George Read III

George Read III (June 4, 1788 – November 1, 1836) was an American lawyer who served as the second U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware taking over for his father.

Family George Read III was born in the Read mansion on June 4, 1787, in New Castle, Delaware. His grandfather was George Read, a lawyer and politician who would go on to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Read's great uncle Thomas was an officer in the Continental Navy during the Revolution and his great uncle James was an officer in the Continental Army and later active in managing the navy under the Articles of Confederation. His paternal grandmother was Gertrude Ross Read, the daughter of Rev. George Ross (the first rector of the Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green) and the sister of lawyer George Ross, another future signatory to the Declaration. When his father, George Read II was born, Read's grandfather was serving as both the Crown Attorney General for the Delaware Colony as well as a member of the Delaware Assembly. By the time his father turned ten, his grandfather was serving in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Biography After graduating in 1806 from Princeton University with honors, he studied law with his father, and was called to the bar in Delaware.He served as United States district attorney, during the administrations of three of Presidents. George Read III died in his family's mansion, in New Castle, on November 1, 1837, the same night of his nomination to the United States Senate.