Richard Stockton (1730 - 1781)

Born 1 Oct 1730 in Morven, Princeton, Somerset, Province of New Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Annis (Boudinot) Stockton — married 1757 in New Jersey

Descendants

Died 28 Feb 1781 at age 50 in Morven, Princeton, Somerset, New Jersey, United States

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Biography

Richard Stockton is Notable.

Richard Stockton was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Richard Stockton was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Birth

Richard was born on October 1, 1730, at the family home near Princeton, New Jersey,^[1][2][3] then a part of Somerset County. His father was John Stockton, whose father, Richard "The Builder" Stockton, had settled on this land.^[1] John's wife, Richard's mother was Abigail Phillips, and Richard had younger siblings John, Philip, Samuel, Hannah, Abigail, Susanna and Rebecca.^[2] At their father's death, in 1758, Richard was appointed sole executor and guardian of his siblings, who were all still minors at the time.^[4][5]

Education

Richard attended the West Nottingham Academy in Maryland,^[1][6] which still exists today some 270 years later. He then went on to the College of New Jersey, (then in Newark, New Jersey)^[7] which would later become Princeton College (now Princeton University or Princeton) and graduated with the first class in 1748.^[1][8][3] He would become a trustee of the college.

Marriage

Richard married Anice/Annis Boudinot, sister of Elias Boudinot, LL.D.^[2] She was an accomplished poet. Richard built a house, in the 1750s on the land granted to his grandfather by William Penn. This first house was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1758. It was named [1] (“big mountain” in Gaelic) by Annis. Morven would later become the New Jersey governor's mansion.^[9]

Career

Early in the history of the country, there were no law schools. A person studied with another lawyer, and then was given an examination by established lawyers and admitted to the bar. Richard Stockton studied law with David Ogden, of Newark. He was admitted to the bar^[1] in 1754,^[3][7] and to the grade of counsellor in 1758.^[7] His law practice was based in Princeton, New Jersey.^[3] Accounts are that he was a counsellor and advocate of great distinction.^[1]

So outstanding was his reputation that on a visit to England, Scotland and Ireland in 1766 and 1767, he was presented at court by a minister of the king, and was consulted on American affairs by the Marquis of Rockingham and the Earl of Chatham;^[1] In Edinburgh, late in May or early June 1767, "the Lord Provost sent him, ... an invitation to a publick dinner; after which the Dean of Guild, by his Lordship's command, presented him with the freedom of the city.^[10][1] He returned to New York in the summer of 1767. His passage was noted: "Captain Sinclair left Portland Road the 4th of June ... 39 passengers, among whom are ... Richard Stockton, Esq; of the Province of New Jersey".^[11]

Shortly after his return, he was appointed one of the royal judges of the province and a member to the executive council^[1] (1768-1774).^[3] The council had two roles, one as advisors to the governor, the other as an upper house of the legislature.^[12] In 1774, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court.^[2] He served until 1776.^[13]

1776

Richard Stockton had a choice to make. He admired the character of the King, although he believed he was misled by a corrupt ministry. He had received many honors from the crown. However, he could not stand by and allow the British government to tax the American Colonies without granting them representation.^[2][7]

On the twenty-first of June, 1776, Stockton was elected by the provincial congress as a delegate to the general congress in Philadelphia. He at first had doubts about the expediency of the Declaration of Independence but was persuaded by John Adams' speech in favor.^[1][7] On July 4, 1776, he signed that famous document.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.^[14]

In September 1776, he and William Livingston were the first republican candidates for the office of governor. They had an equal number of ballots on the first vote, but Livingston eventually won the vote, at which point Stockton was chosen chief justice of the state, by unanimous vote. He declined.^[7]

On September 26, 1776, he and fellow signer George Clymer of Pennsylvania were sent to Ticonderoga to inspect the northern army. Congress gave them the power to contract for provisions, etc. and report back to Congress on the state of the army.^[15][16] He found, of course, how ill-equipped the army was and wrote home to another signer to send shoes and stockings immediately, among other needed equipment.^[15]

Richard Stockton is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A110432.

