George Read autograph document signed ("Geo: Read"). One page, 8.25" x 13", Kent County, Delaware; April 1771. Docketed. George Read, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, writes and signs an indictment for manslaughter as a Delaware attorney general. Read, as attorney general for three counties in the colony of Delaware, writes and signs an indictment for manslaughter on behalf of the British Crown against Samuel Hammond. On the verso of the document, the four witnesses for the King are listed. The document reads, in part: "The Grand Inquest...Do present that Samuel Hammond late of Murderkill Hundred in the County of Kent aforesaid Weaver not having the Fear of God before his eyes but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil on the Thirty first day of October...in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy at Little Creek Hundred...and there being feloniously and in the Fury of his Mind did make an assault...with both his Hands and Fists the said William Wiggam in and upon the Belly Stomach and Sides of him...then and there in the Fury of his Mind feloniously did Strike and beat giving the said William Wiggam by striking and beating of him...the said William Wiggam then and there instantly died..." Signed, "Geo: Read". George Read (1733-1798) was a politician from New Castle, Delaware. In 1763, Read was appointed the crown's attorney general for three Delaware counties, serving in that position until leaving for the Continental Congress in 1774. He represented his state in the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Read was a prominent member of the Federalist party and later served as U.S. Senator, president of Delaware, and as Chief Justice of Delaware. Read signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The document is accompanied by an engraving of Read by Samuel Sartain, circa 1885. Condition: Silked on verso. Separations at folds repaired on verso with archival tape and silking. Dampstain along a portion of one fold. Some toning, soiling, and scattered foxing. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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