Rev. John Leighton Read, with his wife
Katharine Rutherford Wauchope:
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From a letter typed by Rev. J. Leighton Read to his daughter Katharine, and her husband, Rev. Frank Hughes, Jr. concerning a problem they were facing:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read was in the first graduating class of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary:
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Here is what happened to the four who graduated with J. Leighton Read:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read served as best man at the wedding of his seminary classmate, Rev. Charles F. Hancock, as reported in the Austin American-Statesman, 21 SEPT 1906:
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One of the first churches
Rev. J. Leighton Read served before entering missionary work in Indian Territory, was
First Presbyterian, Gurdon, Arkansas:
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Special Cake at the 130th Anniversary Celebration of founding of the church:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read also served Central Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, Arkansas:
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Information about Central Presbyterian Church on the Arkansas Historic Buildings Register:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read was Chairman of the Christian Endeavor Society, Little Rock, Arkansas, as reported in the "Pine Bluff Daily Graphic Newspaper" 17 OCT 1913:
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Newspaper announces Rev. J. Leighton Read leaving Central Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, Arkansas to work among the Indians in Colony, Oklahoma:
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Newspaper article, Colony Currier, Sept 6, 1917, says Rev. J. Leighton (name misspelled) Read is coming to an Indian Camp Meeting, Colony, OK, to become acquainted with where he will begin working:
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THE CHURCH AT COLONY, OKLAHOMA
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Picture of Missionary (name unknown) at Colony, Oklahoma, summer 1911:
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Conference of Christian Workers, Colony, Oklahoma, 1910:
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Group meeting of Missionaries, photo taken sometime between 1912 and 1953:
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"Sasser your coffee"
I received an email from one of my Read cousins asking me if I had any stories I could relate in connection with the Read family. One is in the following PDF file:
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How the Indians cleaned their rugs before the days of Hoover:
My
mother told me that when it would snow, the Indian women would lay
their rugs out on top the snow, then take a broom and sweep the snow
lightly across the top of the rug, thus also sweeping the dirt with it.
Then, they would turn the rug over and do the same thing with that
side. With her supervising, I tried it once with one of her handmade Indian rugs and it worked.
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Another good story that continued to be told long afterward by Jim and I, involved a scorpion that stung our Grandmother Read....but it's not what you think that made it such a good story.
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On another occasion, I heard Granddaddy Read state the following poem (below). I told him I liked it very much. So he typed out a copy on a small piece of paper on his old typewriter.
I carried it in my wallet for many years:
"Hearts like doors open with ease,
With tiny, tiny, little keys,
And two of these are
'Thank you,' and 'If you please.'"
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Rev. and Mrs. J. Leighton Read wrote "Lights and Shadows on the Colony Field," (which was published), describing their experiences with Native Americans. I obtained a copy from the Oklahoma Historical Society:
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Katharine Read (Hughes) on Right; with Indian girl:
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Pictures of Indians collected by Katharine Read (Hughes) with their names written on back of each:
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While living in Indian Territory/Oklahoma, my Mother told me her father instructed her not to stray far from the Indian Mission, due to the outlaws who traversed the area and established hideouts there. The following videos courtesy of the "Oklahoma Stories" series, and Youtube, is a case in point:
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On September 1,
1893, fourteen deputy U.S. Marshals entered Ingalls, Oklahoma, to apprehend the
gang, in what would be known as the Battle of Ingalls. During the shootout that
followed, three marshals were killed, two bystanders were killed and one
wounded, three of the gang members were wounded, and gang member "Arkansas
Tom Jones" was wounded and captured. Doolin shot and killed Deputy Marshal
Richard Speed during that shootout.
The next film describes what happened:
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Rev. Hughes took this picture (seen below) in the
1950s, of Jim and Joe at the entrance to one of Jesse James' hideouts in
Oklahoma. He backed up the car to the entrance, and you could feel the cold air coming from the mouth of the cave. (Mrs. Hughes' parents and grandparents were missionaries to the
Indians in Oklahoma Territory, and the children were told to be careful and not
stray far from the Indian school or church where they ministered; that the
James Brothers did have a hideout nearby. This has been verified by other
original source material).
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This is a picture of a robbers' cave in OK, used by both outlaws, Jesse James and Belle Starr, at different times, of course! It is located in Robbers Cave State Park, Latimer County, OK.
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From a new article by Michael J. Hightower in the current "Chronicles of Oklahoma," we get this information confirming the outlaw problem in Indian Territory/Oklahoma:
"Due to its geographic isolation and rugged terrain, far southeastern Indian Territory on the eve of Oklahoma statehood in 1907, was still a sparsely settle frontier. It was ideally suited to outlaw gangs that robbed and plundered more settled regions with impunity before confounding their pursuers and vanishing along trails, or "thief runs" that crisscrossed the Choctaw Nation. Belle Starr, Frank and Jesse James, and other outlaws whose names are lost to history knew they could regroup in the Kiamichi Mountains an plan further depredations." For stories of the Starr family's and the James brothers' activities in southeastern Oklahoma, see Michael J. Hightower, "Banking in Oklahoma before Statehood" and David Fritze "Idabel."
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At the time the gangs were still operating in that area, there was a proposal to establish the State of Sequoyah:
The State of Sequoyah was the
proposed name for a state to be established in the eastern part of present-day
Oklahoma. In 1905, faced by proposals to end their tribal governments, Native
Americans of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory proposed such a
state as a means to retain some control of their land. Their intention was to
have a state under Native American constitution and rule. The proposed state
was named in honor of Sequoyah, the Cherokee who created a writing system in
1825 for the Cherokee language.
