Stockton, Richard (1730-1781)

New Jersey politician.

Prominent attorney; his law students included Elias Boudinot and Joseph Reed. Member of New Jersey Council (1768-76). Justice of New Jersey Supreme Court (1774). Member of Continental Congress (1776). Signed Declaration of Independence. Captured by the British in the invasion of New Jersey (1776) and held prisoner at New York. Poor health prevented him from reentering public life after his release.

Son of John and Abigail (Philips) Stockton of Princeton, New Jersey. Educated at College of New Jersey (B.A. 1748). Married Annis Boudinot; her brother Elias married Stockton’s sister Hannah. Six children; one daughter, Julia, married Benjamin Rush.