Elihu Stone Papers

Elihu David Stone

Elihu David Stone was born in Meretz (Merkinė), Lithuania on July 18, 1888 to Elchannan and Chana Tzerelstein (at some point, Elihu, his mother, and his siblings took the surname Stone). He arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1906 and attended Roxbury High School while working as an instructor in a Hebrew religious school. He continued this work while attending Boston University Law School, and also worked as a reporter for The Boston Journal. He received his LL.B. in 1915 and established a law office in Boston. In 1918 he was appointed to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he completed two terms, serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Judiciary Committee, and as Chair of the Committee on Elections. In 1920, he was on a Special Committee to revise and consolidate the laws of Massachusetts, and he served as Assistant U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts from 1922 to 1934. In this capacity, he was responsible for the prosecution of cases violating the National Prohibition Act and the narcotic laws. Following his retirement from office, he continued his private law practice.

Elihu was active in the Zionist movement, and, in 1919, was responsible for the passage of a resolution in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, urging American Delegates to the Paris Peace Conference to support the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine. He was largely responsible for the passage of the Palestine Resolution by the Massachusetts Legislation on March 29, 1922, which in turn led to the Joint Resolution passed by the U.S. Congress later that year, favoring the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. He was one of the American members of the Administrative Committee for the Jewish Agency of Palestine, a member of the Actions Committee of the World Zionist Organization, and vice-president and life member of the Zionist Organization of America, which he had helped re-organize in 1918. He was a founder of the New England Zionist Region, served as its president for 13 years, and was declared an honorary president for life of the organization. He was also national vice-chairman and New England chairman of the United Palestine Appeal, and a director of the Jewish National Fund.

Elihu was active in community affairs and served as president of Congregation Mishkan Tefila for over 10 years. In 1938, he was awarded a distinguished service award as a result of his efforts on behalf of the people of Lithuania. He married Esther Israel in 1917 and had two sons, Theodore Mordecai and Judah Meir. He died in 1952.

Elchannon and Channa Libe (Goldberg) (Tzerelstein) Stone

Channa Libe (Goldberg) Stone was born to Eliezar and Bayle Goldberg, circa 1860, in Lithuania. She married Elchannan Tzerelstein and started a family in Meretz. Elchannan was a pioneer Zionist and disciple of Theodor Herzl, as well as a distinguished Hebrew teacher and scholar. The couple had eight children: Louis, Elihu, Julius, Sarah, Moses, Florence, Aaron, and Sidney (see above and below). Following Elchannan's death in 1910, Channa immigrated to Boston to be with her children. Once in the United States, she went by Hannah or Anna Libby Stone. Channa descended from a rabbinical family and took over the religious leadership of her family after her husband died. She was member of Congregation Beth El in Dorchester, Massachusetts; the Beth El Sisterhood; and the Home for the Aged. She died October 4, 1937 at Beth Israel Hospital.

Louis Gottlieb and Esther (Goldberg) Stone

Louis Gottlieb Stone was born on November 15, 1883 in Meretz. In his youth he attended the Vilna Yeshiva in Vilnius, Lithuania. He immigrated to the United States in May of 1904 and settled in Massachusetts, where he worked as a salesman for a time. Louis graduated from Suffolk Law School and was an attorney for more than 35 years. He was an active Zionist and was a member of the Brookline-Brighton-Newton Zionist District. He was also a member of the New Century Club, served as president of the Lithuania Federation of Jews in America and the Meretz Relief Association, and helped establish the Meretz Free Loan Association in Israel in 1951. On September 1, 1912, he married Esther Goldberg, daughter of Isaac and Leah (Badanes) Goldberg. Esther was born circa 1884 and emigrated from Lithuania with her family. Together they had three children: Albert, Phoebe, and Isaac. Esther died on June 19, 1951, and Louis died on April 23, 1954.