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I asked my Mother what was in the "panhandle" section of Oklahoma. She said that when she lived in Oklahoma as a child, she was told that that area was considered a "no man's land" and used mostly as hideouts by outlaws. (She said that the name "Panhandle" comes from the similarity of its shape to the handle of a cooking pan.) It is 166 miles long and 34 miles wide. Beaver county encompassed the panhandle area from 1890 until OK statehood. The panhandle was then divided into 3 counties: Beaver, Texas, and Cimarron. Several Western movies and TV programs feature this area commonly called "Cimarron" or "Cimarron Strip." It definitely was used for hideouts by outlaws, including the notorious "Robbers Roost." In the map below, it is called the "Neutral Strip."
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Sons of the
Pioneers song "Cherokee Strip" from the 1940 Movie, "The Durango
Kid."
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Robber's Roost was a rock
fortress with stone walls 30 inches thick that was built by a band of outlaws
led by 'Captain' William Coe in No Man's Land in the late 1860's. It had one door
and instead of windows had 27 tall, narrow portholes. This region near the
Black Mesa was left unclaimed in 1850 when Congress established the boundaries
for Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. Therefore, Congress declared it
"neutral" or "No Man's Land" and soon forgot about it. The
result was a region without any kind of government or law where outlaws and
thieves began congregating because of the security the area offered them.
Coe had around 50 followers that
were known for stealing livestock from the Army and settlers in the area.
Because of the nature of the structure known as Robber's Roost, the Army
brought in a cannon to fire on the fortress to rid the area of the outlaws.
The painting, below, is of Robbers' Roost, by Wayne Cooper of Depew, OK, and hangs in the OK Statehouse.
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Things were so bad in the Panhandle of Indian Territory, even Hollywood made a B&W movie about it. The "Panhandle" in this film refers to the Oklahoma Panhandle. There was another film Starrett starred in called "Outlaws of the Texas Panhandle."
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There were multiple gangs of outlaws roaming through Indian Territory as indicated by these signs (some now advertising "tourist traps"):
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Up in the Arbuckle Mountains, just a few miles north of the Red River, across the Texas border, in Oklahoma, is the site of the Turner Falls, named after Mazeppa Thomas Turner, a farmer who discovered the falls in 1878. Now a park operated by the city of Davis, OK, it covers 1,500 acres, but at one time was home to outlaws in that region.
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The following article from the Wichita Beacon (Kansas) for August 25, 1898, tells us what it was like in Indian Territory (I.T.):
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A few more stories our Mother told us...........................
Jim and I also heard stories from Mother, about the frugal times she lived in, about the people who suffered in the "Dustbowl"area, and the lack of money for the basic necessities. Oklahoma suffered from a depression in the 1880s, long before the Great Depression of 1929.
She told me one striking story that has always stayed with me: that on one occasion, money was so tight, her mother, Katharine R. Read, had to pawn her wedding ring in order to get money to have the children's teeth fixed. During the Great Depression, she told how she and her grandmother (Lillah Porter Read, who lived with Rev. J. Leighton Read until 1940) had to learn to drink coffee, without sugar or cream; and how to bake without using much sugar. She was a good cook, and said that she had learned it mostly from working in the kitchen with her mother, while growing up. She said that her husband's mother complimented her on her cooking, and she felt that was high praise from her mother-in-law! She would then tell how all she had learned in cooking had come from her own mother, Mrs. Read.
And from what I can remember of those August summer vacations in Norman, OK, I remember the wonderfully prepared meals by my Grandmother Read, with my Mother assisting. I learned to love tomatoes during those visits. It was at her breakfast table that I first discovered what a poached egg was and how it was made. And then after supper, Granddaddy Read would show Jim and I how to work his hand-cranked ice cream maker, out on the back porch. I remember the excitement it created when my cousin David Saunders would discover what we were doing and came out to watch and wait!
Jim and I once asked Mother about playing cards; were they OK to use? She said "No." And then told us that her Mother, Grandmother Read, once discovered someone had brought some into their house, and she wouldn't touch them with her hands. She used tongs from the kitchen and tossed them into the fire!
Mother also told us two other sayings her mother had: "If it's doubtful, it's dirty" (in reference to clean clothes); and "Study to be quiet."
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While out one summer
visiting our grandparents in Norman, our family took a side trip to the Dog Iron Ranch, Oologah, OK, birthplace
of Will Rogers, to see his house. (Mother said that it was spelled "Oolagah" before Oklahoma became a state; and amazed Jim and I because she could pronounce all the Indian place names with no trouble.) So I asked mother if she
had ever seen Will Rogers. She said that she had seen him perform in an
outdoor rodeo arena. The picture, on the left, is how she would have remembered him. (Photo courtesy of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore, OK.)
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Mother said that Grandmother Read, before she was married, attended a summer session at Union Seminary in New York City, which is the oldest independent seminary in the United States, founded in 1836, by members of the Presbyterian Church in the USA:
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Mother said that she was told by her mother, that during a summer in New York City while attending Union Seminary, she attended a "student matinee" performance of Verdi's "Aida," because she couldn't afford to go to one at night, at the old Metropolitan Opera House, located at 1411 Broadway, occupying the whole block between West 39th St and West 40th St on the west side of the street in the Garment District of Midtown Manhattan; and believe me those blocks in NYC are not your typical city blocks; they are long! (Yes, I didn't know how to pronounce the name, and Mother had to teach us how it was pronounced:
Aida (Italian: [aˈiːda]).
