Office History
A Rich History of Public Service
Click here for a list of all New Jersey United States Attorneys
The original
enactment that formed the various district courts throughout the nation
called for the convening of court on the first Tuesday in November, 1789.
Twice, however, Judge David Brearly found it necessary to postpone the
convening of the first District Court of New Jersey. The first session
finally was held on December 22, 1789, at which time three attorneys were
sworn in and Richard Stockton, then 25 years old, was commissioned
as the first United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Because
there was no other business before the Court, court was promptly adjourned.
Stockton's first appearance on behalf of the United States was at the
August term in 1790. One Henry Guest had petitioned the court for relief
from the payment of duties claimed by the collector of "the Eastern
District of this State" on certain shoes and leather aboard the ship
of Captain Edward Yard. Mr. Stockton responded to the order to show cause
by saying that so far as the party sought relief from the customs duty
on shoes and leather, the judge of the District Court had no jurisdiction.
Judge Brearly dismissed the prayer for relief against payment of customs
duty for lack of jurisdiction.
Richard Stockton (1764-1828) by Christian Gullager
Stockton, nicknamed "the Duke," had come from a prominent family in New Jersey. His great-grandfather (also named Richard Stockton) purchased the property that became Morven (later the residence of several New Jersey governors) from William Penn in 1701. His father, perhaps the most famous Richard Stockton, signed the Declaration of Independence a little more than a decade before "the Duke" became the first "attorney of the district." Stockton spent most of his time dealing with cases arising from the maritime trade from nearby ports. These cases involved the collection of customs duties on goods brought through the New Jersey ports from foreign countries. When Stockton left office in 1791, he was widely considered the best attorney in the state of New Jersey. He became United States Senator for New Jersey in 1796, and he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1813.
Judge Brearly served as the United States District Judge for New Jersey for only about a year. He was succeeded in 1790 by Judge Robert Morris, who occupied the bench until he died in 1815. Much of the latter part of his life Judge Morris was ill, and no business was transacted in the Court. However, in describing the Court of that day, it was said that his absence caused no public disadvantage for there was scarcely any business in the District Court at that time. When the Court did sit, it often did so at Henry Drake's Tavern in Trenton.
Like Stockton, many United States Attorneys held significant posts in government before and after their tenure as United States Attorneys. William Sanford Pennington left the United States Attorney's Office in 1804 to become an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and in 1813 he became the governor of New Jersey. (His son, William Pennington, would later be the governor of New Jersey from 1837 to 1843.) From 1815 until his death in 1826, Pennington served as the United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey. (Until 1905, the District of New Jersey was served by only a single district judge.) Pennington had become well known for his courage during the Revolutionary War, when General Knox once spotted him under enemy fire loading and firing a cannon by himself, a task usually requiring the work of two or three people. The town of Pennington, New Jersey, is named for him.
Frederick Frelinghuysen became United States Attorney in 1801 having already distinguished himself in government service. He had served as a colonel in the Revolutionary War; as a delegate to the Continental Congress; and as a United States Senator from 1793 to 1796. After he left the Office of United States Attorney, Frelinguysen served as a member of the State general assembly. He died just three years later. Strangely, he had predicted the very day of his death, April 13, 1804. A number of Frelinghuysen's descendants served in government as well, including his son Theodore (1787-1862) and his grandson Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817-1885), both of whom became United States Senators. His great-great-great-grandson, Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen, Jr., was a member of the House of Representatives from 1953 to 1975, and his great-great-great-great grandson, Rodney Frelinghuysen, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1995.
Joseph McIIvaine took office as the United States Attorney in 1804 and served for almost 20 years. Later, from 1823 until his death in 1826, he served in the United States Senate. McIIvaine's successor, Lucius Q.C. Elmer, had quite a career both before and after serving as United States Attorney from 1824 to 1829. Elmer had been a prosecuting attorney for the State and a member of the New Jersey Assembly, becoming Speaker of the House in 1823. He was elected to the United States Congress in 1843. He was not reelected, but he served as New Jersey's Attorney General from 1850 to 1852 and served as an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1852 until his retirement in 1869.
The ninth United States Attorney, Garret Dorset Wall, had served in the War of 1812 and then become Quartermaster General for the State of New Jersey. He carried the title of "General" all of his life. As a member of the New Jersey Legislature, in 1829 he was selected by his peers to be governor. He became the only man appointed governor who declined to serve. Instead, he served as United States Attorney from 1829 to 1835. Then, from 1835 to 1841, he served as a United States Senator. Shortly after his death in 1850, Monmouth County's Wall Township was named after him.
