George Plater was an American lawyer and statesman.
Background
He was born on November 8, 1735 on the family estate, "Sotterley, " near Leonardtown, St. Mary's County, (modern Hollywood, Maryland), United States. He was the grandson of George Plater who emigrated from England to Maryland and became locally prominent, and he was the son of a second George Plater, who was conspicuous in the provincia government, and of Rebecca (Addison) Bowles Plater, at the time of her marriage a widow of ample means.
Education
He was graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1753.
Career
From 1767 to 1773 he served as naval officer of the Patuxent district in a position filled earlier by both his father and grandfather. He was also a justice of the peace of St. Mary's County from 1757 to 1771, a delegate in the lower house of the Assembly from 1757 to 1766, and during the last few years before the Revolution, 1771-74, a member of the Executive Council. Official position did not debar him from early sympathy with the colonists' quarrel, although he became conspicuous as a leader only as matters approached a crisis.
In February 1776 he was appointed by the Maryland Council of Safety one of three collectors in his county to obtain gold and silver coin for military operations against Canada, a task well discharged since in about a month he reported a goodly sum collected. In March following, he and George Dent were selected by the Council of Safety to cooperate with Virginia commissioners in the construction of beacons on each bank of the Potomac. The records indicate success in erecting twenty such stations about five miles apart. On May 24 he was constituted one of a committee of five to invite Governor Eden to leave the province.
He was seated on the Council of Safety. Scarcely three months later he was serving on a committee charged to draft a declaration and charter of rights and to form a government for the state. In 1778 he was sent by the legislature to represent Maryland in the Continental Congress, where he served until 1780. In the first electoral college he cast his vote for Washington for president. He represented St. Mary's County several times in the state Senate after the Revolution.
In November 1791 he was elected governor by the Maryland Assembly. He died on February 10, 1792 in the capital city of Annapolis, Maryland.
Achievements
Religion
Plater was an active Protestant who served twenty-eight years as a vestryman of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
Personality
Though not a man of large creative ability or of marked individuality, Plater's value as a lawyer and lawmaker came to be appreciated by his constituents and colleagues.
Connections
He was married twice: first, on December 5, 1762, to Hannah Lee, who lived only ten months after her marriage, and then on July 19, 1764, to Elizabeth Rousby of Calvert County. One of their six children married Philip Barton Key.