stone

Nicotiana tabacum  Stone Nicotiana tabacum

compiled and copyright by MJP Grundy, 2002
Nicotiana tabacum, from Chambers's Encyclopædia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People
(Phila.: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1885), 9:462.



This page tells the story of two generations of Maryland Stones: William Stone and his daughter Mary Burrows (Stone) Holliday and their immediate families, as well as William's Bermuda ancestors. I am hopeful that readers may be able to provide more information about any of them. If you have documentation, I would be very grateful if you would e mail me at .

You may skip down to the Notes and Sources, or click on the footnote numbers in brackets.

Our William Stone is apparently no relation to Governor William Stone who figured so prominently in the history of Maryland in the 1650s. Franklin D. Edmunds assumed that the parents of William were John Stone and his wife Martha Burrows, because of the middle names chosen for William's daughters, and that John was the son of Freeman Stone.[1]


Early Generations in Bermuda

According to a will written by our William on 12 June 1775 while at sea, he was born in Bermuda about 1739. As he was not married his will listed a number of relatives which ought to help us find his parents. According to the will, these are the children of William's parents (may be incomplete, order uncertain):[2]

  1. William Stone1, b. in Bermuda 1639;
  2. Edwin Stone.
  3. Ann Stone, m. ___ NEWBOULD.
  4. Elizabeth Stone

With this as a starting place, I searched the web and found (undocumented) the following three Stone brothers in Bermuda: First, William, who married Mary Smith. She was born ca. 1655, the daughter of Thomas and Fridesweed (Harvey) Smith, and they were the parents of Elizabeth Stone (ca. 1675-d. by ca. 1710). Second, came JohnC Stone, born ca. 1644, and whose will was proved in 1691/2. He married Margaret __. They were the parents of five children: Freeman, Richard, Parnell, Hannah, and Edwin Stone. The third brother was unnamed but had a son Samuel who married Susanna Jones and had two children including Samuel Stone, Jr.[2a] I was unable to learn the parents of the three brothers, or when they came to Bermuda and under what circumstances.

JohnC Stone lived in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. He witnessed the will of Thomas HALL of Devon Parish July 3, 1761. He dated his own will February 22, 1692, and it was proved March 24, 1692 [I think this may be an Old Style date but am not sure. See an explanation of Old Style Dating.] He mentioned his wife Margaret, his children FreemanB, Edwin, Richard, Parnel, and Hannah (Stone) HILTON, his brother William, and his nephew Samuel Stone. I infer from this that Samuel's father was deceased, and therefore his son, John's nephew, was included instead. John's brother William was named executor. It was witnessed by Thomas BRIDGE and Stephen NEWBOLD.[2d]

FreemanB had a son JohnA

JohnA Stone was a shipwright in Hamilton Parish. He had a will, dated December 9, 1755. It was proved September 23, 1762. He mentioned his wife Martha, his mother who was still alive in 1755, and his children Edwin1, William, James, Elizabeth, and Ann (Stone) NEWBOLD, the wife of Stephen. He also mentioned a granddaughter Ann Stone, but not whose child she was. As executors he named his wife Martha, his sons Edwin and James, and his "kin Jonathan Burch" (a first cousin once removed, as near as I can tell). I am guessing that son William, as a mariner, was out of town for fairly long periods of time so was not named as an executor. It was witnessed by Edward PEARMAN, Ann SOMERSALL, and John PEARMAN. The inventory was made March 17, 1763.[2g]

John and Martha (__) Stone's children, as listed in John's will of 1755, were (order uncertain):

  1. Edwin Stone1
  2. William Stone, b. in Bermuda 1639;
  3. James Stone, d. intestate ca. April 1771; m. Mary __.
  4. Elizabeth Stone
  5. Ann Stone, m. Stephen Newbould, or NEWBOLD.

Immigrant Generation

William Stone1, was born in Bermuda in 1739. He died in September 1821 in Baltimore County, Maryland. In April 1778 William married the widow Hannah (OWINGS) Cockey.

In the will he wrote at sea in 1775, William listed his siblings, as mentioned above. He also named a niece Ann HUBBARD and her children; a cousin or nephew Jonathan BURCH and his wife Catherine and (presumably their children): Edwin Stone Burch, David Burch, and Catherine Burch; cousin Susannah TODD and her children; niece Ann HARRIOTT; cousins Mary RICHARDSON, Ann OUTERBRIDGE, and Jane PERRY; cousin Sarah PENISTON and her children; his cousin Stafford SOMERSTALL's children; an aunt Powell HARRIS; cousin Elizabeth DOE's children; and nephew Samuel STONE.[3] I have had little luck researching these individuals to see if they offer more clues regarding William's birth family.

