Richard Stockton, born in 1730 near Princeton, attended West Nottingham Academy and the College of New Jersey which later became Princeton. He became a renowned lawyer with a large practice. He was appointed to the royal council of New Jersey in 1765 and was moderate in his views on colonial autonomy. However, he supported independence when elected to the Congress in 1776. He was appointed to committees supporting the war effort and dispatched on a fact-finding tour, but was captured and imprisoned by the British. After his release, he returned to his estate, which had been destroyed by the British. Stockton reopened his law practice and taught students but developed cancer and died in 1781.