Here are scenes from the Old Met Opera House, including the stage with it's gold damask curtain (the opera house is now located in Lincoln Center), as it would have looked when Grandmother attended a performance:
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The stage is set for "Aida" Act 2, Scene 1, as Grandmother Read would have seen it:
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It was during the Saturday matinee performances, Milton Cross would describe to radio listeners background commentary to the opera. Here he is in 1941, during a live radio broadcast describing Act I of Aida, as Grandmother would have experienced it in person:
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Now, here is an excerpt from the same opera, as performed in the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, NYC:
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Our Mother also told us that one summer, Grandmother Read, before she was married, took a trip to Pikes Peak, Colorado, and climbed up to the top where she signed a book, indicating she had been there. (Pikes Peak is named for Zebulon Montgomery Pike, an early explorer of the Southwest). Some modern pictures:
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From
the “The Free Lance,” (Fredericksburg, VA.) June 10, 1905:
Miss
Katharine Rutherford Wauchope, future wife of Dr. J. Leighton Read, graduates
from Fredericksburg College, with a degree in Music:
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Upon her graduation from Fredericksburg College, Katherine Rutherford Wauchope taught school at the Presbyterian College, Durant, Oklahoma.
(More pictures of the college):
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Here is Miss Wauchope in the faculty listings, taken from a doctoral dissertation by Anne Semple.
In 1910-1911: she taught Latin and French:
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In 1911-1912: she taught Latin and French:
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In 1912-1913, she taught Latin and German:
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J.J. Read (Rev. John Jeremiah Read) is listed below, as a "pioneer missionary," and as one of the founding trustees of Calvin Institute (which later became Oklahoma Presbyterian College):
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THE BUILDING OPENED IN 1910 AS THE OKLAHOMA
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE FOR GIRLS AND OPERATED UNTIL 1966. THE COLLEGE HAD ITS
ROOTS IN THE PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSION, WHICH ESTABLISHED THE CALVIN INSTITUTE
IN DURANT IN 1894. THE BUILDING REFLECTS THE CLASSICAL REVIVAL STYLE. LISTED IN
NATIONAL REGISTER 12/12/76.
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Calvin
Institute, near Durant. begun by Rev. C.U.
Ralston and named after his son, Calvin, who drowned. On the Board were
Rev. R.K. Moseley, head of the school; Rev. J.J. Read, W.J.B. Loyd, Dr. Robert
A. Lively. It was later supervised by Mrs. Mary Semple HOTCHKIN and her son
Ebenezer in 1896. She secured tribal funds in 1900 for Indian boys and girls
could attend. Later the city of Durant and Dr. Thornton R. SAMPSON led a fund
drive and the name was changed to Durant College. Became a girls' school
in1907 and after it was relocated to a new site opened in 1910, as Oklahoma
Presbyterian College for Girls, where Katherine Rutherford Wauchope would teach.
Rev. J.J. Read served on it's board of trustees.
Durant
is situated at the intersection of U.S. Highways 69/75 and 70, fifty-two miles
east of Ardmore and seventy-six miles southwest of McAlester. Occupation of the
townsite began in November 1872, when a wheelless boxcar was placed on the east
side of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway tracks. In 1873, Dixon Durant
erected the town's first building, a wooden store, on the east side of the
boxcar. Named "Durant Station" for his family, it was shortened to
Durant in 1882. Since the first settlers came to the area, agriculture
has remained the town's economic base. The primary commercial crops were
peanuts, cotton, wheat, and cattle. By 1902, there were eight churches, sixteen
groceries, sixteen physicians, five hotels, fifteen attorneys, an ice plant,
and numerous other businesses. Growth continued rapidly, due to a rapid influx
of mixed-blood Choctaws and whites. Very few full-bloods lived in Bryan County
at the time. In 1894 the Presbyterian Church opened the Calvin Institute, which
evolved into Durant Presbyterian College and closed in 1966, as the Oklahoma
Presbyterian College. On March 6, 1909, the Oklahoma Legislature approved the
establishment of Southeastern State Normal School at Durant. In 1921, the
institution became Southeastern State Teachers College and in 1974, Southeastern
Oklahoma State University. In 1999 the state legislature proclaimed Durant
"the Magnolia Capital of Oklahoma," and the town annually hosts a
Magnolia Festival the weekend following Memorial Day. Oklahoma Gov. Robert L.
Williams resided in Durant. In 1975, Chief David Gardner located the
headquarters of the Choctaw Nation in the former Oklahoma Presbyterian College
buildings. At the beginning of the twenty-first century Durant continued to
grow with wholesale, retail, and light manufacturing businesses supported by
one of the top-ranked public school systems in the state. The 1890 census did
not include Durant in its list of important towns. In 1900 the population was
2,969, and 5,330 in 1910, rising to 12,823 in 1990 and to 13,549 in 2000.
Source: The History of Bryan County,
Oklahoma (Durant, Okla.: Bryan County Heritage Association, 1983).
Other Sources Used: Bryan County Democrat
(Durant, Oklahoma) , 18 December 1924. Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), 9
November 1992 and 31 January 1999. Ellis Freeny, Peter Freeny and His
Descendants in America (Oklahoma City: Ellis Freeny, 1995). The History of
Bryan County, Oklahoma (Durant, Okla.: Bryan County Heritage Association, Inc.,
1983). Amy Sanders, "Fifth-Generation Rancher Sets New Goals For
Oklahoma's Oldest Family Ranch," Cattleman 83 (August 1996).