Sometime in 1774 or 1775 Captain William Stone had his portrait painted by Charles Willson PEALE. There was a tenuous family connection between the young painter and his subject. In 1762 Peale married Rachel BREWER, the daughter of Eleanor (MACCUBIN) Brewer, who was born in 1708. Rachel's father John was the grandson of John Brewer whose mother was Elizabeth, widow of a WARFIELD.[4] Anyway, the painting shows William Stone standing beside a classical urn on a pedestal (on his right) under a leafy tree, pointing with his right hand to the sea (on his left) with a sloop. In his left hand he carries what appears to be a spyglass. At his feet is a sextant on his upturned tricorn with his gloves. The painting is now in the collection of the Maryland Historical Society.[5]

In 1775 William Stone owned a merchant sloop, the Hornet, armed with ten 9-pound guns. As passions arose between the colonists and the English government, delegates were elected and sent to a Continental Congress in Philadelphia. About the first of November 1775 John ADAMS wrote to Samuel CHASE in Baltimore about the possibility of buying some vessels there. Apparently in 1775 the merchants of Baltimore acquired the Hornet. The participation of Capt. William Stone of the sloop Hornet in the Revolutionary War is somewhat ambiguous. It appears that at first he captained the Hornet while she was under commission, but then on 27 August 1776 the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress wrote to William Stone offering to purchase the sloop, which he obviously was not captaining at the time. At least by December 1776 John NICHOLSON was Captain of the Hornet.[6]

In 1776 William purchased land in Maryland: 63 acre "Streight", 102 acres of "New Tavern", and a tract named "Wilmott's Chance".[14] He apparently already owned considerable property in St. Eustasia and St. Kitts, as well, perhaps, as Bermuda. He must also have already had some sort of property, either real or personal, in Baltimore because his 1775 will named Hercules COURTENAY and John SMITH as executors for said property.[14a]

William was nearly forty years old when he married in Baltimore County sometime between 17 and 21 April 1778 Hannah (OWINGS) Cockey.[15] She was twenty seven, born 27 January 1750, the daughter of Samuel and Urath (Randall) OWINGS. Hannah was the widow of William COCKEY, Jr., who had died in 1775.

Occasionally we can get small glimpses of our ancestors through newspapers. One such little snapshot dates from 1779 when William happened to find a sorrel mare. In his advertisement for her owner, he listed his residence as near the Garrison Church.[16] See the map below, and click on it to enlare it.

William Stone was enumerated as head of his household in Baltimore town in the first United States census of 1790. There were five free white men over the age of sixteen, three under sixteen (presumably his sons Samuel, William, and John), four free white women (his wife Hannah, and daughters Martha and Mary, plus someone else), and six slaves. The extra woman would not have been his mother-in-law who, as a widow, was enumerated as the head of her own household.[19] Map of Baltimore County and Environs

In March 1796 William bought part of "Urath's Fancy" and "Severn" in Back River Upper Hundred from Bale OWINGS, son of Christopher (Hannah's brother). William Stone was listed in the 1798 tax assessment for Back River Upper Hundred as the owner of 117 acre "Friendship", and 170 acre "Remtha [sic] Fancy" and "Severa" [sic]. They had no buildings on them. Presumably Stone and his family resided on 198 acres which was part of "Hellermore". It had an old one-story frame dwelling house measuring 16 by 45 feet, a log house that was 16 by 28 feet, and four old houses that were so derelict they were not given any further description. Stone did not own any slaves in 1798, at least not in this county. He also owned 286 acres of "Jones' Prevention" (or "Presentation") and 126 acres of "New Tavern" in Soldiers' Delight Hundred.[20]

Hannah died 15 June 1817 in Baltimore County.

William wrote his will 3 December 1819. He died 11 or 15 September 1821, and the will was probated 27 October. In it he stated that he was formerly of the Island of Bermuda. He mentioned his children Martha Burrows STUMP, Samuel and John Stone; his grandchildren John Robert HOLLIDAY, Jr., William Stone Holliday, William Henry Stump, Samuel Stump, Jr., Mary Stump, Eleanor A. S. Holliday, Hannah Stump, and Martha Stump. His son Samuel was named executor. The will was witnessed by Richard OWINGS, Henry RITTER and Cornelius HOWARD.[26]

Children of William and Hannah (Owings) Cockey Stone:[27]


  1. Martha Burrows Stone2, b. 7 Sept. 1779; d. 9 Jan. 1853; m. 10 June 1804 in St. Thomas Parish, Balt. Co., Samuel STUMP. He was the 9th child of Henry and Rachel (PERKINS) Stump, b. 31 Jan. 1779, d. 11 Mar. 1844.[28]