Julius Yehuda and Mamie Mikel (Monteveleska) Stone

Julius Yehuda Stone was born on April 18, 1889 in Meretz. He attended the Vilna Yeshiva, and, in 1909, immigrated to the United States and lived with his older brothers Louis and Elihu in Dorchester. Julius was a member of the Choral Group of the Dorchester-Roxbury-Mattapan-Milton Region and sang in other synagogue choirs in his youth. He was an ardent Zionist and worked in the Jewish newspaper business. On May 21, 1916, he married Mamie Mikel Monteveleska. Mamie was born in Lithuania on January 18, 1892 to Jacob Yankel and Chane (Fagel) Monteveleska. They had four children: Beatrice, Charlotte, Harmon, and Irwin Both served in the U.S. armed forces during WWII, Julius in the Army Engindeering Corps. and Mamie in the Navy. Julius died on April 7, 1963, and Mamie died on May 30, 1978.

Sarah M. (Stone) and Abraham Wagman

Sarah M. Stone was born on March 15, 1891 in Meretz. She immigrated to Boston in 1910. Sarah was active in the women’s division of Israel Bonds, was elected vice president for life of the Chelsea Hadassah, and served as president of Chelsea Hebrew School Women’s Auxiliary. She was member of the Chelsea Auxiliary of the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged and the Shurtleff Street Shul. On August 11, 1914, she married Abraham Wagman, a dry goods merchant who was born in 1894 and had emigrated from Lithuania in 1905. The couple eventually settled in Chelsea and had three children: Theodore, Barbara, and Deborah. Abraham died on March 15, 1969, and Sarah died on September 13, 1987 in Virginia.

Moses Jacob and Miriam (Cushing) Stone

Moses Jacob Stone was born on August 8, 1895 in Meretz and immigrated to the United States in 1911. He graduated from Tufts Medical School in 1921 and interned at the Rutland State Sanitorium in Vermont. He later became chief of staff of the Jewish Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Rutland and chief of the outpatient chest clinic at Beth Israel Hospital. In addition to writing a book on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, he was an assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine and an instructor at Tufts Medical School. On February 17, 1927, he married Miriam Cushing, born in 1899 to Benjamin and Rebecca Cushing. Together they had three children: Elhanan, Harris, and Syril. Moses died December 13, 1952. Miriam remarried in 1955 to Dr. Maurice Berlin and died in 1997.

Florence Rose (Stone) and Bernard Abrams Kaplan

Florence Rose Stone was born Frume Razel on January 15, 1896 in Meretz. She immigrated to the United States in 1908 and in 1920 married Bernard Abrams Kaplan. Bernard was born in 1895 and immigrated to the United States from Vilna. They had two sons: Reuben and Harold. Bernard died May 18, 1951, and Florence died June 21, 1964 in Miami, Florida.

Aaron Hirsh and Ida (Silverman) Stone

Aaron Hirsh Stone was born circa 1898 in Meretz. He immigrated to Boston in 1911 and attended Dorchester High School and later graduated from Tufts School of Dental Medicine in 1921. He was Zionist leader, helping organize the Mattapan-Dorchester-Roxbury Zionist District and serving as its first secretary, and later as president. He was editor of the M-D-R Zionist Bulletin and was one of the cofounders of the Mattapan-Zionist-Hadassah Choral Group, serving as its president for 15 years. Aaron also served as New England Zionist Region secretary and was a member of the National Zionist Organization of America Executive Committee. He was also a member of the Massachuseets Dental Society, American Dental Association, and Tufts Dental Alumni Association, and was affiliated with Mishkan Tefila and Temple Beth Hillel. In 1923 he married Ida Silverman, born circa 1898 to David and Lena (Goldman) Silverman. Together they had two sons: Allan and Raymond. Aaron died June 14, 1961, and Ida died April 23, 1962.

