Joseph Samuel Read

Joseph Samuel Read[3278] N E M V K Y [Insert Photo Here] Photo: “Dink Godfrey has one.”[3279] Photo received, scanned, stored in binder.[3280] Born: 1 February 1830,[3281] “at home, Catlett, Va.”[3282] 18 February 1830.[3283] Married: He wed “Marian George daughter of Bernard George” circa 1865.[3284] He married Marian right out of the war, probably within the first year that he got out. Her family had a lot of land around here; they were “what you call land-poor.” She was one of eight children. Her father, Bernard, gave 450 acres to Marian when she married Joseph Read. She died in spring 1913.[3285] “His wife Marian is buried on [the] farm of Stanley Heflin on Old Courthouse Road about a mile from Bristersburg on [the] right [side] of [the] road.”[3286] He and Marian wed on 8 February 1866. She was born on 24 July 1837.[3287] Died: Joseph died on the farm of pneumonia,[3288] on 24 December 1884.[3289] In the back part of some Eustace property[3290] is an old family cemetery—the Redd Cemetery. A stone there for a man named “Reid”[3291] says “Black Horse Cavalry.”[3292] Photo give name as “Jos. S. Read,” and dates; nowhere is ‘Black Horse’ visible. Buried in Redd Cemetery. From Calverton, Virginia go South on Route 616 to Rt. 607. Turn left, go 8 tenths mile turn right into farm. Cemetery is ¼ mile behind house (Ruben Heflin’s).[3293] Redd Family Cemetery, in Catlett, rests in a patch of woods about a half- mile from the house. The land on which the cemetery lies is now owned by Robert E. Faylor; the Eustace place is on the same road. Joseph’s son fenced the cemetery, but the fence has disappeared.[3294] Obituary: Children: Joseph and Marion had four children.[3295] Samuel Montague (3 August 1868–[24 September 1947 [3296]]) wed Carolyn B. Bear. Virginia Elizabeth [called Elizabeth [3297]] (17 January 1870–6 October 1913), never married. William Calhoun (21 August 1872– ) wed Sadie Gaines Colvin [possibly called Sally [3298]]. Sarah Catherine [called Katie [3299]] (24 August 1876– ), wed Albert C. Helterman.[3300] [3301] Parents and Siblings: Catherine (Redd) (13 January 1804–27 February 1835) and Harris Read (22 December 1801–1 January 1852). The siblings were: Samuel Montague (1824–20 June 1846); Mary E. (8 November 1827–20 January 1906); Joseph Samuel [himself]; Sarah Catherine (14 July 1832–17 January 1906).[3302] Another source gives Joe’s mother, Catherine (Redd) Read’s date of death as 7 February 1835, his sister, Mary E.’s date of death as 17 January 1906 and his sister, Sarah Catherine’s date of death as 22 September 1833.[3303] ***compare following, photocopies from 3rd Sam pkt, text abv. Descendants John Read Catherine (Redd) (13 January 1804–7 February 1835) wed Harris Read (22 December 1801–1 January 1852) on 27 February 1823. Issue: Samuel Montague (1824–20 June 1846); Mary E. (8 November 1827–1720 January 1906); (72 in Read book) Joseph Samuel (1 February 1830–24 December 1884) [BH]; Buried in Redd Cemetery on farm of Robert Faylor.[del part is not in my notes for this source]; Sarah Catherine (14 July 1832–22 September 183317 January 1906).[3304] Other Family: Joseph Samuel Read was decended from the immigrant John Read, to whom, on 7 April 1730, was conveyed “one hundred acres of land within the boundary of what afterwards became Culpeper County.” He may have immigrated from Ireland, England or Scotland. John and his wife, Winifred (Favior), had a son, also named John; the son of this John and his first wife, Elizabeth (Purkins), was Samuel; the son of Samuel and Juliann (Freeman) was Harris Read, father of the cavalryman.[3305] The Reads were from Scotland or England. John Read came to America in the early 1700s. “He was given a farm for bringing people over.” Joseph Read’s paternal grandfather came from near Sperryville or Luray to the Rixeyville area. He had a farm near the Hazel River on what is now Highway 229. Joe Read’s father, Harris, grew up on that farm. Harris Read met and married a Miss Redd in Catlett. They had four children, one of whom, a daughter, died as an infant or small child. [Sarah Catherine, who died age 14 months.[3306]] Harris returned to Read Farm in his older years and died and is buried there. The cemetery there is enclosed by a low, stone wall with no gate but with steps leading up to it and back down. [“There is a family grave yard enclosed by a stone wall with tombstones on the bicentennial farm.”