STOCKTON
STOCKTON
1857-61. He was elected U.S. senator from New
Jersey in 1865, by a plurality of the legislature ;
took his seat, March 4, 1866, but was unseated,
March 27, by a vote of twenty-three to twenty-one,
on receipt of a protest from several members of
the state legislature, notwitlistanding the unan-
imous report of the committee on the judiciary
in favor of the validity of his election. He
was again elected to tlie U.S. senate in 1869, and
served the full term expiring, March 3, 1875. He
was a member of the committee on foreign affairs,
the navy, appropriation, patents, and public
buildings and goods, and was instrumental in
first establishing life-saving stations on the
Atlantic coast. He was attorney-general of New
Jersey, 1877-92 ; and a delegate-at-large to all the
Democratic national conventions from 1864 to the
•close of his life. In the convention at Chicago,
Aug. 29, 1864, as chairman of the New Jersey
delegation, he presented the name of George B.
IMcClellan as the candidate of the state for Pres-
ident of the United States. He was also a delegate
to the Constitutional Union convention at Phila-
delphia in 1866. He received the honorary degree
of LL.D. from the College of New Jersey in 1882.
He is the author of Equity Reports (3 vols. 1856-
60). He died in New York city, Jan. 22, 1900.
STOCKTON, Louise, author and journalist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 12, 1838; daughter of William Smith (q.v.) and Emily Hepzibeth (Drean) Stockton. She was educated at home, began to write as a child, and was en- gaged as editorial writer, book and music editor (1867-71) upon the Philadelphia Pos^. She edited the Woman's Edition" of the Philadelphia Press, Nov. 27. 1875 ; in 1876 was one of the editors of The New Century for Wovien, a Cen- tennial newspaper published on the exposition grounds at Philadelphia ; in 1878 was leader- writer for J. W. Forney's Progress ; had charge of the "Reading Club " department in Scribner's Book Buyer, 1896-97 ; and was subsequently as- sociated with various leading journals as editorial writer, book editor and music critic. She was president of the West Philadelphia Centre Uni- versity Extension, 1894-97 ; originator and presi- dent of the Round Robin Reading clubs, a na- tional correspondence organization, and a founder of the New Century club, the Browning society and the Contemporary clubs. She is the author of Dorothea, a novel (1882) ; A Sylvan City (1883) ; republished as Quaint Corners ; Apple Seed and Briar TJiorn (1887), and of several novelettes, many short stories and historical essays in magazines. She was residing in Phila- delphia, Pa., in 1903.
STOCKTON, Richard, signer, was born at " Morven," near Princeton. Somerset covmty, N. J., Oct. 1, 1730 ; son of John (died, 1757) ; grandson of
Richard (died, 1720), and great-grandson of Rich-
ard Stockton, who immigrated to the United
States previous to 1670 ; settled in Long Island,
N.Y., and in 1682 was one of the first founders of
the settlement near Princeton, N.J., where he
died in 1705. John
Stockton was chief-
judge of the com-t of
common pleas of Som-
erset County, N.J., for
several years. Richard
Stockton studied under
the Rev, Dr. Samuel Fin-
ley ; attended West Not-
tingham academy ; was
graduated in the first
class from the College of
New Jersey, A.B., 1748 ;
A.M., 1751 ; studied law
under Judge David Og-
den of Newark, N.J, ;
was admitted to the bar
in August, 1754 ; became
counsellor in 1758, and
entered into practice in iKicharp stock roif»
Princeton, During his visit to England and Scot-
land, 1866-67, he was influential in persuading Dr,
John Witherspoon to withdraw his declination of
the presidency of the College of New Jersey, for
which service he was ofl^cially thanked by the
trustees of the college. He was a member of the
provincial council of New Jersey, 1768-74 ; made
judge of the provincial supreme-court in 1774 ;
a delegate to the Continental congress at Phila-
delphia. Pa., 1776-77, signing the Declaration of
Independence of July 4, 1776 ; was defeated by
William Livingston, as candidate for governor of
New Jersey, in September, 1776, and was subse-
quently elected chief-justice, which honor he
declined. During his service as inspector of the
Northern army he was made prisoner by the
loyalists, Nov. 30, 1776 ; confined in the common
prison of New York city, and although exchanged
not long after, through the intercession of con-
gress, was unable to entirely recover from the
effects of the ill treatment which he had re-
ceived. Meanwhile his own estate, including
his valuable library, had been destroyed by
the British, and in consequence of the currency
depreciation he was obliged for a time to be de-
pendent upon the assistance of his fi-iends. He
was a trustee of the College of New Jersey,
1757-81, serving as secretary of the board, 1757-
65, and receiving the degree of sergeant-at-law in
1763. He was married to Annis, daughter of
Elias and Catherine (Williams) Boudinot, and
sister of Dr. Elias Boudinot (q.v.). She is the
author of a poem addressed to General Washing-
ton after the surrender of Yorktown, and of
