Richard Stockton (Continental Congressman) - Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War

In 1776, Stockton was elected to the Second 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 the New Jersey Supreme Court, but he turned down that position to remain in the Congress. Stockton was the first person from New Jersey to sign the Declaration of Independence.

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 in the American Revolutionary War. On his return to Princeton, he traveled 30 miles east to the home of a friend, John Covenhoven, to evacuate his family to safety, and away from the path of the British army. While there, on November 30, 1776, he and Covenhoven were captured in the middle of the night, dragged from their beds by loyalists, stripped of their property and marched to Perth Amboy and turned over to the British. The day Stockton was captured, General William Howe had written a Proclamation offering protection papers and a full and free pardon to those willing to remain in peaceable obedience to the King. George III. Although many took the pardon, Stockton never did and was marched to Perth Amboy where he was put in irons, and brutally treated as a common criminal.

He was then moved to Provost Prison in New York where he was intentionally starved and subjected to freezing cold weather. After nearly five weeks of brutal treatment, Stockton was released on parole, his health ruined.

Over 12,000 prisoners 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. "Morven the home of the Hon. Richard Stockton, was denuded of its library and furniture."

Stockton's treatment in the New York prison prompted Continental Congress to pass a resolution directing George Washington to inquire into the circumstances and not long afterward, Stockton was paroled on January 13, 1777. The U.S. National Archives contains other messages showing that Washington duly contacted General Howe in New York regarding the exchange or release of Stockton and others.

Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote "At Princeton I met my wife's father who had been plundered of all his household furniture and stock by the British army, and carried a prisoner to New York, from whence he was permitted to return to his family upon parole."

Howe's Document that Stockton signed giving his word of honor not to meddle in the American affairs during the war was the parole Benjamin Rush said Richard Stockton was given when he was released from prison in New York.

On March 25, 1777 General Howe and his brother Lord Howe wrote to Lord George Germain (Secretary of State for the Colonies)in England "My Lord, We have the honor to enclose to your Lordship a state of the Declarations subscribed in consequence of our Proclamation of the 30th of November. Although none of the Leaders, nor principal Instigators and Abettors of the Rebellion, thought fit to avail themselves of the opportunity given them to return to their Duty, we have some satisfaction in observing that so considerable a number of His Majesty's deluded Subjects, of inferior Rank, in those Provinces where the Proclamation could be expect to have Effect, were disposed to relinquish the unjust Cause they had been once induced to support." 4,836 Declarations were subscribed but Stockton as a Signer of the Declaration of Independence and a leading rebel never did according to General Howe.

In 1777 all members of Congress and Washington's Army were required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. Richard Stockton as a prisoner of war, and taken behind enemy lines was also required to take the oath. He was called before the Board, took the Oath and was dismissed(It is noted that Stockton did not turn in any protection papers as was required if you signed Howe's Proclamation and were given a pardon).