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More information discovered about Calvin Institute:
Oklahoma
Presbyterian College
Durant,
Oklahoma
1894-1966
The OPC building is on the
National Register and the application contains a history of the school as well
as a description of the building. Ancestry.com has the 1914 Ithanna,
the school yearbook. Dust Bowl Girls by Lydia Reeder is a history
of the powerful OPC basketball teams of the 1930’s. Ruth Ann Semple’s
thesis, Origin and Development of Oklahoma Presbyterian College is
online.
History
OPC is an outgrowth of
Presbyterian mission work among the Choctaw Indian nation. The first
school, called Calvin Institute, opened in 1894. Its success led to its
being closed and reopened as a larger school called Durant Presbyterian College
in 1901.
Durant Presbyterian College
offered standard college courses. But with a peak enrollment of 315, it
needed more space, and the newly created Southeastern Normal College needed a
home. So DPC sold its campus to the state and used the money to build a larger
building and reorganize the school.
This reorganization brought
Oklahoma Presbyterian College for Girls, which opened in the fall of
1910. Semple notes that the school offered three degrees—Bachelor of
Arts, Bachelor of Literature, and Bachelor of Science. There was also a
preparatory division. Dust Bowl Girls says that the college
girls—mostly whites—were required to sit at lunch with younger students—many of
whom were Indians—to help with table manners.
The 1914 Ithanna
shows a student body of around 100—more than half in the college. (One student,
a Jewish girl, was murdered in November of 1913.) The curriculum was heavily
weighted toward the liberal arts. The fourteen-member faculty included
four piano teachers—including Edward Baxter Perry from Leipzig, who had studied
under Franz Liszt. One faculty member taught voice, one taught art, and
four taught languages and expression. Bible classes were required.
Thirty-nine students were listed as members of the Utopian Literary
Society and 61 were members of the competing Phi Delta Sigma Society.
Most Students were members of the YWCA or the Miriam Society –for younger
girls.
The calendar shows a school
year filled with parties, teas, luncheons, dramatic performances, recitals, and
class competitions in athletics and academics. Students apparently had
some social interactions with those from Southeastern Normal School.
By 1935 the financially
strapped OPC entered into a relationship with Southeastern Normal.
According to Semple, all instruction except for music and Bible was
“surrendered” to Southeastern Normal. In 1955 OPC again became
co-educational. But by 1966, financial problems caused the campus to
close.
Bricks
and Mortar
The new OPC building was
located at 601 North 16th Street. Measuring 160 feet by 50 feet, it was
built of red brick with white stone trim at a cost of $100,000. The
basement and main floor contained classrooms. The upper floor served as a
dormitory. Until 1941, a partial fourth floor—called the “Buzzard’s
Roost”—contained a half-gymnasium. After a fire damaged the building, the
fourth floor was removed. In 1918 a second building was added immediately
south of the main building.
In 1975 the campus became
the home for the Red River Valley Historical Society. It was placed on
the National Register in 1976.
NEXT PHOTO: The main building prior to the 1941
fire. Note the Buzzard's Roost. Image from Burke Library Archives
of Columbia University.
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Sports
Team name: Cardinals
Colors: Garnet and Grey
College
Football Data Warehouse shows
a football game in 1904—a 34-0 loss to Austin College.
Ithanna says that the girls basketball teams
were forbidden to compete against other schools.
OPC’s real sports history
began in 1929 when Sam Babb was hired as basketball coach. The OPC
teams—made up of Oklahoma farm girls—began a run of 88 consecutive wins from
December 1931 to December 1934. Most games were against post-college age
AAU teams. Despite having only the “Buzzard’s Roost” of their own and the use of
the SNS gymnasium 4-6 a.m., the OPC Cardinals won the AAU national
championship in 1932 and 1933, defeating the Dallas Golden Cyclones both
years. In 1933 the Cardinals went on to defeat the Edmondton (BC) Grads
in Edmondton for the championship of North America, playing two games using
men’s rules.
Semple notes that under “independent
sponsorship” the team toured Europe in 1934. The Tulsa World says that
the Presbyterian board withdrew support for the team and that they all enrolled
at Oklahoma City University.
NEXT PHOTO:
Six members of the 1932 national champions.
All-america guard Doll Harris is to the left. Image from Truby
Studio of Durant.
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Oklahoma Presbyterian College update:
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The following Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 1890, will give you insight into the work of Rev. J.J.Read and his colleagues:
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Miss Katherine Wauchope is listed as Superintendent of Christian Endeavor Society:
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Wauchope Family
Church Membership Records:
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Katharine Rutherford Wauchope Read
Baptism Record:
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Katharine Rutherford Read was baptized
by Rev. Frank Hall Wright, D.D. who was born in Boggy Depot.
The following information is provided which gives insight into the mission work which the Wright and Read families were involved in:
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A Pipe Organ was purchased by the Oklahoma Presbyterian College, Durant, Oklahoma, and dedicated to the memory of Rev. Frank Hall Wright:
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From the Tulsa Tribune, Sept 20, 1928:
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NEW on the “Wauchope Family Story” web page:
Session Minutes covering the ministry
of Rev. William C. Wauchope, Rev. Roe Wauchope, Rev. J.H. Baxter, Rev.
H.A.Vanderwank, and Rev. J. Leighton Read, at the Columbia Memorial Presbyterian
Church,
Colony, Oklahoma. {Includes listing of Wauchope/Read children
baptism(s).}
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A recently discovered picture taken by Rev. Hughes of Rev. J. Leighton Read with his eldest daughter (Mrs. Frank Hughes, Jr.) He had just arrived at the airport for a visit to our home in South Norfolk, Virginia, after his wife had already passed.
