THOMAS
STONE was born
at Pointon Manor in Charles County, Maryland in 1743, the son of David
Stone.Young Stone had an
unusual fondness for learning and at the age of fifteen, he obtained his father's reluctant consent to enter the school of a Mr. Blaizedel for
the study of the Greek and Latin languages.This school was more than ten miles from his home and young Stone
arose early every morning and rode on horseback to acquire his
education.After completing
his schooling with Mr. Blaizedel, Stone desired to pursue the study of
law.Although his father
had considerable fortune, young Stone found it necessary to borrow the
money to further his education.He
studied under Thomas Johnson a respectable lawyer in Annapolis, and upon
finishing his studies, he entered practice in Fredericktown.
Thomas
Stone married when he was twenty-five and in a candid display of love
for his wife, Margaret Brown, built her one of the finest homes in all
of Maryland, ‘Habre-de-Venture' near Port Tobacco. Stone's
business was not lucrative, and the soil of his farm was poor so that he
found it difficult to obtain a decent livelihood.The expenses of his family were increased by the responsibility
of four brothers, who were quite young and of this own three children.However, his law practice flourished and he was elected to the
Continental congress when two members were added to the Maryland
delegation in 1774, taking his seat on May 15, 1775.In July he was re-elected for another year and again on May 21,
1776.
Although Stone did not have an active part in the debates of congress, he served on many important committees.He was appointed the only member from his province to the
committee on confederation, and he remained on this committee working
diligently until the Articles of Confederation were finally settled and
agreed to by the vote of November 15, 1777.Stone declined a re-election to the congress and entered the
Maryland senate where he felt he could be more useful to the patriotic
cause.
In
1787 Stone's wife became alarmingly ill.She had received a small pox inoculation and because she had
received careless treatment, she experienced a long state of weakness
and decline.Stone watched
over her with unwearied devotion and a deep and abiding melancholy
overtook his spirit.At
length, however, in the middle of that year, she sank to the grave.From this time, the health of Stone evidently declined.In the autumn of the same year his physicians advised him to take
a sea voyage and in obedience to that advice, he traveled to Alexandria,
to embark for England.Before
the vessel was ready to sail, however, he suddenly expired, on October
5, 1787 in the forty-fifth year of his age.
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