Richard Stockton: NJ Signer of the Declaration of Independence
- katellashisadventure
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Richard Stockton was born on October 1, 1730, in Princeton, New Jersey, to John and Abigail Stockton. He was the eldest of eight children, and his family’s ancestry can be traced back to England. His great-grandfather, Richard Stockton, came to America with his wife and son in 1655. They settled in Flushing, Long Island. Great Grandfather Stockton was a descendant of Sir John Stockton, who was the Mayor of London, and Lord of Stockton manor of Malpas Parish in Chester, England. He moved to Burlington, New Jersey, after becoming a Quaker in 1691 and purchasing 2,000 acres of land. His son, also named Richard, purchased 5500 acres of land from William Penn in 1701 in Princeton, New Jersey, and built his home. He died when Stockton’s father, John, was eight years old. John Stockton inherits his father’s land and marries his cousin, who was a Presbyterian, and joins the church. He will give land and money to establish the College of New Jersey, which is later known as Princeton.
Stockton was born into a wealthy family and was educated by Reverend Dr. Samuel Finley while attending Nottingham Academy. He will then attend the College of New Jersey and is considered to be very intellectual. The College of New Jersey was the most celebrated school of that era. After he finishes college, he begins to study law under David Ogden of Newark and is admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1754. David Ogden was the head of the legal profession in Newark at this time.
1757 was a sad and joyous year for the Stockton family as John Stockton passed away and Stockton married Annis Boudinot. She was the daughter of Elias Sr. and Catherine (Williams) Boudinot, and the sister of Elias Jr., Stockton’s best friend. They would have six children together. Their first daughter, Julia, was born in 1759. She would marry Dr. Benjamin Rush in January of 1776, and Reverend Witherspoon performed the ceremony. She would pass away in 1848. Their next child was also a daughter, Mary, who was born in 1761 and passed away in 1846. She married Reverend Andrew Hunter. A third daughter, Susan, was born in 1761, followed by Richard, born in 1764. He marries Mary Field and eventually becomes a U.S. District Attorney for New Jersey, a Congressman, and a Senator. He passed away in 1828. Another son, Lucius Horatio, was born in 1768 and passed away in 1835. He marries Elizabeth Milnor and becomes a US District Attorney for New Jersey. Their final child, Abigail, was born in 1773 and she passed in 1853. She married Robert Field III,
Annis was a well-read and educated woman of her time, who would write and publish poetry. She would be the only woman member of the American Society. One of the pieces she wrote was titled "Welcome, Might Chief, Once More," which celebrates the capture of Lord Cornwallis.
BRING now ye Muses from th’ Aonian grove,
The wreath of victory which the sisters wove,
Wove and laid up in Mars’ most awful fane,
To crown our Hero on Virginia’s plain.
See from Castalia’s sacred fount they haste,
And now, already on his brow ’tis plac’d;
The trump of fame proclaims aloud the joy,
AND WASHINGTON IS CROWN’D, re-echo’s to the sky.
Illustrious name! thy valour now has broke
Oppression’s galling chain, and took the yoke
From off they bleeding country, set her free,
And every heart with transport beats for thee.[1]
A copy of this was sent to General Washington, who, in turn, wrote her a note of thanks.
