On 23 November 1816, Isaac's father, Isaac Read, Sr. deeded land to his three surviving sons: Richard, Joseph and Isaac, Jr. The two older sons receive land in Hardwick township. Isaac, Jr. was given two adjacent parcels in Knowlton (now Hope) Township. The first contained "One Hundred and twelve acres and three quarters be the same more or less" and second "Seven Acres and a half be the same more or less the same is butted and Bounded as follows that is by the above first mentioned Lot[,] James Doddy[,] John Ring and Barnabus Swayze" (Sussex County Land Records, Book G2, pages 483-484). Isaac recieved the land around the time that he married his first wife, Mary Durling. Very little is known about Mary. The 1830 and 1840 census indicate that she was born between 1790 and 1800. She died between the time the 1840 census was enumerated and 1842. Isaac Married his second wife Abigail W. Buckley on 6 April 1842 (Bronwell 1947).

Isaac and Mary settled on the property in Knowton Township, which contained 120.25 acres of land total. The 1830 census indicates that they may have had four children, two sons and two daughters. These children were probably born between 1815 and 1825 (based on census data). The 1830 census also indicates that Isaac, Jr. owned at least one slave, a young girl under the age of 10 (born 1820 to 1830). She probably worked in the house for Mary. Oral tradition states that Isaac, Jr. owned several slaves through out his life time and that lived in small houses located to the south of his home (Yanoff 1999). The members of Issac's household in 1830 were:

Table 1: Household of Isaac and Mary Read in 1830
1830 United States Federal Census
Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 379

Census Individual	Census Age As of 1 June 1830	Probable Individual	Birth Date
one male	30 to 39 years (1791-1800)	Isaac Read, Jr.	12 June 1794
one female	30 to 39 years (1791-1800)	Mary Durling Read	Unknown
one male	20 to 29 years (1811-1815)	Son Read?	Unknown
one male	10 to 14 (1816-1820)	Son Read?	Unknown
one female	10 to 14 (1816-1820)	Daughter Read?	Unknown
one female	5 to 9 years (1821-1825)	Daughter Read?	Unknown
one slave	0 to 9 years (1821-1829)	Unknown Female	Unknown

In 1839, Hope Township was formed from part of Oxford and Knowlton Township. The portion of Knowlton Township where Isaac's farm was located became part of Oxford Township (Snell 1881:659). Isaac's household had changed significantly since 1840. It appears to have included two families. The family no longer owned a slave. Whether the young girl who appeared in the 1830 census had been set free or sold is unknown. In 1840, African Americans still lived with Isaac's family. They were free Blacks and may have been a family group. There was a woman between the ages of 24 and 29, 2 young males between 10 and 24, and a little girl under the age of 10. I suspect the two boys were close in age to the little girl. Isaac's family was comprised of three individuals: Isaac, Mary, and a young woman who was probably Isaac's daughter. It is possible that that Mary had died shortly after the birth of the fourth child (the young woman on this census and the youngest on the 1830 census). The fourth child was born before 1825. The woman on the 1840 census may have been a housekeeper who cared for Isaac and the children. Table 2 shows the members of Isaac's household:

Table 2: Household of Isaac Read in 1840
1840 United States Federal Census
Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 17

Census Individual	Census Age As of 1 June 1830	Probable Individual	Birth Date
one male	30 to 39 years (1791-1800)	Isaac Read, Jr.	12 June 1794
one female	30 to 39 years (1791-1800)	Mary Durling Read ?	Unknown
one female	15 to 19 years (1821-1825)	Daughter Read	Unknown
One Free Colored	24 to 29 years (1811-1816)	Unknown Female	Unknown
Two Free Colored	10 to 23 years (1817-1830)	Unknown Male Unknown Male	Unknown Unknown
One Free Colored	0 to 9 years (1831-1839)	Unknown Female	Unknown

Mary Durling was dead by 1840. Isaac married his second wife on Wednesday, 6 April 1842. She was Abigail W. Buckley the daughter of John T. Buckley and Clarissa Wade. She was born 13 June 1808 in Sussex County, New Jersey. Their wedding ceremony was read by Elder Edward Barrass of Montana, Warren County, New Jersey. The cost of the ceremony was $3.00 (Bronwell 1947). Barrass was the pastor of Delaware Baptist Church in Knowlton Township between 1835 and 1838 and again in 1840. He also taught at Honeywell Academy, a private Baptist school, in Mt Hermon, Knowlton Township between 1833 and 1848 (Snell 1881;634, 664).

