Updated April 25, 2008, May 5th 2008
& November 2013

This website is dedicated to the Titanic victims and all other victims terrifyingly claimed by the sea. And also, to all the Titanic Researchers and Titanic Societies around the world  who keep the victims alive in our hearts.

I have by a mysterious yet inevitable twist of fate, now become a Titanic Researcher. Upon visiting the Titanic grave site at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax after seeing Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet give their outstanding performances as Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater, 7 times in the theater. (I have now seen the movie 33 times). James Cameron's Titanic love story carried us through the tragedy with such a feeling of loss, that young love, all those lives, lost. I found myself drawn to the grave of the real J. Dawson in Halifax, after it appeared on the news that hundreds of people were visiting his grave and leaving their movie tickets and other gifts at the other graves. But, when I got there for the first time on January 13th 2000, I felt this incredible energy pull me up the hill straight to grave NO. 243 where I stood for the first time my mouth falling open with shock. ... I will, for the rest of my days spend time dedicated to Titanic research. There is more to this tragedy than we know. Artisans keep their attention on Titanic so you may know the truth. The connection between the Titanic sinking and the "Federal Reserve System" is terrifying. I personally have found many discrepancies with the names of Titanic passengers and crew from different sources, and during that time in 2000 is when I discovered that someone with my family name (Stone) was buried right here at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I live, and something was wrong with his name. The first research project I'm going to start with is grave NO. 243 E. J. Stone, who may very well be a distant relative of mine. They cried out to me, and I heard them.
 


This is my question:
 

Who is buried in Titanic grave marked
NO. 243
in Fairview Lawn Cemetery?

There were actually three passengers on the Titanic with the family name of Stone. One was a first class lady named Mrs.George Nelson Stone (Martha Evelyn) and the other two were men who worked on the Titanic as Stewards. We have no idea whether the two men knew each other or were related, but we would sure like to know. Ironically enough, not only were there two Titanic employees named Stone, but both of their bodies were recovered after the sinking. One was marked with the NO. 41 and was buried at sea on April 21st 1912, and the other was marked NO. 243 and buried here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. All that seems simple and clear, but it is not so. Look at the grave again. It says E. J. Stone, but none of the documents I found pertaining to grave NO. 243 has a J in it. Not one. The J is connected only to body marked NO. 41.

Here is what I have found so far.
 


These files are from the "Record of Bodies and Effects" courtesy The Nova Scotia Public Archives, that were created as the bodies were pulled from the water and after they arrived in Halifax. If you look at the two you can see that the J in the name is associated with body NO. 41 and not NO. 243. I have looked at other Titanic resources and none of them has a J associated with the body NO. 243. Not one single document!
 


NO. 243. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 30. - HAIR, DARK.

CLOTHING - Black cloth overcoat; steward's coat; vest and pants;
pajamas; "Stone" on trousers.

EFFECTS - Gold snake ring; two knives; ship's keys,
marked '2nd Stateroom'; button hook.

TATTOO - On left arm; Japanese dragon; on right am,
American flag and clasped hands.

STEWARD.

****************************************

NO. 41. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 22. - HAIR, FAIR.

CLOTHING - D. B. coat and pants; white steward's jacket marked
"J. Stone"; black boots and socks.

EFFECTS - Two knives; pawn ticket; silver watch and chain; pencil; keys
"service ford E. Deck, 1st stateroom, 1 to 40"; bill made out to "J. Stone."

TATTOO - On right arm, snake, mouse, and eagle; on left arm,
a lighthouse and anchor, and full rigged ship.

STEWARD.

NAME - J.
 


This is a record from the Public Archives of Nova Scotia of a Key List of how bodies were disposed of. I circled NO. 41 and NO. 243 and as you can see body 243 is listed as UM-Unidentified Bodies Taken to Morgue and body 41 is B-Identified Bodies Buried At Sea. The opposite of what happened. These two Stone bodies were mixed up. A J instead of a T. An honest mistake by very sad, over-whelmed care takers.
 



Now this is the really interesting document! This archive actually says that body NO. 41 was identified as none other than E. J. Stone! And in fact, there is no body numbered 243 even listed here. If these documents were incomplete when compiled, it simply confirms that everyone handling the Titanic disaster was overwhelmed with names and bodies and their duties to care for all those people and effects. I'm trying to imagine what that must have been like for the Halifax people.
 


Bob Knuckle's Body List adapted by The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic as their "Official List" has Stone NO. 243 listed as Edward F. I have no idea where he got that name. His sources are listed as: Coroner's Records At the Public Archives of Nova Scotia (RG 41 Vol.75,76A), US Senate Report on the Titanic Sinking; Titanic International's Guide to the Halifax Cemeteries, Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy, 2nd Edition.
 


