| Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN & JOAN STONE
JOHN STONE, #11,264 on my lineage chart, son of Richard Stone and Isabel Girdier, was born ca. 1575 in Parrish of Croston, Lancashire, England during the reign of good Queen Bess. Except for the religious strife, Elizabeth was extremely popular with her subjects. She chose able and wise advisors. Religion was her initial problem as queen. She reverted to Protestantism after the death of Queen Mary I. Her first Parliament had Protestant majority. Parliament passed between 1559 and 1563 religious legislation that became the doctrinal basis for the Church of England Catholics and Puritans were persecuted throughout her reign.
National confidence being restored, England was able to develop industrially and economically on a national scale. She grew into a great maritime power after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Foreign trade was encouraged. In the eyes of England "Elizabeth was England", known as the "Virgin Queen". With the aid of the Roman Catholics, Elizabeth's cousin, Mary Queen of Scots who she had befriended plotted to gain the throne from Elizabeth. The plot was discovered. Mary,Queen of Scots was executed in 1585 when Richard Stone was 10 years old.
Elizabeth;Elizabeth's popularity waned at the end of her reign because of her heavy expenditures and her abuse of royal power. Her policies had become weaker. Her reign was disturbed by a revolt in Ireland led by Hugh O'Neill, the second earl of Essex. He was executed in 1601. Elizabeth died on March 23, 1603 in London.
John Stone married Joan at the turn of the 16th & 17th century. They were Puritans. They raised 6 children in England.
James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots succeeded Elizabeth I to the English throne in 1603. She was the last ruler from the House of Tudor. James I was the first English ruler from the House of Stuart.
From the very first, James I alienated the Puritans. However, he did have the Bible translated into the English language. The strict Puritans were growing and disturbing England's religious peace. They were making a commitment to stricter morality. James I was very harsh with them. The Puritans had grown greatly dissatisfied whit the Church of England which they felt were still too close to the Roman Catholics. Religious unrest reached its height when William Laud became Archbishop[ of Canterbury in the 1630s. A Roman Catholic conspiracy, "the Gunpowder Plot" to blow up Parliament in 1605 confirmed the English's fear of Rome.
In 1607, England began planting colonies in America. Some of the Puritans were fleeing to Holland and then to Plymouth, New England in 1620. James I died in 1625 and was succeeded by Charles I. During the wars that followed, Charles I was defeated and beheaded. Oliver Cromwell,a staunch Puritan became the ruler of England. Cromwell had a difficult task of holding England in a Puritan course.
I am inclined to believe that John Stone and his family were staunch Puritans. John Stone migrated to Virginia with 3 of his sons, William, John and Matthew in 1648.
John and Joan Stone's, son, WILLIAM STONE,II who married VERLINDA COTTON and became Governor of Maryland is my 11th great grandfather.
(written by Mildred R. Jenkins, Williamstown, Ky on Mar. 9,2000)
From "Pillars of Maryland" by Francis Sims McGrath: p. 111:
" Gov. Stone was important in his day in VA as well as MD, but his father, Captain John Stone, was a more amusing member of the family. The carousals of this gentleman with Gov. Van Twiller of Manhattan have gained a place in history. On one of these cheerful occasions his prank was to seize a New England and force the crew to steer for VA. When followed and brought back, Van Twiller saved him from punishment in Manhattan, but New England brooded over the insult. His folly having taken him to Massachusetts bay, Miles Standish traveled from Plymouth to prosecute him for piracy. He was also charged with adultery, and a few other offences of the kind, all of which he staved off until he referred to Justice Lodlow, the trial judge as "Just Ass Lodlow", a brutal play on the word justice. His other crimes were forgiven but for those words of ridicule he was heavily fined. Proceeding to Plymouth, he threatened Gov. Bradford with a dagger before sailing into the Connecticut River to make the last mistake of his life. He quarreled with the Pequot Indians, who listened for a time to his sharp tongue and then silently killed him. This led to the Pequot War which caused the death of many innocent people, so one mischief led to another and all stemming from revelries in Manhattan, as many mischiefs do to this day."
courtesy Larry R Alexander alexlary@crosslink.net
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West Nebraska Family Research & History Center
1578 - 1606 (~ 34 years)
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