In 1766, Stockton sailed to England, Scotland, and Ireland for a fifteen-month trip. While he was away, his business interests were handled by friends and his brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot, who handled most of the business. While in England, he was entertained by many important men, including the Marquis of Rockingham and the Earl of Chatham, as well as other members of Parliament. He attends a variety of business meetings, including one on the issuing of paper money by the colonies. While in England, he pays a visit to Benjamin Franklin and then meets with Reverend Witherspoon, in Scotland, to offer him the presidency of the College of New Jersey. Reverend Witherspoon declines at this time due to his wife’s fear of immigrating to a new country she believed was backward. Stockton’s future son-in-law, Benjamin Rush, would take up the cause of persuading Reverend Witherspoon to come to America as well. Both men would eventually convince the Reverend and his wife to immigrate to America. But not all was easy while he was overseas. On two separate occasions, he encountered some perilous incidents. One was in Edinburgh, where he was robbed and had to defend himself with a small sword. Unfortunately, the assailant got away. The other occurred in Ireland, where he booked a passage home, but his luggage was delayed, and he missed the ship. It turned out to be a fortunate incident because the ship would later sink in a storm.[2]
Stockton returned from overseas in late 1767, and by 1768, he was given a seat on the royal executive council in New Jersey. Between then and 1774, he was also engaged in cultivating his estate and growing his fortune. In 1774, he was appointed a judge on the Supreme Court, and in December, he warned the British to essentially stop what they were doing in Parliament; otherwise, war would come. He does this with a piece titled An Expedient for the Settlement of the American Disputes, which calls for America to self-govern while remaining part of the British Empire. He continues to try to persuade the British of this, but when he realizes that it is not going to happen, he chooses his country over his King. Some of the people he wrote to were the very ones who had entertained him in 1766, such as the Marquis of Rockingham and the Earl of Chatham. Both men rejected his counsel on the American situation.
He resigned all his royal appointments in 1776 and was elected by the New Jersey Provincial Assembly to go to Philadelphia. He goes to Philadelphia, even though the royal government had quite favored him. He believes that since they do not want to reach an amicable solution, he has no choice but to choose his homeland over the King.[3]
Reverend Witherspoon and Stockton arrived in Philadelphia on July 1, 1776. Before their arrival, they are in a thunderstorm and walk in not only late but soaking wet, just missing John Adams’ response to John Dickinson. They asked him to summarize his speech, but he refused at first, because he felt put out in having to repeat himself. Edward Rutledge finally persuaded him to repeat the speech. Stockton was appreciative of this and would later say John Adams was “The Atlas of the hour, the man whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independency…”[4] He would be the first of the New Jersey delegates to sign the Declaration on August 2, 1776.
He was elected Governor of New Jersey in August 1776 but declined to serve, as he would when he was elected Chief Justice of New Jersey, because he preferred to work in Congress. He was an active member of Congress, with many committee memberships under his belt, and was sent to inspect the Northern army and report back to Hancock on the army’s conditions. He travels with George Clymer of Pennsylvania, and then wrote to Abraham Clark that “There is not a single shoe or stocking to be had in this part of the world, or I would ride a hundred miles through the woods, and purchase them with my own money – for you’ll consider that the weather here must be different from that in New Jersey; it is very cold now I assure you.”[5]
During the invasion of New Jersey, Stockton returned home to move his family, and he was captured on November 30, 1776, when a local loyalist informed the British of his location. He was treated brutally, starved, and locked in a cold prison, first in Perth Amboy, and then sent to New York. Congress was informed of his capture and treatment and demanded his release, ordering General Washington on January 3, 1777, to address the situation. It should be noted that on the day of his capture, General Howe and his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, had issued a proclamation which allowed a colonist to not pledge allegiance to the King, but pledge peaceable obedience to the King by not taking part in war activities. With this paper, colonists were not supposed to be harassed by British troops. Generally, the British ignored this proclamation, and Parliament was furious. It was this proclamation that Stockton’s enemies alleged he signed.[6] British Provost Marshal William Cunningham offered this to Stockton, who refused to sign the proclamation. This refusal to sign was the biggest reason he was treated so brutally. Later, General Howe, himself, would offer the proclamation to Stockton after learning about his deplorable treatment, but Stockton would again refuse to sign it. It was Stockton who told General Howe about the treatment he was receiving.
