Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 4

RICHARD STOCKTON

Engraved by Ole Erekson; Library of Congress photo

          Richard Stockton was born in Princeton, New Jersey on 1 October 1730.  He was educated first at Nottingham Academy in Rising Sun, Maryland, and then at the College of New Jersey in Newark.  He graduated from the latter in 1748 and was admitted to the bar in 1754.  Stockton's rise was fairly quick from this time forward.  In 1755 he married Annis Boudinot. [1]  The couple had six children.

          In 1756, the College of New Jersey was moved from Newark to Princeton, with much assistance from Stockton and his family.  A fellow trustee at the college, the Reverend Doctor John Rodgers called Stockton a gentleman, scholar and the head of his profession in New Jersey. [2]  In 1768 Stockton began a term on New Jersey's Provincial Council, a position that he held until June 1776.  In 1773, he wrote to Lord Dartmouth [3] a piece called An Expedient for the Settlement of the American Dispute.[4]  In 1774 Stockton was named an associate justice to the state Supreme Court, a position which he also held until June 1776.

          In 1776, Stockton was sent to the General Congress in Philadelphia as a delegate from New Jersey.  Though initially doubtful of an immediate declaration of independence, he quickly changed his mind and voted in favor of independence after considering the arguments of other Congressmen.

[5]  Stockton was the first man to sign for the state of New Jersey when the time arrived to declare independence.

          In September 1776, Stockton received an equal number of votes as William Livingston for governor of New Jersey, but after further discussion Livingston was awarded the position.  Stockton was soon on the run, anyhow.  When the British moved into Princeton in 1776, Stockton's home, Morven, was ransacked by the redcoats.  His books and most of his furnishings were destroyed.  Luckily, Stockton had removed his wife and children from the area earlier, fearing the worst.  Though our signer initially escaped to the home of a friend, John Covenhoven, about thirty miles east of Princeton, the British caught up with him on 30 November 1776. [6]  He was imprisoned first in the common jail of Amboy by the British, but later moved to the more deplorable conditions at the old Provost prison in New York City.  Stockton was abused by his captors, suffering from cold and starvation at the least.

                                    Morven - the home of Richard Stockton in Princeton, NJ. Photo by the author

Once Stockton was exchanged, he came home a broken man.  Ill in health (besides his ill treatment by the British, he probably had cancer) and poor in wealth, Stockton died at home on 28 February 1781.  He was buried at the Stoney Brook Quaker Burial Ground in Princeton.  He is also honored

with a statue in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. - only one of six signers to be so honored.  Stockton also had a college named in his honor; Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, located in Galloway Twp., was founded in 1969.

          The Stockton's first born child, Julia, married Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a well-known physician of the time period, especially in Philadelphia.  Two of Stockton's sons obtained political success.  His son Richard was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey, while another son, Robert Field Stockton, served as a Commodore in the War of 1812, was the first military governor of California in 1846 and was also a New Jersey Senator.

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[1] Annis was the sister of Elias Boudinot.  Elias served as commissary general of prisoners in the Revolutionary Army from 1776 until 1779.  He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1778, and from 1781 until 1783.  He served as President of that body from November 1782 to November 1783.  After signing the Treaty of Paris with England, ending the war, he resumed his law practice, but in 1789 he was elected to the first U.S. Congress.  He was twice reelected, serving until 1795, at which time he was named third Director of the U.S. Mint.  He remained as Director until 1805, when he resigned.  Elias Boudinot died in 1821.

[2] Cunningham, John T. Five Who Signed. Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 13.

[3] Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1772 to 1775

[4] The writing was a plan for self-government in the colonies; though they would be independent of Parliament, they would still remain loyal to the Crown.

[5] Lossing, Benson J. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859; 79.

[6] Ibid., 51.

Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 3

FRANCIS HOPKINSON

Francis Hopkinson by Robert Edge Pine

Francis Hopkinson may be the most accomplished of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey.  Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1737,[1] Hopkinson became an author and poet; a song-writer and musician; a lawyer and judge; an artist and Congressman.  As an ardent Patriot, he played a role in the founding of the United States politically and culturally - he is credited with having a hand in the design of the first American flag and the designs of the seal of the State of New Jersey and the Great Seal of the United States.[2]

Francis’ father, Thomas, was a merchant, lawyer and judge in Pennsylvania, as well as a friend of Benjamin Franklin.  In the latter capacity, Thomas also dabbled in electrical experiments.  He founded the Academy of Philadelphia (which later became the College of Philadelphia, and later the University of Pennsylvania) as well as the Library Company, and he was the first President of the American Philosophical Society.[3]   It is no wonder then, that before his death in 1751, Thomas enrolled fourteen-year-old Francis in the College of Philadelphia.  With his mother Mary’s blessing, Francis continued his education after his father’s death, earning his degree in 1757.

