READ, George

1733–1798

Biography

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 to the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and one of the signers of the Constitution; 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.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

American Philosophical Society

Philadelphia, PA
Papers: In George Fox letterbook, 1786-1797.

Free Library of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA
Papers: 1 item (January 10, 1790) in Hampton L. Carson collection.

Hagley Museum and Library

Greenville, DE
Papers: Miscellaneous letters in various collections.

Hall of Records

Dover, DE
Papers: Official and personal.

Historical Society of Delaware

Wilmington, DE
Papers: In Read family papers, 1756-1908; 6 items (April 30, 1789-September 1, 1790) in Rodney collection; and portraits.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
Papers: Correspondence in Read family papers, 1716-1872; biographical material in William Thompson Read papers, 1776-1869; in Robert Restalrig Logan collection, 1671-1863; 1 item (December 18, 1789) in Thomas McKean papers; and in Conarroe autograph collection, 1643-1882.

Library of Congress
Manuscript Division

Washington, DC
Papers: In Read family papers, 1568-1906; and 1 item (June 16, 1789) in Miscellaneous manuscripts collection.

New-York Historical Society

New York, NY
Papers: 1 item (March 14, 1789) in James Duane papers.

New York Public Library
Rare Books and Manuscripts

New York, NY
Papers: In Clymer-Meredith-Read family papers, 1675-1902; and 1 item (July 18, 1789) in Emmet collection.

New York State Library
Manuscripts and Special Collections

Albany, NY
Papers: In Harmon Pumpelly Read papers, 1692-1942. Finding aid.

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Harrisburg, PA
Papers: In Mrs. James Lewis Hook autograph collection, 1752-1810.

Pierpont Morgan Library

New York, NY
Papers: 1765-1793. 4 items.

Rosenbach Museum and Library

Philadelphia, PA
Papers: 1766, 1777. 3 items.

Winterthur Museum

Winterthur, DE
Papers: Letter in Emily P. Bissell collection, 1695-1945.
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Boughner, Daniel Terry, Jr. "George Read and the Founding of the Delaware State: 1781-1798." Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1970.

Read, William Thompson. Life and Correspondence of George Read, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence; With Notices of Some of His Contemporaries. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1870.

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