William H Rease (American/Pennsylvania, born 1818) Mixed media painting of sidewheeler "Richard Stockton" Signed and dated lower left. Sight Size: 23.5 x 34 in. Overall Size: 28.25 x 39 in. This item is framed behind glass. Richard Stockton (1730 - 1781) was an American lawyer, legislator, and the first person from New Jersey to sign the Declaration of Independence. The Richard Stockton was an iron-hulled steamboat named after him. The steamboat was designed by Robert L Stevens and built in 1851 at Wilmington, Delaware by Harlan & Hollingsworth. It was built to travel between Philadelphia and Bordentown, a town on the Delaware River about 30 miles from Philadelphia, and from there passengers made connections via railroad to New York. The steamboat was beautifully furnished and had extensive passenger accommodations. Later on she was transferred to the New York and South Amboy line in New Jersey. In 1876 she ran between Philadelphia and Cape May, and eventually ran for a few years between Jersey City and Newburgh on the Hudson. In 1881 she was used as an excursion boat on the Delaware River. The hull was built of iron and the keel was 258 feet long; overall it had a length of 270 feet. The beam was just over 29 feet wide, with over-guards that extended 62 feet. The hold had a depth of 8 feet 7 inches. The engine?s cylinder had a diameter of 48 inches and 12 feet of stroke for the pistons. There were two boilers, one in the aft area and one in the hold. The wheels were made of iron and had a diameter of 22 feet. The ship?s tonnage was 1048 gross and 870 net. There were other steamboats that were pretty fast for the river, but reports say none of them was the equal of The Richard Stockton. Fares for the whole trip from Philadelphia to New York were $2 and travel time could take up to six hours. In 2012 Kneeland Whiting donated a drawing of The Richard Stockton to Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. The drawing was done by his grandfather Samuel Ward Stanton, who lost his life on the Titanic when it sank in 1912. The grandfather was an artist who documented the history of American steam vessels with detailed pen and ink drawings. A woman who survived the sinking of the ship told Kneeland?s grandmother that his grandfather had given the woman his life preserver shortly before he went down with the ship, and the gift to Stockton College was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.