1933 graduate of Wauchula High School, she was a homemaker.
“She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Bowling Green. Her life was lived by the principle, ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.’
“She was preceded in death by her husband Tracy H. Stone in 1972 and grandson Daniel S. Stone, in 2004.
Survivors include her daughter Renee S. Schiele and husband Frank L., Jr., of Valrico; three sons, Hugh T. Stone and wife Rachel of Tampa; Spessard Stone of Wauchula; and Sherrick Stone and wife Delila of Live Oak; five grandchildren, Teresa Roper of Apopka, Toni Peterson of Lithia, Frank L. Schiele III of Valrico, Steven Stone of Magnolia, Texas, and Julie Stone of Zolfo Springs, Fla.; and seven great-grandchildren.
“Graveside services at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 29, at Bowling Green Cemetery with the Rev. Roland Davis officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the First Baptist Church of Bowling Green Building Fund.
“Robarts Family Funeral Homes, 529 W. Main Street, Wauchula”
Issue of Tracy Hugh Stone and Anne Rae (Hendry) Stone:
1. Hugh Tracy Stone, born 21 Dec 1939, Clewiston, FL; married 21 May 1966 Rachel Violet Clyatt, daughter of LeRoy Clyatt and Lillian (Boisclair) Clyatt.
2. Wanda Renee Stone, born 28 May 1943, Clewiston; married 4 Apr 1963 Frank Louis Schiele, Jr., son of Frank Louis Schiele, Sr. and Mazie Elizabeth (Kelley) Schiele.
3. Spessard Munselle Stone, born 2 Sep 1944, Clewiston, FL.
4. Sherrick Noel Stone, born 29 Apr 1947, Bradenton, FL; married (1) 12 Jul 1968 Carol Jane Knight, daughter of John Doyle Knight and Opal Knight, divorced; (2) 14 Jun 1991 Delila Ann (Goodwin) Twiss, Wauchula, FL, daughter of Syl Marcus Goodwin and Lila Mae (Moye) Drawdy Goodwin and widow of Steven Edward Twiss (1941-1986).
Acknowledgments: Family records of Anne H. Stone and Spessard Stone.
31 July 2001, 21 April 2003, 5 May 2005, 14 May 2010