Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/727

Rh any particular crop was to be raised the constitu- ents of that crop. This led to the employment <>f the special fertilizers that are now widely used in the place of general fertilizers, or random fertil- izers, which for a special purpose might be valuable or worthless. He is a member of various agricul- tural associations and has made many addresses on his specialties in New England and New York. His writings, including the results of his researches, appear in various publications, chiefly in the an- nual reports of the Massachusetts agricultural col- lege. His brother, Henry, lawyer, b. in North Hadley, 31 Aug., 1822; d. in Baltimore. 11 March, 1895, was originally named Henry Smith Stock- bridge, but he dropped the Smith. He was gradu- ated at Amherst in 1845, and studied law in lialti- more, where he was admitted to the bar in IM*. anil practised his profession. During the civil war he was a special district attorney to attend to the business of the war department, and in 1864. as a member of the legislature, he drafted the act that convened a constitutional convention for the abolition of slavery in the state. He took an active part in the proceedings of the convention, and defended the constitution that it adopted be- fore the court of last resort. Afterward he insti- t in I'd, and successfully prosecuted in the U. S. courts, proceedings by which were annulled the in- dentures of apprenticeship by which it was sought to evade the emancipation clause. Mr. Stockbridge thus practically secured the enfranchisement of more than 10,000 colored children. He was judge of the circuit court for Baltimore county in 1865. a delegate to the Loyalists' convention in 1866, and vice-president of the National Republican conven- tion of 1868. Mr. Stockbridge had been for twenty years editor of the Fund publications of the Mary- land historical society, of which he was vice-presi- dent : and the author of publication No. 22 : " The Archives of Maryland" (Baltimore. 1886); besides various contributions to magazines.

STOCKTON, Alfred Augustus. Canadian law- yer, b. in Studholm, King's co.. New Brunswick, 2 NCIV., 1842. His great-grandfather, Andrew Hun- ter Stockton, a native of Princeton, N. J., fought on the royal side in the war of the Revolution, and afterward settled in New Brunswick. Mr. Stockton was graduated at Mount Allison college in 1864, and was admitted to the bar of New Brunswick in 1868, and became a member of the New Brunswick legislature in 1883. He is secre- tary of the board of governors of Mount Allison college, an examiner in political economy and con- stitutional history, and also an examiner in law at Victoria university, president of the New Bruns- wick historical society, and register of the court of vice-admiralty of the province. He has re- ceived the degree of LL. B. from Victoria uni- versity, that of Ph. D. from Illinois Wesleyan uni- versity, and that of D. C. L. from Mount Allison college in 1884. He edited " Rules of the Vice- Admiralty Court in New Brunswick " (St. John, 1876). and " Berton's Report of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick," with copious notes (1882).

STOCKTON, Richard, signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, b. on his estate near Prince- ton, N. J., 1 Oct., 1730; d. there, 28 Feb., 1781. His great-grandfather, of the same name, came from England before 1070. and. after residing sev- eral years on Long Island, purchased, about 1680, a tract of 6,400 acres of land, of which Princeton, N. J., is nearly the centre. About 1682 he and his associates formed a settlement there, and were the first Europeans in the district. Richard's father, lohn, inherited " Morven," the family-seat, and was for many years chief judge of the court of common pleas of Somerset county. The son was graduated at Princeton in 1748, studied law with David Ogden in Newark, and in 1754 was admit- ted to the bar, in which he soon at- tained great repu- tation. After ac- quiring a compe- tency, he visited Great Britain in 1766-'7, making the acquaintance of many public men and receiving the freedom of the city from the mu- nicipal authiii ii ic's of Edinburgh. He exerted himself es- pecially to remove the prevailing ig- norance regarding the American col- onies. While he was in Scotland hispersonalefforts induced Dr. John Witherspoon to reconsider his refusal to become president of Princeton, and for this and other services to the college Mr. Stockton received the formal thanks of its trustees after his return in September, 1767. In 1768 he was made a member of the executive council of the province, and in 1774 he was raised to the supreme bench of New Jersey. He strove at first to effect a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country, and on 12 Dec., 1774, sent to Lord Dartmouth " An Expedient for the Settlement of the American Disputes," in which he proposed a plan of colonial self-government, but he soon became active in efforts to organize a prudent opposition, and on 21 June, 1776, was chosen by the Provincial congress a member of the Continental congress, then in session in Philadelphia. His silence during the opening debates on the question of independence leads to the conclusion that at first he doubted the expediency of the declaration, but at the close of the discussion he expressed his concurrence in the final vote in a short but energetic address. He was re-elected to congress, where he was an active member, and in September, 1776, at the first meeting of the state delegates under the new constitution, was a candidate for governor. On the first ballot he and William Livingston received an equal number of votes, but the latter was finally elected. Mr. Stockton was then chosen chief justice by a unanimous vote, but declined. On 26 Sept.. 1776, he and George Clymer were appointed a committee to inspect the northern army. On 30 Nov., at night, he was captured by a party of loyalists at the house of John Covenhoven, in Monmouth, N. J., which was then his temporary home. His host shared his fate. Mr. Stockton was thrown into the common prison in New York, and treated with unusual severity, which seriously affected his health. Congress passed a resolution directing Gen. Washington to inquire into the circumstance, remonstrate with Gen. Howe, and ask " whether he chooses this shall be the future rule for treating all such, on both sides, as the fortune of war may place in the hands of either party." Mr. Stockton was exchanged shortly afterward, but never regained his health. His library, which was one of the best in the country, had been burned by the