Stone, Thomas, 1743-1787

Thomas Stone (1743 – October 5, 1787) was an American Founding Father, planter, politician, and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. He later worked on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777. He acted as president of Congress for a short time in 1784. Stone was a member of the Maryland Senate from 1777 to 1780 and again from 1781 to 1787.

Born at Poynton Manor in Charles County, Maryland, Stone was educated by a Scottish school-master and later studied law at the office of Thomas Johnson. He was admitted to the Bar in 1764 and set up practice in Frederick Maryland. He was a prosperous landowner and moderately successful lawyer. As the American Revolution neared, Stone joined the Committee of correspondence for Charles County. From 1774 to 1776, he was a member of Maryland's Annapolis Convention. In 1775, the convention sent Stone as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was re-elected and attended regularly for several years. On May 15, 1776, he voted in favor of drafting a declaration of independence, in spite of restrictions from the Maryland convention that prevented their delegates from supporting it. In June the restriction was lifted, so Maryland's delegates were free to vote for Independence.

After Stone signed the Declaration of Independence, he declined future appointment to the Congress, except for part of 1784, when the meetings were at Annapolis. Stone accepted election to the Maryland Senate from 1779 until 1785, at first in order to promote the Articles of Confederation, which Maryland was the last state to approve. He gave up the practice of law to care for his sick wife and their growing children. As her health continued to decline, he gradually withdrew from public life. After his wife's death in 1787, he became depressed and died less than four months later in Alexandria, Virginia. Stone was buried at his plantation home, which still stands.