Harrison Tone 1835 -1901	Murray, B. C. “H. Tone Sr. Dead: The Career of a Remarkable Man Who Has Resided Here Nearly Thirty Years—All Denison Mourns.” Denison Sunday Gazetteer, January 20, 1901.   No event that has happened in this community in a great many, many years which caused more profound sorrow than the death of Harrison Tone, which occurred Saturday night, the 12th. On Friday the writer met Mr. Tone on the sidewalk in front of his office, and he remarked that he was in unusually good health; that he was entirely free from his old enemy, rheumatism. Little did he dream that he was standing in the shadow of death, and that a few hours hence the grim messenger would call him to that bourne from whence no traveler will ever return. The circumstances attending the death of Mr. Tone are well known. He was a patriot, a loyal, loving American to the core. While addressing the G. A. R. Post at the installation ceremonies the blow fell. He was carried to his home on Gandy Street, where he lingered for a few hours and passed away as pleasantly as one who lies down to pleasant dreams. He was unconscious to the end, and there was no suffering. This was a boon devoutly to be wished for. When a man dies suddenly they say he dies with his harness on, and there never was a remark that applies more aptly than to the demise of H. Tone. Yes, the old veteran died with his harness on, a sentinel on duty to the last moment of his business life. But very few people realize how Mr. Tone has suffered in the past few years. He has seen but few well days. His courage was of the sublime, patient quality. The majority of men would have rested, but he worked on, taking but few respites. His sickness did not sour his disposition. He was the personification of good nature, even in his greatest suffering; there was a humorous side to his well-balanced character. Every man, woman, or child who came to him was received with good nature. It was this sweetness of character that made him the most popular, the most loved, man who has ever lived in Denison. He was probably the most bored business man in Denison, for everyone seemed to think that he was the public oracle to be consulted on every conceivable subject that affects the affairs of life. He had a profound sense of his obligations to his fellow man. He was willing at all times, under all circumstances, to lighten the burdens of those who went to him for advice. No word of his is ever remembered with regret or pain. He was the apostle of what is lofty, brave, and splendid in this passing life of ours. With all his gentle nature, Tone was firm, resolute, and indomitable. This is illustrated in his public life, more particularly so when Denison was passing through the transition state. Intellectually, he was rarely gifted. It is a pity that some of his public speeches have not been preserved. He was an eloquent, fluent talker. No public man in Denison, either before or during his time, was more capable of entertaining an audience than H. Tone. Capitalists, boomers, railway magnates, visiting delegates, who were received by Mr. Tone as the city’s chief representative, were always impressed with his intellectual acquirements. He was a thinker. From under the dark shadows of restless, intellectual doubts, which come to all men who read and think and reason, he never could exactly see his way clear to a future life. Like Ingersoll, he hoped and let the matter rest there. The public services of Mr. Tone are so well known that to recapitulate [them] is superfluous. He was for a period of over two decades, a prominent factor in our business and industrial life. He was mayor, councilman and a devoted friend to the public schools. He was for anything and everything that would redound to the advancement of Denison. He felt impelled to put his mind and heart, his time, and, as it now appears, his very life into his last effort to edify and please his fellow citizens. His industry would have attracted attention in whatever sphere of life he had moved. His death is an irreparable loss, not merely to his family, but it is a public calamity when such a man passes off the stage of life. In early life he married Miss Frances E. Brown of Syracuse, N.Y., and this union was blessed by three children—Harry, Lawrence, and Isie May, all of whom survive. After a happy wedded life of thirty-four years, Mrs. Tone died in 1898. Last spring, Mr. Tone and his devoted daughter, Miss Isie, left here, as they thought, to make their future home among friends and relatives in Des Moines, Iowa. The change of climate was advised by physicians. Mr. Tone’s first duty was toward his daughter, who was rapidly declining in general health. He was loth [sic] to leave Denison, but did not consider any sacrifice sufficient when his daughter’s welfare was to be considered. After remaining in Iowa several months, Mr. Tone returned to Denison. The rigid climate did not agree with either the father or daughter. We suspect now that they were both home-sick and longed for the bright skies and genial climate of the sunny South. Those who met Mr. Tone could easily see that he was glad to return. The best portion of his eventful life had been spent in Denison; his home was here, his heart was here, and here will he sleep in eternal peace among a great throng who are silent, but in their day and prime were eventful factors in making history for Denison. On the eve of Mr. Tone’s departure for Iowa the following beautiful, touching farewell was prepared for the Gazetteer. We are glad now that we have it, as it is really an epitome of one of the most remarkable men that ever cast his lot with the growing empire of the Southwest. It is not too much praise to say that he was the father of Denison. All of its early history is so closely interwoven with his public and private life that the city and the man are indissolubly cemented. In losing Mr. Tone the city loses one of the oldest if not the oldest of its landmarks. He came here when the townsite was a wilderness and, as he used to say, “had been here always.” From August 1872 to June 1900 this has been his home, and he was one of the busiest and hardest working men in all the city. Often and often when the midnight hour has struck it has found him still working at his desk. He has written more deeds than any other man in Grayson County. One of his peculiarities and the one which helped him most in his business was his wonderful memory. Not many years ago a wager was offered that Mr. Tone could be shut up in a room in which there should be nothing but a chair and a table, a pencil and a large sheet of paper, and make a complete map of the city then tell from memory the owner of every lot in it. In fact he was a veritable