Frederick Stone papers
Collection
0326-MDHC
Frederick Stone (1820-1899) was a lawyer, U. S. Congressman, Maryland Delegate, and judge of the Court of Appeals of Charles County, Maryland. This collection consists of correspondence to Frederick Stone from his wife, Jennie, and his daughters, especially his daughter Bessie Brown, who wrote to him from New Orleans and died after a long illness in 1889.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
0.25 Linear Feet
The Frederick Stone papers span the years 1864 through 1903 and 1985. The first series consists of correspondence, and the second series is a 1985 oral history of the Stone family. The bulk of the letters consist of correspondence between Stone and his second wife, Jennie, or between Frederick Stone and his daughters. Additional letters come from several other relatives, primarily cousins of Mrs. Jennie Stone, and family friends. Several letters are messages of condolence from family members and friends upon the death of Stone's daughter, Mrs. Bessie Brown, in New Orleans, after a long illness. Others are expressions of support for the campaign to keep Stone in office in 1890 and include newspaper clippings about that campaign. Other subjects include gardening, the American Civil War, travel, genealogy, business, and daily life.
Frederick Stone was born February 7, 1820, in Charles County, Maryland. He was the only son of Frederick D. and Eliza Stone. His paternal grandfather was the Maryland judge and lawyer Michael Jenifer Stone. Frederick Stone began his career in Charles County as a lawyer; he was later elected to Congress in 1868 and reelected in 1870. He served as senior defense counsel in the trial of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who was convicted as a member of the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Stone was a member of the defense team of David E. Harold, another convicted co-conspirator. Stone also served in the Maryland State Legislature from 1864 to 1865 and from 1871 to 1873 as well as a judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1881 to 1890. When not in a position of public service, he continued to practice law at Port Tobacco in Charles County. Maryland law in 1890 stated that judges could not serve past seventy years old, but Stone was a sufficiently well-respected judge that a number of people lobbied on his behalf in the Maryland legislature to have the law changed to allow him to continue to serve. This measure was defeated, and Stone was forced to retire.
Frederick Stone married Maria Louisa Stonestreet on June 10, 1852. The couple had four daughters: Annie Stone, who later married Henry Guard Robertson; Elizabeth Ellen Stone (known as Bessie); Jennie Stone; and Maria Louisa Stone. Stone's wife, Maria, died in November 1867, and he married her sister, Jennie Stonestreet Ferguson, on June 15, 1870. Stone died October 17, 1899.
The collection is organized as two series.
J. Logan and Louise Schutz donated the Frederick Stone papers to the University of Maryland Libraries in November 2007. Louise Schutz donated 11 additional letters in April 2009. An additional letter (July 18, 1862) was purchased from manuscript dealer G. Leamon Martin, Jr. in October 2018.
All materials have been placed in acid-free folders and all folders have been placed in an acid-free box.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives