Annis Stockton Research Paper

Annis Stockton is from Darby Pennsylvania , she was born on July 1, 1776 , to Catherine Williams and Elias Boudinot. She is the oldest daughter and the second of 10 children. Her family later moved to princeton and Annis was opened to the intellectual area, and her parents gave her a very good education. She however became particularly interested in poetry, and published her first poem at age 16: ” To the Honorable Colonel Peter Schuyler, in the New-York Mercury and New American Magazine.” At a young age she thrived in the town’s academic fresh air , and became known with Richard Stockton when her brother, Elias, studied law in his office and then he soon married his sister, Hannah .Sometime in the late 1750s, Annis married Richard Stockton,

One of the requirements of his release was an oath of not being able to participate in the Revolution. Stockton kept his word and took himself from Congress. He soon got ill , getting cancer in 1778 and dying on February 28, 1781. To make matters even worse, when the war passed through New Jersey , Cornwallis troops came through Princeton and set up there main spot at Morven. The British army ransacked the Stockton estate, burned the furniture, the library, and trashed the house and the lands. The Stockton family suffered great financial losses, but Annis soon returned to Morven, rescuing what she could find from the house and library. Most of the family papers and things were sadly lost in the library fire. After her husband’s death, Annis continued on as the mistress of Morven, raising her children and retaining a high social standing. Her two brothers, Elisha and Elis , were both active in politics. Elisha was a lawyer and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice. Elias was a lawyer, Congressman, and later, the Director