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J. Leighton Read and Katharine Rutherford Wauchope marriage license:
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Newspaper announces the marriage of Rev. J. Leighton Read and
Miss Katharine Rutherford Wauchope:
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While at Austin College, Sherman, Texas, John Leighton Read, Age 20, roomed with William Scott. 1900 Census:
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The
college was founded on October 13, 1849, in Huntsville, Texas, by the
Hampden–Sydney and Princeton-educated missionary Dr. Daniel Baker. Signed by
Texas Governor George Wood, the charter of Austin College was modeled after those
of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
Baker
named the school for the Texas historical figure Stephen F. Austin after the
original land on which it was built was donated by the Austin family. Two other
important figures in Texas history, Sam Houston and Anson Jones, served on the
original board of trustees for the college, and the former site in Huntsville
later became today's Sam Houston State University.
Austin
College's founding president was Irish-born Presbyterian minister Samuel
McKinney, who served as the school's president a second time from 1862 to 1871.
Under the tenure of the fourth president of Austin College, Reverend Samuel
Magoffin Luckett, Austin College suffered several yellow fever
epidemics and complications related to the Civil War. Texas Synod of the
Presbyterian Church decided the college would be relocated to Sherman in 1876.
Construction
of the new campus in north Texas came in the form of "Old Main," a
two-story, red brick structure, which occurred between 1876 and 1878. Struggling
with the Long Depression. Austin College saw little improvement to its building
or grounds during the late 1870s; as such, Samuel Luckett resigned his position
as president. From 1878 to 1885, the college continued to struggle from the
aftershocks of economic depression; with an increasing debt and shrinking
student body, the college turned to its 7th president, Reverend Donald
MacGregor. A shrewd and well connected businessman, President MacGregor
relieved a great deal of the college's debt and returned operations to
normalcy. After MacGregor's death in 1887, the college welcomed President
Luckett back to the campus. Throughout his second term as president, Samuel
Luckett adopted a military program, grew the student body, introduced a YMCA
chapter, established intercollegiate athletics and Greek fraternities, and
added two wings to Old Main.
One
of the school's most iconic presidents came in the form of Reverend Thomas
Stone Clyce, who served as the Austin College president from 1900 to 1931;
Reverend Clyce's presidency would become, and remains, the longest tenure in
Austin College history.
On
January 21 of 1913, Old Main was set ablaze and burnt to the ground in a matter
of hours. A professor of Austin College, Davis Foute Eagleton described the incident:
"Austin
College on fire and every particle of wood reduced to ashes--and walls rendered
totally unfit for use. Oh, dies irae, dies irae! - The dear old building in
which I have laboured for twenty-four years, gone! What traditions, memories,
griefs, joys, were associated with it! The carpenters were approaching the
completion of their work. The new English room was completed, the library room
was soon to be ready. The literary societies lost everything. I lost all books,
or, [those] in my class room. The laboratories were almost a total loss.
Fortunately, the library, records, and office furniture were all in the new
Y.M.C.A. building. Before the fire had begun to die out, the Senior class
called the student body together and they pledged themselves by classes in
writing to stand by the Faculty and the College, and that no one would leave.
The Faculty also met shortly after and unanimously decided to continue college
work the next day as usual, meeting their classes in places designated.
Probably not another institution in the State could have done this. But the old
College building is gone forever!!!"
Following
the fire, the citizens of Sherman raised $50,000 to help the college rebuild.
Now one of the oldest buildings on the Austin College campus, Sherman Hall
housed administrative offices, an auditorium-chapel, and a library. Now the
home of the humanities division, Sherman Hall boasted such guests as Harry
Houdini, Harry Blackstone Sr., Madame Schumann-Heink, William Howard Taft, and
George H.W. Bush.
To
this day, the Austin College administration rarely cancels classes for weather
or minor incidents in honor of the great commitment students and faculty made
to continue on with regular coursework following the fire.
Austin
College became co-educational in 1918, merging in 1930 with the all-female
Texas Presbyterian College.
The
Great Depression severely limited campus growth and educational expansion,
however the college quickly regained momentum in the mid-1930s with the
introduction of many courses, ground breaking on new facilities, and growth of
previously established programs. Throughout 1942, Austin College trained some
300 men and women in engineering, science and management courses as part of the
United States Office of Education's war efforts. The following year, Austin
College undertook a Cadet nurses training program and hosted Naval Reserves,
Texas Home Guard, Army-air trainees and Air Corps Cadets.
On
September 20, 1973, the musician Jim Croce died in a plane crash in
Natchitoches, Louisiana, on his way to perform the next night at Austin
College. Six people died in the crash.
In
1994, Dr. Oscar Page joined the community as its 14th president. Under his
tenure, 1994-2009, Dr. Page increased the school's endowment by nearly 80%, due
in large part to his dedicated fundraising efforts as evidenced by the success
of the "Campaign for the New Era;" a total of $120 million were
raised and the campaign was heralded as the largest fundraiser in Austin
College's history. Dr. Page orchestrated the construction of Jordan Family
Language House, Jerry E. Apple Stadium, the Robert J. and Mary Wright Campus Center,
the Robert M. and Joyce A. Johnson ’Roo Suites, and the Betsy Dennis Forster
Art Studio Complex; as well as the renovation of the David E. and Cassie L.
Temple Center for Teaching and Learning at Thompson House and of Wortham
Center, and creation of the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson Technology Center,
the Margaret Binkley Collins and William W. Collins, Jr., Alumni Center, and
the College Green in Honor of John D. and Sara Bernice Moseley and
Distinguished Faculty.
In
the latter part of Austin College's history, the school would see
de-segregation, welcome its first full-time black faculty member, first female
head of a department, and, employ its first female president.
Dr.
