Stone, Joel

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Elizabeth M. Morgan, “STONE, JOEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/stone_joel_6E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Businessman, jp, office holder, and militia officer; b. 7 Aug. 1749 in Guilford, Conn., son of Stephen Stone and Rebecca Bishop; m. first 23 March 1780 Leah Moore in New York City, and they had a son and a daughter who reached adulthood; m. secondly in the summer of 1799 Abigail Cogswell, widow of Abraham Dayton; d. 20 Nov. 1833 in Gananoque, Upper Canada.
    • Joel Stone’s early years were spent near Litchfield, Conn., where he helped on the family farm. In 1774 he entered partnership as a general merchant in Woodbury; he settled in the nearby parish of Judea and remained there until 1776, when his public profession of loyalist sentiments incurred the revolutionaries’ wrath. His property was confiscated and he fled to New York. As a volunteer with the British forces, he was captured on Long Island, N.Y., in 1778 and imprisoned at Fairfield, Conn. Following his escape on 23 July, he gradually re-established himself as a merchant at New York and in 1780 became a captain in the city militia. In 1783 he left for England to seek compensation for the loss of personal effects and property in Connecticut, which he estimated to be worth about £1,500.
    • Impressed by the opportunities in the colony, Stone initially settled with his family at Cornwall (Ont.) in the spring of 1787 and established a small distillery. He applied for a grant of land at the mouth of the Gananoque River, but the geographical advantages of the situation also prompted a claim by Sir John Johnson. The ensuing dispute was not resolved for several years. Finally, in 1790, Stone was granted a 700-acre tract on the west side of the river.
    • Stone’s resolve to recoup his losses through settlement in Upper Canada was no doubt weakened by the misfortunes that befell him between 1788 and 1790. Widespread grain shortages seriously affected his distillery and the resulting financial problems were exacerbated by the collapse of his marriage.
    • Once settled at Gananoque, the perennially ambitious Stone gradually established himself as its principal landowner and leading inhabitant. His development of a saw-milling operation in 1791 led to a further diversification of his business interests. By 1795 he was dealing with markets in Kingston and Montreal and had acquired a lease of property on Howe Island for lime kilns. His persistent petitioning led to the accumulation of a number of key positions in local government, including those of justice of the peace in 1796, customs collector in 1802, and roads commissioner in 1814. Access to the settlement was improved when in 1801 he began operating a ferry across the Gananoque River. Gradually he expanded his interests to include general merchandising.
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=8130
  • Find A Grave : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46719400/joel-stone