Copyright 30 May 2003

Updated 4 April 2004

READ FAMILY CONNECTIONS

Children of Samuel D. Read and Abigail H. Curlis
Biographical Notes
References

Samuel appears on the 1830 United States Federal census as a resident of his parents's household. He is listed as a male between the ages of 10 and 15 years of age (1830 United States Federal Census, Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersy, page 378). By 1840, he was 21 years old and was no longer living with his father and mother. It is possible that he was living with his his sister Sararh Maria Durling and her husband Jonathan and three young daughters. There was a young man between the ages of 20 and 30 who lived with the family when the census was enumerated. This young man was probably a farm hand, as JOnathan had no sons to help him on the farm. With the exception of Samuel D. Read, all of Sarah's other living brothers and sisters are accounted for in the census. Aaron Read and Martin F. Read both lived in Hope Township. Neither had a young man of Samuel D. Read's age living in their households. Sarah Maria's sister Ann Read Davis lived in Harrison Township, Hudson County, New Jersey with her husband Mark. They ran a hotel in Harrison Township. There is a male between 20 and 30 living with them. The Rev. Jonathan S. Thompson, the widower of Sarah's sister Jane, lived in Fall River Township, Bristol County, Massachusetts, where he had taken a new church. Sarah's other brothers—Isaac, Hiram, Marshall and Ira—were all deceased by 1840 (United States Federal Census, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, pages 337, 341, 344; Harrison Township, Hudson County, New Jersey, page 170; Fall River Township, Bristol County, Massachusetts, page 262).

Samuel married within two years of the census. His bride was Abigail H. Curlis, who was born in New Jersey in 1821 (Union Cemetery). The young couple initially settled in Hope Township. Their first daughter was born in Hope Township on Christmas Day 1842 and was named Sarah Maria. She may have been named after her aunt Sarah Maria Read Durling, or after her father's grandmother Sarah Read and mother, Maria Freese. She was followed by her brother John, who was born in June 1848. On 23 August 1850, the census taker visited the home of Samuel and Abigail Read. Samuel was a farmer, his farm was valued at $3,000. The family included Samuel and Abigail and their two children, Sarah Maria and John. Sarah Maria attended the local school in Hope Township. The family also had a 12 year old boy named Andrew J. Walker living with them. No occcupation is given for Andrew in the census. It is possible that he was working for Samuel on the farm. Table 1 presents a summary of the family in 1850:

Table 1: Household of Samuel and Abigail Read in 1850
(1850 United States Federal Census, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 425A)

Two more children were born after the 1860 census. Lydia was born in 1851 and Elias was born in about 1855. Lydia was probably born in Hope Township. Elias may have been born in either Hope or Frelinghuysen Township. Samuel and Abigail had moved to the latter by 1860. The 1860 census places Samuel, Abigail and their children in Frelinghuysen Township. The new farm in Frelinghuysen was valued at $7,500. The family's personal estate was valued at $1,000. John, Lydia and Elias attended school. Sarah Maria was 17 years old and had finished her schooling. The census lists her as an "assistant," presumably to Abigail. The family did not have a hired farm hand. John was 11 years old and was old enough to help his father in the fields. Table 2 summarizes the members of Samuel and Abigail's family in 1860:

Table 2: Household of Samuel and Abigail Read in 1860
(1860 United States Federal Census, Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey)

Between 1855 and 1868, Samuel and his brother Martin were the executors of two estates. Their father Samuel Read died on 20 February 1855. In his will he named his sons Martin F. and Samuel D. as his executors. Three weeks later, on 14 March, the two brothers appeared before Surrogate Philip H.Hann. They were accompanied to the court by George Hayes and Gideon L. Howell, who had witnessed the will. Surrogate Hann proved the will and ordered Martin and Samuel to administer the estate. They appeared before the court during the April 1855 term and applied to the court for an order to limit the creditors of Samuel's estate to a specific length of time, which the court ordered (Orphans Court Minutes Book 4, page 282). During the April 1856 term Martin and Samuel presented the final account of the estate to the court (Orphans Court Minutes, Book 4, page 386, 18 April 1856). Martin and Samuel were unable to completely settle the estate until 1868. Their mother, Maria Freese Read died on 23 December 1866. By the terms of Samuel's will, Maria was to have use of the estate until her death, after her death the property was to be split between Samuel's three daughters or their heirs. In 1868, only Sarah Maria Read Durling was still alive. Jane Read Drake Thompson had died in 1837. She had at least two children who were living in 1868, William and Abigail Thompson. Ann Read Davis had also died (in 1859). She also had two surviving children, Irene Davis Cross and Hiram Davis. Martin and Samuel sold the real and the personal property after Maria's death. They presented their final account to the Surrogate in April 1868, Surrogate William L. Hoagland ordered the estate settled in May 1868 (Orphans Court Minutes, Book 6, page 558).

