George Ross was born in May 1730 in Newcastle, Delaware, and received a classical education at home before studying law with his older brother, John. He became a lawyer at the age of 20 and established his own practice in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ross was a supporter of Tory politics and served as Crown Prosecutor or Attorney General to Carlisle for 12 years. He was then elected to the provincial legislature of his state in 1768 and chosen to represent Pennsylvania in the General Congress in 1774. Ross served as a provincial legislator and a Colonel in the Continental Army while elected to the Continental Congress in 1776. He also negotiated on behalf of his colony with the Northwestern Indians and served as the vice-president of the first constitutional convention for Pennsylvania. Ross resigned from the Continental Congress in 1777 due to poor health. In March 1779, he was appointed to a judgeship in the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty, where he died in July of the same year.
