George Read, Sr.

Male

September 18, 1733

1798

Cecil Co., MD

New Castle, DE

George Read, a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, was born on the 18th of September 1733 as the oldest child of seven to Col. John Read, an emigrant from a prominent family in Dublin, and Mary Howell Read, and emigrant from Wales. He completed preparatory studies under Francis Allison, studied law and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1752. He began practicing in New Castle, DE.

George Read had an extremely active political career, holding various positions for both colonial Delaware and the State of Delaware. From 1763 to 1774, he served as Delaware’s Attorney General and protested the Stamp Act; he resigned in 1774 to accept a position in the Continental Congress, where he championed the rights of small states. Serving in various other ...offices throughout the Revolution, he served as President of the Delaware Constitutional Convention in 1776. In the Constitutional Conventions of 1786 and 1787, George led the ratification movement in Delaware, which become the first state to ratify the Constitution. Later on, he was twice elected to the U.S. Senate (1789, 1793) and eventually resigned to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware which office he held until his death in 1798.

George married Gertrude Ross in New Castle, Delaware in 1775; together they had four children survive to adulthood.
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Political Office

Admitted to Philadelphia Bar in 1752

completed preparatory studies under Francis Allison

Whig; Federalist