Plater, George, 1735-1792

George Plater III (November 8, 1735 – February 10, 1792) was an American planter, lawyer, and statesman from Saint Mary's County, Maryland. He represented Maryland in the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1780, and briefly served as the sixth Governor of Maryland from November 1791 until his death.

Born at Sotterley, his family's plantation near Saint Mary's County in the Colony of Maryland, Plater received his early schooling at home before attending the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, graduating in 1752. In 1753, he studied law in England and was admitted to the bar in Maryland. From 1757 to 1759, he was a delegate in the Maryland Lower House of Assembly. Between 1767 and 1771, he was a naval officer of the Patuxent District; from 1771 to 1773, he served as a judge of the provincial court and from 1773 to 1774, he was a member of the Governor's Council. As the Revolution neared, he represented Saint Mary's County in the Annapolis Convention, which became a revolutionary government. He was appointed by the Maryland Council of Safety to collect funds for the attack on Quebec. On August 14, 1776, he was appointed to the ninth convention to draft Maryland's first Constitution.

Under the new constitution, Plater served as President of the Maryland State Senate from 1781 until 1790. Maryland sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778, and he represented his state until 1781. When Maryland held a convention to consider the U.S. Constitution, Plater attended and was the president of the convention when they voted for ratification on April 28, 1788. The following year, he was chosen as a Presidential elector. However, he did not vote. In late 1791, Plater was elected Governor, and took office in December. However, his term was short; he died in Annapolis after less than three months in office. He was buried at Sotterley but the site of his grave is unknown.