Richard Stockton, the son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born on 17 April 1764 in Princeton, New Jersey. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and practiced law in his hometown. The first U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, he was known as "The Duke" for his stately demeanor. Stockton served in the U.S. Senate from 1796 to 1799. A trio of failed gubernatorial campaigns followed before a single term in the U.S.