William Stone (c. 1603 – c. 1660) was an English pioneer and an early settler in Maryland. He was governor of the colony of Maryland from 1649 to 1655.
Early life
Stone was born in Northamptonshire, England.[1]
Stone came to America in 1628 with a group of Puritans who settled in the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Their settlement thrived, but eventually came into conflict with Virginia's established Episcopal Church.
In 1648, Stone reached an agreement with Cecilius Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore to resettle the group in central Maryland.
Governor of the Maryland colony
On August 8, 1648, Lord Baltimore named Stone the Governor of his colony. He was the first Protestant Governor of what had up until then been a Catholic Colony. The Assembly sought a confirmation of their religious liberty and in 1649 Governor Stone signed the Religious Toleration Act, which permitted liberty to all Christian denominations.
In 1649, Stone and Puritan exiles from Virginia founded the town of Providence on the north shore of the Severn River and across from what is today the Maryland state capital of Annapolis.
In 1654, after the Third English Civil War (1649–51), Parliamentary forces assumed control of Maryland and Stone went into exile in Virginia. Per orders from Lord Baltimore, Stone returned the following spring at the head of a Cavalier force. But, in what is known as the Battle of the Severn (March 25, 1655), Stone was defeated and taken prisoner.
Stone was replaced as Governor by Josias Fendall (1628–87), and took no further part in public affairs.
Restoration and land grant
In 1660, the monarchy in England and the proprietor's government in Maryland were restored. Lord Baltimore granted Stone as much land as he could ride around in a day, as a reward for Stone's faithful service. Stone concentrated on developing his plantation at Poynton Manor in what is now Charles County, Maryland, where he died in about 1660.[1]
Legacy
Stone's great-grandson, David (born 1709), greatly expanded the value of the estate at Poynton and returned the family to prominence.[2] William Stone's great-great-grandsons made major contributions to the foundation of Maryland as an American state: Thomas Stone signed the Declaration of Independence, Michael Jenifer Stone represented Maryland in the First United States Congress, John Hoskins Stone was Governor of Maryland 1794–97, and William Murray Stone was the Episcopal Bishop of Baltimore.
References
- ^ a b Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 1018. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons/London: Oxford University Press, 1964.
- ^ David Stone died intestate on March 18, 1773, at the age of 64.[1]
See also
Further reading
