Richard Stockton's(2) estate was
divided among his five sons, whose names
were Richard(3), Samuel(3), Robert(3), John(3), and Thomas(3). They
were all
married and reared families in Princeton, New Jersey. His son, John
Stockton(3), became the presiding judge of the Common Plea's Court
of
Somerset, a position of great honor in those days. John
Stockton(3) lived on
that subdivision of the estate called Morven and was a
public-spirited man,
giving liberally to the newly established College of New Jersey and
to the
struggling Presbyterian Church. John "Justice" Stockton(3) was
a man of wide
repute in his day and generation, and every prominent man who
visited the
county esteemed it a privilege to put his feet under his mahogany.
He was
one the early great men, and even the Indians came to him for
advice. While
riding to court one day his lip became chapped with the cold, which
brought
on a cancerous growth that caused his death. His greatest
honor in history
is the fact that he was the father of Richard Stockton(4), the "The
Signer,"
of the Declaration of Independence. He is considered the
greatest of all
Stocktons that have been, from the days of Richard Stockton(1) down
the
illustrious line.
John Stockton(3) planned great
things for Richard Stockton(4). He was
tutored by the Reverend Samuel Finley, President, of the College of
New
Jersey, and graduated with the first class in 1748. He studied
law and was
admitted to the bar in 1754. He had his shingle out in
Princeton as soon as
the law would allow him. He became a great lawyer and turned
out some great
law students. Those familiar with history must attest when
they read that
among them were J. Matthew Dickinson, General Joseph H. Reed,
William
Paterson, and Elias Boudinot. In 1766 he went to England, and
there the
nobility covered him with honors. It was while there that
Richard
Stockton(4) secured the services of Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon to be
the
President of the College of New Jersey which later became Princeton
University, when Dr. Finely died. From 1768 till 1776 Richard
Stockton(4)
was a member of the Provincial Council and named to the Colonial
Supreme
Court in 1774. He proposed the plan of colonial
self-government in 1774. He
was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and elected the
first Chief
Justice of New Jersey in 1776. His wife was Annis Boudinot,
sister of
Honorable Elia Boudinot.
Richard Stockton(4) "The Signer"
gave to the world Richard "The Duke"
Stockton(5). His other son Lucius Horatio Stockton(5) also
became an eminent
attorney. At one time he held the office of District Attorney
of New Jersey.
He was nominated by the elder Adams to be the Secretary of War, but
Thomas
Jefferson coming into office soon after, the nomination was not
confirmed.
Richard Stockton(4) also left three daughters who married men of
distinction.
One of them, Julia, became the wife of Dr. Benjamin Rush, of
Philadelphia,
also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The first of the line who took to
diplomacy was Samuel Witham Stockton(4),
brother of Richard Stockton(4) "The Signer". He graduated from
Nassau Hall
in 1767, and in 1774 went to Europe as Secretary of the American
Commission
to the Court of Austria and Russia. While abroad, he negotiated a
treaty with
Holland. On his return, he was elected Secretary of the
Convention of New
Jersey to ratify the Constitution of the United States in 1787.
In 1794 he
was Secretary of State of New Jersey. He died from injuries
caused by being
thrown from his carriage, in Trenton, New Jersey.
Philip Stockton(4), another
brother of Richard Stockton(4) "The Signer", who
graduated from the College of New Jersey with the class of 1773, was
a
clergyman. As such he became well known and was in public
life, but not in
official or political life.
MANY RICHARD STOCKTONS
The name of Richard in the
Stockton family became so numerous and confusing
that it became necessary to give some of them nicknames. After
the eldest
son of Richard Stockton(4) "The Signer" became well known, Richard
Stockton(5) was called "The Duke," because of his courtly bearing.
He was a
lawyer, and was a United States Senator from New Jersey from 1796 to
1799,
and a member of the House of Representatives from 1813 to 1815.
When the
Marquis de Lafayette visit Princeton, in 1824, Richard Stockton(5)
"The Duke"
was chosen by the Council to address him. He acquired the
degree of Doctor
of Laws from two colleges. He left a large number of children.
Lucius Horatio Stockton(5), the
second son of Richard Stockton(4) "The
Signer," settled in Trenton and acquired a large law practice.
