George Read
State: Delaware (Born in Maryland)
Age at Convention: 53
Date of Birth: September 18, 1733
Date of Death: September 21, 1798
Schooling: Religious Academy
Occupation: Lawyer, Public Security Interests, Lending and Investments, Planter and Slave holder
Prior Political Experience: State Upper House of Delaware 1776-1779, Speaker 1776-1778, President of State Constitutional Convention 1776, Acting Governor of Delaware 1777-1778, Continental Congress 1774-1777, Voted against Independence July 2, 1776, Signed the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776, Attended Annapolis Convention 1786
Committee Assignments: Third Committee of Representation, Committee of Trade
Convention Contributions: Arrived May 25, was present through the signing of the Constitution. He signed the Constitution twice, signing once for himself and once for John Dickinson who was home sick with a migraine. William Pierce stated that “his legal abilities are said to be very great, but powers of Oratory are fatiguing and tiresome to the last degree.”
New Government Participation: Supported ratification of Constitution in Delaware. Served as Delaware’s first Senator (1789-1793).
Biography from the National Archives:Read’s mother was the daughter of a Welsh planter, and his Dublin-born father a landholder of means. Soon after George’s birth in 1733 near the village of North East in Cecil County, Maryland, his family moved to New Castle, Delaware, where the youth, who was one of six sons, grew up. He attended school at Chester, Pennsylvania, and Rev. Francis Alison’s academy at New London, Pennsylvania, and about the age of 15 he began reading with a Philadelphia lawyer.
In 1753, Read was admitted to the bar and began to practice. The next year, he journeyed back to New Castle, hung out his shingle, and before long enlisted a clientele that extended into Maryland. During this period he resided in New Castle but maintained Stonum a country retreat near the city. In 1763, he wed Gertrude Ross Till, the widowed sister of George Ross, like Read a future signer of the Declaration of Independence. She bore four sons and a daughter.
While crown attorney general (1763-74) for the Three Lower Counties (present Delaware), Read protested against the Stamp Act. In 1765, he began a career in the colonial legislature that lasted more than a decade. A moderate Whig, he supported nonimportation measures and dignified protests. His attendance at the Continental Congress (1774-77) was irregular. Like his friend John Dickinson, he was willing to protect colonial rights but was wary of extremism. He voted against independence on July 2, 1776, the only signer of the Declaration to do so, apparently either bowing to the strong Tory sentiment in Delaware, or believing reconciliation with Britain was still possible.
That same year, Read gave priority to state responsibilities. He presided over the Delaware constitutional convention, in which he chaired the drafting committee, and began a term as speaker of the legislative council, which in effect made him vice president of the state. When the British took Wilmington the next fall, they captured the president, a resident of the city. At first, because Read was away in Congress, Thomas McKean, speaker of the lower house, took over as acting president. But in November, after barely escaping from the British himself while he and his family were en route to Dover from Philadelphia, newly occupied by the redcoats, Read assumed the office and held it until the spring of 1778. Back in the legislative council in 1779, he drafted the act directing Delaware congressional delegates to sign the Articles of Confederation.
During 1779, in poor health, Read resigned from the legislative council, refused reelection to Congress, and began a period of inactivity. During the years 1782-88, he again sat on the council and concurrently held the position of judge of the court of appeals in admiralty cases.
Meantime, in 1784, Read had served on a commission that adjusted New York-Massachusetts land claims. In 1786 he attended the Annapolis Convention. The next year, he participated in the Constitutional Convention, where he missed few if any sessions and championed the rights of the small states. Otherwise, he adopted a Hamiltonian stance, favoring a strong executive. He later led the ratification movement in Delaware, the first state to ratify.
In the U.S. Senate (1789-93), Read’s attendance was again erratic, but when present he allied with the Federalists. He resigned to accept the post of chief justice of Delaware. He held it until his death at New Castle five years later, just three days after he celebrated his 65th birthday. His grave is there in the Immanuel Episcopal Churchyard.
Related:
* indicates delegates who did not sign the Constitution
Connecticut
William Samuel Johnson – Roger Sherman – Oliver Ellsworth (Elsworth)*
Delaware
George Read – Gunning Bedford, Jr. – John Dickinson – Richard Bassett – Jacob Broom
Georgia
William Few – Abraham Baldwin – William Houstoun* - William L. Pierce*
Maryland
James McHenry – Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer – Daniel Carroll – Luther Martin* - John F. Mercer*
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham – Rufus King – Elbridge Gerry* - Caleb Strong*
New Hampshire
John Langdon – Nicholas Gilman
New Jersey
William Livingston – David Brearly (Brearley) - William Paterson (Patterson) - Jonathan Dayton – William C. Houston*
New York
Alexander Hamilton – John Lansing, Jr.* - Robert Yates*
North Carolina
William Blount – Richard Dobbs Spaight – Hugh Williamson – William R. Davie* - Alexander Martin*
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin – Thomas Mifflin – Robert Morris – George Clymer – Thomas Fitzsimons (FitzSimons; Fitzsimmons) - Jared Ingersoll – James Wilson – Gouverneur Morris
South Carolina
John Rutledge – Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – Charles Pinckney – Pierce Butler
Rhode Island
Rhode Island did not send delegates to the Convention.
Virginia
John Blair – James Madison Jr. – George Washington – George Mason* - James McClurg* - Edmund J. Randolph* - George Wythe*
Other:
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