Charles Creighton Stratton (March 6, 1796 – March 30, 1859) was an American farmer and politician who served as the 15th

governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

from 1845 to 1848. He was the first popularly elected governor following the adoption of the

1844 New Jersey Constitution The 1844 New Jersey Constitution is the second state constitution for the State of New Jersey and was replaced by the current state constitution adopted in 1947. It was preceded by the 1776 New Jersey Constitution. External links The New J ...

. He also served in the New Jersey legislature during the 1820s and represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1837 to 1839 and 1841 to 1843. Between his House terms, he became embroiled in the Broad Seal War, a legal contest over the results of the 1838 New Jersey elections.

Biography

Charles Creighton Stratton was born on March 6, 1796, in Swedesboro, Gloucester County,

. He graduated from

Rutgers College Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

in 1814, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a member of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

in 1821, 1823, and again in 1829. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth United States Congress (1837–1839); presented credentials as a member-elect to the Twenty-sixth Congress, but the House declined to seat him ; reelected to the Twenty-seventh United States Congress (1841–1843). He chose not to run again in 1842. Stratton served as a member of the 1844 constitutional convention that created a revised New Jersey State Constitution. The new 1844 New Jersey State Constitution provided for direct election of a governor for a single three-year term. Stratton ran on the Whig ticket, and campaigned on a platform opposing the powerful railroad interests of the state. The Democratic candidate was

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

-born John R. Thomson, who was a stockholder in the railroad and a vigorous advocate of internal improvements. Stratton won, and served as governor from January 21, 1845, to January 17, 1848. After his term he resumed agricultural pursuits.

Personal life

He married Sarah Taggart of Philadelphia in 1854. Although he had no children, Stratton had two notable nephews: * Benjamin Franklin Howey, a Republican member of the Forty-eighth United States Congress (1883–1885) from the 4th Congressional District * Thomas Preston Carpenter, an

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

on the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

Death and legacy

Because of ill health, he resided in Europe in 1857 and 1858. He died on March 30, 1859, in Swedesboro. He is interred at

Trinity Church Cemetery The parish of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Church has three separate cemetery, burial grounds associated with it in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in Lower Manhattan at 74 Trinity Place, n ...

in Swedesboro. His home in

Woolwich Township, New Jersey Woolwich Township is a Township (New Jersey), township within Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

, the Gov. Charles C. Stratton House, was built in 1791 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on January 29, 1973.New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places: Gloucester County
,

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...

Historic Preservation Office, October 27, 2015. Accessed November 8, 2015.

References

External links

Biographical information of Charles C. Stratton

New Jersey State Library The New Jersey State Library, based in Trenton, New Jersey, was established in 1796 to serve the information needs of New Jersey's Governor of New Jersey, Governor, New Jersey Legislature, Legislature and Judiciary of New Jersey, Judiciary. The S ...

– document is damaged as of July 6, 2006.
New Jersey Governor Charles Creighton Stratton

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratton, Charles C. 1796 births 1859 deaths People from Swedesboro, New Jersey People from Woolwich Township, New Jersey Politicians from Gloucester County, New Jersey Governors of New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Whig Party state governors of the United States Rutgers University alumni 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature