Merritt H. Stone was born in Vermont around 1843 to James Stone and Laura Howe. His father was a ladder master and harness maker in Berkshire, Vermont, and he owned $1,000 of real estate and $1,500 of personal property in 1860. Stone attended school and worked as an apprentice saddle maker,, probably for his father. He enlisted in the Union army on August 25, 1862, and mustered in as a private in Company C of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry the following day. He became a saddler soon afterward. He was captured on July 3, 1863, in the Battle of Gettysburg. He was paroled on November 17, 1863, and returned to his regiment. He mustered out on June 21, 1865.

 

Stone returned to Vermont after the war, and he married Frances Wilkins in Berkshire on January 11, 1868. They had at least two children: Edward, born sometime before 1872; and Josie, born around 1885. His son Edward died in 1872. Stone worked as a harness maker after the war, and the couple lived with Stone’s parents in Berkshire. He applied for a federal pension in July 1890 and secured one soon afterward. He died on April 27, 1899.

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