George Ross, the eldest son of the Rev. George Ross and his second wife, Catherine Van Gezel, was born at New Castle, Del. His father, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, prepared for the Presbyterian ministry, but, deciding during his studies that this Church was too censorious and hypocritical, he took orders in the Church of England, came to America as a missionary, and for many years served as rector of Immanuel Church, New Castle.
George received a classical education and studied law with his step-brother, John, of Philadelphia.
Following his admittance to the bar in 1750, Ross established himself at Lancaster, Pa. , his ability as a lawyer soon winning him an extensive practice. Excepting for twelve years' service as prosecutor for the Crown in Cumberland County, his political career began with his election to the provincial Assembly in 1768.
His growing political influence secured his election to the Provincial Conference at Philadelphia in July 1774, and to the First Continental Congress in the same year, though at this time he was generally recognized as a Tory. The following year, however, witnessed his conversion to the ranks of the Whigs, and as a member of the Assembly, of the Pennsylvania committee of safety, and of the Second Continental Congress to November 1775, he was one of the most untiring workers for the patriot cause in Pennsylvania. During this period he also saw brief service as a colonel of associators.
He was vice-president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1776, aided in drawing up the declaration of rights. On July 20, 1776, the convention elected him to Congress, but illness compelled his withdrawal in January 1777. For several years after its inauguration he was a firm friend of the new state government, but in 1779, like many of his lawyer brethren, he began to feel that the evils of the times demanded constitutional revision.
On March 1, 1779, he was commissioned judge of the admiralty court of Pennsylvania, although he had been serving in that capacity earlier, and as such had sat in the famous case of the sloop Active. Though his sympathies were with the plaintiff, Gideon Olmsted, the jury found the Connecticut captors entitled to only one fourth of the prize and Ross held that he was bound by law to confirm this verdict. When the committee on appeals of Congress reversed his judgment he defied that body and declared he would submit to no usurpation of the power of his court. In an elaborate vindication of his action he contended that the court of appeals had authority to set aside the decree of a judge in a question of law, but there its power ended; that under Pennsylvania's law the verdict of the jury was conclusive upon the facts without an appeal (U. S. vs. Judge Peters, 5 Cranch, 115 at p. 120).
In the midst of the controversy between Congress and the state of Pennsylvania, which dragged on for more than thirty years, Ross died suddenly, in Philadelphia, from a violent attack of the gout. Noted for his genial manner and good humor, he loved conviviality, and on his death bed complacently remarked that he was going on a long journey to a cool place--"there were most excellent wines there"--and he should fare deliciously.
During his seven years in provincial Assembly Ross gained a reputation for his deep interest in Indian problems and for his championship of the Assembly in disputes with the governor. In 1776 he assisted in negotiating a treaty to pacify the Indians of northwestern Pennsylvania. He contributed in drawing up the declaration of rights, and played an conspicuous part in the Pennsylvania convention's deliberations.
One of Ross's first clients was a beautiful and accomplished lady of Scotch-Irish descent, Anne Lawler, whom he married August 17, 1751, and by whom he had two sons and a daughter.