He became
prosecuting attorney of Mercer County. Thomas Jefferson
nominated him for
Secretary of War, but the appointment was not confirmed.
Richard Stockton(6), eldest son
of Richard Stockton(5) "The Duke," long
before Horace Greeley advised young men to go west, turned his face
westward
and settled in Mississippi. He was in the state but a short
time when he was
made a Justice of the Supreme Court by the Legislature, and
subsequently
became the Attorney General of the state. He was killed in a duel
with John
P. Parson, of New Orleans. After his death it was found that he had
not fired
his pistol, and a letter found in his pocket stated that he intended
to do as
he had done.
Another township the Stockton
Family founded is New Hope, Pennsylvania. New
Hope is approximately twelve miles East of Princeton, New Jersey.
The
township has been refurbished to the days of the first Stocktons and
is
recognized as an artistic community. Take Highway 29 Northwest
out of
Trenton, New Jersey. At Lambertville, Pennsylvania go West on
Highway 179
(across the bridge) to New Hope. It is worth a visit.
"MORVEN"
THE STOCKTON HOMESTEAD
No story of the Stocktons would
be complete without an account of old Morven
which is one of the celebrated houses of America. It has been
the home of
the Stocktons for over two hundred years, and stands today in the
most
picturesque part of the University town of Princeton. The celebrated
Princeton Inn is the nearest habitation of old Morven. Great men
have been
entertained in this old house, and its hospitality was proverbial
during all
of the last century.
The mansion is a two-story brick
structure, and consists of a main building
with a portico over the entrance, and two wings; and contains, in
all,
fifteen rooms. The sleeping apartments have been occupied by
many whose
names are historical in this country. General Washington was a
frequent
visitor of Morven. In a letter from Mrs. Stockton to her brother,
the
Honorable Elias Boudinot, she mentioned that General Washington had
just left
Morven, where he had been for some time.
The plantation was much improved
by Honorable John Stockton(3), its second
owner and still more so by his son, Richard Stockton(4) "The
Signer," its
third owner, whose wife gave it the name of Morven. The
grounds were also
laid out under her supervision; and to her, whose taste embellished
and whose
presence added charm, Morven owes many of its improvements.
Mrs. Stockton,
whose maiden name was Annis Boudinot, was descended from a French
Huguenot
family which immigrated to this country after the revocation of the
edict of
Nantes, and was a woman of more than ordinary culture. When Richard
Stockton(4) visited England in 1766, he invited his wife to
accompany him,
but she thought it her duty to remain at home with her children.
They
corresponded with ardor of youthful lovers, Richard Stockton(4)
always giving
his wife her favorite poetical name. "Amelia," while she called him
her
"Lucius" in this correspondence. While in England, Richard
Stockton(4) sent
to his wife many choice roots and flowers for the garden around
Morven. He
spent considerable time viewing the celebrated gardens of Mr. Pope,
and some
of their features were borrowed for the Morven lawn.
After the death of husband,
Richard Stockton(4) "The Signer," Mrs. Stockton
resided at Morven until her son, Richard Stockton(5) "The Duke,"
married, and
then surrendered it to him. When Congress sat at Princeton,
she entertained
the President and members of Congress; and after she left Morven,
General
Washington made visits to Princeton to call on her.
RICHARD STOCKTON(1)
Richard Stockton(1), of Flushing,
Long Island, and afterward of Oneanickon,
Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, was a
descendant of John
Stockton Esquire of Coddington, in the Parish of Malpas and the
County of
Cheshire, England. He arrived at Flushing, from England, some
time prior to
November 8, 1656, when his name appears in a petition of some of the
inhabitants of that town requesting the release of William Wickenden,
who had
been fined and imprisoned for preaching without a license.
After the discovery of the North
(Hudson) River by Hudson in 1609 the
contiguous country was colonized by Holland and called the Province
of the
New Netherlands. King Charles II sent a fleet over from
England to New
Amsterdam (New York City), in command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, to
demand
its surrender, and it was surrendered accordingly, in 1664, by Peter
Stuyvesant, the governor of the colony. King Charles II
executed a charter
to his brother, James, the Duke of York (afterward James II) for
this land,
and it was then called New York in honor of the Duke of York.