Capture

The British invaded New Jersey. Stockton hurried home to protect his family, moving them to the home of a friend. Ironically, he was captured there.^[15] On the 30th of November a party of refugee royalists, pulled Stockton from his bed (at the Covenhoven home - see note below), carried him to New York, treated him with indignity, and threw him into a common prison. The congress on hearing of this passed a resolution that General Washington to inquire into the truth of the statement and to request of General Howe if this is now the way he's going to treat all his prisoners.^[1]

Stockton lived at Morven near Princeton. When the Continentals were defeated, Stockton rendered aid, after the patriot troops left for Trenton, Stockton, he and his family fled to Monmouth County and were taken in by the John Covenhoven family. 30 Nov 1776 The Covenhoven home was surrounded by Tories, the door smashed open, Stockton and his host John Covenhoven were pulled from their beds, first to prison at Perth Amboy, then New York to Provost prison. Stockton's property at Morven was destroyed by the Red Coats, his library burned, his fine blooded horses taken for officer's mounts. ^[17][18]

Loyalist Cyrenius Van Mater (1725-) is said to have informed the British soldiers of his location.^[19][20] His brothers Daniel and Hendrick were loyalists whose estates were confiscated and who lived in England after the war.^[21]

"In November, 1776 Cyrenus Van Mater reported the refugees in the Covenhoven farm to the British. The Covenhovens and Van Maters were related by marriage. At least three Van Maters later had their land confiscated for joining with the Royalists. Two Van Mater brother’s had built schooners and ran them out of Perth Amboy to trade for tropical goods with the English port on Barbados. Siding with the English may have been an economic necessity. "^[22]

"While we do not know the details of Stockton's imprisonment, every indication was that it was extremely harsh... the reports of the fate of one of the Founding Fathers were so appalling that Congress on January 3 took steps to intervene on his behalf by ordering George Washington to make an official inquiry into the matter. By mid-March Richard Stockton was back home in Princeton. He had... walked out of prison a free man because he had signed an oath of loyalty to the King and had been paroled."^[23] Gerlach, a noted historian of the Revolution, wrote that Stockton's reputation took a hit for recanting his support of independence, but given the alternative was probable death and he had likely been tortured, his oath seems understandable. After his release he made no support of the British or the Rebels, remaining neutral until his death, focused on rebuilding Morven, his health, and his reputation.

While he was released, his health had been compromised, his lands devastated, his papers and library burned, and his stock was seized and driven away leaving him destitute.^[1][2]

Religion

His father "John Stockton's materialistic life-style and his wife's religious preferences prompted him to convert to Presbyterianism, while his deep-felt need to discharge social responsibility through community service resulted in his serving for many years as a judge of the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas... Until 1765 [Richard] Stockton devoted his time and energies almost exclusively to family and professional matters. To be sure, he continued the association of the Stockton family with the Presbyterian Church and the College of New Jersey. He donated land and cash toward the construction of a church to serve both the collegians and townspeople..."^[24]

This is likely the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton (now known as the "Nassau Presbyterian Church") founded in 1766, which was closely tied to the University. It was destroyed during the war and was not rebuilt until 1784. ^[25]

For someone with no firsthand experience of Quakerism (his namesake grandfather had been a Friend but died in 1709 before Richard's birth), it seems curious Richard Stockton was buried in the Quaker burial ground at Stony Brook Meeting. It also seems unusual for the Meeting to have approved this burial, since typically Friends meetings in New Jersey were contentious towards their members serving in the Militia or providing material support for war, let alone someone who had apparently never been a Friend himself. As judges, both father and son were frequently called upon to swear oaths, a practice forbidden to Friends at the time. Wikipedia states without citation, "For two generations his family had been Quakers, and it was his wish to be buried at the Stony Brook Meeting House Cemetery in Princeton."^[26]

Given that his own church was in ruins and that Stony Brook Meeting is in walking distance of Morven, it made sense Richard wished to be buried there. There may be archival material regarding his burial and relation to Stony Brook Meeting, additional research welcomed.

