is that because the receiver sees a single stop bit and doesn't care what happens after that until the next start (low) bit? If not, how would I go about changing the receiver settings for stop bits? Thanks!
That's exactly right. Remember that after a single character with a proper stop bit detected, there may be no further characters for several seconds or even mins depending on the application.
Once a receiver detects that a expected stop bit is proper, it is willing to wait forever for only one further event, a start bit. That's why it's called asynchronous communications because the receiving end has no advance information on when and if the next character may be sent.
Interesting the purpose for more then a single stop bits (1&1/2 stop bits was an option in older times as well as 2 stop bits) dates back to the old mechanical teletype machines that used asyn communications. It allowed a little more time for receiving machines to "catch up" in case the transmitter was sending slightly faster then the agreed on baud rate.
Lefty