Colonel
Nicolls, as governor of the colony after the conquest, commissioned
Richard
Stockton(1) the Lieutenant of Horse of Flushing. Transcript of
record on
page 26, volume 2, "Deeds" in the office of the Secretary of State
of New
York, and certified to by him:
Richard Stockton was commissioned
Lieutenant of Horse of Flushing on April
22, 1665.
Transcript of order of Governor
Francis Lovelace (who succeeded Governor
Nicolls), given under his hand at Fort James, Colony of New York,
April 9,
1669, page 377, volume 2, "Orders, Warrants and Letters," manuscript
volume
custody of the regents of the University of New York in the State
Library,
certified to by A.J.F. Van Laer, archivist:
Whereas I intimated lately that I
did approve of Richard Stockton to be
Lieutenant of the Company of Foot, but I am since informed he was
before
enlisted and engaged in the Horse service, and I have thought fit to
acquit
him either as Officer or otherwise from the Foot service.
In 1675 his estate at Flushing
consisted of twelve acres of land, one Negro
slave, five horses, five cows, and five swine; and in 1683 of ten
acres of
upland, the same slave, two horses, four oxen, seven cows, four
swine, and
twenty sheep. This did not, however, represent the full amount
of his landed
estate, as will be seen from the following proposal entered in an
account
book kept by John Browne, of Flushing, who acted as his agent in the
matter:
On December 10, 1690, Richard
Stockton(1)'s proposal for the sale of all his
housing, lands and conveniences belonging thereunto, being about
seventy
acres or more at home and two ten-acre lots and two twenty-acre lots
at a
mile or two distance, with so much meadow as may yield 20 or 25
loads of hay
a year; price 300 pounds.
In 1685 Richard Stockton(1) was
one of the freeholders of Flushing, as
appears a deed made in that year confirming the old Dutch patent of
1645. He
must have been in easy circumstances at that time, because on the
January 30,
1690, he purchased from George Hutchinson his house and plantation
called
Oneanickon, or Annanicken, as it was first called, in West Jersey.
Consisting of about two thousands acres, although he did not succeed
in
disposing of his property at Flushing until March 12, 1694.
In consideration of three hundred
pounds, good and lawful money of the
Province of New York, Richard Stockton(1), formerly of Flushing,
with the
consent of wife, Abigail, conveyed to John Rodman, his messages or
tenements,
situated lying and being by coast on the bay, commonly called
Mattagareson
Bay, within the bounds of Flushing, being about eighty acres of land
more or
less; with all yea Privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging,
as also
a piece of Salt meadow commonly called yea Lumkill, which belonged
to Richard
Stockton(1) by virtue of his interest in the said towne of Flushing.
It is stated by J.W. Stockton, in
his History of the Stockton Family, that
the track of land purchased by Richard Stockton(1) in West Jersey
was
originally known by the Indian name of An-na-onicken; that it was
over two
miles in length and one in width; and the mansion house of the late
James
Shreve is on the site and occupied by Richard Stockton(1) until his
death.
Richard Stockton(1) was a member
of the Society of Friends (or Quakers),
having become one, without doubt, after the date of his commission
as a
Lieutenant of Horse, since he certainly could not serve in the
capacity, and
was not very likely to be appointed while a Quaker.
The given name of Richard
Stockton(1)'s wife was Abigail, but her family name
has not been learned. They were married in England and their
eldest son,
Richard Stockton(2) is said to have been born there. Richard
Stockton(1)
died at an advanced age at his home at Annanicken, in September
1707. His
will was dated January 25, 1705-6, and proved on October, 10,1707. A
copy is
given below. The date of Mrs. Abigail Stockton's death is not
known, but she
was living as late as April 14, 1714, when she conveyed some
property to her
sons, John and Job Stockton.
It is said by some that Richard
Stockton(2) most likely was not the son of
Abigail Stockton if he was born in England. The date of birth
of his oldest
brother, John Stockton(2), is 1674 and his youngest sister Elizabeth
Stockton(2) is 1680. If Richard Stockton(1) came to America
before 1656 ,
then that would mean that Richard Stockton(2) had to be born before
that date
or at least by 1654 or 5. It is unlikely that Abigail could
have had Richard
Stockton(2) in one of those years and then seven other children
twenty years
later. Moreover, the records show that Richard Stockton(2)
died in 1709; two
years after Richard Stockton(1) at "an advanced age".