E. J. Stone Family Member Makes Contact!

On September 7th, 2000 I posted a request on Ancestery.com asking for information on the two Stone Titanic victims. Eighteen months later on March 4, 2002 I received a notice from Ancestery.com that I had a reply to my post. I was contacted by E. J. Stone's great niece and her husband, Brain and Jane Watkins of New Zealand!  I have a transcript of all our private exchanges posted below. Unfortunately, a friend of mine passed away shortly after we connected so I was grieving. I'm not sure what happened, but we disconnected. But not before we exchanged a few emails. They sent me a transcript of a newspaper article stating that E. J. Stone's watch has been sold at auction for £15,000 and the time stopped on the watch was 2:16am, meaning that he was on-board Titanic until it went under, in my mind doing his duty, he may have even helped saved some lives.

Brian and Jane Watkins gave me their personal location information to contact them, which I will not be posting on the Internet with respect to their privacy. Therefore, their home address, phone and fax numbers are omitted. I will however leave the email address since they posted that on the Internet, although I'm not sure if it's still working.
 

E. J. Stone Family Member Makes Contact!

Email Transcript


This is the note I posted on Ancestry.com

Stones on the Titanic
Author: Lisa Stone          
Date: 7 Sep 2000 9:30 PM GMT

Greetings,

I am searching for the two Stone employees of the Titanic. They both died in the sinking and I am trying to find out if there is a link with my family to them, and also if they were related. One, Edmund J. Stone, 33, was born in Southampton, Hampshire, around 1879 and the son of William and Agnes M. Stone. The other, Edward Thomas Stone, 30, was born in Cornwall, England around 1882. I have been researching and have only gotten second hand information from Titanic researchers who all seem to have conflicting information. I don't even know if those are the real names! The other reason I am conducting this search is that I live here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where the unclaimed Titanic bodies are buried, and upon learning that there was a Titanic grave named E. J. Stone and researching it, I have come to discover that the wrong initials may be on the gravestone!                                

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,                                                                                                      Lisa Stone


A reply has been posted to your message, "Stones on the Titanic" on "7 Sep 2000 9:30 PM GMT".

Board : Boards > Localities > United Kingdom and Ireland >England
Subject: Re: Stones on the Titanic                                           
Author  : Brian and Jane Watkins                                                              
Date : 4 Mar 2002 7:30 AM GMT

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/5RC.2ACE/10467.2
(it's only been removed recently)

Thank you.

The Message Board Administration Team


Re: Stones on the Titanic                                                                        Author: Brian and Jane Watkins                                                                
Date: 4 Mar 2002 7:30 AM GMT                                                             Classification: Query                                                                             
In Reply to: Stones on the Titanic by:  Lisa Stone

Attention Lisa Stone.

We have just seen your message regarding the Two STONE crew members who both perished on the TITANIC.

Edmund J STONE son of William and Agnes Stone born 1879 Southampton was my great Uncle (Grandfathers brother). My father Ronald Albert Medway Stone remembered going on board the Titanic to see his uncle on the day that the ship sailed from Southampton.

From the information we have gathered the above EDMOND J STONE was buried at sea. We have plenty of information on the family through our Stone line, and would be happy to contact you further. Hoping you get this message.

Jane and Brian Watkins (nee Stone) Christchurch New Zealand.


Re: Stones on the Titanic                                                                           
Author: Lisa Stone                                                                                      
Date: 5 Mar 2002 2:19 PM GMT                                                 Classification: Query

In Reply to: Re: Stones on the Titanic                                                       by:  Brian and Jane Watkins

WOW! I cannot tell you how ABSOLUTELY THRILLED I was to receive this posting in my email. I can't thank you enough! Your letter now seems to confirm that E. J. Stone was the body buried at sea, and not the body buried in the grave marked #243!

I am so sorry for the tragic loss of your Great Uncle. It must have been quite devastating to your Father and Grandfather to lose Edmund in this tragedy. I can almost feel the excitement everyone must have felt and the pride of having a loved one working on the "Grandest ship in the world"...

I am welling up with tears that the Universe has seen fit that we should connect. I would LOVE to continue exchanging information so please, please tell me everything you know about your Stone lineage. I have so much to tell you as well.

My email is soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca

Jumping with Joy,                                                                                        
Lisa Stone


From: "brian watkins" <brianwa@paradise.net.nz> To:<soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                                                       Subject: Stone family connections.                                                            
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 22:45:06 +1300                                               

Attention Lisa Stone

Dear Lisa

Hello from Christchurch New Zealand. Your e-mail was a joy to receive.

