The Founding Fathers
| George Read, Delaware |
 |
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, MD, his family moved to New
Castle, DE, where the youth, who was one of six sons, grew up. He
attended school at Chester, PA, and Rev. Francis Alison's academy at
New London, PA, 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 5 years later, just
3 days after he celebrated his 65th birthday. His grave is there in
the Immanuel Episcopal Churchyard.
Image: Courtesy
of The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
