George Read (September 18, 1733–September 21, 1798), was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; a signer of the U.S. Constitution; a delegate from Delaware to the Constitutional Convention; a U.S. Senator, 1789–93; and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware. Known as “the Father of Delaware,” George Read wrote “the first edition of her laws,” and the Constitution of the State. The requirements, stated in the Delaware Constitution, necessary for holding office include:
DELAWARE 1776. Article XXII. Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust … shall … make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: “I, ________, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.”
The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America—Published by Order of Congress (Boston: Norman & Bowen, 1785), pp. 99–100. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968), Vol. I, p. 142.
