Barton W. Stone

Stone, Barton Warren. (Maryland, 1772--1884). Disciples. Ordained to ministry in Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, 1798, on the basis of his acceptance of the Westminster Confession as far as he saw it to be "consistent with the Word of God"; figured in the Great Western Revival (1800-1803), especially in the famous Can Ridge Meeting of 1801; withdrew from Presbyterian Church (1803/1804), forming a "Christian" fellowship along the lines of the groups already existing in North Carolina and Virginia (led by James O'Kelley) and in New England; in 1832 Stone led a large number of Kentucky Christians into a union with the Disciples (see Alexander Campbell). Stone had edited with Thomas Dams The Christian Hymn Book (1829); another book of the same title with John T. Johnson in 1832; after the merger with Campbell, compiled with A. Campbell, Walter Scott, and Johnson a composite collection, The Christian Hymn Book (1835) for the use of the merged Christian Disciples; this book provided the basis for the denomination's hymn books through the 1882 Christian Hymnal, Revised.

--George Brandon, DNAH Archives