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APPENDIX.
Hon. George-Read Riddle² (1), second son of John2 (1), was born in
Newcastle, Del., in 1817; married a Miss Opie, of Virginia, and settled
in his native town. He was descended from George Reed, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, on his mother's side. He
graduated at Delaware College, and at an early age turned his attention
to civil-engineering. For some time he engaged in surveying and laying
out railroads in Maryland and Virginia, prior to 1842. About this period
he evinced a disposition to enter the political arena, and commenced the
publication of a Democratic newspaper in the city of Baltimore; but the
enterprise did not prove successful, and was abandoned after the first
issue. Subsequently he was engaged as chief-engineer on the Philadel-
phia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, and took up his residence in
Wilmington, with his parents, who were then under his care.
In 1844 he studied law, and at the same time, till 1847, was employed
as a contributor to the Delaware Gazette. In 1846 he was elected a mem-
ber of the city council by the Democrats, and exercised great influence in
that capacity. About this time his taste and judgment as an engineer,
led the originators of the Wilmington and Brandywine cemetery to seek
his services in laying out their grounds, and to him the people are indebted
for those designs which adorn that beautiful place. In 1848 he was ad-
mitted to the bar, and was appointed Deputy Attorney-General for the
State. In 1850 he was nominated by his party as a candidate for con-
gress, and was elected. Again in 1852 he was elected to the same posi-
tion by a complimentary majority. He received his third nomination in
1854, but was not the successful candidate. While a member of the
House of Representatives, Mr. Riddle, by his good judgment and great
influence, secured an appropriation for the erection of the new post-office
and custom-house buildings in Wilmington. On the resignation of a
United States senator in 1864, Mr. Riddle was elected by the legislature
to succeed him, and took his seat in the senate in February, a few days
after his election. Having an active and obliging mind, he was courteous
and attentive to every one; added to this, his great fund of useful knowl-
edge acquired in his early training, was known to many of his contempo-
raries in congress before he took his seat in that body, and, consequently,
Mr. Riddle was placed upon many important committees during his term
of service. His willingness to assume the most wearing duties of such
positions, and the disposition of many of his colleagues to shun the labors
of committees, threw an immense amount upon him. This devotion to
what seemed to be duty, impaired the health of Mr. Riddle, and when he
returned home at the close of a session he was very much weakened and
careworn. He resorted to various watering-places, and had the ablest
medical advice, but without permanent improvement, and he returned to
his work at Washington totally unfitted to assume the harassing labor
that devolved upon him; but being buoyant in spirit, and anxious to do
all in his power for his state and constituents, he could not be prevailed
upon to leave his post.
The subject of this notice, died in Washington, D. C., in 1867, and his
remains were deposited in the Wilmington and Brandywine cemetery. A
committee from both houses of congress attended the body from Wash-
ington to Wilmington, and a committee appointed at a meeting of the
bar, met the remains at the station; these, with a large number of
friends and acquaintances, followed the body to the family mansion. The
flags on the public buildings and shipping were at half-mast, and large
