George READ, Congress, DE (1733-1798)

READ, George, a Delegate and a Senator from Delaware; born near North East, Cecil County, Md., September 18, 1733; completed preparatory studies; studied law; admitted to the bar and began practice in New Castle, Del., in 1752; attorney general for lower Delaware 1763-1774; member, provincial assembly 1765-1777; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1777; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; president of the State constitutional convention in 1776; vice president of the State under this constitution; member, State house of representatives 1779-1780; judge of the United States Court of Appeals in admiralty cases 1782; representative at the Annapolis convention 1786; delegate from Delaware to the Federal Constitutional Convention; elected to the United States Senate in 1789, reelected in 1790, and served from March 4, 1789, to September 18, 1793, when he resigned, having been appointed chief justice of Delaware; served as chief justice until his death in New Castle, Del., September 21, 1798; interment in Immanuel Churchyard.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Boughner, D. Terry, Jr. “George Read and the Founding of Delaware State, 1781-1798.” Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University, 1970; Read, William T. Life and Correspondence of George Read. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1870.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present