Born in Jackson, Horatio was a renowned sculptor with 6 or his works on permanent display at the US Capitol in DC.
But we don’t have to go that far to see his work. Drive north on County Rt 62 to the intersection of Kenyon Hill Road. On the right (east) up on a knoll is Wells Cemetery. Horatio’s mother, Nancy Fairchild Stone, is buried. Horatio’s first major work, The Three Marys at the Tomb, adorns her grave.
Born in Jackson, New York, he was the eldest of the six children of Reuben and Nancy Fairchild Stone. In 1865 Congress awarded Stone three statue commissions for the U.S. Capitol: John Hancock, Alexander Hamilton, and Edward Dickinson Baker. Baker was the only sitting US lawmaker to die in the Civil War.
In 1870 Congress appropriated $10,000 for the creation of a work of art for the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Stone proposed a set of three heroic-sized bronze vases, decorated with vignettes from American history.
He was awarded the commission following this report to Congress … Mr. Stone’s statues of Hancock and Hamilton are the only works of any real value purchased out of the appropriation referred to above. His Hamilton is remarkably fine; and it is worthy of notice here that these works, costing so little in comparison with others purchased by the government, should be so much more valuable for their artistic merit. It is also to the credit of Mr. Stone that he filled his contract promptly, according to the agreement, and has not called on Congress for extra compensation.