The second estate settled by Samuel and Martin was that of their first cousin John H. Read³ (James Read², Joseph Read¹). John died intestate (without a will) on 14 August 1862. John left no direct heirs, that is he did not have children or a wife. His parents and siblings were dead, as were all his aunts and uncles. The court ruled that John's heirs were his surviving first cousins (all those alive on 14 August 1862). This meant all his Read and Coleman cousins (the Coleman family was his maternal relations). Martin and Samuel had to locate all of these cousins. In terms of the Read side of the family, some of the cousins had moved to up-state New York, to Ohio and to other western states. They located 66 first cousins. Curiously they did not locate the descendants of John's aunt Phebe Read Kirkpatrick². Her family had moved to Guernsey County, Ohio in 1806. Both Phebe and her husband Andrew Kirkpatrick had died in 1814. Some of the older Kirkpatrick children were married by 1814 and they took in their younger siblings. By 1862, most of the Kirkpatricks had left Guernsey County by 1862. However, members of Andrew's family still lived in Warren County and they were probably in touch with at least Martha Kirkpatrick Williams, Phebe's oldest daughter. She was the family historian and seems to have kept track of most of her family. Why the Kirkpatrick family was omitted from the settlement is not known. The surviving children of James's uncles Isaac Read, Sr., John Read, Joseph Read, David Read, Samuel Read, Aaron Read and John Coleman and of his aunts Hannah Read Ogden Vaughan, Azuba Read Newman, Sarah Read Manning, Sarah Coleman Sutton, Hannah Coleman Swagle, Anna Coleman Sickel, and Azuba Coleman Weaver, all received a one sixty-sixth equal share of the estate which amounted to $23,947.44 (a large sum in 1862 dollars). The total disbursement per heir was $362.84. The disbursement was made in two payments to each heir on 2 July 1865 and 10 June 1866. The second disbursement was made when a error made in the accounting was brought to the attention of the court on 14 February 1866 by Anthony J. Osmun, the husband of Martin and Samuel's first cousin Sally Ann Read Osmun³ (David Read², Joseph Read¹) (WCSCR Orphans court Minutes Book 6, pages 156, 231, 240). The entry in the Orphan's Court Minutes for disbursement of the estate to the surviving children of Samuel Read was as follows:

Perhaps Samuel's ability as an administrator of the two estates helped him to be elected as the Assessor for Frelinghuysen Township. He held the office between 1870 and 1871 (Snell 1881:687).

By 1870, Samuel and Abigail were grandparents. Their daughter Sarah Maria had married Jacob Cummins Ayers toward the end of the Civil War. They had three children in 1870: Walter (born circa 1866), Samuel (born circa 1868) and Elizabeth, known as Lizzie (born 1870). Samuel and Abigail's three other children were still single and all resided at home. In the 1870 census, Samuel's occupation was still given as "farmer," while John and Elias were listed as "works on farm." Their daughter Lydia was 18 and was listed as "at home." Abigail's occupation was given as "keeping house." Elias was the only child attending school in 1870. Despite the recent inheritance from Samuel's cousin John Read, the family's financial picture had gone into decline since the 1860 census. Their real estate holdings had decreased from $7,500 to $5,500. The value of their personal estate had also declined from $1,000 to $800. The census listed their post office as Vienna. The household was visited on 28 July 1870. Table 3 summarizes the census data for 1870:

Table 3: Household of Samuel and Abigail Read in 1870
(1870 United States Federal Census, Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 72A)

PRIMARY

SECONDARY