Great Depression Hero B. Virdot Honored At Reunion of Those He Helped

A Canton, Ohio businessman, Samuel J. Stone, gave money to people in need, using the alias B. Virdot. Now, the relatives of those he helped have reunited to remember his kindness.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on November 09 2010

Samuel J. Stone, aka B. Virdot.

During the Great Depression, many hardworking families were left penniless. They considered themselves too proud to beg—but when a man by the name of B. Virdot placed an ad in the Canton Repository, offering cash gifts to families in need, they knew they could ask this generous stranger for assistance.

“I am writing this because I need clothing,” wrote a woman named Helen Palm. “And sometimes we run out of food.”

Palm received the money she needed from B. Virdot—and, 77 years later, she’s finally sharing her appreciation for the help with the world. Though she is the only surviving recipient of Virdot’s charity, more than 400 family members of those he helped came together last week to talk about the hard times and how the money had helped them.

The event was planned by Canton native Ted Gup, a former Washington Post journalist. Gup had recently discovered that his grandfather, Samuel J. Stone, had been the mysterious B. Virdot, and decided to write a book about the letters he’d found and how his grandfather’s donations had helped.

One letter-writer, Olive Hillman, used Virdot’s $5 check to purchase a porcelain doll as a Christmas present for her 8-year-old daughter, Geraldine.

Geraldine, now 85, still remembers that gift well. “I was thrilled to get it,” she told the New York Times. “It really was the only doll that I ever had in my life, so it meant a lot to me.”

Filed under: Heroes, History,

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