Jane and her sisters are the last of the Stone line on a direct path that we have researched back to 1740. Naturally there are lots of other relatives that are not researched as yet, and we have working sheets on quite a few people that are siblings some close relatives to the main line researched.

You will have to bear with us since we are still learning about the Internet and how to communicate. At present we rely more on fax than email attachments so it would be good if you could send us a fax number so that we can send hard copy of some of the data in our possession.

We may be contacted as follows

 Postal address.                                                                                  ************                                                                           *******Christchurch *****,                                                                     New Zealand.                                                                                         Telephone ************                                                                        
Fax ***********                                                                                        
e-mail brianwa@paradise.net.nz

Having got all of the essential guff out of the way it remains to say how good it was to hear from you, and we hope that this will be the start of a long and happy association. We send you our sincere good wishes and look forward to getting the flow started.

Fax/e-mail or phone soon.                                                                         Brian and Jane Watkins 


From: "brian watkins" <brianwa@paradise.net.nz>                               
To: "Lisa Stone" <soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                                  
Subject: Stone lineage                                                                               Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 11:29:28 +1300

Dear Lisa   

What an exciting connection through the ether. Lets hope that we can get some positive results from shared information.

Before we go on too far can you supply contact details so that we can fax/write/speak in the future. Neither Jane or myself are au fait with online technology, but will try to get more proficient now we have an incentive.

Our address is Brian and Jane Watkins,                                           ************, Christchurch                                                                  
*****, New Zealand.                                                                              Phone *********  Fax **********

E-mail brianwa@paradise.net.nz

We have a direct line back to 1740 on Jane’s ancestors, together with a host of notes on various side relations.

Jane and her sisters Anne and Louise are the last living members of their Stone line since their father had no sons. He was an only son so the line has come to an end.

We are alive and well both in our early 60s having moved to N. Z. from England in 1965. This is my second attempt to contact you, yesterday my message just disappeared and I doubt that it got through, so here’s hoping for a better result today.

In the meantime God Bless and PLEASE keep the connection open.

Brian and Jane Watkins.


Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 15:08:54 -0400                                                 From: Lisa Stone <soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                                
To: brian watkins <brianwa@paradise.net.nz>                                       Subject: Re: Stone lineage

Greetings!

So sorry I took so long to respond, someone I loved very much passed away suddenly last Thursday and I have been consumed with everything that goes along with that...

My Mother told me that she has also traced our Stone lineage back to the mid 1700's as well! I currently do not have a fax machine, but I have a friend that will most likely let me use hers. I am 35 years old and have not married (hence Stone) and my father John David is still living at age 57. Our oldest ancestry seems to lead back to Devonshire and Trespassy, England. Jonas Stone (1720) married to Marriam Tucker was a sea captain who owned a fleet of ships that sailed to the West Indies and Canada with supplies. They are buried in Topsham, England...

As far as the TITANIC is concerned here is a link that you can click on to read the story of my adventures and my TITANIC connection. I hope you have an open mind, because some of the events are hard to believe. This webpage link I'm sending has many other links on it and not all of them are working, as I have been rearranging the website a bit. I may take a few minutes for the page to load as there are many pictures on it. Just click the sentence below and another page will open up to it. If you have any trouble let me know.

http://venus111.tripod.ca/TitanicStoneResearch.html
(not working anymore)

Here is my contact information.

Lisa Stone                                                ***************                                                                               ****************    
****************                                                                 ****************                                              soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca

I'm going to confirm with my girlfriend that her fax machine is available for me to use before I give you the number. This is so exciting to be in contact with folks a world away!  :)

Blessings,                                                                                                   Lisa Stone

ps... I did receive your first email :)


From: "brian watkins" <brianwa@paradise.net.nz>                                      
To: "Lisa Stone" <soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                                  
Subject: Stone family linkage -  Edmond's watch.                                  
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 23:09:44 +1200

Dear Lisa,

I have transcribed the following directly from a newspaper article which appeared in The Daily Telegraph April 18th 1998. We have a copy direct from the original paper, which was obtained from the U.K.

15,000 (pounds sterling) for watch that stopped as Titanic went down.    

