Stockton was the son of
Annis Boudinot Stockton and
Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. He was born at
Morven, the family's estate in
Princeton, New Jersey. 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. In later life, he was often referred to as Horace. Stockton graduated from the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University) in 1787. He studied law and settled in
Trenton, where he established a large practice. He was appointed
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1798, serving until 1801. On January 13, 1801, President
John Adams nominated Stockton to be
Secretary of War, weeks before the end of his administration, in a move that incensed President-Elect
Thomas Jefferson. 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.
Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott Jr. 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 The nomination was later withdrawn by Adams.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 organ. He died on May 26, 1835, and was buried in Trenton. ==See also==