Joseph Read

For other people named Joseph Read, see Joseph Read (disambiguation).
Joseph Read
Born March 6, 1732
Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Died September 22, 1801
Brookfield, Massachusetts
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch Massachusetts militia,
Continental Army
Years of service 1775–1776
Rank Colonel
Unit Massachusetts Line
Battles/wars Lexington and Concord

Joseph Read (March 6, 1732 – September 22, 1801) was a soldier and a Colonel in the American Revolutionary War.

Contents

Early life

Read was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, the son of John and Lucy Read. He married Eunice Taft of Uxbridge on Nov 22, 1753. His father John, served in the French and Indian Wars.

Military service

He was a lieutenant colonel at the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Thereafter, until the end of 1776, he served as colonel in command of several regiments of the Massachusetts Line.[1]

Read/Reed family

His brother was Lt. Colonel Seth Read, who commanded the Massachusetts 26th and 15th regiments and founded Erie, Pennsylvania. The Read brothers owned half of the land in the towns of Uxbridge and Northbridge, Massachusetts, in the mid 18th century.[2] The family is known as "Reed" in Pennsylvania, and the Read name and spelling continued in Massachusetts. At some point after the revolution, Joseph Read moved to Brookfield, Massachusetts, where he died in 1801. He and his wife Eunice are buried in Brookfield. His brother Seth Reed, founded Erie, PA, and died there in 1797.

Notes

  1. ^ Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, new, enlarged, and revised edition (Washington, D.C.: Rare Book Shop Publishing Company, 1914), p. 460.
  2. ^ Buford, Mary Hunter (1895). Seth Read, Lieut.-Col.Continental Army; Pioneer at Geneva, New York, 1787, and at Erie, Penn., June, 1795. His Ancestors and Descendants.. Boston, Mass.. pp. 167 Pages on CD in PDF Format.. 

Joseph Read b. 6 March 1731 in Uxbridge,MA; married Eunice Taft 22 nov, 1753. Eunice Taft b. 18 June 1735 in Uxbridge, MA; daughter of John Taft and Hannah Cheney. Joseph Read died 22 sept, 1801 at the age of 70y; his wife Eunice died 2 may, 1816; Joseph & Eunice Read are buried in the Brookfield Cemetery, Brookfield,MA. ref:Brookfield Vital Records. It is certainly possible that he is the "Colonel Reed" from Uxbridge, Massachusetts who is attributed as being instrumental in E Pluribus Unum being added to US coins. This is currently attributed to Colonel Seth Read, who was active in the Massachusetts legislature, and petitioned for the right to coin money, known as Massachusetts coppers, in 1786.