[3307]] One stone at Redd Cemetery in Catlett bears names on three sides. William Read, the sister who died young, and Redd people who were kin to the cavalryman’s mother are also buried there. When the land was sold the first time, the deed said that the cemetery could not go with the land; it stayed in the Read family. When the land was sold the most recent time, this clause was omitted.[3308] Joseph’s brother William Calhoun Read, called Cooney, was Catlett’s village judge and the schoolteacher at the one-room schoolhouse. Joseph’s son Sam Montague was age 16 when Joseph died at age 54. Each of the sons, Sam and William, inherited 230 acres. Sam stopped attending school when the cavalryman passed on. He hired three brothers as farmhands, paying them $8, $9, and $10 per month according to their ages, and farmed this land for five years. In 1899, he went west and traveled through “all states except Iowa and Nevada.” Sam helped to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake and fire. He “became a first-class carpenter.” [He wed Carolyn Bertolet Bear (9 January 1879–[10 August 1953[3309]]) on 27 January 1915.[3310]] Joseph’s second son, William, attended school at Brentsville. He later learned from Joseph’s brother how to be a surveyor. [He wed on 17 April 1901.[3311]] Joseph’s daughter Katie also attended school at Brentsville, with Sam Montague’s financial assistance. When she finished school and returned home, Marion and Elizabeth “wouldn’t let her in the door.” Katie first stayed with neighbors, then found work in Staunton. Later, she wed there [on 7 February 1906 [3312]]; their only child was Samuel Halterman. His cemetery marker in Staunton indicates that he had children, who would be cavalryman Joe Read’s great-grandchildren.[3313] Joseph’s grandchildren are: Margaret Virginia (Read) Eyler and Samuel Bertolet Read (Samuel Montague); Sam (Katie); Joseph and Lorna (William).[3314] “His grandson, now 88 yrs old, still lives on the 200 acre or so family farm in Fauquier County. [The farm is] located close to the road junction called “Sowego”, on Heddings Lane, Catlett. He is Samuel Read; well versed in [the] oral history of Sgt. Jos. [Joseph] Read.”[3315] Joseph’s wife Marion’s “… sister Virginia who married Dr. Smoot & her unmarried sister Betty also buried” in same location as Marion.[3316] A “Read descendant … drove a horse & buggy of his in the bicentennial parade in Culpeper.”[3317] Note: Joseph Samuel Read’s father-in-law was probably not the brother of Montgomery George [BH] because the brother was born in 1847[3318] and therefore was too young to be father of a woman who could wed in the 1860s.

Stories, Letters & Biographies: “…their names live throughout these counties and their deeds are still told by many firesides and listened to with the reverence with which the Sagas were heard in ancient days.”[3319] See Stories Chapter. “Form fours and charge!”[3320] See Stories Chapter. “‘Johnny Reb; I say, J-o-h-n-n-y R-e-b, don’t shoot!’”[3321] See Stories Chapter. “At the surrender at Appomattox I was at home on horse detail. On my return trip to the Company, I met it at Madison Courthouse. They had refused to surrender.”[3322] See Stories Chapter under John Edward Armstrong. “[A]t Spotsylvania… I assisted Jim Vass, member of the Company, to bring Joe Reed, who had been shot in the head, to ambulance corps.”[3323] “[T]hey all got through the Union line with their weapons and signed no papers to not ‘Take up arms against the U. S. again’. He came home with two heavy six shot revolvers.”[3324] See Stories Chapter. CSR: Enlisted 25 April 1861; 3rd Sgt; picket Pohick Church 4 October 1861; detached scouting January to February 1864. Additional Information: Listed as “S. J. Reid.”[3325] Listed as “Jo S Reed.”[3326] Joseph S. Reid, 4th Sergeant, wounded at Todd’s Tavern, April 1864. Resides at Bristersburg.[3327] Jos. S. Reed, 4th Sergnt.[3328] Promoted 3rd Sgt.[3329] “My great-grandfather was Sgt. Joseph Samuel Read, Black Horse Cav. Your records, like many others, do not have the correct spelling of [his] surname. Your records: “Reid”. Others usually: “Reed”. Actually: “Read.””[3330] After the war, Joseph farmed and made peach brandy. He used to have members of the Black Horse Cavalry over to visit. They’d drink the peach brandy and “fight the civil war over again.”[3331]