 During the Spanish–American War, he served as a corporal in Company K, Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, from May 1898 to May 1899 with service in Cuba.He studied law at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Stone was elected county superintendent of schools for Peoria County, Illinois, in 1902, reelected in 1906, and served until 1910.He served as president of the Association of County Superintendents of Schools of Illinois in 1909.