Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/224

ence, and the constitution of the United States. He received a classical education, first at Chester, Pa., and afterward at New London, and at the age of nineteen was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. He removed in 1754 to Newcastle, where the family had large landed estates. While holding the office of attorney-general of Kent, Delaware, and Sussex counties in 1763-'74, he pointed out to the British government the danger of taxing the colonies without giving them direct representation in parliament, and in a letter to Sir Richard Neave, afterward governor of the Bank of England, written in 1765, he prophesied that a continuance in such a policy would ultimately lead not only to independence, but to the colonies surpassing England in her staple manufactures. He was for twelve years a member of the Delaware assembly, during which period, as chairman of its committee, he wrote the address to the king which Lord Shelburne said so impressed George III. that the latter read it twice. Chagrined at the unchanged attitude of the mother country, he resigned the attorney-generalship, and was elected to the first congress which met at Philadelphia in 1774. Although he voted against independence, he finally signed the Declaration, and thenceforth was one of the stanchest supporters of the cause of the colonies. He was president of the first naval committee in 1775; of the Constitutional convention in 1776; author of the first constitution of Delaware, and the first edition of her laws; vice-president of Delaware, and acting president of that state after the capture of President McKinley; judge of the national court of admiralty cases in 1782; and a commissioner to settle a territorial controversy between Massachusetts and New York in 1785. Mr. Read was a delegate to the Annapolis convention in 1786, which gave rise to the convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and framed the constitution of the United States. In the latter convention he ably advocated the rights of the smaller states to an equal representation in the U. S. senate. He was twice elected U. S. senator, serving from 1789 till 1793, when he resigned to assume the office of chief justice of Delaware, which post he filled until his death. In person, Read was tall, slightly and gracefully formed, with pleasing features and lustrous brown eyes. His manners were dignified, bordering upon austerity, but courteous, and at times captivating. He commanded entire confidence, not only from his profound legal knowledge, sound judgment, and impartial decisions, but from his severe integrity and the purity of his private character. He married in 1763 Gertrude, daughter of the Rev. George Ross, and sister of George Ross, a signer of the Declaration. See his “Life and Correspondence,” by William T. Read (Philadelphia, 1870).—Another son, Thomas, naval officer, b. in Newcastle, Del., in 1740; d. at White Hill, N. J., 26 Oct., 1788, was the first naval officer to obtain the rank of commodore in command of an American fleet. He was appointed on 23 Oct., 1775, commodore of the Pennsylvania navy, having as the surgeon of his fleet Dr. Benjamin Rush, and while holding this command he made a successful defence of the Delaware. He was appointed, 7 June, 1776, to the highest grade in the Continental navy, and assigned to one of its four largest ships, the 32-gun frigate “George Washington,” then building on Delaware river. While awaiting the completion of his ship he volunteered for land service, and was sent as captain by the committee of safety to join Washington. He gave valuable assistance in the crossing of the Delaware, and at the battle of Trenton commanded a battery made up of guns from his frigate, and with it raked the stone bridge across the Assaunpink. For this service he received the formal thanks of all the general officers that participated in that action, as is stated in a letter of 14 Jan., 1777, written by his brother, Col. James Read (who was near him during the engagement), to his wife. After much service on sea and land he resigned his commission, and, retiring to his seat near Bordentown, N. J., dispensed a liberal hospitality to his old companions-in-arms, especially to his brother members of the Society of the Cincinnati. Shortly afterward he was induced by his friend, Robert Morris, to take command of his old frigate, the “Alliance,” which had recently been bought by Morris for commercial purposes, and make a joint adventure to the China seas. Taking with him as chief officer one of his old subordinates, Richard Dale, afterward Com. Dale, and George Harrison, who became an eminent citizen of Philadelphia, as supercargo, he sailed from the Delaware, 7 June, 1787, and arrived at Canton on 22 Dec., following, after sailing on a track that had never before been taken by any other vessel, and making the first “out-of-season” passage to China. In this voyage he discovered two islands, which he named, respectively, “Morris” and “Alliance” islands, and which form part of the Caroline group. By this discovery the United States became entitled to rights which have never been properly asserted. In his obituary of Read, Robert Morris said: “While integrity, benevolence, patriotism, and courage, united with the most gentle manners, are respected and admired among men, the name of this valuable citizen and soldier will be reverenced and beloved by all who knew him.”—Another son, James, soldier, b. at the family-seat, Newcastle county, Del., in 1743; d. in Philadelphia, 31 Dec., 1822, was promoted from 1st lieutenant to colonel for gallant services at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown, appointed by congress, 4 Nov., 1778, one of the three commissioners of the navy for the middle states, and on 11 Jan., 1781, was invested by the same body with sole power to conduct the navy board. When his friend, Robert Morris, became agent he was elected secretary, and was the virtual head of the marine department, while Morris managed the finances of the American confederacy.—George's son, John, lawyer, b. in Newcastle, Del., 7 July, 1769; d. in Trenton, N. J., 13 July, 1854, was graduated at Princeton in 1787, studied law with his father, and, removing in 1789 to Philadelphia, rose to high rank in his profession. He was appointed in 1797 by President Adams agent-general of the United States under Jay's treaty, and held that office until its expiration in 1809. Mr. Read was also a member of the supreme and common councils of Philadelphia and of the Pennsylvania legislature, and in 1816 chairman of its celebrated committee of seventeen. He succeeded Nicholas Biddle in the Pennsylvania senate in 1816, was state director of the Philadelphia bank