A watch from a steward on board the Titanic, it's hands frozen at 2.16 as the liner sank, was sold for 15,000 pounds, double the estimate, in an auction of memorabilia from the vessel in Southampton yesterday. It belonged to Edmond Stone, 33, responsible for the first class bedrooms on E-Deck. He was among 1,500 who died on the vessels maiden voyage to New York in April 1912. Patrick Bogue, a director of Onslows, which has held 11 similar sales, said "This was probably the most poignant thing from the ship I have ever seen. The hands on this watch were frozen at the moment this gentleman went into the sea". Mr. Stone's body was found floating among the ice by the cable ship Mackay Bennett, which reached the scene at daybreak on April 20th. His effects, including the watch, were returned to his widow in Southampton. They were sent for sale by her son, now 80. The watch went to an American buyer. ENDS

 (The son mentioned was from a second marriage).

The cutting together with a photo of the watch are ready to fax to you once a contact number is received. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

With kind regards,                                                                                     Brian & Jane Watkins

Note: If anyone has a copy of the newspaper article about the watch being sold I would greatly appreciate a copy of it, thanks. I'll post it here and give you credit.


Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 17:08:20 -0400                                                 From: Lisa Stone <soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                               
To: brian watkins <brianwa@paradise.net.nz
Subject: Re: Stone family linkage - Edmond's watch.

WOW! I can't tell you how exciting it was to receive that information! I had just sat down with my lunch and I couldn't even finish it! What a story! He stayed on the ship until the very last minutes, as it has been proven that Titanic finally went completely under at 2:20am. A true Sailor was he.

My girlfriend graciously gave me her fax number. She said to tell you that it can be a bit temperamental, so if the fax doesn't go through please keep trying!

902*******

Thank you so much!                                                                                    Lisa Stone


I didn't received any more emails from them. I sent this last one on the Anniversary, three weeks later.

Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 01:24:26 -0300                                                From: Lisa Stone soulchaser@ns.sympatico.ca>                                       
To: brian watkins <brianwa@paradise.net.nz>                                       Subject: Re: Stone family linkage - Edmond's watch.

Greetings Brian & Jane Watkins,

On this 90th anniversary of the Titanic sinking I thought I would drop you a line to say hi and to say that I hope you will still try and send a fax of the watch article. I hope the weather is nice in New Zealand, is it summer or winter there? Do you have the four seasons? You know weather wise? :) It is spring here and all the trees are budding and the grass is starting to grow green.

I was wondering if you have had the time to check any of the information I sent regarding the family lineage? I would love to hear about anything you've got.

Here is the fax number again, please let me know if you have trouble sending it.

902*********

God Bless,                                                                                                      

Lisa Stone


After I sent them to my website with the spooky stuff,  I can only assume when they got around to reading it that they decided to disconnect. It happens sometimes. I don't really know what happened to them, perhaps they had computer problems because they were Newbies. I was grieving the loss of a good friend at the time, so perhaps it was me who disconnected.  Hope they are ok and I want to thank them again for solving the mystery.


UPDATE!
May 2008 & November 2013

Here is a picture of E. J. Stone's pocket watch with clock stopped at 2:16 when he went into the water! This crew member was on deck until there was no deck left to stand on.


Picture courtesy:  BAZAL for Channel 5 News

I was contacted by a lovely person in England who just happened to have a copy of the auction tape where E. J. Stone's watch was sold as the world's record price paid for a piece of Titanic memorabilia, £15,000, up until April 1998 anyway. The report also confirms as well that E. J. Stone's body was buried at sea, not in grave number 243 in Fairview Lawn Cemetery. This kind person also took the time to put the auction on YouTube for all of us to see. Thank you so much shran33 for your time and effort. What a thrill to see the watch!

Edmund Stone's Pocket Watch
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x3SSRzLkDSo

(video was removed within a year due to copyright)

Here is his copyrighted picture at Encyclopedia Titanica
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/edmund-stone.html

Here is a picture of his artifacts and of him, also copyrighted.
"THIS is the first picture of Titanic hero Edmund Stone —
and the possessions recovered from his body."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1785582.ece

Rusty key to fetch £50,000 at Titanic auction
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5140367/Rusty-key-to-fetch-50000-at-Titanic-auction.html

Auction for Titanic steward items
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/7646214.stm
 

UPDATE! 2004

Finally, after alerting the seasoned researchers at Encyclopedia Titanica I see now that someone named Steve Coombes has recognized this mistake as well and has done the research I could not do since April 2000 when I posted this information under the nickname venus33 in my questions to Titanic researcher Michael Findlay. Good work Steve! It was just a matter of time. Gold Star for you! Thanks man!

