Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone (* 1743 on the "Poynton Manor" in Charles County , Province of Maryland , colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain ; † October 5, 1787 in Alexandria , Virginia , USA ) was a British-American lawyer and plantation owner. As a signer of the Declaration of Independence for Maryland, he is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . He participated in the drafting of the articles of confederation and was then President of the US Congress.

Life

Thomas Stone was born into a prominent family. He was the second son of the large family of David (1709–1773) and Elizabeth Jenifer Stone. His brothers Michael and John Hoskins Stone also had significant political careers. Stone studied law at Thomas Johnson's Annapolis office , was admitted to the bar in 1764, and opened a practice in Frederick .

In 1768 Stone married Margaret Brown (1751–1787), the youngest daughter of Gustavis Brown, who was considered the richest man in the county. Soon after purchasing the first 400 acres (1.6 km²), he began building his country estate called Habredeventure. The family made it their home and they had three children: Margaret (1771–1809), Mildred (1773–1837) and Fredrik (1774–1793). His legal practice kept him away from his home, so he took in his younger brother Michael, who managed the plantation's development.

American independence movement

When the American Revolution began, Stone joined the Charles County Correspondence Committee. In 1775, the Annapolis Convention sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress . He was re-elected and remained in office for seven years. On May 5, 1776, he voted for the draft Declaration of Independence, even though the Annapolis Convention had prohibited him from supporting independence. In June the restriction was lifted so that Maryland delegates could freely vote for independence.

That same year, Stone was appointed to the committee that drafted the articles of confederation and was struck by a personal tragedy. His wife Margaret visited him in Philadelphia , which was in the midst of a smallpox epidemic . She was vaccinated against smallpox, but a backlash to the disease made her sick. Her health got worse and worse for the rest of her life. After Stone signed the Declaration of Independence, he took his wife home and refused to join Congress. He partially resumed his work in 1784 when the meetings were held in Annapolis.

Stones grave

Stone accepted election to the Maryland Senate for the period 1779-1785, first to endorse the Articles of Confederation, which became the final state to endorse Maryland. But he gave up his office to take care of his wife Margaret and their growing children. As her condition deteriorated, he partially withdrew from public life. He handed over the management of his plantation to his brother. When Margaret died in 1787, he became depressed and died less than four months after her.

Stone was buried in his plantation in Port Tobacco Village , which still exists today. "Habredeventure" is now the center of the Thomas Stone National Historic Site and is operated as a museum by the US National Park Service .

Web links

• Thomas Stone in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Website of Thomas Stone National Historic Site (English)
• Biography of Thomas Stone at colonialhall.com (English)