It appears that Hopkinson began composing music before his graduation from college - an Ode to Music was composed in 1754.[4]  After graduation, though, while still composing and writing, Hopkinson studied law under Benjamin Chew, the attorney general of Pennsylvania. During this time he wrote “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free” (1759), thought to be the first secular music composition in America. In 1761 he joined the bar and in 1763 was appointed customs collector at Salem, New Jersey.  Between 1757 and 1763, Hopkinson was busy with his pen, contributing essays, poems and satirical writings to various periodicals.  In 1766, Hopkinson traveled to England for a year-long stay in which he met a number of prominent individuals, including Benjamin Franklin, Lord North and the painter Benjamin West.  Upon his return to North America, Hopkinson married Ann Borden in 1768.  She was the daughter of Colonel Joseph Borden, a leading merchant from Bordentown, New Jersey.  The couple would have five children.[5]

            In 1772, Hopkinson was appointed customs collector at New Castle, Delaware, though he was settled and practicing law in Bordentown by 1774.  In the same year, he was selected to be a member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey.  Pamphlets that he wrote during this time were filled with attacks on the British and on loyalists in the colonies.  In 1776, Hopkinson was elected an associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, but he declined that office and instead accepted appointment to the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.  Sometime before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Hopkinson wrote “The Prophecy,” an essay predicting the formal break of the colonies from England.[6]  While serving in the Congress from 22 June to 30 November 1776, Hopkinson also served on the Navy Board.

            During the winter of 1777 - 1778, an inventor by the name of David Bushnell caused quite a stir on the Delaware River.[7]  Bushnell filled barrels with gunpowder which were set to explode upon touching anything.  These he set afloat on the Delaware River north of Philadelphia, with the hope that as they fell downriver among the British ships, they would strike and damage or destroy the shipping.  Though some of the barrels did explode, the experiment did not have the desired effect.  The event did cause much excitement and anxiety among the British in Philadelphia, however.  A satirical letter was published in the Pennsylvania Ledger on 11 February 1778, and is believed to be written by Hopkinson.  The account is as follows:

Both officers and men exhibited the most unparalleled skill and bravery on the occasion; whilst the citizens stood gazing as solemn witnesses of their prowess. From the Roebuck and other ships of war, whole broadsides were poured into the Delaware. In short, not a wandering chip, stick, or drift log, but felt the vigour of the British arms. The action began about sun-rise, and would have been compleated with great success by noon, had not an old market woman coming down the river with provisions, unfortunately let a small keg of butter fall over-board, which (as it was then ebb) floated down to the scene of the action. At the sight of this unexpected reinforcement of the enemy, the battle was renewed with fresh fury–the firing was incessant till the evening closed the affair. The kegs were either totally demolished or obliged to fly, as none of them have shewn their heads since. It is said his Excellency Lord Howe has dispatched a swift sailing packet with an account of this victory to the court of London. In a word, Monday, the 5th of January, 1778, must ever be distinguished in history, for the memorable BATTLE OF THE KEGS.”[8]

 

The Battle of the Kegs from the UPenn archives

At a later date, Hopkinson also wrote a ballad of the event, to be sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

The Hopkinson House is currently a privately owned building

located at 101 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown, NJ.

            In 1776 and 1777, the British stationed in Bordentown raided and plundered Hopkinson’s Bordentown home.  Hopkinson was not to be found, however, and in 1778 he was again elected a member of the Congress and served as Treasurer of the Continental Loan Office.  In 1779 and 1780, Hopkinson served as a judge on the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania.  During this time, Hopkinson was also at work designing or assisting in the design of, among other things, the Board of Admiralty seal, the Treasury Board seal, the seal of the state of New Jersey, the Great Seal of the United States and the flag of the United States, though in the case of the latter two some speculation remains.  Hopkinson’s design for the Great Seal was the second one submitted to Congress, which did not grant its approval.  A third committee, with the assistance of Congressional secretary Charles Thomson, created a third design, which was finally accepted and is still in use today.[9]  Thomson’s design borrowed key elements from Hopkinson’s design, including the striped shield and the field of stars.  As for the design of the flag of the United States, the only surviving record of any kind comes from a letter dated 25 May 1780, from Hopkinson to the Continental Board of Admiralty, where he mentioned “the Flag of the United States of America” among the many other patriotic designs he had completed over the course of the previous three years.  There is no mention of the exact design, but neither is there any mention in the historical record of any other person coming forward to claim ownership of the creation.[10]

Click on image to enlarge.

