Î Thomas Stone National Historic Site La
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THST-ôôî, ¿2 cte^ß; íj èf y«-/:?//3 25 IS î i THOMAS STONE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE LA PLATA, MARYLAND Summary Report of Additional Research Findings Submitted by John Milner Architects, Inc. Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in consultation with J. Richard Rivoire La Plata, Maryland February, 1993 INTRODUCTION This report summarizes the results of a research project initiated in June 1992 and concluded in January 1993. The purpose of this research was to supplement the existing Historic Structures Report (1987) and the Historic Resource Study (1988) with additional historical and architectural documentation to provide as firm a foundation as possible for development of the Cultural Landscape Study and Strategic Plan for the Thomas Stone National Historic Site. The Scope of Work for this project called for additional documentary research on the following topics and sub-topics: A. History and use of the land comprising the Thomas Stone Site during its period of ownership by the Stone family, including land history, agricultural use, slaves and tenants, and identification of former agricultural and ancillary domestic support buildings and related features. B. History and evolution of the main house, including the house in a local architectural context, local and regional architectural precedents, identification of builders and craftsmen, materials relating to the building's architecture and use, biographical data on descending owners/occupants, 1770-1936, the history of furnishings and room usage during the Stone family's ownership, and additional photographic documentation. Due to budgetary and scheduling considerations, this research was limited to investigation of documentary materials in various archival collections in Maryland and Washington, D.C., principally those of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, the Maryland State Archives-Hall of Records, Annapolis, the Charles County Courthouse and the Southern Maryland Studies Center, both La Plata, and the Library of Congress. A number of smaller public and private manuscript collections were also reviewed. This project revealed the existence of an extraordinary amount of documentation for the history of ownership and use of the Thomas Stone house and property, far exceeding initial expectations. The Stone Family Papers of the Maryland Historical Society and the extensive manuscript holdings of the Southern Maryland Studies Center proved especially rich in this regard. In addition, the Center's collections fortunately include microfilm copies of the comparably significant William Briscoe Stone Papers at Duke University. These manuscript collections, together with local court, land and probate records, yielded a considerable amount of important historical data, measurably improving what had previously been known of the history of the Thomas Stone site. Typed abstracts of the documents collected during the course of this research project have been compiled in a separate volume. Copies of these abstracts and copies of the original documents and other research notes have been deposited with the Southern Maryland Studies Center of the Charles County Community College, La Plata. Because this research report is to be considered a supplement to the existing Historic Structure Report and Historic Resource Study, the information contained in those reports is not restated except in such instances where correction, revision or expansion was considered appropriate. NOTE Throughout this Summary Report the Thomas Stone Site is identified by its historic name, Haberdeventure. Thomas Stone always used "Haberdeventure" when referring to his Charles County home, as did all descending owners during the 166 years the property remained in the possession of the Stone family. Except in rare instances (and always by non-family members), the spellings Haber DVenture or Habre de Venture do not occur until after William Briscoe Stone's death in 1872. His daughter Margaret Graham Stone also used "Haberdeventure" in all of her business transactions and in her 1904 will, though her tombstone reads that she was bom and that she died at "Havre de Venture." In 1936, when Michael Robertson Stone's heirs sold the property to Charles Stevenson Smith, the property name was still given as "Haberdeventure." It was only after 1936 that the spelling Habre de Venture came in to common usage. In view of these facts, and the focus of the restoration and interpretation of the property to the period during which it was owned by the Stone family, use of the alternative spellings of the name Haberdeventure would be inappropriate. Frequently cited archival repositories and other sources of information are abbreviated in the Endnotes as follows: ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS/LOCATIONS: A nnapolis: Maryland State Archives-Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland. La Plata: Charles County Courthouse, La Plata, Maryland. LC: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. MESDA: Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. MHS: Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland. SMSC: Southern Maryland Studies Center, Charles County Community College, La Plata, Maryland. WBS Papers William Briscoe Stone Papers, Perkins Library, Duke University, Duke University: Durham, North Carolina. OTHER: Gentry: Harry Wright Newman, Charles County Gentry (Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Co., 1971). Homeplaces: J. Richard Rivoire, Homeplaces: Traditional Domestic Architecture of Charles County, Maryland (La Plata, Maryland: Southern Maryland Studies Center, 1990). HRS: Historic Resource Study, John M. Wearmouth, 1988. HSR: Historic Structure Report, James T. Wollen, 1987. Lee: Jean B. Lee, "The Social Order of a Revolutionary People: Charles County, Maryland, 1733 -1786" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 1984). Papenfuse, et al: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789, 2 vols. (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979,1985). Stones of Poynton M anor: Harry Wright Newman, Stones of Poynton Manor (Washington, D.C.: privately published, 1937). TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I: THE STONE FAMILY OF HABERDEVENTURE.......................................1 1.1. Thomas Stone............................................................................................1 1.1 .a. Michael Jenifer Stone................................................................... 6 1.1 .b. Walter Stone..................................................................................7 1.1. c. Grace Stone..................... 8 1.1. d. Catherine (Stone) Scott..............................................................9 1.1 .e. Elizabeth (Stone) Eden...............................................................10 1.2. Mildred (Stone) Daniel............................................................................. 10 1.3. William Briscoe Stone..............................................................................12 1.4. Margaret Graham Stone.......................................................................... 13 1.5. Michael Robertson Stone.........................................................................14 SECTION II: LAND HISTORY OF THE THOMAS STONE ESTATE, 1770-1936...............................................................'......................... '...... 25 SECTION III: AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND PRODUCTION AT HABERDEVENTURE, 1770-1936...........................................................31 SECTION IV: SLAVES......................................................................... 40 SECTION V: TENANTS................................................................................................. 47 SECTION VI: ARCHITECTURE..................................................................................... 51 VI.1. General Overview, 1685-1936.................................................................51 VI.2. The Thomas Stone House, 1770-1928.................................................. 53 Vl.2.a. Local Prototypes....................................................................... 60 Vl.2.b. Carpenters/Aitisans.................................................................. 61 VI.2.C. Landscaping: Gardens and Other Design Features................. 63 VI.3. Domestic Dependencies.......................................................................... 65 V IA Slave and Tenant Housing.......................................................................68 VI.5. Agricultural Buildings................................................................................69 SECTION VII: FURNISHINGS HISTORY OF THE THOMAS STONE HOUSE, . 1770-1936............................................................................................... 78 SECTION VIII: PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION...................... 85 APPENDICES: 1. 1782 Tax Assessment Entries................................ 87 2. 1783 Tax Assessment Entries.................................................................88 3. Will of Thomas Stone.............................................................................. 91 4. Inventory of Thomas Stone's Charles County Estate..............................93 5. Inventory of Thomas Stone's Annapolis Estate.......................................95 6. 1825 Stone-Daniel Account...................................................................101 7. Buildings Materials List, ca. 1840..........................................................103 8. Inventory of William B. Stone......... .......................................................107