On March 27, 1861, Anthony Q. Keasbey began the longest tenure of any United States Attorney in the District; he served continuously for 25 years, until 1886. The Keasbey section of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, was named for Keasbey and his brothers.
David O. Watkins, United States Attorney from 1900 to 1903, had earlier in his career been elected mayor of the City of Woodbury. At the time, he was only 24 years of age. In what may be another first, Watkins served as governor before becoming United States Attorney. In 1898, a set of odd circumstances brought Watkins to the governorship when both the elected governor and the President of the New Jersey Senate resigned while Watkins was Speaker of the House for the New Jersey Assembly. By succession, Watkins became the acting governor two years before becoming United States Attorney.
Other unusual events have occurred in the history of the United States Attorney's Office. The first United States Attorney, Richard Stockton (1789-1791), and the third, Lucius Horatio Stockton (1798-1801), were brothers. In more recent times, another pair of brothers have held the office, Raymond Del Tufo, Jr. (1954) and Robert J. Del Tufo (1977-1980).
In 1994, Faith S. Hochberg became the first woman to hold the Office of United States Attorney in New Jersey. She left the office in 1999 to become one of the 17 United States district judges in New Jersey. (The bench—and the U.S. Attorney's Office—had grown since 1905!) Hochberg was one of many United States Attorneys who also served as federal judges. For example, Frederick B. Lacey and Herbert J. Stern served as district judges; Michael Chertoff served as a member of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit until being appointed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Samuel Alito, Jr. served as a member of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for 15 years and then, beginning in January 2006, as the 110th United States Supreme Court Justice.
Several Assistant U.S. Attorneys also went on to become members of the federal court, including Third Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry and former Chief District Judge John W. Bissell, Garrett E. Brown (currently the District's Chief Judge), Stanley R. Chesler, Joseph A. Greenaway, Katharine S. Hayden, and Jerome B. Simandle. Richard J. Hughes, the only man in the history of New Jersey to serve as both governor and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, was also a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
New
Jersey United States Attorneys
| United States Attorney | Tenure | Appointment | President When Appointed |
| Richard
Stockton |
1789-1791 | Presidential | George
Washington (1789-1797) |
| Abraham Ogden | 1791-1798 | Presidential | George
Washington (1789-1797) |
| Lucius Horatio Stockton | 1798-1801 | Presidential | John
Adams (1797-1801) |
| Frederick Frelinghuysen | 1801 | Presidential | John
Adams (1797-1801) |
| George C. Maxwell | 1801 | Presidential (recess appointment) |
John
Adams (1797-1801) |
| George C. Maxwell | 1802-1803 | Presidential | Thomas
Jefferson (1801-1809) |
| William S. Pennington | 1803-1804 | Presidential | Thomas
Jefferson (1801-1809) |
| Joseph McIlvaine | 1804-1824 | Presidential | Thomas
Jefferson (1801-1809) |
| Lucius Q.C. Elmer | 1824-1829 | Presidential | James
Monroe (1817-1825) |
| Garret D. Wall | 1829-1830 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Andrew
Jackson (1829-1837) |
| Garret D. Wall | 1830-1835 | Presidential | Andrew
Jackson (1829-1837) |
| James S. Green | 1835 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Andrew
Jackson (1829-1837) |
| James S. Green | 1836-1850 | Presidential | Andrew
Jackson (1829-1837) |
| William Halstead | 1850-1853 | Presidential | Millard
Fillmore (1850-1853) |
| Garret S. Cannon | 1853-1854 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Franklin
Pierce (1853-1857) |
| Garret S. Cannon | 1854 - 1861 | Presidential | James
Buchanan (1857-1861) |
| Anthony Q. Keasbey | 1861-1886 | Presidential | Abraham
Lincoln (1861-1865) |
| Job H. Lippincott | 1886-1887 | Presidential | Grover
Cleveland (1885-1889) |
| Samuel F. Bigelow | 1887-1888 | Presidential | Grover
Cleveland (1885-1889) |
| George S. Duryee | 1888-1890 | Presidential | Grover
Cleveland (1885-1889) |
| Henry S. White | 1890-1894 | Presidential | Benjamin
Harrison (1889-1893) |
| John W. Beekman | 1894-1895 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Grover
Cleveland (1893-1897) |