Death

"After riding on a very cold and windy day to Somerset Court, his lip became so much chapped that a cancerous affection resulted, which terminated his life," despite attempts at surgical intervention.^[2]

He died on February 28, 1781, at his home Morven.^[1][2]

"He was a man of great coolness and courage. His bodily poweres both in relation to strength and agility, were of a superior order, and he was highly accomplished in all manly exercis peculiar to the priod in which he lived. His skill as a horseman and swordsman was particularly great. His manners were dignified, simple, though highly polished."^[7]

Funeral

Rev. Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith gave a funeral sermon for Stockton in the chapel of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). ^[27] The sermon was published later that year by his widow, along with a poem she wrote mourning her late husband.^[28]

Obituary

from The Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia). Saturday, March 10, 1781. p. 2, col. 3.

"On Wednesday, 28 February last, departed this life, at his seat at Morven, in New Jersey, in the 51st year of his age, Richard Stockton, Esq.;

The ability, dignity, and integrity with which this gentleman discharged the duties of the several important offices to which he was called by the voice of his country, are well known.

In the private walk of life, he was peculiarly engaging. His manners were easy, and just conversation was at all times embellished with the marks of education, taste, and knowledge of the world.

It pleased God to shew the efficacy of the Christian religion upon the human heart, by the fortitude and pious resignation with which he sustained a disease peculiarly painful and tedious, and by that composure and triumph with which he parted with everything dear in life. His remains were conducted to the college hall, where a sermon, suitable to the occasion, was preached by the Reverend Samuel Smith, the professor of divinity; they were afterward interred with his ancestors, in the friends burying ground near Princeton."

Will

Richard Stockton, of Morven, Somerset Co., counselor-at-law, wrote a will dated May 20, 1780. He added a codicil on February 21, 1781. It was proved in court March 2, 1781. His wife Annis was left all real and use of the personal estate, while she remained Stockton's widow. She was to support the younger children. To his eldest child and daughter, Julia Rush, wife of Benjamin Rush, "doctor of physick" in Philadelphia, he left land called Mount Lucas, about 2 miles from Princeton, 1/2 of 500 acres, with the mansion house. To next child, Susanna Stockton, the other half of the land above. Next child Mary Stockton, was left land in Middlesex Co., 200 acres on Assunpink Creek. The next child, oldest son, John Richard Stockton was left the Morven estate etc. The next child, son Lucius Horatio Stockton, received land. The next and youngest child was Abigail Stockton, land known by the name of Sign of the College in Princeton^[29] and some other parcels. He left his wife land in Northampton, Pennsylvania, on the Lehi River. Stockton directed that his wife might free what slaves she wishes. Executors: wife Annis; son-in-law, Benjamin Rush; brother-in-law Elias Boudinot; son John Richard. The Codicil mentions that he sold 'Sign of the College.' ^[30] He advised his children in his will to remember that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom"^[7]

Children

1. Julia Stockton m. Hon. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, MD who was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence^[2] - b. March 2, 1759, d. at Sydenhain, July 7, 1846, m. January 1776 to Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia*. Had two sons.
2. Mary Stockton^[2] - b. April 17, 1761, d. March 18, 1846, m. Rev. Andrew Hunter, October 13, 1794. They had three children: two sons, one daughter. Susan was her twin sister.
3. Susan Stockton^[2] - b. April 17, 1761, d. October 2, 1821, m. after 1793 to Alexander Cuthbert of Lanorie, Canada. No children. Mary was her twin sister.
4. Richard Stockton m. Mary Field^[2] - "The Duke". B. April 17, 1764.
5. Lucius Horatio Stockton^[2] - b. at Morven, d. in Trenton, May 26, 1835, m. Sarah Milnor and they had one daughter.
6. Abigail Stockton^[2] - b. September 8, 1773, d. June 13, 1858, m. Robert Field of White Hall, Burlington County, NJ, January 10, 1796. They had six children, two sons and four daughters.

