George Read Jr.
George Read Jr. | |
---|---|
United States Attorney for the District of Delaware | |
In office 1789–1816 | |
President | George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson James Monroe |
Preceded by | Office Created |
Succeeded by | George Read III |
Personal details | |
Born | Republican | August 29, 1765
Occupation | Lawyer |
George Read Jr. (August 29, 1765 – September 3, 1836) was an American lawyer who served as the first
Early life and family
George Read Jr. was born on August 29, 1765, in
Read was admitted to the bar in 1785 and opened a law office in New Castle. In 1786, he wed his cousin Mary Thompson, the daughter of General William Thompson.
Political career
In 1789, the same year his father began his service as a senator in the first session of the U.S. Senate, George Read Jr. received an appointment from President George Washington as the first U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware thanks to his father's efforts. The job meant that Read would be responsible for prosecuting cases brought in federal court in the state of Delaware.[4][5]
Read was called to testify before the Senate as a prosecution witness in the 1805 impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. Read had been serving as the prosecuting attorney before a grand jury in the New Castle Court House in 1800 when Chase refused to discharge the grand jury until they investigated a local printer for possible charges under the Sedition Act. Despite Read's testimony, Chase was acquitted by the Senate.[4][6]
In 1812, upon hearing of the death of U.S. District Judge
U.S. Representative Henry M. Ridgely declined to seek reelection to the House in 1814, and Read ran for the office. Read ran as a Republican, but Delaware was one of the few states that remained fertile ground for the Federalist Party, which had won the state in the presidential elections of 1808 and 1812. Read lost by 10%. He made a second attempt at running for a seat in the House in 1818, but lost again, albeit by a much narrower margin of 1.65%.[8][9]
Read sent a letter of resignation from his post as U.S. Attorney in 1815, and he was succeeded by his son, George Read III.[5][10]
In 1820, at the request of Attorney General
Judge Fisher died in 1823, and Read wrote a letter to Rodney on April 22 applying for the position of U.S. District Judge for a second time. He was rebuffed again, however, as President James Monroe appointed Willard Hall to the bench instead.[12]
In 1831, Delaware convened a convention to draft a new state Constitution. Read was a delegate to the convention, alongside Judge Hall. During the convention, the two were generally aligned in advocating in favor of making substantial revisions to the Constitution in New Castle County's interests.[13]
Read House and Gardens
Read purchased a lot in New Castle immediately adjacent to his father's home in 1797, where he began building
Read purchased the lot opposite his home as well. That lot bordered the Delaware River, and Read maintained it as an empty lot in order to have an unobstructed view of the river from his home. Architect
In 1824, much of New Castle was destroyed by fire, but Read's home survived. The next-door home of his late father, however, did not. Read had that piece of property converted into a formal garden.[16]
Death and legacy
George Read Jr. died at his home in New Castle on September 3, 1836. He is buried at the cemetery of the Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green, near his home in New Castle. His father is also buried there.[18] In 1967, the National Park Service declared the New Castle Historic District to be a National Historic Landmark. Both the Immanuel Episcopal Church and the Read House and Gardens are contributing properties to this landmark district.[19] The church and home are also both adjacent to the Green, which is a part of the First State National Historical Park. In 2017, the Read House was made a National Historic Landmark in its own right, in addition to remaining a contributing structure in the New Castle Historic District.[20]
One of Read's sons, William Thompson Read, was a founder of the Delaware Historical Society.[21] The Society purchased the Read House in 1975 and it is currently open to the public as a museum.[15]
References
- ^ a b National Archives. "America's Founding Fathers - The Founding Fathers of Delaware". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. "George Read". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ John Vinci. "Gertrude Ross Read". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c Hoffecker, Carol. "Federal Justice in the First State: A History of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware" (PDF). Delaware Public Archives. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ a b U.S. District Courts. "U.S. Attorneys". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ "The Impeachment of Samuel Chase: Redefining Judicial Independence" (PDF). Rutgers Law Review. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ George Read Jr. "Papers of James Madison". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ American Antiquarian Society. "A New Nation Votes: Delaware 1818 U.S. House of Representatives". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ American Antiquarian Society. "A New Nation Votes: Delaware 1818 U.S. House of Representatives". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ George Read Jr. "Papers of James Madison". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ United States Congress (1860). "American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Volume 33". Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- ^ George Read Jr. "Papers of James Madison". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ISBN 9780199779017. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ Delaware Historical Society. "The Reads". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Delaware Historical Society. "The Read House and Gardens". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Amy Cunningham. "General History of the George Read II House". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ Jim Meek. "George Read Jr". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ Delaware Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. "Patriots Buried in the State of Delaware". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ^ "New Castle Historic District". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
- ^ Crosson, Thomas (11 January 2017). "Interior Department Announces 24 New National Historic Landmarks".
- ^ Litchfield Historical Society. "William Thompson Read". Retrieved March 17, 2015.