walking encyclopedia of the history of Denison real estate, both written and unwritten. If there was a missing link in a chain of title he knew where to go to find it; if there was a cloud upon a title, he knew to whom to apply to remove it. The president of the Denison Town Company used to say that he would rather trust to Mr. Tone’s memory than to any records he had ever found. His office was always crowded and in the early days it was nothing unusual to see him writing a deed at a lightning pace, for he was the most rapid writer in the county, and at the same time conversing with two different men upon different subjects in order to entertain them until it came their “next.” He was always a very sympathetic man, and a tale of woe, especially if it came from a woman or child, always went straight to his heart, and sent his hand with equal promptness straight to his pocket. During his two terms as mayor he made it his boast that no person in distress, man, woman or child, had ever left his office without receiving assistance. He knew that his kindness was often imposed upon, but that never seemed to weaken his faith in humanity or lessen his desire to give relief. Mr. Tone is now nearly 65 years of age and during the last five year has been a great sufferer from rheumatism, which is the principal cause of his leaving the city, for we all know that there is no citizen who has a deeper love for Denison than has he. He was educated at Antioch College in Ohio, where he graduated in 1859 under Horace Mann, and three years later took his second degree. In the spring of 1862 he entered the service of the Sanitary Commission, distributing supplies to the sick and wounded soldiers and remained with the army until the close of the war, during which time he distributed millions of dollars worth of goods. He has often said that this service spoiled him for ever accumulating anything for himself because he became so accustomed to supplying soldiers’ wants that whenever people told him they needed anything he thought they ought to have it, and would give it to them if he could. During the last fifteen years he has devoted a great deal of his time to obtaining pensions for soldiers and soldiers’ families, and has been instrumental in procuring more than half a hundred. He seemed to be working more for the sake of helping them than himself, for half the time he did it without pay. Indeed, it has passed into a proverb, “If you want anything done for nothing, go to Tone, he will fix it for you.” His daughter, Miss Isie May, a music teacher, almost as well known as her father, and who since the death of her mother two years ago has been the only child left in the family home, is also an invalid and has been advised by her physicians that she cannot live in this climate. And so the devoted father and daughter, neither of whom could be induced to desert the other, have abandoned their beautiful home here, to go together in search of another in a cooler clime where they hope to regain their youthful briskness and elasticity of step for which they have both been noted. The funeral of Mr. Tone was a spontaneous tribute of all classes and conditions. Such an outpouring has not been witnessed in years. The funeral was under the auspices of Myrtle Lodge No. 22, Knights of Pythias, of which the deceased was a member. The cortege started from the residence, No. 120 West Gandy Street, and proceeded to St. Luke’s Church, where Rev. J. B. Gibble read the impressive Episcopal service for the dead. Eight honorary pall bear[er]s preceded the casket, while six Knights of Myrtle Lodge acted as pall bearers. The cortege was made up of Myrtle Lodge, Company 20, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias; Nathaniel Lyon Post No. 5, G. A. R.; W. R. C. No. 2; the mayor and members of the city council in a body; the fire department, consisting of two hose carts and the chemical engine; and a long line of carriages, containing friends of the deceased. And so he rests. At his grave every flower expressed a sweet emblem of some virtue and grace of his life, and each offering was but the outward sign of a grateful memory, which unlike the fading flowers, however, can never die. Then is this lowly mound a hallowed spot, and needs not the sculptured stone, the fretted column and the obelisk; his memory will live in the grateful hearts of his fellow citizens.
Fannie B. Tone 1839 - 1898	Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, October 16, 1898 pg 4 DEATH OF MRS. H. TONE Died, at Austin, Texas, on Saturday, October 8, 1898. Fannie Brown Tone, wife of H. Tone, of Denison, Texas, aged 59 years and 7 months. Fannie Brown was born at Syracuse, N.W., March 3, 1839, and was married to Harrison Tone at Cleveland, Ohio, April 20, 1864. The early years of her married life were spent in Cleveland, and in Ottawa, Kas. In February, 1873, she came with her husband to Denison, Tex., which was then but an embryo village, and here she has ever since resided. Possessed of more than ordinary intelligence and culture, she was a woman of strong personal character, and although reserved in manner and making comparatively few acquaintances, she impressed herself upon all with whom she came in contact, and her friends wee 'grappled to her heart with hooks of steel." Their joys were her joys, and their sorrows were her sorrows. Domestic in her tastes, strong in her affections and devoted to the members of her family , her home was her earthly idol,, and she was the idol of that home. She had been ailing for several months with an insidious disease that was peeving upon her vitals, but with that unselfishness for which she was noted she concealed her true condition from her family, and bore her sufferings uncomplainingly to the last. It was one month ago that she became seriously ill, and, hoping that a change would be beneficial to her, her daughter accompanied her to Austin, where she died. Her critical condition was not known to the members of the family, and her death was so sudden and unexpected that no others were with her in the last trying hour. The broken circle which she leaves behind consists of her husband, a daughter and two sons, the youngest of the boys is just entering upon the years of manhood. The last sad rites were performed in the beautiful and impressive ceremonies of the Episcopal church on Monday, and her remains were laid to rest in Fairview cemetery, in the presence of a large concourse of sorrowing and sympathizing friends.
Harry Tone Jr. 1870 - 1953	Lawrence Tone 1878 - 1954

Isobel M. Tone 1943

Frederica Cobb Tone 1966	Bertha Tone 1891 - 1975

James H. Tone
1902 - 1902



Fairview Cemetery
Susan Hawkins
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