Marjorie Hass joined the campus in 2009 as both its first female and Jewish
faith president. Since the start of her leadership, the college has seen the
construction of the IDEA Center and two new housing complexes, the Flats at
Brockett Court and the Village on Grand. Home to 103,000 square feet of
multi-disciplinary and multi-purpose classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls
and the largest telescope in the region found in Adams Observatory, the IDEA
Center is a LEED Gold certified facility.
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Cadets and their sponsors, 1890s:
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Grandmother Read would go out in her Norman, Oklahoma neighborhood and invite the children into her home and teach Bible stories with flannel graphs, and sing songs while she played the piano.
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"He Owns the Cattle on a Thousand Hills"
(Words and Music by John W. Peterson)
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me.
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Rev. J. Leighton Read (center of picture in suit) seen here in Lawton, OK, with his wife Katharine (seated at the pump organ) ministering to Indians.
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An August 1958 visit to Virginia
with Rev. and Mrs. J. Leighton Read
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During one summer, Rev. and Mrs. J. Leighton Read visited us in South Norfolk, Virginia. Here is a picture Dad took of us down at Nags Head, N.C. on the beach. From L to R: Joe, Mrs. Read, Rev. Read (in white shirt and tie) and Jim, sitting behind him playing in the sand. (Apologies for the small picture size; they were taken with a Kodak "Brownie" Camera.)
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Rev. Read took this picture of us at Colonial Williamsburg. From L to R: Joe (being held by Dad), Rev. and Mrs. Hughes, Jim standing in front of Mrs. Read.
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Jim, Rev. Read, Mrs. Hughes, Joe, Mrs. Read at Williamsburg
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Joe and Jim at Williamsburg
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Joe, Rev. Hughes, and Jim at Williamsburg
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Pictures from a family reunion at Rev. and Mrs. Read's home, Norman, OK:
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Front Row, L-R: Jim, David Saunders (making a face), Joe
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Pictures of Read family with identification page written by
Mrs. Katharine Read Hughes:
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Read, Dillon, Hughes family members visit
Rev. and Mrs. Read (Some photos were duplicated/enlarged)
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Back row, L-R: Mother, Granddaddy Read, Aunt Mary Saunders, Grandmother Read.Front row, L-R: unknown, Jim, unknown, David Saunders, Joe.
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David Saunders on tricycle, Cheryl Saunders, Joe and Jim in wagon:
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Cheryl Saunders standing, David Saunders on tricycle, Joe and Jim in wagon:
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John Leighton Read, Jr. in WW2 uniform:
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John L. Read, Jr. at Oklahoma University, Norman, 1948:
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John was a member of Kappa Alpha:
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John was a member of the IFC:
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Katharine Anne Read at University of Oklahoma in 1934, was a member of Pi Epsilon Alpha, a religious organization:
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Elizabeth Louise Read marriage
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Grandmother Read holds Judy January while
Edward Bruce January holds camera:
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Edward Bruce January holds Judy January:
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Identified: L to R: Joe & Jim Hughes with cousins in Oklahoma:
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The following 3 pictures were on the same roll as the previous ones taken in Norman, OK. If any of my Read cousins knows where they were taken, please contact Joe.
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At the Read's Norman, OK house, June 1954:
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Nancy Dillon celebrates her first birthday, as Rev. Read looks on at the right.
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Nancy and Ellen Dillon sisters:
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Dr. Robert Morris Dillon, who married Elizabeth Read:
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When our family visited the Dillon's in Oklahoma, Jim, who had already started taking trombone lessons at school, talked with his Uncle Robert about his music. He gave Jim a copy of some music he had written and a recording of the Bethany High School Band.
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Rare Diary and Bible Study Notes of Katharine Wauchope Read, found in the effects of her daughter, Katharine Anne Read:
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Picture of my Aunt Teeny while visiting her sister Katharine Read, one summer, in Sulpher Springs, OK:
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Betty, Mary, Cheryl, and Teeny:
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My Aunt Teeny and Uncle Dan
Wedding Photos (Notations of who is in each picture
by Katharine Read.)
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Rice being thrown on the couple, as they leave
Rev. and Mrs. Read's house in Norman, OK:
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Hughes family visited the D'Antoni family in New Orleans, here on "The President" paddlewheeler:
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L to R: unidentified, Katharine, Teenie, Joe, Jim, one of the D'Antoni sons.
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READ Children School Enrollment Card,
January 30, 1930. (Note the name misspelled: "Cathirene ann Read"
which should be: "Katharine Anne Read."
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Read Children School Enrollment Cards: 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1934:
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Read Children School Enrollment forms in PDF format:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read receives
Doctor of Divinity Degree.
Vice-President of the U.S. is the guest speaker:
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Thomas R. Marshall Vice-President
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Full newspaper story in two (2) parts:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read was involved in the Child Evangelism Fellowship. An article from The Oklahoman, June 6, 1941:
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Recent Research (2019) on the Read
"family tree"
Early immigrant: James Read, Soldier and Blacksmith, 1607, Jamestown Colony (Source: National Park Service, Jamestown, VA.)
One of the first immigrants: Peter Read, from Kent, England, to Charles City, VA. He came to America by 1654 indentured to Walter Brooks; transported to Charles City by Walter Barker and sons William Brookes, age 17, along with Steven Read, age 24, and a Richard Young, age 31. They came from London by certificate from Minister to Gravesend. This can be found in Public Record's Office E157/20.
Peter was born in 1634 in Kent, England. With his wife Ann, they had a daughter, also named Ann, who died in 1685. She married Dorrill Young and they had 4 children.
