READ FAMILY CONNECTIONS

Baltis Titman and Malinda Read had 10 children born betweeen 1849 and 1869. They had at least 41 grandchildren born between 1875 and 1909 and 38 great-grandchildren born between 1906 and 1932, as well as at least 9 second great-grandchildren and 4 third great-grandchildren. Total identified descendants equals 102.

Malinda was 18 years younger than Baltis. Baltis was well established by the time they were married. His father was dead, and Baltis had inherited enough land to farm. Baltis's mother, Mary Teeter Titman, and younger brother, William Titman, lived with the newlyweds. The couple's first child arrived at Christmas 1849. The 1850 census lists five members of Baltis's household:

Table 1: Household of Baltis and Malinda Titman in 1850
1850 United States Federal Census
Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 443

Baltis's mother lived until 1 January 1857 (Blair Academy Cemetery). Whether she resided with Baltis and Malinda from 1850 until her death is uncertain. Her son Elias is listed adjacent to Baltis and Malinda on the 1850 census. She could have lived with Elias part of the time. However, by 1850, Elias and his wife Phebe Harris had 7 children living in the household: Jacob (age 20), Mary (age 19), John (age 16), Alexander (age 14), Elias (age 12), Jane (age 10) and Steward (age 8).

Malinda and Baltis had five more children between 1850 and 1860: Isaac born in 1851, who was known as Read; Mary Catherine born in 1853; William born in 1855, Rosanna born in 1857 and Milton born in 1859. The three younger children all died before early 1860. Rosanna was a little over a year old when she died in 1859. Milton died in 1860, he was a one month old infant. They are buried in the cemetery on the grounds of Blair Academy in Blairstown. William's date of death and place of burial is unknown. He does not appear on the 1860 census, which implies that he died before he reached the age of 5. It is probable that he was buried in Blair Academy cemetery. Several members of the Titman family are buried there, including Baltis's mother Mary Teeter Titman.

In 1860, Baltis and Malinda lived in Blairstown Township. The census taker enumerated their farm on 20 July 1860. Their farm was valued at $10,000. They had real estate valued at $2,000. Matilda A. France and her 2 year old daughter Anna lived with the family. Matilda was 25 years old. She may have worked as a domestic for the family. Fourteen year old Joseph Gouger also lived with the family. He attended school with the three Titman children. The composition of the Titman household in 1860 is summarized in table 2.

Table 2: Household of Baltis and Malinda Titman in 1860
1860 United States Federal Census
Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 569

The four youngest Titman children were born between the 1860 and 1870 census. They were Celia, born 1861; Brackley, born 1864; Marilla, born 1867; and Druzilla, born 1869. The value of the Titman's farm had increased to $11,000. Their personal estate was valued at $3,000. The family did not have any hired help in 1870. The two oldest sons, George and Isaac, were 20 and 18 years old respectively—old enough to work the farm with their father. Mary Catherine, at 16, was old enough to help Malinda with the housework. The other Titman children were all under 10 years of age. The census gives Marilla's name as "Arilda." Druzilla, known as "Zilla" to the family was listed as a five month old infant. She was born in September 1869, her age on 1 June 1870 (the official census date) was 9 months. Table 3 summarizies the household in 1870.

Table 3: Household of Baltis and Malinda Titman in 1870
1870 United States Federal Census
Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 41B

The three older Titman children married during the 1870s. George married Diana Beck. Their twins were born in April of 1880. George is listed as a resident of his parents home in 1880, but Diana is not. Diana and the couple's as then unnamed twins (later named John and Anna) are listed as residing with Diana's parents, John L. and Anna Beck, in Knowlton Township. It is possible that Diana was lying in at her childhood home so that her mother could help her care for her new babies. George appears to have been needed at his parents home, as Baltis was probably ill by 1880. The census entry for the Becks is misleading, the way it is written makes it look like Jacob B. Beck, Diana's younger brother, is actually named "Jacob B. Titman". However, he is marked as single and Diana is labeled as married (1880 United States Federal Census, Enumeration District 201, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 455B, 15 June 1880).