(E. J.) Stone Family Information

"Edmund Stone was born in Southampton in 1879. He was the son of William Stone (Railway Inspector) and Agnes Mary Jane Stone. In 1881 the UK Census has the family at 7 Brinton's Terrace, Southampton. With William and Agnes Stone were their 4 children John (b. 1874 Southampton) James (b. 1877 Southampton) Edmund (b. 1879 Southampton) Albert C (b. February 1881 Southampton) Also with the family was Joseph Medway Stone, the younger brother of William Stone, at that date he was a coppersmith. Edmund Stone was living with his wife, Elizabeth Agnes at 105 St Andrew's Road, Southampton when he signed on for Titanic in 1912. He was lost in the sinking aged 33. His body was subsequently recovered from the sea by the Mackay-Bennett, assigned #41 and then buried at sea. Although there is a gravestone at Fairview Cemetery, NS with the inscription 'E J Stone' this is in fact in error and in fact relates to E T Stone (body #243)"

Steve Coombes

Edward Thomas Stone Family Information

"Edward Thomas Stone was born in 1882/83 in Shirley, Southampton. He himself quotes his birthplace as Cornwall when signing on Titanic but this appears to be erroneous. (It is currently assumed that he lived there for a while when young). He was the son of Edward George Robert Stone and Harriett Matilda (nee Mantell). His father was originally of the village of Chideock in Dorset (baptised there 2 May 1858) and his mother born at West Cowes, Isle of Wight in 1862. The couple had married at Wareham, Dorset (at the parish church of Wareham Lady St Mary) in late 1880 and in the following April census has them nearby the church, on the quay, at the New Inn where Edward’s father is shown as the innkeeper.

Sometime following the 1881 census the couple moved from Wareham to Southampton where their son, Edward Thomas Stone was born in 1882/83. How many siblings Edward had is uncertain but it is known that he had a younger sister called Hester who was born in Shirley, Southampton in 1896. By the time of the 1901 census the family are confirmed as still living in Shirley. Edward’s father is shown as a furnisher’s storekeeper and Edward jnr a billiard marker, his place of birth is shown in the census as being in Shirley. The family remain in Southampton and by 1912 Edward is living at 91 Shirley Road with his wife, Violet Alice. He signs on for Titanic on 4 April 1912 as one of the victualling crew on a monthly wage of £3 15 shillings. As a bedroom steward in second class he showed in the sign-on sheet that his previous ship had been the New York. Lost in the sinking, aged 29 his body was later recovered from the sea by the Mackay-Bennett. On 6 May 1912 his body was interred at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery and a headstone marks his grave but incorrectly shows his name as E J Stone rather than E T Stone. (nb. E J Stone was in fact Edmund J Stone, a steward in the first class accommodation). Shortly following the tragedy his wife Violet placed the following item in a local Southampton newspaper, ‘Not gone from memory, not gone from love. But gone to our Fathers home above. We must not murmur or complain, trusting in heaven to meet again.’ In the March of 1913 Violet started receiving payments from the Mansion House Titanic Relief Fund. Edward’s sister Hester died in 1953 and his parents both in 1954. Their graves are located in the Old Cemetery, The Common, Southampton and Hester’s grave also has the following inscription ‘also their beloved son, Edward Thomas Stone, lost in the Titanic disaster, April 15th 1912, aged 29."

Steve Coombes


Both the STONE men's grave pictures can be seen larger on this lovely webpage.
Southampton Titanic Graves

Pictures copyright©2003 David Searle. Thank you for sharing such great pictures!
http://www.titanic-titanic.com/southampton_titanic_graves.shtml


Edmund J Stone & Family                  Edward Thomas Stone
                          
(buried at sea)                  (at the foot of his sisters grave)               


So, there is no doubt now that a mistake was made and E. J. Stone is not buried in the grave marked NO. 243 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Which means that the man who is buried here, Edward Thomas Stone does not have his name on his grave, and only since 1953 has his name appeared in remembrance on his sisters grave, yes I shed some tears upon reading this. I think it's his human right, and so my last questions are ...

Can we give Edward Thomas Stone his name on his grave where his body lies?
And since it's been 95 years, and there was so much confusion at the end of his life,
can we put his full birth name instead of just changing the initial?
I've changed it here in the virtual world, perhaps someday it will appear in the real world.

(I created this picture, the grave has not been changed...yet.)

If you think the grave should be changed,
then send good thoughts that thy will be done.
 


Still want more Titanic?

Click the title below to read my personal, emotional, journal written when the three Titanic bodies were exhumed in Halifax, Nova Scotia later identifying the Unknown Child in May of 2001.

Click below to visit the Titanic Graves in Halifax,
which includes home videos of the graves at
Fairview Lawn Cemetery on the 95th (2007) and 100th (2012)
 Anniversary of the sinking.

Titanic Graves
 


If you have any questions or comments about my Titanic research,
send me an email to the address below.

mysteriousns@gmail.com
 

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All Rights Reserved.

Thank you for your interest!