Therefore, Abigail may
not have been the mother of Richard Stockton(2)
WILL OF RICHARD STOCKTON(1)
In the name of God, Amen:
I Richard
Stockton, being sick and weak of body but sound of memory, do
make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and for me
following:
First, I
bequeath my soul into the hands of the Almighty God and my body
to be buried at the discretion of my executors hereafter named, in
hopes
through merit's of Jesus Christ to obtain a joyful resurrection.
Item, I give
to my son Richard after the decease of my wife four hundred
acres of land to him and to his heirs and assignees forever.
Item, I give
to my son Job my plantation and all the improvements with
four hundred acres of land to him and to his heirs and assignees
forever, not
to possess it till the decease of my wife; only in consideration of
the said
improvements my said son Job shall pay to Abigail the daughter of my
son
(son-in-law) Richard Ridgeway the sum of ten pounds within a year
after he
enjoys the said plantation, and if upon a resurveyed of the whole
twelve
hundred acres there happen to be any overplus, my will is that son
John shall
have one-third part thereof joining on his four hundred acres which
I
formerly gave him, and the other two-thirds to be equally parted
between my
said sons Richard and Job.
Item, I give
to my dear wife Abigail all my personal estate with the use
of my plantation during her life, and after decease the said
personal estate
to be equally divided between my five daughters, Abigail, Mary,
Sarah,
Hannah, and Elizabeth; and I do make and Constitute my said wife
Abigail my
sole wills and testaments heretofore made, as witness my hand and
seal this
25th day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and
five.
[SEAL]
Richard (his R mark) Stockton
Signed, sealed, published and
declared in the presence of us.
William Earle (WE) his mark,
Thomas Ridgeway (T) his mark,
Daniel Leeds.
Burlington, October 10, 1707
Then appeared before Richard
Inglesby, Esq., Lieutenant Governor of her
Majesties Provinces of New Jersey, New York, & c., Daniel Leeds,
Esq., one of
the witnesses to the within written will and made oath on the Holy
Evangelists of Almighty God that he saw the Testator sign, seal, and
publish
the within instrument to be his last will and testament, and that at
the time
of the publishing thereof he was of sound and perfect understanding
and
memory to the best of this deponent's knowledge and belief, and that
at the
same time he saw Thomas Ridgeway and William Earle sign the same as
witness
thereto in the presence of the Testaror.
Richard Inglesby.
The reason Richard Stockton(1)'s
signature was by his mark was, of course,
because of advanced age and feebleness. He was in full possession of
his
mind, but weak. His son Richard Stockton(2) died, at an
advanced age, two
years later, in 1709.
RICHARD STOCKTON(2)
Richard Stockton(2) (Born in
England - Died July 1709) was the son of Richard
Stockton(1). He married Susan Witham Robinson on November 8,
1691, at the
Chesterfield Friends' monthly meeting. She was born November 29,
1668, and
was the daughter of Robert and Ann Witham and widow of Thomas
Robinson.
After attending one the trustees of Friends' meeting in Stony Brook
(later
named Princeton); Richard became ill and died the following month,
while his
children were all under age. His widow was married for the third
time, to
Judge Thomas Leonard, of Princeton; they had no children. She died
in April
1749.
Richard Stockton(2) was born in
England and moved with parents to Flushing,
New York. He also accompanied them to New Jersey, but settled
first at
Piscataway, in Middlesex County. In August 1696, he purchased,
for the
consideration of a yearly quitrent of 4 Pounds sterling, from Dr.
John
Gordon, a track of 400 acres of land on the north side of Stony
Brook,
bounded on the East by Washington Road and the land of John Hornor,
on the
West by the Olden track, and on the North and South by the ma-Street
and
Stony Brook.
This land includes all of what is
now the campus of Princeton University and
the grounds of the Theological Seminary. It is supposed that
"The Barracks",
an old stone house on Edgehill Street, Princeton, which stood near
the
western boundary of his estate, was original dwelling of Richard
Stockton(2),
and its age and situation make this probable. During the
Revolution, and
probably also in the French and Indian War, this house was used as
quarters
for the soldiers and hence its name.
