John Stocker

John Stocker was an affluent merchant and insurance agent who lived on Front Street (Philadelphia) in Philadelphia during the 18th century. His house is preserved. He was an alderman and involved in the fire insurance business. His home is located at 404 Front Street. Francis Trumble's woodshop was also once located on the property. Early Years John Stocker was born to Mortimer (1731-1778) and Anna (née St. John) Stocker (1735-1774) in 1754, their first child, in Philadelphia. He was sent to a grammar-school, and he excelled at an early age. When his mother died, Stocker's father sent him to live with his bachelor uncles Ebenezer and Humphry St. John in their boarding house, a few streets away from his father's house. He continued his schooling there, and his uncle Ebenezer said "he was the smartest boy that I have ever seen, espesially(sic) at his books". When the more lenient Ebenezer died in 1771, Humphry took Stocker out of school, and apprenticed him to the merchant Aubrey Winstead Cleveland. Apprenticeship and Parker Affair