While it was alleged that he swore an allegiance to the British to get out of jail, a letter General Lord Howe wrote to Lord Germain in Parliament on March 25, 1777, refutes these assertions. Lord Howe wrote, “at no time had a leading rebel sought pardon.”[7] It appears the rumor of his capitulation to the British may have been spread by an enemy of Stockton’s. Lord Germain would acknowledge receipt of this letter and restate the King’s disappointment with the leaders of the rebellion on May 20, 1777.[8] Many times, when prisoners were given parole, they were required to withdraw from the war effort. This lack of participation may have intensified the rumors. However, this was normal and customary behavior for both sides when released from prison. It should be noted that Stockton would swear an oath of allegiance to the state of New Jersey and the revolutionary cause in December of 1777, but by then, his reputation was ruined. Stockton would not respond to the rumors, neither denying nor confirming them. The rumors could well have circulated because he had a cousin also named Richard Stockton, a loyalist who joined the British Army around the time Stockton was released from British custody. That cousin was known as “Double Dick” as he was often involved in shady schemes.[9]
General Cornwallis occupied Morven, while in New Jersey, and burned Stockton’s letters, his magnificent library, clothes, and other personal property. Dr. Rush wrote, “His losses cannot amount to less than five thousand pounds.”[10] His home would be occupied by his family until the 20th century, when it was leased to General Robert Woods John, the chairman of Johnson and Johnson. He would live there with his family from 1928 to 1955, then it became the home of the Governor of New Jersey. It served as the Governor’s mansion until 1982, when it was converted into a museum.
It would also take him nearly two years to recover from the brutal treatment he had received while imprisoned. During his confinement, he was re-elected to Congress but submitted his resignation because of the parole he had signed. He would be dependent on others until he could re-establish his law practice. Despite all the rumors that swirled, no writings exist in the newspapers of the time or Congress’s journals that suggest Stockton was a traitor. He eventually resumes his health that had been impaired by his imprisonment, and his law practice, but soon develops mouth cancer in late 1778.
The cancerous tumor was removed without anesthesia, but unfortunately, it would come back and spread to his throat by April 1779. He would spend the rest of his life taking anodynes to relieve the pain. Stockton dies of cancer on February 28, 1781, at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. He lay in state at the College of New Jersey before being buried in the Stony Brook Quaker Cemetery in Princeton. He was buried here because his ancestors had been Quakers, even though he was a Presbyterian. In his will, after his estate was divided, he left sound advice to his children concerning religion:
“That the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system, is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state… I have therefore no particular advice to leave with my children upon this subject, saving that they deliberately and conscientiously, in the beginning of life, determine for themselves, with which denomination of Christians they can, the most devoutly and profitably worship God… That distinguished abilities, stations and authority are only desirable as occasions of doing greater private and public good, but that their footsteps being invariable masked with envy and opposition, make them enemies to private peace, and therefore unless public life is evidently pointed out by divine providence it should rather be avoided than coveted.”[11]
Tidbits He was 6 feet tall with light green or gray colored eyes. He had a slender build and was an accomplished swordsman and horseman. He was interested in music, poetry, and painting. Reverend Samuel Smith described him as an easy, graceful man who was “affiable and entertaining.” Some of his students were Elias Boudinot, William Patterson, Joseph Reed, William Davis, and Jonathan D. Sergeant, among others, who would go on to render some type of public service. Stockton once wrote, “The public is generally unthankful, and I will never become a Servant of it, till I am convinced that by neglecting my own affairs I am doing more acceptable service to God and man.” Charter member of the St. John’s Free and Accepted Masons, becoming a Grand Master |
[1] https://archive.org/stream/AnnisStocktonAndSusannaRowson/Annis-Stockton_and_Susanna-Rowson_djvu.txt
[3] Sanderson, John. Biography of The Signers to The Declaration of Independence, (Philadelphia, R.W. Pomerory, 1832) 191
[6] Glynn, John C., and Kathryn Glynn. His Sacred Honor: Judge Richard Stockton, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. (Brentwood, TN, Hereditea, 2006) 32-33
[7] Glynn, John C., and Kathryn Glynn. His Sacred Honor: Judge Richard Stockton, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 56
[8] Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Vol. 6. (London, Great Britain: H.M. Stationary Office, 1877) 402
[9] Hayden, Philip A. "Double Dick": Princeton's Other Richard Stockton" Princeton History 11, (January 1992): 22‑27
[11] "Will of Richard Stockton" Wallbuilders - Historical Documents. Accessed July 30, 2015.
[12] Some information in this section came from Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, (New York, William Reed & Co., 1856), Pages 210 and Kiernan, Denise, and Joseph D'Agnese. Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of The Men Who Signed The Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: Quirk Book, 2009) 93
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