In 1701 he purchased from William
Penn, for the sum of 900 Pounds an estate
about six thousand acres on Stony Brook, of which the present city
of
Princeton is nearly the center. The estate is described in the
Life of
Commodore Stockton as "bounded by the Province line of New Jersey on
the
West, the Millston on the East, and Rocky Hill on the North,
embracing the
present borough of Princeton".
By reason of his large
possessions, as well as by his character, Richard
Stockton(2) held an important place among the early settlers.
He and a
number of his associates who formed a settlement upon this track
were the
first white European settlers in the district. A portion of his
estate called
"Morven", has remained in the family to this day. He did not
live long in
the house called "The Barracks". Between the years 1701 and
1709 he built
the fine old home which is still occupied by the Stockton family and
called
"Morven". It is the oldest house in Princeton with the
possible exception of
"The Barracks", and has an interesting history. It is the
residence of Mr.
Bayard Stockton. The house suffered considerably at the hands of the
British
soldiers during the Revolution. It is a two story brick
structure,
comprising a main building and two wings. There is portico over the
main
entrance and the house contains, in all, fifteen rooms, the walls of
the
rooms are many portraits of members of the Stockton family from the
earliest
times, and the library contains a valuable collection of books.
Many
distinguished visitors have been entertained within its hospitable
walls,
among them George Washington, who was a frequent visitor.
WILL OF RICHARD STOCKTON(2)
By his will, dated June 25,1709,
Richard Stockton(2) divided his estate in
the following manner: To his eldest son, Richard Stockton(2), 300
acres of
land; to his second son, Robert, 500 acres; to the fifth son, John
500 acres;
and to the sixth son, Thomas, 600 acres at Oneanickon which had been
left him
by his father and 140 acres besides. The meadows were to be divided
equally
among the five elder sons. To his mother, Abigail Stockton,
who had been
well provided for by his father, he left twenty shillings a year;
and to his
loving wife, Susanna, all his dwelling plantation until his son
John, became
of age, and then she was to have the use of half the house and
improvements
during her natural life, with all the residue of his estate, both
real and
personal, and the use of all his Negro slaves except Dinah, whom he
gave to
his brother-in-law, Philip Phillips. Each of his sons, upon coming
of age,
was to have a slave. The family seat, "Morven" was devised to the
fifth son,
John.
RICHARD STOCKTON(4)
"THE SIGNER"
Richard Stockton(4) (Born October
3, 1730 - Died February 28, 1781 at 51
years old) was the eldest son of John Stockton(3) and Abigail
(Phillips)
Stockton. He was known as "The Signer", due to the
circumstance of being a
member of the Continental Congress and one of the signers of the
Declaration
of Independence. He was carefully educated, first at the Academy at
Nottingham, Maryland, under Rev. Samuel Finley, who was afterward
President
of the College of New Jersey (later named Princeton University).
Richard
Stockton(4) graduated with the first class, in 1748. He then
studied law
with David Ogden, in Newark, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar
in 1754
at the age of twenty years old, and soon acquired a great reputation
as a
lawyer. He was judge of the Supreme Court and a member of the
King's Council
for New Jersey, before the Revolution. Among the students of
law under him
were: General Joseph Reed, Honorable William Paterson, and Honorable
Elias
Boudinot. After twelve years active practice in Princeton, he
visited
England, Ireland and Scotland in 1766-1767, where he was shown much
attention
in his stay of sixteen months. While in Scotland, he prevailed
upon Dr. John
Witherspoon to accept an offer of the presidency of College of New
Jersey,
for which, and other services to the college, he received the formal
thanks
of the trustees upon his return. In company with Dr. Franklin,
he consulted
with the merchants of London on the subject of paper currency and
the act of
parliament prohibiting its issue.
