Thomas E. Stone

Thomas E. Stone
Thomas E. Stone in May 1929
2nd White House Chief Usher
In office February 21, 1901 – 1909
President	William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	William Dubois
Succeeded by	Irwin "Ike" H. Hoover
Personal details
Born	(1869-07-31)July 31, 1869 Leonardtown, Maryland, U.S.
Died	June 26, 1959(1959-06-26) (aged 89) Washington, D.C., U.S.

Thomas E. Stone (July 31, 1869 – June 26, 1959) was an American civil servant who served as Chief Usher of the White House in Washington, D.C., from 1901 and 1909. Beginning in 1912, Stone worked as an Internal Revenue agent for the United States Department of the Treasury, where he won national acclaim for breaking major crime rings and capturing individuals who had fled from justice. He helped set up enforcement of Prohibition in several states in 1920, and helped break the largest illegal alcohol production ring in the United States in 1925. He served in a wide variety of positions with the Bureau of Prohibition, including chief of the 7th District (covering Maryland and the District of Columbia) from 1929 until his retirement in 1934.

Stone was born in Leonardtown, Maryland, on July 31, 1869, to William Martin Van Buren and Mary Ann (née Wilkerson) Stone. He was the third of eight children, and a descendent of Thomas Stone (an American planter and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland and later worked on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777). He was educated in the local public schools.

Stone moved to Washington, D.C., about 1887. He held a number of jobs, none of them important or lasting for very long. Beginning about 1894, Stone joined the Pullman Company, where he was in charge of chartered trains serving VIPs and special event trains in the D.C. area. Stone personally served as a conductor on the first Pullman railroad car journey ever taken by William McKinley after he became President of the United States in 1897. He subsequently oversaw all of McKinley's Pullman trips (except for the fatal final one). McKinley was so impressed with Stone's organizational work that he asked him to come to the White House and take a position as an usher—one of the high-level administrators who helped run the White House and meet the First Family's needs. Stone was appointed usher on February 21, 1901. Stone subsequently traveled with the McKinleys on their long cross-continent trip to San Francisco in the summer of 1901.