Slaves

According to research conducted on behalf of the Morven estate based on "various correspondence," at least three named enslaved persons lived at Morven in the lifetime of Richard and Annis Stockton. Richard's will had stipulated his wife could free whichever slaves she liked at his death; it is known she freed Marcus Marsh. ^[31] In a 1790 ratable, it's shown she still owned one slave.^[32]

• Marcus Marsh, b. 1765, freed 1781 -- more on Marcus, who went to Philadelphia after freedom: https://www.morven.org/marcus-marsh
• Samuel Tucker, enslaved
• Houghton, enslaved
• Jasper (status unclear)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12} Goodrich, Charles Augustus. Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (New York: William Reed & Co., 1829); digital images, GoogleBooks (books.google.com : accessed 9 Dec 2016), pgs 204-211. [pg 208-211 - "[...]extract from the discourse delivered on the occasion of his interment, by the Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Smith [...]"]
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13} Cregar, William Francis. The Stockton family in England and the United States. Philadelphia: Patterson & White, 1888. p. 98
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} United States Congressional Serial Set 61st Congress::2d Session. Senate Documents vol 56. "Biographies" p 1028 U.S. Government Printing Office, 1913
4. ↑ Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. First Series Vol XXXII. Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, Etc. Volume III 1751-1760. Archives of the State of New Jersey. Somerville, NJ. 1924. p. 310 link at archive.org
5. ↑ Note: Born in 1730, Richard would have been 28 at the death of his father. The next sibling John was underage. This leaves an eight-year gap between Richard and his next sibling. This leaves room for questions.
6. ↑ "Distinguished Alumni." West Nottingham Academy
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7} Sanderson, John. Conrad, Robert T. (ed.) Sanderson's Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Company, 1847 pp 288+
8. ↑ "The List." Published in the January 23, 2008, Issue of Princeton Alumni Weekly. "65. Richard Stockton 1748 - Lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the declaration of Independence"
9. ↑ "About Morven" Morven Museum & Garden. Accessed Dec 18, 2016, updated May 13, 2022.
10. ↑ The Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, Virginia) 25 June 1765, Thurs. p. 2. link at ($) Newspapers.com
11. ↑ The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia) 23 Jul 1767, Thurs. p. 2 col. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/39399817/?terms=Richard%2BStockton link at ($) Newspapers.com]
12. ↑ Fisher, Edgar Jacob. New Jersey as a Royal Province, 1738 to 1776, Volume 41. Columbia University, Longmans, Green & Company, agents, 1911 pp. 48 council in general; p 70 council member 1768 "one of New Jersey's ablest public servants during the troublous period from 1770 until 1778, when his health was broken down because of the vile and shameless treatment to which he had been subjected while a prisoner in the hands of the British"
13. ↑ List of Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at Wikipedia
14. ↑ Final paragraph Declaration of Independence.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} The Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence "Richard Stockton"
16. ↑ Jones, Charles Henry. History of the Campaign for the Conquest of Canada in 1776: From the Death of Montgomery to the Retreat of the British Army Under Sir Guy Carleton. Porter & Coates, 1882. p. 106
17. ↑ p 79-80 "The Jerseymen" in "Greatness to Spare, The heroic sacrifices of the men for signed the Declaration of Independence." T R Fehrenbach, D Van Norstrand Co, Princeton, New York 1968.
18. ↑ The Women of '76 by Sally Smith Booth, Hastings House publishers, New York, 1973. E276 B66. page 102.
19. ↑ https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/07/was-richard-stockton-a-hero/
20. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/article/asbury-park-press-cyrenius-van-mater-a-l/65430133/
21. ↑ "Daniel and Hendrick Van Mater Who Joined the King's Army" in Beekman, George Crawford. Early Dutch Settlers of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Freehold, New Jersey: Moreau Brothers, 1901, page 76
22. ↑ https://www.vincentdicks.com/blog-vinnie/the-stockton-chronicles-liberty
23. ↑ Gerlach, Larry R. Richard Stockton, Rebel with a Cause. Pomona, N.J: Stockton State College, 1977, page 10
24. ↑ Gerlach, Larry R. Richard Stockton, Rebel with a Cause. Pomona, N.J: Stockton State College, 1977, page 2
25. ↑ https://nassauchurch.org/about/history/
26. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stockton_(Continental_Congressman)
27. ↑ Field, Richard S. “The Provincial Courts of New Jersey : With Sketches of the Bench and Bar : A Discourse Read before the New Jersey Historical Society.” New York: Bartlett & Welford, 1849. Published as Collections of The New Jersey Historical Society, Volume 3, page 200. Accessed December 7, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/item/01007827/.
28. ↑ Smith, Samuel Stanhope. A Funeral Sermon: On the Death of the Hon. Richard Stockton, Esq. Princeton, March 2, 1781. Trenton, NJ: Isaac Collins, 1781. https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/9867.
29. ↑ The Sign of the College, at Princeton, was a tavern. It had been for sale in 1774. Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette 26 Jan 1774 p.1 link at Newspapers.com
30. ↑ Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, etc. Volume VI 1781-1785. New Jersey State Archives. New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series. Volume XXXV. Trenton, New Jersey: 1939. p. 375 link at archive.org
31. ↑ Morven Museum and Garden. "Slavery at Morven." https://www.morven.org/slavery-at-morven
32. ↑ Morven Museum and Garden. "The Stocktons as Enslavers." Accessed 12 Jan 2023 at https://www.morven.org/the-stocktons-as-enslavers

