Richard Stockton Field

Richard Stockton Field (December 31, 1803 – May 25, 1870) was a United States Senator from New Jersey, and later a United States federal judge. Field was the great-grandson of Richard Stockton (1730-1781), New Jersey Delegate to the Continental Congress, and the grandson of Richard Stockton (1764-1828), US Senator from New Jersey.

Born in White Hall, Burlington County, New Jersey, Field moved to Princeton, New Jersey with his mother in 1810; pursued an academic course and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1821. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1825, commencing private practice in Salem, New Jersey. He moved to Princeton, N.J., in 1832, and served as a New Jersey state representative from 1833 to 1834, and as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1837, and served as New Jersey Attorney General from 1838–1841. He was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1844, and a professor at the Princeton Law School from 1847 to 1855, thereafter returning to private practice.

Field was appointed as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John R. Thomson and served from November 21, 1862, to January 14, 1863, when a successor was elected. He was not a candidate for election in 1863. Instead, Field was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln on January 14, 1863, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Philemon Dickerson. Field was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received commission, on the same day that he was nominated. He served on the court until his resignation, on April 25, 1870, one month before his death.

He died in Princeton, New Jersey and was buried in Princeton Cemetery.