  2. Samuel Stone, b. 1781; d. 15 Oct. 1860, aged seventy-six years in the St. Thomas Parish rec., but on his tombstone it says he was in his 79th year; unmarried. Inherited from his father lands purchased from Beale OWINGS and John GORSUCH. Samuel's will was signed 11 Oct., 1860, and filed 18 Oct. He named his nephew, Alexander Hamilton STUMP as executor, and gave him a 170 ac. farm in Harford Co. where Samuel's nephew Dr. William H. Stump was residing. Bequeathed his farm in Harford Co. where she was already residing to his neice Hannah SMITH and her son John Stone Smith. Manumitted his slave Fanny immediately upon his death, and David, Lindy, Margaret, Louisa, and Harriet 4 years after his death, and Stephen, Andrew, Ben, Hannah, Betsey, Jane, Ned, Joe, and Ellen as each attained the age of 35 (except Abraham Lincoln pre-empted him on this). Also bequeathed money to various relatives: Martha B. LEVERING (wife of Thomas W.), Thomas Wilson Levering, Mary Stump (cash and slave Harriet for 4 years), Samuel STUMP Jr., John Robert HOLLIDAY (brother of our Eleanor Addison Smith Holliday Price) and wife Amelia M. (cash and slaves Jane and Ned), Margaret Stump (wife of nephew Capt. Reuben Stump)—cash and slaves Stephen, Andrew, Ben, and Betsey until they turned 35), William Stone Holliday, Samuel Stone PRICE, James P. TOWNSEND (son of Mary T.), and Lucius Price.[29]

  3. Mary Burrows Stone, b. 1783; d. ca. 1817; m. 17 Feb. 1802 John Robert Holliday.

  4. William Stone, b. 1785; d. 6 Sept. 1797, aged fourteen years. His tombstone is at St. Thomas Church.

  5. John Stone, b. 1786; d. 4 Aug. 1845 in his 59th year. His will was signed 26 Sept. 1842 and filed 19 Aug. 1845. He did not mention any wife or child, but it is suggested that he may have been the father of William Stone, named as a nephew in the will of John's brother Samuel Stone. John mentioned his brother Samuel, his sister Martha B. STUMP, and nieces and nephews: Hannah SMITH and her son John Stone Smith, Martha B. LEVERING, Mary Stump, John R. HOLLIDAY, and William Holliday.[30]

Second Generation

Mary Burrows Stone2, the daughter of William and Hannah, was born in 1783 and died in about 1817. When she was nineteen she married John Robert Holliday. They got a marriage license in Baltimore County on 17 February 1802.[31]

John Robert and Mary removed to Louisiana, although it is not clear just when. Mary died 23 September 1818. John married for a second time 21 April 1821 Maria (JONES) Davis, widow of William DAVIS, Esq., late of Felicianna Parish. They had one child. By the 1820s John was residing at his plantation, named "Belle Grove", on the Mississippi River.

John died 21 August 1826 at "Belle Grove".

Children of Mary Burrows (Stone) and her husband John Robert Holliday:[33]

  1. Eleanor Addison Smith Holliday3, b. 19 Feb. 1803; m. 27 June 1822 James Bonsall PRICE; d. 22 Jan. 1835 in Baltimore Co., Md.

  2. William Henry Holliday, b. 7 Mar. 1805; d. 22 July 1813.

  3. John Robert Holliday, b. 10 July 1807; m. Amelia M.; he may be the John Holliday, aged 16-26, living alone in East Baton Rouge Parish in the 1820 census.[34] Inherited in Oct. 1860 from his uncle Samuel Stone $6,000, slaves Jane aged 15 and Ned aged 7 to be held until they were 35 years old. President Abraham Lincoln freed them sooner.

  4. Daniel Chamier Holliday, b. 11 May 1810; d. 7 Apr. 1811.

  5. William Stone Holliday, b. 27 Oct. 1817; inherited $2,000 from his uncle Samuel Stone, Oct. 1860.

To continue the story of this family, go to the Holliday page.




Nicotiana tabacum





If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail at .

The Stones and ancestors of other colonial Maryland relatives are described in The Southern Connection: Ancestors of Eleanor Addison Smith Holliday Price. It delves into the social system, economics, religion, and politics that developed in colonial Maryland. This hardback print-on-demand book provides the context for colonial Maryland plantation elite ancestors, as well as looking in somewhat more detail at the Stone's Bermuda background and his experience during the American Revolution. The book is available at lulu.com. Click on the title, then on "preview" to see the table of contents and a few sample pages. The price is the cost of printing and binding, plus shipping. I make nothing on it.