            Following the end of the Revolutionary War, Hopkinson remained active in the politics of the new nation.  He continued to serve on the Admiralty Court until 1787, when he became a member of the Constitutional Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States.  In 1789, President Washington appointed Hopkinson as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death on 9 May 1791.  Hopkinson, possibly the most artistic signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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[1] United States Congress. Hopkinson, Francis, (1737 - 1791). n.d. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000783 (accessed March 3, 2012).

[2] University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791). 2012. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/hopkinson_thos.html (accessed March 3, 2012).

[3] University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. Thomas Hopkinson (1709-1751). 2012. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/hopkinson_thos.html (accessed March 3, 2012).

[4] Library of Congress. Francis Hopkinson, 1737-1791. August 10, 2006. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200035713/default.html (accessed March 3, 2012).

[5] Cunningham, John T. Five Who Signed. Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 20.

[6] Ibid., 21.

[7] For more information on Bushnell and his inventions, see my post, “David Bushnell”: http://dansamericanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/david-bushnell-is-credited-with.html.  Hopkinson’s essay regarding this event can be found in the Bushnell article, but has also been reprinted here.

[8] Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol. 11. ed. Michael J. Crawford. Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, 2005; 78.

[9] The first design was submitted by a committee consisting of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and was the work of a Swiss-born painter named Pierre Eugene du Simitiere.  The committee working with Hopkinson was appointed on 25 March 1780 and was composed of James Lovell (from Massachusetts), John Moris Scott (New York) and William Churchill Houston (NJ).  The third committee consisted of Arthur Middleton (South Carolina), John Rutledge (South Carolina) and Elias Boudinot (New Jersey).  William Barton, a Philadelphia lawyer and scholar, then edited Thomson’s design.  This committee’s design was accepted on 20 June 1781.

[10] Leepson, Marc. Flag: An American Biography, New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005; 30-31, 33.

Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 2

JOHN HART

            Little is known about the early life of John Hart.  Even the date of his birth is in question.  The earliest claim is about 1707 while the latest appears to be 1714.[i]  All sources agree that his birth was in the small coastal town of Stonington, Connecticut and that he moved with his parents at an early age to Hopewell Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.  Young John became a farmer and married Deborah Scudder in 1740.[ii]  The couple would have thirteen children - helpers on their 380 acre farm in Hopewell.[iii]

            Hart entered into politics in 1761, at which time he became a member of the Provincial Assembly of New Jersey.  He served in this capacity until 1771.  Hart also served as a judge in the Hunterdon County Courts from 1768 until 1775, despite his lack of schooling in law.  He opposed the policies of the royal government and attended the New Jersey Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1776, and was elected Vice President of that body on 16 June 1776.  During this time, Hart also served as a member of the Committee of Safety on two separate occasions.[iv]  About the time of his appointment to Vice President of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, Hart and four others were chosen to replace the New Jersey delegates at the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia.  Hart arrived in time to vote for independence, and signed the Declaration of Independence in August before returning to New Jersey.[v]

            Upon his return to New Jersey, Hart was elected to the state’s first General Assembly under their new constitution, where he accepted the speakership.  Hart was forced to flee very soon thereafter, however, as the British marched across New Jersey, chasing General Washington’s army to the Delaware River.  The British captured Patriots and destroyed property along the way, and Hart did not escape their wrath.  Hart’s family escaped and he went into hiding in the hills surrounding his land until the Battles of Trenton and Princeton had been decided in favor of the Americans, and the British army was vanquished from that part of the state.  When Hart returned to his estate, he found his house standing, but much of his property was otherwise destroyed.  Furthermore, Hart learned that his wife had taken ill in his absence and died.[vi]

            Hart remained in the service of his country as speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly until 1778, while simultaneously serving on the New Jersey Council of Safety.  He retired in ill health and died shortly thereafter, on 11 May 1779, at Hopewell.  Hart is buried at the Baptist Meeting House in Hopewell, New Jersey.  An obituary published in the New Jersey Gazette of 19 May 1779 noted that his death was “regretted and lamented” and that his character and contributions would “ensure lasting respect to his memory.”

 

The grave marker of John Hart in the Baptist Meeting House Cemetery in Hopewell, New Jersey.

