Barton Warren Stone

Barton W. Stone was an American plantation owner in Montgomery, Alabama. He was enslaving more than 60 people at the plantation by 1860. He also owned two additional plantation houses, called Duck Pond and Prairie Place.

A 2001 sketch of Stone from the U.S. Department of the Interior (public domain):

"... Barton Warren Stone was born March 24,1800 in Oglethorpe, Georgia to Warren (b. 7/22/1766 in Charles Co., Maryland, d. 10/28/1849 in Lowndes County, Alabama) and Martha (Bedell) Stone (b. 4/16/1772 in Alamance Co., North Carolina, d. 10/8/1849 in Lowndes County, Alabama). Barton Stone was named after his maternal grandfather, Barton Follett Warren. Stone's father, John Stone (b. 11/29/1715 in Charles Co. Maryland, d. 8/1775) was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. After John Stone's death, his widow, Mary Warren Stone (b. 1730, d. 1796) moved from Maryland to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. From there, her sons Barton, Absolam and Warren migrated to Lowndes County, Alabama with a brief stop in Oglethorpe, Georgia. While in Georgia, Warren's wife Martha gave birth to Barton Stone in 1800.

Written information documents that Barton Stone constructed the residence [Stone Plantation] in 1846. However, research for this National Register nomination suggest that an earlier house dating prior to 1830 may have been greatly altered in 1856 to reflect the current architectural fashion. Stone's first purchase of land in Lowndes County, Alabama, appears around 1825. Stone married the widow Caroline Walton of Macon, Georgia, in 1823. They had five children that lived to adulthood. Stone, his wife Caroline Walton, and two of their six children, along with ten slaves, are listed in the 1830 Lowndes County census. By 1840, Stone's family had grown to seven, and his slave holdings had grown to forty, twenty of which were engaged in agriculture. Caroline Walton Stone died in 1841, and Barton married Carolina Sophia Whetsone of Autauga County. No records were found to provide a date for this marriage, which produced two children. Perhaps Stone used the occasion of marriage to express his new wealth and success as a planter, and provide his second bride, twenty three years his younger, with a 'handsome residence.' The construction date of 1846 for the present house falls within this window of time. In addition, Warren Stone, at the age of 74, constructed a two-story Greek Revival residence on an adjoining piece of property. Barton and Caroline's son, George Stone, was killed during the Civil War in 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines in Henrico County, Virginia. Carolina Stone died in 1864. Barton Stone married a third time to Beatrice Wall of Coosa County.

The Stone family was very successful in their agricultural pursuits. Records from Warren Stone's estate show that at his death in 1849, he owned 1,040 acres, forty-two slaves, a cotton gin, and 'substantial holdings of livestock.' The value of his estate was estimated at over $30,000. Eleven years after his father's death, Barton Stone was listed in the 1860 census as possessing $100,000 in real estate and $105,880 in personal property. His plantation grew to over 3,200 acres. However, the period of the Civil War was hard for the family. Barton's brother, Warren, who inherited the majority of his father's estate, was forced to sell his property to out- of-state interests. The 1870 census lists Barton Stone's real estate holdings valued at $15,600 and personal property valued at $1,000, barely 10% of the value just ten years before. Barton Stone died in 1884 at the age of 84 and is buried in the Stone family cemetery adjacent to the Warren Stone house near Burkeville, Lowndes County. ..."

Sources

• Plantation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Plantation
• Plantation house: https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/03772c5b-a52a-4e07-a84d-2e16c041...
• Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29274207/barton-warren-stone