See some other colonial Maryland families that link one way or another with these Stones: AddisonBaleBrookeBrowneDentDorseyEly,   HallHattonHollidayHowardIsaacMoltonNorwoodOwingsRandallRidgelySimSmithTaskerWarfield,  and Wilkinson



Go to the index of other lines that are included in this website (not all of them have been posted yet).

Go to the Paxson home page.

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This page was posted 4/6/2004, and updated most recently on 10m/4/2014.



Notes and Sources


The full bibliographical citation is given the first time a source is mentioned, but is not repeated each time that source is cited. Scroll up until you find the first mention and there you will find the complete citation.

  1. Correspondence with Henry R. EdmundsII, Nov. 5, 1997.


  2. Robert Barnes, The Green Spring Valley: Its History and Heritage Vol. 2: Genealogies. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1978, 2:100.

        2a. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw/stone2gen.htm, accessed 7/29/2013.


        2b. Wallace Gandy, ed., The Association Oath Rolls of the British Plantations [New York, Virginia, Etc.] A.D. 1696.: Being a Contribution to Political History (London, 1922), 60, on line at http://archive.org/stream/associationoathr00gand#page/n9/mode/2up, accessed 7/29/2013.

        2c. Gandy, The Association Oath Rolls of the British Plantations, 48, 50, 52, 59.

        2d. C. F. E. Hollis Hallett, comp., Early Bermuda Wills, 1629-1835, Summarized and indexed: A genealogical reference book (Pembroke, Bermuda: Juniperhill Press, 1993), 556, referencing W2,2:57 for John's will. My thanks to Patrice A. Carvell, Collection Management Librarian of the Bermuda National Library for sending me a copy of the page of the index, 7/30/2013.

        2e. "Minutes of Her Majesty's Council", https://sites.rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw/HMcouncil124.htm, accessed 7/29/2013.

        2f. Bermuda Court of Assize Records, as transcribed on https://sites.rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw/courtaxn5.html, accessed 7/29/2013.

        2g. Hallett, comp., Early Bermuda Wills, 556, referencing W12b:214 and W8:286 for the inventory.


  3. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:100. Francis Keenan, a Burch family researcher, generously did some searching of the Burch connection mentioned in this 1775 will. He concluded, "... there was no Jonathan Burch with a Catherine as his wife in early Maryland before the Revolution or shortly thereafter . . . . The Burch family of Maryland came early to Charles County and were tobacconists. Their issue removed to Prince George's County, Maryland, and then the grandchildren spread to Virginia and further south and to Kentucky and west. I have not found any connection between the Burch family of early Maryland that was the subject of my research and any of the names mentioned in William Stone's 1775 'will at sea.'" He went on to suggest that further research will have to be carried out in the Caribbean. E mails, January, 2013.


  4. Rachel5 Brewer was the daughter of John4 (1709-1754) and Eleanor Maccubin (b. 1708); John was the son of John3 (1686-1730) who was the son of John2 Jr. and Sarah Ridgely. Sarah was the daughter of Col. Henry Ridgely and his first wife. John Jr. was the son of John1 and Elizabeth (Pierpont), widow of Alexander Warfield (1678-1740), son of our Richard Warfield. Sharon J. Doliante, Maryland and Virginia Colonials: Genealogies of Some Colonial Families: Families of Bacon, Beall, Beasley, Cheney, Duckett, Dunbar, Ellyson, Elmore, Graves, Heydon, Howard, Jacob, Morris, Nuthall, Odell, Peerce, Reeder, Ridgley, Prather, Sprigg, Wesson, Williams, and Collateral Kin (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991), 852-54. Peale was the son of an Englishman who had fled to Maryland to escape punishment for embezelling funds. After his death, Charles had to apprentice himself to a saddler. When his service was completed he took a turn at anything he could find: upholstering, watchmaking, chairmaking, silversmithing, and then painting. The Governor and ten members of the Council subscribed �83 to send him to London where he was received kindly by Benjamin WEST. After two years he returned to Maryland. Thomas J. Wertenbaker, The Golden Age of Colonial Culture (Ithaca, N.Y.: Great Seal Books, a Division of Cornell University Press, 1959., orig. 1949), 96-98.


  5. The painting was a bequest from J. Middendorf, Jr., in 1972. There is reproduction of the painting in Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:101.


  6. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:100. A sloop has one mast, and is rigged fore and aft. Celia M. Holland, Old Homes and Families of Howard County, Maryland, with Consideration of Various Additional Points of Interest (privately printed, 1987) 426. Naval Records of the Revolution, 16. See letters of instruction to him, Naval Records of the Revolution, 30, 31, and 38.


