Read Genealogy of Newport RI and Freetown MA

The Read family of which the late Paddock Richmond Read was a descendant, is one of the oldest and best known families of this section of New England. The first of the name in New England was

John Reade, a cordwainer by trade, according to tradition, as is his coming from Plymouth, England. He came to this country and was an inhabitant of Newport, R. I. He had children:

1. John Reade
2. Ebenezer Reade
3. Oliver Reade

John Reade (2), son of John, born in Newport, R. I., married Hannah, who died April 12, 1727. He settled in Freetown, Mass., where his marriage occurred. He was a cordwainer by trade and set up a tannery and reared his sons in the same calling, an occupation, too, that continued through four generations of Reades, and then late in the eighteenth century the business (tannery) was bought out by Sarah Reade’s husband – Enoch French. It had grown into a large place at Troy, afterward Fall River. John Reade had children:

1. Hannah Reade
2. Joseph Reade
3. John Reade

John Reade (3), son of John (2), married Mary, daughter of John Pearce and his wife Mary (Tallman). She died May 6, 1726, and he married (second) Susannah Brownell. Mr. Reade lived in Freetown, Mass., and for some thirty years was town clerk. Children:

1. Mary Reade, born Nov. 19, 1690, married Samuel Forman
2. John Reade, born June 12, 1694, married Mrs. Sarah Borden
3. Thomas Reade, born May 9, 1696
4. Hannah Reade, born Oct. 12, 1697
5. William Reade, born Sept. 9, 1699
6. Oliver Reade, born in October, 1701, married Martha Durfee
7. Penelope Reade, born Oct: 12, 1703, married Stephen Borden
8. Jonathan Reade, born Jan. 23, 1705, married Hope Durfee
9. Joseph Reade, born March 5, 1708, of whom more below
10. Sarah Reade, born Feb. 1, 1709
11. Nathan Reade, born Feb. 23, 1711
12. Susannah Reade, born Feb. 27, 1715, married Joseph Borden

Joseph Reade, son of John (3), born March 5, 1708, married Jan. 25, 1732, Grace Pray, and they resided in Freetown, Mass. Children:

1. William Reade, born in 1732, of whom more below
2. Benjamin Reade, born Nov. 15, 1733, who married Sarah Evans
3. Hannah Reade, born in December, 1734
4. Joseph Reade, in 1735-36, who married Mary Cornell

William Reade, son of Joseph and Grace’ (Pray) Reade, born in 1732, married (first) Dec. 3, 1761, Ruth Evans, born in 1742, and (second) Dorothy, born in 1745, daughter of Rev. Samuel Reade. She died Dec. 25, 1813. Children:

1. Elizabeth Reade, born July 3, 1763, married Robert Hathaway
2. Rebecca Reade, born July 14, 1765, married Guilford Evans
3. Ruth Reade, born April 27, 1767, married George Pickens
4. William Reade, born July 15, 1769, married Prudence Valentine
5. Sarah Reade, born July 15, 1769
6. Rachel Reade, born July 1, 1773
7. John Reade, born July 5, 1775
8. Joseph E. Reade, born Sept. 15, 1776, of whom more below
9. Amy W. Reade, born Jan. 7, 1779, married John Hathaway
10. Nancy Reade, born Oct. 8, 1781, married Ezra Davol
11. Phebe Reade, born Oct. 4, 1783, married Henry Brightman

Joseph Evans Reade, son of William, born Sept. 15, 1776, married Jan. 17, 1803, Sybil Valentine, born in Freetown, Mass., daughter of William and Sybil Valentine, and a descendant of one of the most prominent and well known families of Boston and Freetown. Joseph Reade removed with his family from Freetown to Fall River where he located and spent the remainder of his life. Here both Mr. and Mrs. Reade died. Their children were:

1. William Reade
2. Joseph Reade
3. Paddock Richmond Reade
4. Sarah Reade, who married Abraham Bowen, of Fall River
5. Rachel Reade, who married Benjamin Weaver, of Fall River
6. James Reade
7. Frank Reade
8. Henry Reade
9. Caroline Reade, who married Milton A. Clyde

Paddock Richmond Read, son of Joseph E. and Sybil (Valentine) Reade, was born in Freetown in 1808, and moved with his father to Fall River, where he grew to manhood. He continued to make his home here until the year 1855, during which time he was assistant postmaster of Fall River, and also filled the office of sheriff. In 1855 he came to Taunton and became engaged as a photographer, continuing this line of work for the rest of his life. His death occurred at his home in Taunton, July 17, 1877, and he was buried in the Plain cemetery.

Mr. Read married in Taunton, Mass., Miss Belinda Copeland Morey, born in Taunton, daughter of George Washington and Mary (Polly) (Leonard) Morey. She died Aug. 2, 1896, at her home in Taunton, and was buried in the Plain cemetery. Their children were:

1. Emily Porter Read, the eldest child, was educated in the public and high schools of Taunton. She married Henry A. Richardson, of North Attleboro.
2. Harriet Morey Read was educated in the public and high schools of Taunton, and took up the profession of school teacher, which she has followed for over forty years.
3. Frances Richmond Read also followed the profession of teacher in Taunton. She died Sept. 7, 1909, and is buried in Plain cemetery.