California Biographies HON. THOMAS PORCHER STONEY Transcribed by Walt Howe. This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Has had a long and distinguished career in this State. He came to California in that memorable year, 1856, and since then he has been of those who have materially helped in the progress of the State. He has been active in his profession ever since. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and comes of an old American family, and of Hugenot ancestry in the remote past. In this country his people took creditable and patriotic part whenever the country desired their services. In the Revolutionary war his great-grandfather was an officer � Adjutant-General of the staff of General Marion � and since then the patriotic instinct has always been alive with them. Judge Stoney came by way of Panama. His steamer waited in New York for news confirming Buchanan�s election. Connection was made at Panama with the Golden Age, and the first news of Democratic victory was consequently given from her here. She arrived in December, 1856. After his arrival, as was natural, he went to the mines. He engaged in quartz mining near Mud Springs, El Dorado county. Judge Stoney�s natural vocation was the law, however, and he turned to this, and by diligent preparation and his inherent ability he mastered its intricacies. Admitted in 1859, he entered on a career in entire harmony with his inclination, and one in which he was certainly achieved distinction. Removing to Napa county, he soon enjoyed a large practice in that section and gained the respect and esteem of the people for his conscientious course. His party, the Democratic party, there nominated him for County Judge, and he was elected by a good majority�showing not alone popularity but also the belief in his integrity and ability, for Napa county was a Republican county. He held from 1872 to 1880. February of the latter year Judge Stoney came to San Francisco, and since then has been engaged in the practice of his profession here. In 1879, prior to his coming, he was nominated for the Supreme Bench. He was defeated in this election, however, and to our view of it there was great triumph in this defeat. He was the only one on the ticket defeated, and the only one who did not receive the Sand-Lot nomination. His principles prevented any subserviency to such a class of agitators, and in consequence he lost their votes � an honor, to our thinking. Judge Stoney was associated with Judge I. S. Belcher and A.C. Freeman on the commission appointed by Governor Irwin, and re-appointed by Governor Perkins, to conform the codes of the new constitution, then but recently adopted. They completed their work in a most satisfactory manner. He is now a member of the well-known firm of Stanly, Stoney & Hayes, associating with these gentlemen on coming here. This firm goes back to pioneer times, when it consisted of Stanly & Hayes (uncles of the present gentlemen); afterward it became Hayes, Stanly & Hayes, and finally the present title. Judge Stoney is justly regarded as one of our best lawyers. A gentleman of genial, pleasant manner, an excellent converser, well read on almost every current topic, he certainly is respected and esteemed by those who have the pleasure of knowing him. He is a man of strong religious convictions, being a member of St. John�s Episcopal Church, on Fifteenth street, near Valencia. Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, pages 25-26, Lewis Publishing Co., 1892. A direct descendant of Pierre Gaillard, a French Huguenot who immigrated to this country upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, was born on a rice plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, called Back River and owned by his father, Pierre Gaillard Stoney, who was one of the wealthy plantation owners in South Carolina,. He was educated at the South Carolina College at Columbia, South Carolina, and from there finished his course in law at the University of Virginia in 1855. In 1856 he came, via the Isthmus of Panama, to San Francisco and from there to Napa, where he began the practice of law. In 1860 he married Kate M. Allen, a of Joseph Allen, a successful merchant in New York, and remained in Napa until the breaking out of the Civil war in 1861, when he left for the South and fought on the southern side under General Beauregard until the war was over. His wife followed him to the South and lived with his people throughout the war. After the war he went North with his wife to New York and Vermont, her home and that of her ancestors, and in 1868 returned to Napa, California, where, under the stringent rules of the Government, he was not entitled to practiced law, having fought on the side of the Confederacy. His ability soon appealed to Messrs. Hartson and Burnell, leading attorneys of Napa, who made him a silent part partner until the inhibition against Seccessionists was removed and in 1872 he was elected county judge of Napa County and reelected in 1876. In 1879 he was nominated by the democratic convention to the office of associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State of California, but was defeated, owing to the fact that he was not endorsed by Denis Kearny party, called the Honorable Bilks, who held the balance of power. Upon the adoption of the Constitution of 1879 he was appointed by the governor a member of the commission to revise the codes to conform to the new constitution, and upon completion of that work entered into partnership with Judge John A. Stanly and George R. B. Hayes in the practice of law in San Francisco under the firm name of Stanley, Stoney and Hayes, with offices at 604 Clay Street, at the corner of Clay and Montgomery streets, and later, in 1888, over the London, Paris and American Bank at Sansome and Sutter streets. As a member of that firm he made his reputation as a leading lawyer by his arguments before the Supreme Court, in many cases involving intricate legal questions, due to his analytic mind and concise reasoning. He died December 18, 1891, leaving a widow, Kate M. Stoney, now deceased; Kate W. Stoney, a daughter; and two sons, Gaillard and Donzel Stoney, now practicing attorneys of San Francisco. He was successful in the Law owning to his sterling integrity and his power of analytical presentation of legal points and briefs submitted to the Supreme Court. He was a man of personal magnetism and took an especial interest in the young lawyers, such as Garrett W. McEnerney, Denis Spencer and many others who sought his judgment in solving intricate and novel legal problems, and he was ever ready to drop his work in order to advise young attorneys, who, now prominent in the law, together with those of the old school now will survive him, hold him in high commemoration and esteem. Source: History of the San Francisco Bay Region by Bailey no Lord Volume 3, Page 95-96. The American Historical Society, Inc., 1924. Submitted by Nancy Pratt Melton.