Verlinda Stone

From Captain Thomas Graves: 608 Settler of Jamestown, Virginia, and His Descendants (ca. 1580-2016), rev. 13 June 2016:

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVHZ-XQS

http://www.gravesfa.org/gen169.htm

Very little is known about Katherine, wife of Capt. Thomas Graves. Her maiden name may have been Croshaw. (There was a Raleigh Chroshaw, Gent., who arrived with the second supply with Thomas Graves.) Just when she came to Virginia is not recorded. She and her children are not included in the 1625 census of the Eastern Shore, although Capt. Thomas Graves is. The patent granted to John Graves (son of Capt. Thomas Graves) on Aug. 9, 1637 states that the 600 acres granted to him in Elizabeth City was "due in right of descent from his father Thomas Graves, who transported at his own cost himself, Katherine Graves his wife, John Graves the patentee, and Thomas Graves, Jr., and 8 persons." (Cavaliers and Pioneers, Nugent.) The 50 acres assigned for each person transported shows they came after 1616. The other 8 persons transported did not include any members of Capt. Graves' family. The girls, Ann, Verlinda, and Katherine obviously came later, and Francis was born in Virginia. The last reference to Mrs. Graves shows her living at the Old Plantation, Accomack, as of May 20, 1636...

Children - Graves

• 1. +2. John Graves, b.c. 1611, m. ‑‑‑‑‑‑ Perrin, c. 1624 or later, d.c. April 1640.
• 2. +3. Thomas Graves, b.c. 1616, wife unknown, d.c. 1674.
• 3. +4. Verlinda Graves, b.c. 1618, m. William Stone, d. 13 July 1675.
• 4. +5. Ann Graves, b.c. 1620, m(1) William Cotton, before 10 July 1637, m(2) Nathaniel Eaton, by 1642, m(3) Francis Doughty, 8 June 1657, d. 2 March 1683/4.
• 5. +6. Katherine Graves, b.c. 1622, m(1) William Roper, c. 1636, m(2) Thomas Sprigg, 3 March 1650.
• 6. 7. Frances Graves, b.c. 1630.

--

Verlinda Graves (4) was born about 1618 in VA, and died 13 July 1675 in Charles Co., MD. She married Capt. William Stone before 1640, perhaps about 1634 or 1638 in VA. He was born about 1603 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England (or Somerset, England), and died 21 Dec. 1660 in Charles Co., MD. He was governor of Maryland, the first Protestant governor, Capt. of Colonial Service, and the third Colonial Governor appointed by Lord Baltimore 6 Aug. 1648. After his retirement from public life, he resided on his estate "Poynton Manor." In addition to the 6 children listed below, R‑327 also listed Matthew Stone. (R‑120, R‑141, R‑168, R‑327)

Children - Stone

• 1. +17. Thomas Stone, b.c. 1638, m. Mary ‑‑‑‑‑‑, d. 1676.
• 2. +18. John Stone, b.c. 1642, m(1) Elizabeth Warren, m(2) Eleanor Bayne, d. 1698.
• 3. +19. Elizabeth Stone, b.c. 1650, m. William Calvert, 1662, d. 1707.
• 4. 20. Richard Stone
• 5. +21. Mary Stone, b.c. 1656, m(1) Benoni Thomas, m(2) Robert Doyne, 1674, d. 1682.
• 6. 22. Catherine (or Katherine) Stone

--

From the Find A Grave page on Verlinda Cotton Stone:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Stone&GSbyrel...

• Birth: unknown, England
• Death: 1675 - Saint Marys City, St. Mary's County, Maryland, USA

Verlinda Graves or Cotton (?-c. 1675) was the wife of William Stone (1595/6, first Protestant Governor of Maryland province.

Some investigators believe that Verlinda was the daughter of Captain Thomas Graves (?-by 1637), early settler in Jamestown. But Verlinda, the wife of Williams Stone is most probably the sister of William Cotton, and not some other Verlinda because Cotton's 1640 will (recorded in 1646) mentions Captain William Stone as his brother-in-law.

However, Cotton's wife, Ann, was a daughter of the above mentioned immigrant Thomas Graves (?-by 1637), who had a daughter, Verlinda. If William Stone was married to Verlinda GRAVES, Cotton, in his will, might have referred to William Stone as his brother-in-law. We opt for Cotton as the more likely paternal line for Verlinda Stone but . . . what can you do?

