Bassett, Richard

Bassett, Richard (1745-1815) Signer of the Constitution: Richard Bassett was born on April 2, 1745, in Cecil County, Maryland. Although he was born in Maryland, he spent most of his life in Delaware. During the Revolutionary War, he was captain of a troop of Dover light horse. From 1776 to 1786, he served in both branches of the Delaware legislature, and was a delegate to the state constitutional convention. In 1787, he attended the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention; signed the US Constitution and played an important role in Delaware's ratification of the document. After serving as a US Senator from 1789 to 1793, he was Chief Justice of the state Court of Common Pleas for six years. Bassett was the governor of Delaware from 1799 until 1801, when President Adams appointed him a US Circuit Court judge. A devoted Methodist; he had a long-standing friendship with Francis Ashbury, the first Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Bassett died on September 15, 1815, in Bohemia Manor, Maryland.