Thomas Stone came from a long line of public servants. His great-great grandfather, William came to America from England in 1628 and settled first in Virginia. Twenty years later with England engaged in a bloody civil war, William Stone was chosen by Maryland's proprietary leader, Lord Baltimore to be the governor of Maryland, the first Protestant to hold that office in the county. His tenure was filled with conflict, the Puritans of the colony not in line with his tolerant views toward other Christians, namely Catholics. But Stone survived and was granted acreage in newly formed Charles County Maryland in 1658 which would establish the Stone line that has lasted until the present. Two of Thomas' great-grandfathers served in the Maryland Assembly and in Thomas' era, his brother John would be a governor of the state, while his brother Michael served as a representative in the 1st Congress of the United States in 1789.

With the American Revolution over, men like Thomas Stone and George Washington wanted to ensure the continued growth of the fledgling United States. The best way to do this was to find a way to link the frontier with the coastal ports of the Eastern seaboard.

To this end in March of 1785 commissioners from Maryland, including Thomas Stone and Virginia met at Washington's home, Mount Vernon to create a treaty to utilize the Potomac River for navigation. The resulting Mount Vernon Conference would eventually open up the river for such projects as the Pawtomack Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.