William Leete Stone
William Leete Stone (1792-1844) was a significant figure in early American journalism and authorship, known for his support of American federalism and his extensive writings on American Indian life and culture. Born to a Presbyterian minister in New York, Stone began his career in publishing as an apprentice printer and later edited several influential newspapers, including the New York Commercial Advertiser. He is perhaps best known for his contentious legal battles with novelist James Fenimore Cooper, which culminated in a notable libel lawsuit that highlighted issues of press freedom in literary criticism. A complex individual, Stone advocated for abolition and Greek independence, yet opposed women's suffrage and was involved in debates about the Masonic order and school prayer. His work also included literary criticism and a mediation pamphlet addressing anti-Catholic sentiments in the 1830s. At the time of his death, Stone had also contributed to the establishment of public education in New York City and was a supporter of initiatives aimed at helping youth, including juvenile delinquents. His diverse contributions reflect the multifaceted nature of societal issues in early 19th-century America.
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William Leete Stone
- Born: April 20, 1792
- Birthplace: New Paltz, New York
- Died: August 15, 1844
- Place of death: Saratoga Springs, New York
Biography
Early American author and journalistWilliam Leete Stone was an active supporter of American federalism, a prolific historian of American Indian life and culture, and a valuable recorder of the current events of his lifetime. He led an interesting, varied, and cosmopolitan life. He is best known, however, as a party in a series of libel lawsuits brought against the papers he edited by American novelist James Fenimore Cooper, a onetime friend of Stone’s who became a bitter political and legal adversary.
Stone was born in New York in 1792 to a Presbyterian minister who had fought in the American Revolution. He worked on his family’s farm until becoming an apprentice printer at the Cooperstown, New York, Federalist when he was seventeen. He worked at several papers, including the Hudson, New York, Northern Whig, before becoming editor of the Hartford, Connecticut, Mirror, another influential Federalist newspaper. Stone also edited two literary magazines around this time and in 1821 succeeded Noah Webster as the editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, a position Stone would hold until his death in 1844.
Although he consistently opposed women’s suffrage, Stone was an active abolitionist and used his publishing outlets to advocate for Greek independence during the mid-1820’s. He toured the United States with Lafayette in 1824 and represented the brief Harrison administration at the Hague the following year.
Stone argued for the dissolution of the Masonic order despite being a freemason himself, arguing that it was no longer useful. His editorial writing on the subject was published in 1832 as Letters on Masonry and Anti-Masonry, Addressed to the Hon. John Quincy Adams. Around this time, he published a series of works documenting various aspects of Indian experience, as well as a highly influential pamphlet attempting to mediate the anti- Catholic sentiment roused by Maria Monk’s account of a sex scandal in Catholic nunneries.
A supporter of literature and writer of occasional fiction himself, Stone published literary criticism in his periodicals and was the defendant in a pivotal lawsuit brought by James Fenimore Cooper against the Commercial Advertiser in 1840. Cooper objected to the reviews of his book The History of the Navy that were printed in the paper. He sued for libel, and the courts found in his favor. The decision was opposed at the time as limiting the freedom of the press in matters of aesthetic judgment. Stone was required to publish the award in the paper and did so, but accompanied it with a sarcastic apology.
In addition to his extensive journalistic and other writing, Stone also worked as the first superintendent of the New York City public schools, was a participant in a lively debate regarding school prayer, and was an active advocate for youth, including juvenile delinquents.
Stone died at his home in Saratoga Springs in 1844. He and his wife, a sister of Francis Weyland, had one son.