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 ==