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''Richard Stockton ( NSHC statue)'' Richard Stockton ( October 1 , 1730 – February 28 , 1781 ) was an illustrious lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the Declaration Of Independence . A son of John Stockton , he was born near Princeton , New Jersey attended Samuel Finley 's academy at Nottingham , which later became West Nottingham Academy , and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University ), graduating in 1748 . He studied law with David Ogden , of Newark , who was at that time the head of the legal profession in the province. Stockton was admitted to the bar in 1754 and soon rose to great distinction. He was a longtime friend of George Washington. His wife was poet Annis Boudinot Stockton , sister of New Jersey Statesman Elias Boudinot . Coincidentally, Elias Boudinot was married to Stockton's sister Hannah Stockton (1736-1808). Stockton initially showed little interest in politics. He once wrote, "The public is generally unthankful, and I never will 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." Stockton did, however, later take an active role as a trustee of the College of New Jersey. In 1768 Stockton had his first taste of government service when he was appointed to the governing Council of New Jersey; he was later ( 1774 ) appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court . He first took a moderate stance in the troubles between the colonies and Great Britain . He did not favor separation; rather, he suggested in 1764 that some colonial members be appointed to the Parliament . However, he changed his position a year later when the controversy over the Stamp Act arose. In 1774 he drafted and sent to Lord Dartmouth "a plan of self-government for America, independent of Parliament, without renouncing allegiance to The Crown ." This Commonwealth approach was not acceptable to the King. In 1776 Stockton was elected to the Continental Congress , where he took a very active role. That August, when elections were held for the state governments of the new nation, Stockton and William Livingston each received the same number of votes to be the Governor of New Jersey on the first ballot. Although Livingston later won the election by one vote, Stockton was unanimously elected to serve as the Chief Justice of New Jersey, but he turned down that position to remain in Congress. Stockton was appointed by Congress, along with fellow signer George Clymer, to an exhausting two-month journey to Fort Ticonderoga , Saratoga and Albany, New York to assist the Continental army. On his return to Princeton, he traveled 30 miles east to the home of a friend to move his family to safety, and away from the path of the British army. While there, on 30 November, 1776, he was captured in the middle of the night by his own loyalist countrymen and was marched to Perth Amboy where he was put in irons, and brutally treated as a common criminal. It was at this point that it is claimed he renounced the revolution and signed a different declaration, a "Declaration of Allegiance" to the King, George III and gave "his word of honor that he would not meddle in the least of American affairs". If true, this would make Stockton the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to betray the cause. Some however maintain that this was unsubstantiated rumor. He was then moved to Provost Prison in New York where he suffered from lack of food and freezing cold weather along with the other prisoners. After nearly six weeks of brutal treatment, Stockton was released, his health ruined. Over 12,000 prisioners died in the prison ships and prisons in New York compared to 4,435 soldiers that died in combat over the six years of war. His estate, Morven , in Princeton was occupied by General Cornwallis during Stockton's imprisonment; his furniture, all household belongings, crops and livestock were taken or destroyed by the British. His library, one of the finest in the colonies, was burned.
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