Sidney Phineas and Rhoda (Freedson) Stone

Sidney Phineas Stone was born Zelig Pinchas in 1900 in Meretz. He graduated from Tufts Dental School in 1922 and Harvard Graduate School of Dentistry in 1933. He practiced dentistry for more than 35 years. Sidney was a member of the Zionist Organization of America, Temple Mishkan Tefila, Congregation Beth El Brotherhood and Everett Lodge AF & AM. He also served as president of the Greater Boston Dental Society, Harvard Society of Orthodontists, fellow of the American Academy of Dental Science, among other dental affiliations. In 1929 he married Rhoda Freedson, born in 1906 to Abraham and Minnie (Kebow) Freedson. They had two children: Beverly and Eliot. Sidney died June 11, 1968, and Rhode died February 13, 1983.

Goldie (Monteveleska) and Sam Lacob

Goldie Monteveleska, sister of Mamie (see above), was born on January 15, 1898 to Jacob Yankel and Chane (Fagel) Monteveleska in Meretz. She immigrated to the United States in 1913 under the name Golde Matwelishaja. In 1918 she married Sam Lacob. Botn in 1891 in Witebsk, Russia (present-day Vitebsk, Belarus, Sam immigrated to the United States circa 1911 under the name Shamel Liacov and worked as a presser in a dress shop. They had two children: Koppel and Esther. Sam died April 11, 1964, and Goldie died October 7, 1993 in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Rachel (Monteveleska) and Eliezar Mann

Rachel Monteveleska, sister of Mamie (see above), was born to Jacob Yankel and Chane (Fagel) Monteveleska. She immigrated to Israel and married Eliezar Mann. Together they had three children: Reuven, Jochanam, and Chienna.

1860

Channa Libe (Goldberg) Stone is born.

November 15, 1883

Louis Gottlieb Stone is born.

1884

Esther (Goldberg) Stone is born.

July 18, 1888

Elihu David Stone is born.

December 23, 1888

Esther (Israel) Stone is born.

April 18, 1889

Julius Yehuda Stone is born.

1891

Samuel Lacob is born.

March 15, 1891

Sarah M. (Stone) Wagman is born.

January 18, 1892

Mamie Mikel (Monteveleska) Stone is born.

August 8, 1895

Moses Jacob Stone is born.

January 15, 1892

Florence Rose (Stone) Kaplan is born.

1894

Abraham Wagman is born.

1895

Bernard Abrams Kaplan is born.

1898

Aaron Hirsch Stone is born.

1898

Ida (Silverman) Stone is born.

January 15, 1898

Goldie (Monteveleska) Lacob is born.

1900

Sidney Phineas Stone is born.

1906

Rhoda (Freedson) Stone is born.

1906

Elihu Stone immgrates to the United States.

1910

Elchannan Tzerelstein dies.

1915

Elihu Stone receives his LL.B.

1918

Elihu Stone is appointed to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

1922-1934

Elihu Stone serves as Assistant U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts.

October 4, 1937

Channa Libe (Goldberg) Stone dies.

May 18, 1951

Bernard Abrams Kaplan dies.

June 19, 1951

Esther (Goldberg) Stone dies.

December 23, 1952

Moses Jacob Stone dies.

April 23, 1954

Louis Gottlieb Stone dies.

June 14, 1961

Aaron Hirsch Stone dies.

April 13, 1962

Ida (Silverman) Stone dies.

April 7, 1963

Julius Yehuda Stone dies.

April 11, 1964

Samuel Lacob dies.

June 21, 1964

Florence Rose (Stone) Kaplan dies.

June 11, 1968

Sidney Phineas Stone dies.

March 15, 1969

Abraham Wagman dies.

May 30, 1978

Mamie Mikel (Monteveleska) Stone dies.

February 13, 1983

Rhoda (Freedson) Stone dies.

September 13, 1987

Sarah M. (Stone) Wagman dies.

October 7, 1993

Goldie (Monteveleska) Lacob dies.

1997

Miriam (Cushing) Stone dies.