Representative Charles Creighton Stratton

Charles Creighton Stratton (March 6, 1796 – March 30, 1859) was an American farmer, lawyer, and politician who served as the 15th governor of New Jersey from 1845 to 1848. He was the first governor of New Jersey to be chosen by popular vote following the adoption of the 1844 New Jersey Constitution. Over the course of his public career, he also served in the New Jersey legislature during the 1820s and represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1839 and again from 1841 to 1843. Between his House terms, he became embroiled in the Broad Seal War, a highly contested legal and political dispute over the results of the 1838 New Jersey congressional elections.

Stratton was born on March 6, 1796, in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey, into a family long established in the region. He was raised in what was then Woolwich Township, where his family home, later known as the Gov. Charles C. Stratton House, was built in 1791. He received his early education locally before enrolling at Queen’s College, later Rutgers College, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1814. After completing his formal education, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but he chose not to pursue an extensive legal practice, instead devoting much of his life to agricultural pursuits on his family’s property in Gloucester County.

Stratton entered public life as a young man. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1821, returned to serve again in 1823, and held a further term in 1829. During these years in the state legislature, he was associated with the emerging National Republican and later Whig elements in New Jersey politics, aligning himself with policies favoring economic development while also maintaining a strong base among rural constituents. His legislative service helped establish his reputation as a capable and attentive representative of his district and laid the groundwork for his subsequent elevation to national office.

In 1836 Stratton was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth United States Congress and served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1839. In the contentious 1838 elections for the Twenty-sixth Congress, he was among a group of Whig candidates who presented credentials as members-elect from New Jersey. The election results were challenged by Democrats, leading to the so‑called Broad Seal War, named for the state’s official seal affixed to the disputed election certificates. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives declined to seat Stratton and several of his Whig colleagues while the contest was under review, and ultimately the House refused to recognize his election. Stratton returned to Congress after being elected again as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress, serving from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843. He chose not to run for reelection in 1842 and resumed his agricultural and local interests following the completion of his second term.

Stratton played a significant role in reshaping New Jersey’s state government in the mid-1840s. He served as a member of the 1844 constitutional convention that drafted a revised New Jersey State Constitution, replacing the earlier 1776 charter. The new constitution, adopted by popular vote, provided for the direct election of the governor for a single three-year term, replacing the prior system under which the governor was chosen by the legislature. With the new framework in place, Stratton became the Whig candidate for governor in the first popular gubernatorial election. He campaigned on a platform that included opposition to the powerful railroad interests in the state, which were closely associated with internal improvement schemes and corporate influence. His Democratic opponent, John R. Thomson, a Pennsylvania-born railroad stockholder and vigorous advocate of internal improvements, represented those interests. Stratton’s victory in this contest made him the first popularly elected governor under the 1844 constitution.

As governor, Stratton served from January 21, 1845, to January 17, 1848. His administration oversaw the initial implementation of the new constitutional order in New Jersey, including adjustments to the balance of power among the branches of state government and the operation of the newly instituted electoral processes. While in office, he continued to reflect the Whig emphasis on orderly development and fiscal responsibility, and he maintained his skepticism toward the unchecked growth of corporate and railroad power in the state. At the conclusion of his single constitutional term, he did not seek reelection and returned to private life. He resumed his agricultural pursuits at his family estate in Woolwich Township, remaining a respected figure in local and state affairs even after leaving high office.

In his personal life, Stratton married relatively late. In 1854 he wed Sarah Taggart of Philadelphia. The marriage produced no children, but Stratton maintained close ties with his extended family. Two of his nephews achieved prominence in their own right: Benjamin Franklin Howey, who served as a Republican member of the Forty-eighth United States Congress from 1883 to 1885 representing New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District, and Thomas Preston Carpenter, who became an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. These family connections underscored the continued public engagement of the Stratton family in New Jersey’s civic and political life.

In his later years, Stratton’s health declined. Because of ill health, he resided in Europe in 1857 and 1858 in an effort to recuperate. He returned to New Jersey, but his condition did not significantly improve. Charles Creighton Stratton died on March 30, 1859, in his native Swedesboro, Gloucester County. He was interred at Trinity Church Cemetery in Swedesboro. His longtime residence in Woolwich Township, the Gov. Charles C. Stratton House built in 1791, was later recognized for its historical significance and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 1973, preserving the physical legacy of one of New Jersey’s early popularly elected governors.