| John W. Beekman | 1895-1896 | Presidential | Grover
Cleveland (1893-1897) |
| J. Kearney Rice | 1896-1900 | Presidential | Grover
Cleveland |
| David O. Watkins | 1900-1903 | Presidential | William
McKinley (1897-1901) |
| Cortlander Parker, Jr. | 1903 | Court | Theodore
Roosevelt (1901-1909) |
| John B. Vreeland | 1903 | Court | Theodore
Roosevelt (1901-1909) |
| John B. Vreeland | 1903-1913 | Presidential | Theodore
Roosevelt (1901-1909) |
| J. Warren Davis | 1913-1916 | Presidential | Woodrow
Wilson (1913-1921) |
| Charles F. Lynch | 1916-1919 | Presidential | Woodrow
Wilson (1913-1921) |
| Joseph L. Bodine | 1919-1920 | Presidential | Woodrow
Wilson (1913-1921) |
| Elmer H. Geran | 1920-1922 | Presidential | Woodrow
Wilson (1913-1921) |
| Walter G. Winne | 1922-1928 | Presidential | Warren
Harding (1921-1923) |
| Phillip Forman | 1928 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Calvin
Coolidge (1923-1929) |
| Phillip Forman | 1928-1932 | Presidential | Calvin
Coolidge (1923-1929) |
| Harlan Besson | 1932-1935 | Presidential | Herbert
Hoover (1929-1933) |
| John J. Quinn | 1935-1936 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| John J. Quinn | 1936-1940 | Presidential | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| William F. Smith | 1940-1941 | Court | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| Charles M. Phillips | 1941-1943 | Presidential | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| Thorn Lord | 1943-1945 | Court | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| Edgar H. Rossbach | 1945 | Court | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| Edgar H. Rossbach | 1945-1948 | Presidential | Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) |
| Isaiah Matlack | 1948 | Court | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| Alfred E. Modarelli | 1948-1949 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| Alfred E. Modarelli | 1949-1951 | Presidential | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| Grover C. Richman, Jr. | 1951 | Court | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| Grover C. Richman, Jr. | 1951-1953 | Presidential | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| William F. Tompkins | 1953-1954 | Presidential | Harry
S. Truman (1945-1953) |
| Raymond Del Tufo, Jr. | 1954-1956 | Presidential | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) |
| Herman Scott | 1956 | Court | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) |
| Chester A. Weidenburner | 1956-1957 | Presidential (recess appointment) | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) |
| Chester A. Weidenburner | 1956-1961 | Presidential | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) |
| David M. Satz, Jr. | 1961-1969 | Presidential | John
F. Kennedy (1961-1963) |
| Donald Horowitz | 1969 | Court | Richard
M. Nixon (1969-1974) |
| Frederick B. Lacey | 1969-1971 | Presidential | Richard
M. Nixon (1969-1974) |
| Herbert J. Stern | 1971 | Court | Richard
M. Nixon (1969-1974) |
| Herbert J. Stern | 1971-1974 | Presidential | Richard
M. Nixon (1969-1974) |
| Jonathan Goldstein | 1974 | Court | Gerald
R. Ford (1974-1977) |
| Jonathan Goldstein | 1974-1977 | Presidential | Gerald
R. Ford (1974-1977) |
| Robert J. Del Tufo | 1977-1981 | Presidential | Jimmy
Carter (1977-1981) |
| William W. Robertson | 1981 | Court | Ronald
W. Reagan (1981-1989) |
| W. Hunt Dumont | 1981-1985 | Presidential | Ronald
W. Reagan (1981-1989) |
| Thomas W. Greelish | 1985-1987 | Court | Ronald
W. Reagan (1981-1989) |
| Samuel Alito, Jr. | 1987 | Attorney General | Ronald
W. Reagan (1981-1989) |
| Samuel Alito, Jr. | 1987-1990 | Presidential | Ronald
W. Reagan (1981-1989) |
| Michael Chertoff | 1990 | Attorney General | George
Bush (1989-1993) |
| Michael Chertoff | 1990-1991 | Court | George
Bush (1989-1993) |
| Michael Chertoff | 1991-1994 | Presidential | George
Bush (1989-1993) |
| Faith S. Hochberg | 1994 | Attorney General | William
J. Clinton (1993-2001) |
| Faith S. Hochberg | 1994-1999 | Presidential | William
J. Clinton (1993-2001) |
| Robert J. Cleary | 1999-2000 | Court | William
J. Clinton (1993-2001) |
| Robert J. Cleary | 2000-2002 | Attorney General | William
J. Clinton (1993-2001) |
| Christopher J. Christie | 2002-Present | Presidential | George
W. Bush (2001-Present) |
Related information can be found on the web site of the Historical Society of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, www.history.njd.uscourts.gov, and the web site of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, http://pacer.njd.uscourts.gov.