Lucius Horatio Stockton (1765 – May 26, 1835) was an American lawyer who served as

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

from 1798 to 1801. His rise to this position was relatively swift: he was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1791; he became counsellor in 1794; and in April 1797, he was appointed sergeant-at-law.

Biography

Stockton was the son of

Annis Boudinot Stockton Annis Boudinot Stockton (July 1, 1736 – February 6, 1801) was an American poet, one of the first women to be published in the Thirteen Colonies. Living in Princeton, New Jersey, Stockton wrote and published her poems in leading newspapers and m ...

and Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. He was born at

Morven Morven, or Mhoirbheinn, is a given name and may also refer to: Places Australia * Morven, Queensland, a town and locality in the Shire of Murweh * Morven, New South Wales * Electoral district of Morven, Tasmania Canada * Morven, community in Loyal ...

, the family's estate in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. His brother, also named Richard Stockton, would go on to be the first U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and to represent the state in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. In later life, he was often referred to as Horace. Stockton graduated from the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

) in 1787. He studied law and settled in Trenton, where he established a large practice. He was appointed

in 1798, serving until 1801. On January 13, 1801, President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

nominated Stockton to be

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

, weeks before the end of his administration, in a move that incensed President-Elect

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

. On January 20, 1801, Richard Stockton, a congressman and the brother of Lucius wrote a letter to the Honorable Johnathan Dayton (a signer of the Constitution) asking Dayton to inform Adams that Lucius would not accept the nomination, and a letter to President Adams was enclosed. Stockton was known as a strongly partisan supporter of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. De ...

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) was an American politician and judge. He was the second United States Secretary of the Treasury, a judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, and the 24th Governor of Co ...

at the time called him "a crazy, fanatical young man." The nomination was later withdrawn by Adams. In 1803, Stockton wrote a series of articles in the ''Trenton Federalist'' defending himself and his late uncle Samuel W. Stockton from attacks by the ''True American'', a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

organ. On July 4, 1814, Stockton delivered the main address at the New Jersey Friends of Peace Convention, organized by Federalists opposed to U.S. involvement in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He was also the organizer of the Washington Benevolent Society of Trenton. He died on May 26, 1835, and was buried in Trenton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockton, Lucius Horatio 1765 births 1835 deaths Stockton family of New Jersey People from Princeton, New Jersey People from Trenton, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Rejected or withdrawn nominees to the United States Executive Cabinet United States Attorneys for the District of New Jersey People of colonial New Jersey

Biography

See also

References