Thomas Stone, signer of the Declaration of Independence, came from a long line of public servants. The line began with his great-grandfather William Stone, who left England for America in 1628.
From Virginia to Maryland
William Stone settled first in Virginia and prospered there, then moved to Maryland. In both colonies he earned a reputation as an honest, fair-minded man.
England's war comes to Maryland
In 1642, civil war broke out in England between King Charles I — raised Protestant but sympathetic to Catholics; his Catholic wife, Henrietta Maria, is the queen Maryland was named for — and the mostly Puritan Parliament. After six years of fighting, Parliament prevailed, and in January 1649 the king was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell went on to rule England as Lord Protector.
The conflict spilled across the Atlantic. Puritans in Maryland raided Catholic properties and did so much damage that the period became known as "The Plundering Time."
A Protestant governor for a Catholic proprietor
Maryland's proprietor, Cecilius Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore, was Catholic. With Parliament apparently winning in England and Puritans causing havoc in his colony, he wanted to show both that he remained a loyal subject of the governing power. In 1648 he chose William Stone, a Protestant, as governor — the first Protestant to hold the office. Calvert hoped Stone could restore peace among the religious factions. He was wrong.
Turmoil
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1649 | Stone adopts the Religious Toleration Act, angering Maryland's Puritans, who opposed his tolerance toward other Christians, particularly Catholics |
| 1654 | A strong Puritan force removes Stone from office |
| March 1655 | Stone raises a small army of Catholics and non-Puritan Protestants to retake the colony, but is defeated at the Battle of the Severn and imprisoned |
| 1658 | Stone is freed after Cromwell's death |
Poynton Manor
In reward for his service to the Calvert family, Stone received land in the newly formed Charles County, Maryland. He built his home, Poynton Manor, and lived there until his death in 1660, when the property was divided among his sons. His descendants would include a governor of Maryland, a member of the first U.S. Congress, and Thomas Stone, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Sources
Based on "William Stone Arrives in the New World," Thomas Stone National Historic Site, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
In these publicationsThomas Stone National Historic Site
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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