.......Fourth child of Reuben and Iantha Dunham Stone, my Aunt "Iney" was one of the priciple people in my life as I was growing up. Strange to say, but it is her voice that comes to my mind first when I think of her. Aunt Ina did not hear well, so she developed a habit of talking lound. It is this about her that is endearing to me because it brings with it so many memories. Since She and our family lived in the same town, Dunbar, Ina and my mother talked often on the phone. I was often sick and had to stay home from school. I remember fondly lying in bed and having the phone ring and hearing Aunt Ina's, "Hello, how are you all today?" Mom would reply, "I've got a sick boy." I remember a number of things about Aunt Ina, but the memory of her voice ties them all together.
.......Ina's birth was not the blessed event that it should have been. There was a twin brother, but Ina's mother had fallen on a large rock a few days before and the brother was stillborn. The loss of her twin would always affect Ina's life for there would aways be a part of her self missing. That's enough said about that.
.......As was the lot of Ina's sisters, life on the Stone Farm was a life of hard work. Not only did they work inside the house, they also had to work in the field and in the barn. Like my mother and the rest of the girls, Ina learned to be a great cook and house keeper. The Stone girls would take a back seat to no one in this department. I don't recall having a bad meal or seeing a messy house at any of their homes, and, I grew up in one of them. I never went hungry.
.......Aunt Ina and my mother married brothers. In fact, Ina and my Uncle Walt helped my mom and dad elope. Ina and Walt had four sons: Walter Lee Jr., William, Ray Stone, and Franklin. Bill passed away a few years ago and is buried at King Cemetery. These sons were my double first cousins.
.......I wish I could say that Ina and Walt stayed together, but, when the United States entered World War II and two of his boys entered the service, Walt wanted to go also. Ina didn't want him to go. The marriage did not survive this disagreement and their pride. Ina worked hard at Fletcher Enamel Company during the war.
Ina and the boys, Lee, Bill, Ray, and Frank
.......Ina would marry four more times. Twice to Delbert Casdorph who had a drinking problem. In about 1952, Ina married Harry Carte who was an ex-prize fighter and one of the most interesting men that I have ever met. Under the name of Harry Forbes the "Chicago Sweetheart," Harry fought mnany times until he was blinded in what was his last fight. Although some of his sight was restored, Harry could never see well. Since Harry could not see well enough to drive, he and Ina would ride with us to Grandma's. Since Harry liked to talk, these were always interesting rides. Ina liked to talk also, so I learned a lot about the days on the farm by listening to these four older folks talk. After Harry passed away, Ina married Fred Wilcox whom she also survived. Ina passed away in her eighties when her heart just quit.
I'm not sure, but I believe that this iis Ina and her first cousins Yhelma and Garnet King.
.......In closing this little piece, I will say that Ina was a good honest woman who had a lot of love for all of her family. Ina was never on the dull side and probably had the best sense of humor of all of the Stone Girls. I always felt that I had a special place in her heart. None of the Stone Girls were the same, but they all made good women. One, Virgina, died as a young girl. I often wonder what she would have been like. But, I do kno this, "My life has been much better for having known Aunt Ina.
to be continued
