I was born in Hopewell, New Jersey, likely in the year 1711, though nobody wrote it down for sure. My father, Edward Hart, came to Hopewell around 1710 and helped shape the town, serving as a Justice of the Peace, a farmer, and a man trusted in the community. My family never had much formal…

I was born in Princeton, New Jersey, on October 1, 1730, into a family rooted deep in the soil of the colonies. My father, Judge John Stockton, was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey, what you now call Princeton University. Our family home, Morven, stood as a symbol of commitment to…

I was born in New Jersey in 1721 and grew up with the tides of revolution rising around me. By 1775, I was living in Trenton and serving as president of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. That summer and the next, I helped lead the colony through one of its most defining moments. On…

I was born in 1741 and raised in a well-off family of merchants and landowners in colonial New Jersey. I lived in a house I built myself, a big Georgian-style place in Nottingham Township, made to show the kind of man I was — wealthy, educated, and respected. People came to me for decisions, and…

I was a lawyer, a soldier, and a statesman. I stood beside Washington when it counted, and I called Pennsylvania home when it needed leadership most. I was born in New Jersey in 1741. I finished college at sixteen and went on to study law under Richard Stockton, then at Middle Temple in London. It…

I was born in Thetford, England, in 1737. My father was a Quaker corset maker. My mother was Anglican. I left school at thirteen, tried my hand as a sailor, then as a tax collector, and then found myself lost in the gears of British society. I wanted more than routine and obedience. I wanted…