Signer of the Declaration of Independence, born near Princeton, NJ, on the 1st of October 1730. Previous to his admission to the bar of New Jersey in 1754, he had graduated at Princeton. He spent the years 1766 and 1767 in England and Scotland, and while there received many honors, including the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. He was appointed a justice of the New Jersey supreme court in 1774; was an ardent patriot during the Revolution; a member of the Continental Congress; and was elected chief justice of New Jersey, an office he declined. He was captured by the British, and harshly treated while in prison. His statue is in the capitol at Washington. He died in Princeton, NJ, on the 28th of February 1781.
His son, Robert Field, an American naval officer, born in Princeton, NJ, on the 20th of August 1795. He entered the United States naval service in 1811 as midshipman; took part on land in the defense of Baltimore during the War of 1812, and for his conduct was appointed a lieutenant; took part in the war with Algiers, and in command of a frigate first established the legality of the seizure of slave-traders. In 1826–38 he engaged in private business in New Jersey, where he obtained a charter for and built the Delaware and Raritan canal. In 1838 he returned to the navy, and in 1845 was sent to California to take command of the Pacific squadron, and there took possession of the present state of California and organized a provisional government. Army troops of the Mexicans were routed by the forces of Stockton and Frémont at Los Angeles, San Diego and La Mesa. Stockton negotiated a treaty, transferring California to the United States from Mexico. He returned to the East in 1847, and in 1850 retired permanently from the navy. In 1851–53 he occupied a seat in the United States Senate. He died in Princeton, NJ, on the 7th of October 1866.
