Background
Read, John Meredith was born on July 21, 1797 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of John and Martha (Meredith) Read.
Read, John Meredith was born on July 21, 1797 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of John and Martha (Meredith) Read.
Graduated from the University Pennsylvania, 1812. Honorary Doctor of Laws, Brown University, 1860.
Admitted to Pennsylvania bar, 1818. City solicitor Philadelphia, 1830-1831. Member Pennsylvania Legislature from Philadelphia, 1823-1825.
United States district attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania, 1837-1844.
Attorney general Pennsylvania, 1846. Judge Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1858-1873, became chief justice, 1872.
Participated in creation of Free Soil Party at Pennsylvania State Convention, 1849. An early adherent Republican Party.
Delivered speech On the Power of Congress over the Territories and in Favor of Free Kansas, Free White Labor, and of Fremont and Dayton, Delivered … September 30, 1856, at Philadelphia.
Author: Views, Sustained by Facts, on the Suspension of the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, January 1863.
Member Pennsylvania Legislature from Philadelphia, 1823-1825.
Married Priscilla Marshall, March 20, 1828. Married second, Amelia Thompson, July 26, 1855.