Thomas Stone

One of the more familiar names associated with Port Tobacco is Thomas Stone. Born in 1743 to a prominant familiy near Port Tobacco, Stone is most famous for his work on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation and later became President of Congress in 1784.

Apparently, Stone was a ramblin' man. Deciding to become a lawyer (go figure), he rode for the circuit court between Port Tobacco, Annapolis, and Frederick. In 1768, he marrried Margaret Brown, daughter of the richest man in Charles County, Dr. Gustavis Brown. (Dr. Brown will be featured in a later blog.) Stone was a pacifist, but still voted in favor of drafting the Declaration of Independence. Opposed to going to war with Great Britain, he favored diplomatic negotiations. He was one of the signers of the Declaration.

Soon after his marriage, Stone purchased 400 acres near Port Tobacco and built his home Haberdeventure and he resided here throughout the Revolutionary War. The house stands today and is a museum to Stone's life. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places as are other places in and around Port Tobacco. On a local level, most younger people in Charles County recognize his name because the local high school is named after him. Thomas Stone died in Alexandria in 1787 just a few months after his wife passed. He was 44 years old.

While I have been able to find information on the most notorious and the most respected people associated with Port Tobacco and have blogged about them here, I'd like to appeal to the teeming millions of readers to suggest other subjects or people they would like to see featured on this blog.