See Also:

• McBurney, Christian M. Was Richard Stockton a Hero?
• Stockton Family Historical Trust Fourth Generation in America Richard Stockton.
• Benjamin, Walter Romeyn. "Collecting the "Signers" of 1776." Art & Life 11, no. 1 (1919): 36-40. doi:10.2307/20543038. [Richard Stockton's original signature is fairly rare.] at archive.org
• Find A Grave: Memorial #2732 has an image of a memorial stone
  • Find A Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com: accessed 18 December 2019), memorial page for Richard Stockton (1 Oct 1730–28 Feb 1781), citing Stony Brook Quaker Meeting House Burial Ground, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave.
• Watson, A. "Shared Reading at a Distance: The Commonplace Books of the Stockton Family, 1812–40." Book History, vol. 18 no. 1, 2015, pp. 103-133. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/bh.2015.0006. [Article regarding Richard's grandchildren and their reading habits.] link at Project Muse
• Yentsch, Anne E.; Miller, Naomi F.; Paca, Barbara; and Piperno, Dolores (1987) "Archaeologically Defining the Earlier Garden Landscapes at Morven: Preliminary Results," Northeast Historical Archaeology: Vol. 16 16, Article 1. Available at: http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/neha/vol16/iss1/1
• Walters, Kerry S., "Richard Stockton (1730-1781)." The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015), 1000-1002.
• Rubincam, Milton. "Four Unpublished Letters of William Lee: 1779-1780." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 50, no. 1 (1942): 38-46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245139; snippet found at GoogleScholar

  "Samuel Witham Stockton, Secretary of the American Commission to Vienna and Berlin, and afterward Secretary of State for New Jersey, was the youngest brother of Richard Stockton, member of the Continental Congress and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence"

  Otherwise not pertinent to this profile.
• Hess, Stephen. 1966. American political dynastics from Adams to Kennedy. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday; snippets found at GoogleBooks
• William S. Fieldliam S. 2004. Sweet lands of liberty: a historiogenealogy of selected branches of the Field, Douglas and Stockton families of England, Canada, and America. Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press; snippets found at GoogleBooks
• Bill, Alfred Hoyt. "A House Called Morven," Its Role in American History. Princeton University Press. revised edition. 1978. pages 3-51. History of those who lived in the house.