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William Stone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Stone (1603-1695) was an English pioneer and an early settler in Maryland. He was governor of the colony of Maryland from 1649 to 1655.
William was born in Nottinghamshire, and first 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. Stone reached an agreement with Lord Baltimore to resettle the group in Maryland in 1648, and he led them to the future site of Annapolis.
On August 8, 1648 Lord Baltimore named Stone the governor of his colony. He was the first Protestant governor of what had up until now 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.
During the English Civil War parliamentary forces assumed control of Maryland in 1654 and Stone went into exile in Virginia. He returned the following spring at the head of a Cavalier force, but was defeated and taken prisoner on March 25, 1655. Stone was replaced as Governor by Josias Fendall (ca. 1628-1687). He took no further part in public affairs.
When the proprietor's government was restored in 1660 by Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Stone was granted as much land as he could ride around in a day as a rewared for his faithful service. He concentrated on developing his plantaton at Poynton Manor in what is now Charles County, Maryland.
His great-grandson, David (1709-1733), greatly expanded the value of the estate at Poynton and returned the family to prominence. His 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, and William Murray Stone was the Episcopal Bishop of Baltimore.