News Release

“On Death & Dying in the 1700s”

Date: July 31, 2018
Contact: Scott Hill, 804-224-1732 x225

On October 1, 2018, Thomas Stone NHS will open a new temporary exhibit entitled, “On Death & Dying in the 1700s”. This exhibit will explore how the inevitable act of death impacted the lives of Americans in the 1700s and will focus much of the exhibit on the lives of the Stone family.

Thomas Stone was best known for being one of 56 men; four of whom were from Maryland to sign the Declaration of Independence. Yet, Stone’s life was not a long one and was affected deeply by death. Stone’s beloved wife, Margaret, died after a long illness at the age of 36 in 1787, and Stone, grief-stricken over her loss, followed her in death just four months later. Of Stone’s three children; their son, Frederick, died of yellow fever at the age of 19 and one of their daughters, also named Margaret, died after her own long illness at the age of 38.

Thomas Stone National Historic Site is located at 6655 Rose Hill Road in Port Tobacco, Maryland; four miles west of Laplata and located between Maryland State highways 6 and 225. For further information, visit our website at www.nps.gov/thst, Facebook or Twitter.