Samuel Stone
Samuel Stone was a notable figure in early American colonial history, born in Hertford, England. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, which was known for its Puritan influence. After being ordained in 1627, Stone served as a curate in Essex until his suspension for nonconformity in 1630, prompting his relocation to New England. In Massachusetts, he became associated with prominent ministers John Cotton and Thomas Hooker, joining Hooker’s church in Cambridge from 1633 to 1636. Following this, he helped establish a new church in Hartford, Connecticut.
Stone's contributions to his community extended beyond preaching; he participated in the Pequot War in 1637 and published an elegy for Hooker after his death in 1647. Notably, Stone authored a sermon advocating for the Congregational church and became involved in a significant doctrinal debate regarding the Half-Way Covenant in 1659. He remained the pastor of the Hartford church until his death in 1663, leaving behind two unpublished manuscripts that were later acknowledged for their value.
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Samuel Stone
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- Born: July 18, 1602
- Birthplace: Hertford, Hertfordshire, England
- Died: July 20, 1663
Biography
Samuel Stone was born in Hertford, England, the son of John Stone. His father had sufficient means that the younger Stone was able to attend Emmanuel College, Cambridge, reputed to be a stronghold of Puritanism. After he received his degree, Stone took holy orders on June 13, 1627; he was then appointed curate at Stisted, Essex. He served in this capacity until he was suspended for nonconformity on September 13, 1630.
After his suspension, Stone left England for New England, where he became closely associated with New England ministers John Cotton and Thomas Hooker. In 1633, he accompanied Cotton and Hooker to Boston, Massachusetts, where Hooker persuaded Stone to join him as an associate in a church in Cambridge. They served together from 1633 to 1636. In 1636, Hooker and Stone moved to Hartford, Connecticut, to establish a new church.
In his History of New England (1853), John Winthrop says that Stone served under James Mason in the war against the Pequot tribe of Native Americans in 1637. When Thomas Hooker died in 1647, Stone published an elegy in his honor; the poem, “In obitum viri Doctissimi Thomae Hookeri,” was included as a preface in Hooker’s A Survey of the Summe of Church-Discipline (1648). Stone was also the author of one published sermon, A Congregational Church Is a Catholike Visible Church (1652). In 1659, he became embroiled in a doctrinal controversy over the Half-Way Covenant that caused the church membership to split.
After Hooker’s death in 1647, Stone continued as the sole pastor of the Hartford church until his death in 1663. He left two unpublished manuscripts. Stone seems to have circulated his manuscripts because Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), described one of them as a “rich treasure.”