Abigail was 33 years old when she married. Isaac had, in effect, two families. His youngest daughter by Mary was between 16 and 20 years of age when he married. He and Abigail immediately set about raising a family. Clarissa arrived in December 1843, eight months after her parents were born. She was followed by a son named Soren in 1844. in 1847, shortly before their daughter Abbi arrived, Isaac and Abigail added on to the house. The original house was a story and a half. The first floor consisted of a keeping room with a large fireplace. A bee hive oven was built off the back of the chimney on the outside of the house. The stairs to the second floor wound up along the chimney and were hidden behind a door set in wood paneling along the chimney wall. In the late twentieth century the owner of the house discovered original stencil designs on the plaster wall in drab green and red (Yarnoff 1999). These same colors were found on tea wares during the early nineteenth century. The second floor of the original house was a loft or dormer area. It probably served as a storage area and as sleeping areas for the children and servants/slaves. In the early nineteenth century, it was not unusual to find the parents bed in the main room of the house. But by the late 1840s, beds were being moved out of the public areas of the home into separate rooms which were often located on the second floor of the house. In 1847, Isaac and Abigail added a two story addition to the old house. The new addition was an entirely new house, the original house became a wing attached to the rear of the new addition. The addition was a central passageway with chimneys on either end. There were two new formal rooms on the first floor, one for use as a parlor, the other as a formal dinning room. Bedrooms on the second floor provided room for Isaac and Abigail's expanding family (see phot album for phOtograph of the house). By the time the new house was built There were three children in the family, Clarissa, Soren and Abbi. Isaac "Winfield" was born in 1850 and Hattie (Harriet) arrived in 1853.

The 1840 census stated that three individuals in Isaac's household were engaged in manufacture. These individuals were probably Isaac and the two free Black males. What Isaac was manufacturing is unclear. His grandfather Shackleton had been involved in the iron works at Oxford. He may have been partners with Aaron W. Buckley, the brother of his future wife. The 1860 census indicates that Aaron W. Buckley was an Iron Founder. By 1850, the census lists Isaac as a farmer (1850 United States Federal Census, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 436, 12 September 1850). He listed as such in all subsuequent censii. None of Issac's children by Mary appear in the 1850 household. The family was entirely Isaac's second family (sans Hattie, who had not yet been born). According to the census, Isaac owned real estate valued at $8000.

Table 3: Household of Richard and Rebecca Read in 1850
1850 United States Federal Census
Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 436

1860 United States Census place Isaac and Abigail in Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey. Isaac's real estate was valued at $10,000 in 1860 His personal estate was valued at $2,700. In 1860, the Read's next door neighbors were Abigail's siblings: Aaron W. Buckley, age 36, an Iron Founder; Ann Buckley, age 37; Jane Buckley, age 35; and Harriet Buckely, age 30.

The family still lived on their farm in 1870. Their real estate was valued at $9,200 and their personal estate was worth $2,700. All five of the Read children still lived at home in 1870. Isaac was 74 years old, Abigail was 60. Their duaghters may have delayed marriage in order to care for their elderly parents. The sons, probably had to delay marriage as they had no monetary stake with which to start farms of their own and could not expect to have capital until their parents had died. Hattie was the only child who married before her parents died. She married Charles S. Cooke in 1870. She may not have had children until after both Isaac and Abigail were dead. In 1870, the family was comprised of the individuals listed in table 5:

Table 5: Household of Isaac and Abigail Read in 1870
1870 United States Federal Census
Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 33

Isaac Read, Jr. died 5 March 1876 in Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey. According to his tombstone he was 81 years, 8 months, and 21 days. The family buried him in the church yard cemetery of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church (now a United Methodist Church) in the village of Hope, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey. Issac died intestate (without a will). Abigail, as Isaac's widow, was entitled to take on the administration of the estate. She was 67 years old when her husband died. On 10 April 1875, she asked the Surrogate Court of Warren County to assign administration of the estate to her eldest son, Saron W. Read (WCSCR Petition, Book 1, page 168). The court assigned administration to Saron on 11 April (WCSCR Letters of Administration, Book 3, page 159). Saron, with the assistance of John Cummins and H. Messinger, made an inventory of the estate on 27 May 1879, three years after Isaac's death (WCSCR Inventories, Book 12, pages 108-109). The inventory did not include household items. It listed farm animals, a few crops and farm implements. The inventory value was $1102.06. The bulk of his estate (45 percent) consisted of five horses valued at $495.00. Isaac also owned 4 cows ($90); 73 ewes and lambs ($205); 2 sows, 4 shoats and piglets ($40); and a goat ($3.50). Total value of his animal stock was $833.50 (or 76 percent of the estate).

Abigail lived four more years, she died 1 January 1880 in Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, at the age of 71 years, 7 months, and 19 days. She was buried with Isaac in the church yard cemetery of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church. The Read children divided their father's farm in 1880. R.L. Garrison surveyed Isaac's land in November 1880. Deeds were issued in 1882 (WCSCR Orphans Court Minutes, Book 20, page 570-571). In 1880, Isaac and Abigail's unmarried children still lived in the family home. The eldest son, Saron, was listed as the head of the household.

Table 6: Household of Saron Wade Read in 1880
1880 United States Federal Census
Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page page 421C

Hattie Read, the youngest daughter and child had married Charles Cook in 1871. She and Clarissa recieved a portion of the family farm as tenants in common in 1882 (WCSCR Orphans Court Minutes, Book 20, page 570-571). Clarissa Read never married. She moved in with her sister Hattie and remained in the Cook household until her death in 1913 (Burd 1916). The other Read children married after 1880. Saron married Sarah Cyphers, who's family lived on the farm adjacent to the Read farm. Abbie married a member of the Christian family. Winfield also married, his wive's name is currently unknown.

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