Peter and Ann also had a son, Henry, born 1660 in Prince George, VA; died Oct 7, 1712 in the same place. Henry married Elizabeth Hancock and had 3 sons and 4 daughters between 1690 and 1705.
On April 3, 1688, Peter's wife also named Ann, was granted the administration of her late husband's estate. This record can be found at Westover 10/02/1688, page 135, "Ann Read, admin., of Peter Read, dec'd, James Wallis and Edmund Irby to inventory estate."
Son: Henry, born, 1698, Virginia.
Son: Harmon, born 1698, Prince George, Virginia.
Son: Moses, born 1744, Isle of Wight, Virginia.
Son: William, born 1771, North Carolina
Son: John, born 1794, North Carolina
Son: John, born 1794, Mississippi.
Son: William Frances, born 1817, Tennessee.
Son: John Jeremiah, born 1842, Mississippi.
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Henry Read, son of Peter Read
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Harmon Read, son of Henry Read
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Moses Read, son of Harmon Read
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William Read, son of Moses Read
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John Read, son of William Read
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William Francis Read, son of John Read
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William Francis Read died on Sunday morning, July 6, 1850, of typhoid fever. He received some treatment from a Dr. A.B. Caldwell. He was buried in a Protestant cemetery northeast of Nevada City, California, close to Downieville, California.
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We find out want happened to William F. Read when he went to the gold field where he died, from Hewitt Clarke, in this excerpt from his book, "He Saw the Elephant":
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My mother once told me that her father indicated a family connection between the Read family and George Read of Delaware, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. We are currently researching that connection.
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James Read in Jamestown, 1607
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James [Jamestown Settler, May 1607] READ
Birth: 1565 in Kent,
England
Death: 13 MAR 1622
Immigration: 13 MAY 1607
Jamestown Settlement, Colony of Virginia;
First Landing; on the ?Susan Constant?
Occupation: Original Jamestown
Settler (1st Landing); blacksmith and soldier
Alias/AKA: READE
Jamestown Expedition: After setting sail on December 20, 1606, this famous
expedition finally reached Virginia in April 1607 after enduring a lengthy
voyage of over four months in three tiny ships (?Discovery?, ?Susan Constant?,
and ?Godspeed?). The Susan Constant, at 120 tons, was the largest of the three
ships led by Capt. Christopher Newport. She carried 71 passengers and was about
116 feet long. The Godspeed, led by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, carried 39
passengers and 13 sailors. She was a 40 ton brigantine about 68 feet long. The
Discovery, under Capt. John Ratcliffe, was was a 20-ton ?fly boat? and carried
21 persons.
After exploring several sites along the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the
colonists, fearing pirates and Spanish competition, decided to explore further
inland. Jamestown, because of its deeper off-shore waters allowing close
mooring for the ships, was chosen instead. On May 13, 1607 the settlers landed
at Jamestown ready to begin the task of surviving in a new environment.
Of the 105 survivors that established the town of Jamestown, over 50 would die
in the 'sickly season' or 'seasoning period' of July to September.
James Read, blacksmith, was one of the original 104 Jamestown settlers and the
only blacksmith. Below is a letter, translated into modern English, he wrote to
his mother just 4 months after their arrival.
25 Sept. 1607
Dear Mom,
We finally made it to Jamestown. My job as a blacksmith is very important to
our community. I have to make farming tools and pots and pans for people. I
always have a fire going in my shop. It is nice in the winter but hot in the
summer. I have to work many long hours.
We have built a 3-sided fort to protect us from the Indians. All of our homes
and stores and the church tower are inside the fort. We also grow crops. Our
houses all have thatched roofs. Every day is a lot of hard work. Besides
working in the shop. We spend a lot of time caring for animals and fixing
meals.
Our leader is named John Smith. The Indians once captured him but he is now
making us a stronger colony. Because of his strong leadership we all survived.
He made some rules one was "who does not work does not eat"
I miss you but don?t worry
Love, James Read
He survived the first few frightening months of colonial life in good health.
But the blacksmith almost lost his life another way. In September 1607, during
one of Smith?s absences on the river, the 2nd President, John Ratcliffe (aka
Sicklemore), beat James Read, the blacksmith. Captain Edward Wingfield says the
Council were continually beating men for their pleasure. Read struck back. For
this he was condemned to be hanged. His life was spared in a last minute
bargain, mostly because "killing the man who mends your guns, makes your nails,
repairs your chisels, and fixes your locks, not to mention the shoes of your
horses might not be the wisest." (Hume 162 -163).
From the account of Edward Maria Wingfield, first President
of the Colony, in his “Discourse on Virginia,” we learn the truth of the James
Read incident:
"The36 . . . daie of37 . . . the President did beat James Read
> , the Smyth (Blacksmith).
38 The Smythe (Blacksmith, i.e., James Read) stroake him againe. For
this he was condempned to be hanged; but, before he was turned of the lather,
he desired to speak with the President in private, to whome he accused Mr
Kendall of a mutiny, and so escaped himself.39 What indictment Mr Recorder
framed against the Smyth, I knowe not; but I knowe it is familiar for the
President, Counsellors, and other officers, to beate men at their pleasures.
One lyeth sick till death, another walketh lame, the third cryeth out of all
his boanes; wch myseryes they doe take vpon their consciences to come to them
by this their alms of beating. Wear this whipping, lawing, beating, and
hanging, in Virginia, knowne in England, I fear it would driue many well
affected myndes from this honoble action of Virginia.