The Titman's second son, Read, married his third cousin, Sarah Catherine Vanscoten in about 1875. Her grandmother was Catherine Read Kinney, a daughter of Aaron Read. Read's great-grandfather, John Read, was Aaron's older brother. Read and Sarah had two sons by 1880 (John and Albert), and were expecting their their daughter Cora at the time that the census was taken. The oldest Titman daughter, Mary Catherine, had married in 1874. She and her husband Wesley Linaberry had two children in 1880 (George and Celia). The four youngest Titman children still lived at home in 1880. Baltis had suffered some sort of injury, stroke or illness. According to the 1880 census he was "maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled," the census does not state what the disability was (1880 United States Federal Census, Enumeration District 191, Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 290C, 11 June 1880). George and Brackley probably did all the farm work. Read and his family lived on the adjacent farm. It is possible that the three brothers ran the farm together. Table 4 lists the members of both the household of Read and Sarah Titman and of Baltis and Malinda Titman:

Table 4: Titman and Beck Family Households in 1880
1880 United States Federal Census
E.D. 191, Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 290C
E.D. 201, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 455B

Baltis Titman died on 22 January 1882. He was buried in Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Jacksonburg, Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey. Her four youngest children were still living at home. According to her obituary, Malinda lived with her children after Baltis's death. Celia, Brackley and Marilla all married in the 1880s. Brackley left Warren County after his marriage and settled in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. He was living there in 1906 when his mother died (1930 United Sates Federal Census, Enumeration District 7-427, East Orange City, 5th Ward, 1st District, Essex County, New Jersey, sheet 12A, 5-12 April 1930; Obituary of Malinda Read). The youngest Titman child, Zilla, did not marry until about 1894.

Zilla's husband, Henry "Palmer" Linaberry, owned a farm near the village of Walnut Valley in Blairstown Township. Malinda appear to have spent the last years of her life living with Zilla and Palmer. She and Zilla both belonged to the local Methodist Episcopal Church (Burd 1916). Malinda's obituary states that "Mrs. Titman had been a member of the Walnut Valley M.E. Church since early womanhood." Malinda is listed as a member of the Linaberry household in 1900:

Table 5: Household of Palmer and Zilla Linaberry in 1900
1900 United States Federal Census, Enumeration District 182,
Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, sheet 13A

According to the 1900 census, Malinda was the mother of ten children, seven of whom were still living. There seven were George, Read, and Brackley Titman, Catherine Linaberry, Celia Jones, Marilla Ervine and Zilla Linaberry. The Linaberry family lived near Walnut Valley in Blairstown Township in dwelling 267. Several of Malinda's other children lived near-by in Valnut Valley. Her son Read and his family lived in dwelling 266. Marilla Ervine and her husband Jabez resided in dwelling 273. George Titman lived in dwelling 231. Her daughter Celia Jones lived in Vail in Blairstown Township. Daughter Catherine Linaberry lived in Knowlton Township, while her son Brackley lived in Essex County (1900 United States Federal Census, Enumeration District 182, Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey, sheets 9A, 9B, 11B, 13A and 13B; Obituary of Malinda Titman).

Malinda died 8 January 1906 at the home of her daughter Zilla. She had been ill for four days with pneumonia. Malinda was 80 years, 3 months, and 13 days of age (obituary of Malinda Titman). She is listed in the "In Memoriam" section of a 1916 program celebrating the 105^th anniversary of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Blairstown (of which the Walnut Valley Church was a part). The program lists her as "Belinda Titman" and places her death in December 1905 (Burd 1916). Malinda was buried with Baltis in Cedar Ridge Cemetery. Their single grave stone was field checked on 3 July 1999. They are inscribed as follows:

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