Verlinda COTTON was a daughter of Joane _____ (1580-?) and Andrew Cotton (1578-by 1640). Andrew has been identified as the son of Andrew Cotton (?-?) of Bunbury, Cheshire, England, himself the son of Mary Mainwaring (?-?) and Richard Cotton (?-1602) also of Cheshire. Mary may have been a daughter of Sir Arthur Mainwaring (?-?), High Sheriff of Cheshire (1563) and Knight of Ightfield.

Richard Cotton, husband of Mary Mainwaring, was the son of _____ and George Cotton (?-?), who was a favorite of Henry VIII, being knighted by him and given many estates: Ducote in County Salop, Cliffe and Hales in Drayton, Erdlet Grange in Staffordshire, Wincell Grange in County Cheshire and Cotes Grange in Derbyshire and a former monastery, Combermere. This Cotton line has been connected speculatively back to the eleventh century and William, Lord of the Manor of Cotton (Coton), in Cheshire. A daughter of Mary and Richard Cotton was Francis, wife of George Abell (abt 1587-abt 1631), parents of immigrant Robert Abell (1589-aft 1643), who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630 Winthrop flotilla. (See page 210.) Robert and his wife Joanna _____ (?-?), are the ancestors of countless descendents in New England and beyond.

Verlinda Cotton Stone's brother was an Anglican priest, the Rev. William Cotton (abt 1600-1640), first minister in Hunger's Parish (Accawmacke Plantation) Virginia.

A communicant of the Church of England, Willaim Stone became Governor of Maryland shortly before the beheading of Charles I in 1649. He was appointed by the Catholic Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore and colonizer ("proprietor") of the Province of Maryland.

In 1654, commissioners from England arrived in Maryland. They insisted that the province be governed directly from England by the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. William Stone was compelled to resign.

In 1655, a ship, the Golden Fortune, arrived with reinforcements from Lord Baltimore. The emboldened William Stone, to his misfortune, then demanded that he be restored as Governor under the terms of the original charter. Marching with his supporters toward Patuxent to reclaim official records, Stone was met by an army of Puritans, many of them recently settled asylees from Virginia Colony, whom Stone himself had invited into Maryland.

Near present day Annapolis, at the mouth of the Severn River, the Virginia Protestants, commanded by Captain William Fuller, defeated the little army of William Stone, agent of Lord Baltimore.

For a time, Stone was held prisoner. His wife Verlinda boldly appealed to Lord Baltimore, reciting in her letter some of the details of the battle.

"Not above five of our men escaped," she wrote, "which ran away before the fight was ended . . . They have sequestered my Husband's Estate, only they say they will allow a maintenance for me and my children which I do believe will be but small. They keep my husband with the rest of the Council, all other officers, still prisoners, et cetera."

Stone was freed and regained possession of at least some of his lands, including his estate, Nanjemy, later called Poynton Manor. William Stone died in 1660 in his house in St. Mary's City.

William and Verlinda Stone had seven children:

• 1. Thomas
• 2. Richard
• 3. John
• 4. Matthew
• 5. Elizabeth
• 6. Katherine
• 7. Mary Stone (?-before 1689), who became the wife, first of _____ Thomas and then, as a widow, of Robert Doyne (?-1689), High Sheriff of Charles County, Maryland.

In her 1675 will, Verlinda Cotton Stone gave a nameless "negar woman" to John Stone, her son and executor. This donation was an altogether new feature not only in the life of an English woman born in the time of Shakespeare; it was also new to English law. Had she never set her foot in the Colonies and instead had died in England, Verlinda could not have become the owner of another human being. Nor could she have given a woman to her son.

This brief biography has been taken from Volume I of a book of family history entitled ALL OF THE ABOVE I, by Richard Baldwin Cook. For additional information, visit the contributor profile, #47181028.

Family links:

Spouse:

• William Stone (1595 - 1660)*

Burial: Unknown

• Created by: Richard Baldwin Cook
• Record added: Sep 29, 2009
• Find A Grave Memorial# 42528561

  ---

According to Melissa Thompson Alexander's page on Verlinda Graves Stone:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=madagtene...

Verlinda married a gentleman named Cotton before she married William Stone around 1635 in Hungar's Parish in Accomac County, Virginia (the place of her second marriage was given by Linda Reno at lreno@erols.com).

Verlinda is sometimes spelled Virlinda.

She was a staunch defender of her second husband, the first Governor of Maryland William Stone. Much is written on her defense of Governor Stone after his capture.

----------------------------------------

Sources 

1. CAPTAIN THOMAS GRAVES 1608 Settler of Jamestown, Virginia, and His Descendants (ca. 1580-2012).  Graves Family Association, Rev. 13 Aug. 2013, Gen. 169