George Ross ( delegate ) George Ross ( May 10 , 1730 – July 14 , 1779 ) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Pennsylvania . He was born in New Castle , Delaware , and educated at home . He studied law at his brother John ' s law office , the common practice in those days , and was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia . Initially a Tory , he served as Crown Prosecutor for 12 years and was elected to the provincial legislature in 1768 . There his sympathies began to change and he became a strong supporter of the colonial assemblies in their disputes with Parliament . He was a member of the and was elected to the Continental Congress . He was a colonel in the Pennsylvania militia ( 1775 – 1776 ) , and vice - president of the first constitutional convention for Pennsylvania . He resigned from the Continental Congress in 1777 because of poor health , and was appointed to the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty , in which office he died at age 49 . George ' s sister Gertrude married Thomas Till , the son of William Till , a prominent Sussex County judge and politician ; after his death , she married George Read , another signer of the Declaration . George Ross was born May 10 , 1730 at New Castle Delaware . He was the oldest son in his family . His dad was an Anglican clergyman who had immigrated from Scotland . The Ross children received a sound classical education at home . He studied law at his half - brother John ' s Law Practice in Philadelphia . He was the last of the Pennsylvania delegation to affix his signature to the Declaration of Independence . He had been loyal to the King but he soon became disgusted with Tory politics and supported the cause of the Patriots . In 1750 , he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar ( member of Pennsylvania ) when he was twenty years old and he established his own practice in Lancaster . In 1751 , he married Ann Lawler at Lancaster , Pa . He fathered two sons and a daughter . From 1768 to 1776 , he was for twelve years Crown Prosecutor ( which is attorney general ) for Carlisle ( Cumberland County ) , until 1778 when he was elected to the provincial legislature of his state . He was elected to Continental Congress in 1774 , 1776 , 1777 . He was a Colonel in the Continental Army in 1776 . In 1776 , he undertook negotiations with the northwestern Indians on behalf of his Colony and that year he acted as vice president of the State constitutional convention , so then that led to helping draft a declaration of rights . He was re - elected to the Continental Congress again in January 1777 but resigned that same year because of poor health . He was vice president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention and was the Judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania in 1779 . In 1778 , while he was acting as admiralty judge , a congressional court of appeals overruled his decision in a case involving a dispute between a citizen of Connecticut and the state of Pennsylvania . He refused to acknowledge the authority of the higher court to counter State decisions , which initiated a dispute between manifestation of the states ' rights controversy and did not subside until 1809 . In 1779 he died in office at the age of 49 , and is buried at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia .