Signers of the Declaration of Independence: New Jersey, Part 2

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 56 delegates who signed the formal break from Britain are all considered Founding Fathers.

New Jersey had five delegates. This week's profile features Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon.

Richard Stockton

Stockton was born Oct. 1, 1730, in Princeton, New Jersey, to John Stockton, a wealthy landowner, and Abigail Phillips. He was the eldest son, and he had eight siblings.

When he was 14, he was sent to Maryland for school, and then he attended the College of New Jersey in Newark, now known as Princeton University. He graduated in 1748 with a bachelor's degree. He studied law as an apprentice to a local attorney and was admitted to the bar in 1754. He was a successful lawyer, attaining the highest degree of law at the time: sergeant-at-law in 1763.

Stockton married Annis Boudinot in 1757, and they had six children: Julia, Mary, Susan, Richard, Lucius and Abigail. His father died a year later, and he inherited a large portion of the family's land; he built his Morven estate on the property.

In June 1766, Stockton sailed to London for 15 months and traveled through England, Scotland and Ireland. He was not interested in politics, but when he returned to New Jersey, in 1768, he was appointed to the New Jersey governor's council. In 1774, he was appointed to the colony's supreme court. He knew that a war for independence was coming, so Stockton resigned his royal appointments, and New Jersey elected him to the Continental Congress in June 1776.

Before the British invaded New Jersey, Stockton moved his family to a friend's house, but he was captured at night on Nov. 30, 1776, and imprisoned in New York City. After being treated inhumanely, he was released on parole on Jan. 13, 1777, at the direction of Gen. George Washington.

His poor treatment affected his health. Stockton developed cancer and died at the age of 50, Feb. 28, 1781. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Stony Brook Quaker Meeting House Cemetery in his hometown of Princeton. His wife died 20 years later, Feb. 6, 1801.

Stockton, New York, located south of Buffalo, New York, bears his name, as does Stockton University in Galloway Township, New Jersey. The World War II Liberty ship SS Richard Stockton launched in August 1942. There is a Richard Stockton rest area along the New Jersey Turnpike, as well as a variety of streets, towns and neighborhoods within his home state.

The Morven estate, where Stockton lived with his family, is now the Morven Museum & Garden. In 1971, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and in 2004, it became a public education space.

John Witherspoon

Witherspoon was born Feb. 5, 1723, in Yester, Scotland. He was the eldest child of James Alexander Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister, and Anne Walker. He had three siblings.

His mother taught him how to read the Bible by age 4, which had a profound influence on his career, as he is the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. When he was 13, he attended college at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, earning a master's degree after defending his dissertation in Latin by the time he was 16.

In 1743, he was formally licensed to preach; two years later he was ordained as a minister and received his first parish. In 1764, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree by the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, in acknowledgment of his ministry and theological papers.

In 1748, Witherspoon married Elizabeth Montgomery, and they had 10 children, five of whom lived to adulthood.

In 1768, the family arrived in America following an offer to be the president of the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. The college thrived under his leadership.

During a college commencement address in 1770, Witherspoon advocated for resistance to British rule. In 1774, he represented his county in the New Jersey Provincial Assembly and was then appointed to the Continental Congress. Two years later, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress, where he served until 1782.

His wife died suddenly, Oct. 1, 1789. Witherspoon married Anne Marshall Dill May 30, 1791, and they had two children, one of whom survived to adulthood. Witherspoon suffered two eye injuries and, although he was completely blind by 1792, he continued to teach until his death, Nov. 15, 1794. He was buried in the Presidents' Lot in Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey, along with his wife, Elizabeth.

Witherspoon Hall at Princeton University is named for him, as is John Witherspoon College in Rapid City, South Dakota. Tusculum, Witherspoon's country estate in Princeton, is on the National Register of Historic Places, and both Tusculum, Tennessee, and Tusculum University, are named for it. The World War II Liberty ship SS John Witherspoon launched in March 1942.

There are statues of Witherspoon at Princeton University, near Dupont Circle in Washington, at the Presbyterian Historical Society and at the University of West Scotland in Paisley, Scotland.

This is the 20th installment in a series of articles about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, representing the 13 colonies, are all considered Founding Fathers.