  7. Charles Oscar Paullin, The Navy of the American Revolution: Its Administration, its Policy and its Achievements (Chicago: The Burrowes Brothers Company, 1906), 51, 55-57.


  8. Delegates to Congress, Letters of delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, Volume 3, January 1 1776-May 15 1776, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.


  9. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, on www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h/hornet.html; Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.


  10. DNA: PCC Miscellaneous Papers, Marine Committee Letter Book. Addressed: "To Captain William Stone owner of the Sloop Hornet." from Delegates to Congress, Letters of delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, Volume 5, August 16 1776-December 31 1776, Electronic Text Center, Univ. of Virginia Library.


  11. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, on www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h/hornet.html


  12. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100, citing Md. Arch., 11:168, 256; 12:169; 48:421, 428.


  13. Naval Records of the Revolution, 163-64.


  14. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100, citing Balt. Co. Land Records, Lib. A.L., no. O, fol. 133; Lib. W.G., no. V.V., fol. 72.



    14a. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:100.


  15. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100, says 17 April. One entry in IGI says they were mar. 18 April 1778, the other says on 21 April. The marriage license was granted on 18 April. Rowene T. Obert, Baltimore City & County Marriage Licenses, 1777-1799 (Salt Lake City: The Genealogy Shoppe, Inc., 1975), 85.


  16. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100, citing the Md. Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, 26 Oct. 1779.




  17. Webber, Mabel L., "Abstracts from an Old Account Book", lists the names from a mutilated ledger now in the library of the Winyah Indigo Society, Georgetown, S. C. It notes that "The covers and the first pages as well as the last, are missing, so that it is impossible to determine the names of the merchants or factors who kept the accounts. Various accounts were kept for a tan-yard, naval stores, and indico [sic] as well as for the general store, and accounts were settled in rice[,] indico [sic], grain and other such commodities. The list is taken for the interest it has in placing the various people by localities, for the loss of all of the early records for Georgetown district makes any early list of the people of that region of interest, however incomplete. The full accounts are too long to reproduce, the ledger begins in 1788." usgenweb/sc/georgetown/


  18. U.S. census, Maryland, 1790, 23.


  19. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100; George J. Horvath, Jr., The Particular Assessment Lists for Baltimore and Carroll Counties, 1798 (Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1986), 38.


  20. Bill Reamy, St. Thomas Parish Registers, 1732-1850 (Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1987), 51.


  21. St. Thomas Parish Marriages, Owings Mills, Maryland, 1738-1995 (Westminster, Md.: Family Line Publications, 1996), 7.


  22. U.S. census for Maryland, microfilm roll 13, p. 125, WRHS.


  23. Baltimore American and Daily Advertiser, 1 Dec. 1815, as quoted in Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100.


  24. U.S. census for Maryland, microfilm roll 41, p. 12, WRHS.


  25. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 100, 102, says 11 Sept. The date of 15 Sept. is given in Harry Wright Newman, To Maryland From Overseas: A Complete Digest of Jacobite Loyalists Sold into White Slavery in Maryland, and the British and Continental Background of Approximately 1400 Maryland Settlers from 1634 to the Early Federal Period with Source Documentation (Balt.: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1985), 165, citing Balt. Co. Wills, Liber 11, folio 318.


  26. Information from Charlotte Price Curlin, Dec. 1994; and, Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:102.


  27. E mail 3m/12/2012 from Samuel Smith, citing a recent publication of Society of the War of 1812 in Maryland, applications Lineal Number 462; John Wilson Stump, A History of the Stump Family of Harford County (Street, Md.: Harford County Historical Society, Bel Air, Md., 1994); and Albert P. Silver and Henry w. Archer, Stump of Maryland-Substantial Copy of Genealogical Record of the Stump Family of Maryland (Harfold County Historical Society, Bel Air, Mdd., 1891). See also St. Thomas Parish Marriages, Owings Mills, Maryland, 1738-1995, 7. For information on the Stump family, see Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:103-7.


  28. Photoduplicated copy of will, dated 11 Oct. 1860, pr. 18 Oct. (from Charlotte Price Curlin, Sept. 1997). See also Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:102.


  29. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:102.


  30. Barnes, The Green Spring Valley, 2:102.


  31. Transit Riders' Digest, vol. XXVII, no. 18 (Apr. 23, 1979) published by New Orleans Public Service, Inc.


  32. "The Family Bible of James Bonsall Price and Eleanor Addison Smith Holliday", 43. Xerox copy from Charlotte Price Curlin.


  33. US Census


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If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail at .




Nicotiana tabacum