 

                                                                                                                      Photos by: Dan Silva

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[i]  The earliest claim is found on the website Colonial Hall, on the page John Hart by John Vinci, http://colonialhall.com/hart/hart.php (accessed February 18, 2012) while the latest is found in Lossing, Benson J. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859 on page 87.

[ii] National Park Service. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence - John Hart. July 4, 2004. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio17.htm  (accessed February 18, 2012).

[iii] Cunningham, John T. Five Who Signed. Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 17.

[iv] Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000288 (accessed February 18, 2012) and Cunningham, 17.

[v] National Park Service.

[vi] Ibid.

Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  Of those 56, five represented the state of New Jersey.  Those men - Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon - did not live nearly long enough thereafter to witness the creation of the country which their declaration had made possible.  The following sketches of their lives are meant to be brief; much of the information gathered for their presentation was found in sources which pre-date the Civil War (the more recent publications simply take from these eariler publications as well).  The sketches are by no means comprehensive, but they are a composition of the information obtained from earlier sources and arranged together in a single location.

ABRAHAM CLARK

from Cunningham's book

Abraham Clark was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey (present-day Roselle) on 15 February 1726, the only child of Thomas Clark and Hannah Winans.  He grew up on his father’s farm, becoming a surveyor and a lawyer (though he was never formally trained or accepted as the latter).[i]  Clark married Sarah Hatfield (also spelled Hetfield) in 1748 and fathered ten children over the course of their marriage.  Two of Clark’s sons, Aaron (1750 - 1811) and Thomas (c. 1755 - 1789), served the Patriot cause during the war.[ii] 

            Clark held the office of sheriff of Essex County (among others) under the royal government, but around the year 1774 he became openly defiant against the British.  Because of his patriotic zeal, he was elected as a member of the First Provincial Congress of New Jersey in May 1775.  Clark was also elected to serve New Jersey at the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.  After signing the Declaration of Independence while serving in the latter Congress, Clark wrote to his friend, Colonel Elias Dayton, “It is gone so far that we must now be a free independent State, or a Conquered Country.”[iii] 

            Clark had no intentions to be conquered, though.  He served the Continental Congress until 1778, and returned from 1780 - 1783 and 1786 - 1788.  In between, he served in the New Jersey State Legislature.  In 1786, before leaving the State Legislature, Clark, who was a slave-owner, sponsored a bill titled “An Act to prevent the Importation of Slaves . . . , and to authorize the Manumission of them under certain Restrictions and to prevent the Abuse of Slaves.”  Though the bill passed, Clark’s slaves were only freed upon his wife’s death in 1804.[iv]

            Clark was one of only 12 men to attend the Annapolis Convention, where he again represented New Jersey.  Although the men only met from 11 - 14 September 1786, they called for all of the states to be represented in a meeting to be held in May in Philadelphia.  This resulted in the Convention which drew up the U.S. Constitution.  Clark was elected to the New Jersey Convention to the Constitution, but did not attend due to ill health.[v]  Clark was opposed to the U.S. Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added.  He was elected to the Second and Third Congresses, serving until his death (from sun stroke) on 15 September 1794.  His obituary, which appeared in the 17 September issue of the New-Jersey Journal read, in part:

On Monday last, very suddenly, the Hon. Abraham Clark, Esq. member from this State, to the Congress of the United States, in the 69th year of his age. In the death of Mr. Clark, his Family has sustained an irretrievable loss, and the state is deprived of a useful citizen, who, for forty years past, has been employed in the most honorable and confidential trusts, which he ever discharged with that disinterestedness, ability, and indefatigable industry, that redounded much to his popularity.

Clark was buried in Rahway Cemetery in Rahway, New Jersey.  His stone reads:

                        Firm and decided as a Patriot

                        Zealous & faithful as a servant to the public

                        He loved his country & adhered to her cause

                        in the darkest hours of her struggles

                        against oppression

 

The graves markers of Abraham Clark (r.) and his wife, Sarah (l.) in Rahway Cemetery in Rahway, New Jersey.

Photo by: Dan Silva

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[i] Cunningham, John T.  Five Who Signed.  Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 18.

[ii] Both sons served in General Henry Knox’s Artillery Regiment under Captain Daniel Neil’s Eastern Company, New Jersey Artillery.   Both men mostly likely served in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton.  Thomas spent time as a prisoner aboard the retched prison ship Jersey.

Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (DSDI), “Abraham Clark.” , accessed 13 February 2012.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Clark and his wife owned three slaves.  Ibid.

[v] Lossing, Benson J. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence.  New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859; 192.