The tension between the Colonies
and the mother country caused him much
concern, as shown in his letters and published writings. When
the rupture
drew near, he espoused the cause of the Colonies, at considerable
sacrifice
to himself, and separated himself from the Royal Council,, all but
two of
whom were Loyalists or neutral, and to whom, as individuals, he was
warmly
attached. In 1774, he sent Lord Dartmouth "An expedient for
the Settlement
of the American Disputes", in which he proposed a plan of
self-government for
the Colonies, and exerted a prudent opposition to the British
measures, until
actual bloodshed began. Sanderson's Biographies of the Signers
says:
When he discovered that the
British ministry had again resolved to enforce
the odious right which they claimed of taxing the American colonies
without
their consent, or granting them any representation in Parliament, he
promptly
selected the course of conduct which he thought it his duty to
adopt.
Although he had received numerous indications of official favor and
personal
attention from the King and many of the most eminent statesmen of
the British
empire, yet after contributing his strenuous exertions in the first
stages of
the dispute to effect a reconciliation between the mother country
and the
colonies, he considered himself bond by paramount obligations when
the crisis
of serious contest had arrived to enroll his name among those of the
defenders of American freedom.
On June 21, 1776, he was chosen
by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, one
of the delegates for that colony to the Congress which wrote the
Declaration
of Independence. On November 30 1776 he was again made one of
the five
delegates from New Jersey. In the minutes of the Continental
Congress, he
was frequently appointed on important committees with Thomas
Jefferson,
Benjamin Rush, Robert Treat Pain, Francis Lightfoot Lee, and others.
On
September 26, 1776, while the Army of Burgoyne was approaching from
the north
and after General Gates had been placed in command of the American
forces,
the Congress appointed Richard Stockton(4) and George Clymer as a
committee
to go to Ticonderoga and report upon the state of affairs.
They appear to
have set out the following day and returned late in November.
They first
visited the headquarters of the American Army, then proceeded to
Albany,
where they were joined by General Schuyler, who accompanied them to
Saratoga.
While waiting to hear from General Gates, they went to Fort George
and
inspected the hospital there. They then went on to
Ticonderoga, apparently
against the advice of General Schuyler, who was expecting an attack
by the
enemy. With General Gates they met the Commissioners from
Massachusetts Bay
and had an important conference. No fighting occurred while
they were
present, but the news of the evacuation of Crown Point was received.
They wrote two letters to John
Hancock, President of the Continental
Congress, informing him of their action and their views, and giving
a very
clear account of the state of affairs. These letters are
preserved in the
manuscript department of the Congressional Library, at Washington,
D.C., and
are reproduced, for the first time, hereafter. They are both
entirely in
Richard Stockton(4)'s handwriting, but are signed also by Mr.
Clymer. The
following are the letters in question:
Saratoga October 26, 1776
Sir,
In execution of the commission
with which we were charged by Congress, we
proceeded, with as much expedition as the nature of the service
would permit,
to Albany; having taken Head-Quarters in our way, and thereby
obtained all
the information which could be given us by Mr. Trumbu your
Commissary
General. At Albany we spent two days with General Schuyler,
and then
proceeded in company with him, to this place. On our way, we
received
information by Express, of our Fleet having been attacked on Lake
Champlain;
and the next day of it's total defeat. We were, nevertheless
about to
proceed on to Tyconderoga; but were advised by General Schuyler,
that in all
probability our Army would be attacked by the Enemy, before we could
possibly
reach that place; or if otherwise, yet that General Gates' attention
would be
so totally taken up in preparing to receive the Enemy, that we could
do no
business with him. We therefore concluded to suspend our
journey to
Tyconderoga for a few days, untill we might have some further
accounts from
General Gates: and in the meantime, we gave our attention to the
Barracks, to
be erected in this place, and in considering the application of two
Gent
respecting the contracts for supplying the Army. Happily
Schuyler's
precaution & diligence as to the Barracks, had left us little more
to do, but
to go with him and mark out the ground where they were to be
erected. He had
prepared the most of the timber before we arrived, and they are now
raising,
and will be ready in good time. Other Barracks will be built
at Fort Edward
and elsewhere. Nails are exceedingly wanted and if any could
be procured at
Philadelphia they should be sent immediately. After having
gotten thro' the
business which had arisen at this place, and having sent on a letter
to
General Gates for speedy information from him, we set out for Fort
George, in
order to inspect the State of the Hospital at that place. The
chief of the
sick from Tyconderoga are sent there, as being a much more healthy &
convenient situation: and we
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