Annis Boudinot Stockton (July 1, 1736 – February 6, 1801) was an American poet, one of the first women to be published in the Thirteen Colonies. Living in Princeton, New Jersey, Stockton wrote and published her poems in leading newspapers and magazines of the day and was part of a Mid-Atlantic writing circle. She was the author of more than 120 works, but it was not until 1985, when a manuscript copybook long held privately was given to the New Jersey Historical Society, that most of them became known. Before that, she was known to have written 40 poems. The copybook contained poems that tripled the amount of her known work. A complete collection of her works was published in 1995. She is featured in the permanent exhibit at Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton, NJ. A member of the New Jersey elite, Stockton was the only woman to be elected as an honorary member of the American Whig Society, a secret revolutionary group. After the American Revolutionary War, they recognized Stockton's service in protecting their papers during the British attack on Princeton. Early life and education Annis Boudinot was born in 1736 in Darby, Pennsylvania, to Elias Boudinot, a merchant and silversmith, and Catherine Williams. The Boudinot ancestors were French Huguenot refugees who came to the North American colonies in the late 17th century. She was the second of ten children, of whom about half survived to adulthood. Marriage and family Around 1757, Boudinot married Richard Stockton, an attorney from a prominent family. Part of the New Jersey elite class, they had several children. During the American Revolution, her husband was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Annis Stockton became known as the "Duchess of Morven," their mansion and estate in Princeton, New Jersey, where they entertained many prominent guests. These included George Washington, with whom Annis Stockton had a correspondence, sending him numerous poems as part of it. Morven was named after a mythical Gaelic kingdom in a poem by Ossian. Morven would become the New Jersey Governor's Mansion between 1944 and 1981. During the war, British general General Cornwallis plundered Morven, burned Stockton's "splendid library and papers, and drove off his stock, much of which was blooded and highly valuable." ("Blooded" means purebred and thus valuable.) Richard Stockton had escaped but was later captured and imprisoned by the British. He suffered lasting ill effects