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    William Leete Stone

    Birth: 4-20-1792

    Death: 8-15-1844

    Nickname: Col. Stone

Biography

Possibly found in 18410000Conversation_JohnCarlin_WHS_FMS1. He is the Uncle or Cousin of Miss Mary Wayland (later Carlin). 
"His father, William, was a soldier of the Revolution and afterward a Presbyterian clergyman, who was a descendant of Gov. William Leete. The son moved to Sodus, New York, in 1808, where he assisted his father in the care of a farm. The country was at that time a wilderness, and the adventures of young Stone during his early pioneer life formed material that he afterward wrought into border tales.

At the age of seventeen, he became a printer in the office of the Cooperstown Federalist, and in 1813 he was editor of the Herkimer American, with Thurlow Weed as his journeyman. Subsequently he edited the Northern Whig at Hudson, New York, and in 1817 the Albany Daily Advertiser. In 1818 he succeeded Theodore Dwight in the editorship of the Hartford Mirror. While at Hartford, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (afterward bishop), Samuel G. Goodrich (Peter Parley), Isaac Toucey, and himself alternated in editing a literary magazine called The Knights of the Round Table. At Hudson, he also edited The Lounger, a literary periodical which was noted for its pleasantry and wit. In 1821 he succeeded Zachariah Lewis as editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, becoming at the same time one of its proprietors, which place he held for the rest of his life.

Brown University gave him the degree of A.M. in 1825. Stone always advocated the abolition of slavery by congressional action in the columns of the Commercial Advertiser, and at the great anti-slavery convention at Baltimore in 1825, he originated and drew up the plan for slave emancipation which was recommended at that time to Congress for adoption. In 1824, his sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the Greeks in their struggles for independence, and, with Edward Everett and Samuel G. Howe, was among the first to draw the attention of the country to that people and awaken sympathy in their behalf. In 1825, with Thurlow Weed, he accompanied Lafayette on his tour through part of the United States. He was appointed by President Harrison minister to the Hague, but was recalled by Tyler.

Soon after the William Morgan tragedy, Stone, who was a Freemason, addressed a series of letters on “Masonry and Anti-Masonry” to John Quincy Adams, who in his retirement at Quincy had taken interest in the anti-Masonic movement. In these letters, which were afterward collected and published (New York, 1832), the author maintained that Masonry should be abandoned, chiefly because it had lost its usefulness. The writer also cleared away the mists of slander that had gathered around the name of De Witt Clinton, and by preserving strict impartiality he secured that credence which no ex parte argument could obtain, however ingenious.

In 1838 he originated and introduced a resolution in the New York Historical Society directing a memorial to be addressed to the New York legislature praying for the appointment of an historical mission to the governments of England and the Netherlands for the recovery of such papers and documents as were essential to a correct understanding of the colonial history of the state. This was the origin of the collection known as the New York Colonial Documents made by John Romeyn Brodhead, who was sent abroad for that purpose by Governor William H. Seward in the spring of 1841.

Stone was the first superintendent of public schools in New York City, and while holding the office, in 1844, had a discussion with Archbishop John Hughes in relation to the use of the Bible in the public schools. Although the influence of Colonel Stone (as he was familiarly called as he held that rank on Governor Clinton's staff) extended throughout the country, it was felt most particularly in New York City. He was active in religious enterprises and furthering benevolent associations for the deaf and dumb and for juvenile delinquents. He was a defendant in a famous suit brought by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper for criticisms that had appeared in the Commercial Advertiser on that novelist's Home as Found and the History of the Navy."

Letter References

Citations

Biography and Citation Information:
Biography: 
Possibly found in 18410000Conversation_JohnCarlin_WHS_FMS1. He is the Uncle or Cousin of Miss Mary Wayland (later Carlin). "His father, William, was a soldier of the Revolution and afterward a Presbyterian clergyman, who was a descendant of Gov. William Leete. The son moved to Sodus, New York, in 1808, where he assisted his father in the care of a farm. The country was at that time a wilderness, and the adventures of young Stone during his early pioneer life formed material that he afterward wrought into border tales. At the age of seventeen, he became a printer in the office of the Cooperstown Federalist, and in 1813 he was editor of the Herkimer American, with Thurlow Weed as his journeyman. Subsequently he edited the Northern Whig at Hudson, New York, and in 1817 the Albany Daily Advertiser. In 1818 he succeeded Theodore Dwight in the editorship of the Hartford Mirror. While at Hartford, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (afterward bishop), Samuel G. Goodrich (Peter Parley), Isaac Toucey, and himself alternated in editing a literary magazine called The Knights of the Round Table. At Hudson, he also edited The Lounger, a literary periodical which was noted for its pleasantry and wit. In 1821 he succeeded Zachariah Lewis as editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, becoming at the same time one of its proprietors, which place he held for the rest of his life. Brown University gave him the degree of A.M. in 1825. Stone always advocated the abolition of slavery by congressional action in the columns of the Commercial Advertiser, and at the great anti-slavery convention at Baltimore in 1825, he originated and drew up the plan for slave emancipation which was recommended at that time to Congress for adoption. In 1824, his sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the Greeks in their struggles for independence, and, with Edward Everett and Samuel G. Howe, was among the first to draw the attention of the country to that people and awaken sympathy in their behalf. In 1825, with Thurlow Weed, he accompanied Lafayette on his tour through part of the United States. He was appointed by President Harrison minister to the Hague, but was recalled by Tyler. Soon after the William Morgan tragedy, Stone, who was a Freemason, addressed a series of letters on “Masonry and Anti-Masonry” to John Quincy Adams, who in his retirement at Quincy had taken interest in the anti-Masonic movement. In these letters, which were afterward collected and published (New York, 1832), the author maintained that Masonry should be abandoned, chiefly because it had lost its usefulness. The writer also cleared away the mists of slander that had gathered around the name of De Witt Clinton, and by preserving strict impartiality he secured that credence which no ex parte argument could obtain, however ingenious. In 1838 he originated and introduced a resolution in the New York Historical Society directing a memorial to be addressed to the New York legislature praying for the appointment of an historical mission to the governments of England and the Netherlands for the recovery of such papers and documents as were essential to a correct understanding of the colonial history of the state. This was the origin of the collection known as the New York Colonial Documents made by John Romeyn Brodhead, who was sent abroad for that purpose by Governor William H. Seward in the spring of 1841. Stone was the first superintendent of public schools in New York City, and while holding the office, in 1844, had a discussion with Archbishop John Hughes in relation to the use of the Bible in the public schools. Although the influence of Colonel Stone (as he was familiarly called as he held that rank on Governor Clinton's staff) extended throughout the country, it was felt most particularly in New York City. He was active in religious enterprises and furthering benevolent associations for the deaf and dumb and for juvenile delinquents. He was a defendant in a famous suit brought by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper for criticisms that had appeared in the Commercial Advertiser on that novelist's Home as Found and the History of the Navy."
Citation Notes: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leete_Stone,_Sr.
Citation for Birth Info:
Citation Notes: 
http://sites.williams.edu/searchablesealit/s/stone-william-leete/ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_of_American_Biography/Stone,_William_Leete
Citation for Death Info:
Citation Notes: 
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_of_American_Biography/Stone,_William_Leete http://sites.williams.edu/searchablesealit/s/stone-william-leete/