This Smyth comyng aboord the pynnasse wth some others,
aboute some busines, 2 or 3 dayes before his arraignemt, brought me comendacons
from Mr Pearsye, Mr Waller,40 Mr Kendall, and some others, saieing they would
be glad to see me on shoare. I answered him, they were honest gent., and had
carryed themselues very obediently to their gounors. I prayed God that they did
not think of any ill thing vnworthie themselues. I added further, that vpon
Sundaie, if the weathiar were faire, I would be at the sermon. Lastly, I said
that I was so sickly, starued, lame, and did lye so could and wett in the
pynnasse, as I would be dragged thithere before I would goe thither any more.
Sundaie proued not faire: I went not to the sermon."
"The41 . . . daie of42 . . ., Mr Kendall was executed; being
shott to death for a mutiny. In th' arrest of his judgmt, he alleaged to Mr
President yt his name was Sicklemore, not Ratcliff;43 & so had no authority
to pnounce judgmt. Then Mr Martyn pnounced judgmt.“
Historically, blacksmiths had been very important on the frontier. In addition
to accompanying Captain John Smith on expeditions in June and December 1608,
during which time Read had a point of land named after him. James Read survived
to work as a blacksmith in Jamestown for 15 years.
Records by John Smith indicate that Read was one of several men who built a house for Chief Powhatan in advance of his coming to talk with Smith.
Records of the Virginia Company dated
March 13, 1622, reveal that Joan, the daughter of James Read (Reade), and her
mother Isabelle) stood to inherit her late father?s goods, which were in the
possession of Captain John Martin of Martin?s Brandon (59). Joan was then in
England (VCR 1:618).
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New PBS Drama "Jamestown" features James Read played by a British actor.
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Matt Stokoe plays a leading role as James Read in the new PBS "Jamestown" series. He is cast, appropriately, as the blacksmith in Jamestown.
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Rev. John Jeremiah Read
(Photo dated: May 1872)
(Courtesy of Presbyterian Heritage Center, Montreat, NC)
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J.J. Read's father died when he was 7 years old and he spent most of his boyhood days on his father's plantation, attending a fine academy, where he was grounded in the rudiments of an English education, From there at age 15, he entered business at Raymond, Mississippi, spending 3 years as a clerk in a store.
It was after his time spent in the Confederate Army that he first wanted to become a professional teacher and wanted to seek a college education toward that end.
It was under the influence of his pastor, Rev. I.J. Daniel, that he was convinced of his duty to enter the ministry. This led to his enrollment at Oakland College, the Presbyterian college of Mississippi in that day.
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Here is the 1860 Census for Raymond, Mississippi, which shows him living there, working as a clerk in a store. His name is on line 38, and boarding with the Gibbs family, age 17:
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Before attending seminary, J.J.Read attended Oakland College in Mississippi:
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The Literary Society Building, built in 1850:
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Oakland College Curriculum
contributed by Charles Dawkins from the
original document in the MS Department of Archives & History, Jackson, MS:
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Additional information on
Oakland College:
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After attending Oakland College,
John J. Read attended
Columbia Presbyterian Seminary.
The seminary that he attended was located in Columbia, South Carolina, not Decatur, Georgia, as some information states. According to the Presbyterian Historical Center, Montreat, N.C., the seminary was actually started in 1828 in Lexington, Georgia, then it was moved to Columbia, South Carolina in 1830, which is the campus he would have attended. It was not moved to Decatur, Georgia until 1927.
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In 1830, Columbia, South
Carolina, became the first permanent location of the seminary. The school
became popularly known as Columbia Theological Seminary, and the name was
formally accepted in 1925. The building was designed by architect Robert Mills
as the Robert Mills/Ainsley Hall House. As
seen abandoned, circa 1920's:
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It was in 1823, that Columbia merchant Ainsley Hall and his wife Sarah
hired Robert Mills to plan this stylish Classical Revival townhouse, one of few
private residences he ever designed. Ainsley Hall died before the house was
finished, and Sarah sold the mansion to the Presbyterian Synod of South
Carolina and Georgia, which established a seminary there in 1831 and opened the
educational chapter of the property’s history.
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This
small building was removed from Columbia, SC to Rock Hill, SC in 1936, as the
most important landmark of Winthrop College' history on the campus. The college began
in this converted carriage house in 1886, when Winthrop Founder and First
President, David Bancroft Johnson, then superintendent of Columbia’s public
schools, received permission from the Columbia Theological Seminary to use the
building for a teacher training classroom.
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It had been designed by Robert
Mills and built as a stable/carriage house in 1823 on the grounds of Ainsley
Hall mansion in downtown Columbia. The one story, rectangular one-room masonry
building had a high, arched central doorway for horses and carriages. It has
load bearing brick walls and pilasters, semicircular arched doorways and end
windows, slate shingled gable roof with an end parapet and boxed cornices, and
plain vertical board doors. This arcaded masonry design was a Mills trademark
and reflects the design of the Ainsley Hall mansion.
In 1830, the mansion was
acquired by the Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina and Georgia for a seminary
campus, and the carriage house was converted into a chapel for the Columbia
Theological Seminary. The main arched doorway was removed and replaced with a
smaller rectangular window. Additional sash windows were probably added then to
light the chapel, but this is not documented. These windows probably were not
in place during the building’s time as a stable. The stalls were removed and replaced
with pews and a pulpit on a raised wood floor for the chancel.
The ca. 1830 chapel remains
basically unaltered. In 1886, David Bancroft Johnson requested the use of the
Little Chapel as a classroom for the inaugural academic year of Winthrop
Training School. The Seminary was closed because of an internal religious dispute.
Permission was granted by the Presbyterian Church and the Little Chapel became
the birthplace of Winthrop as an institution. The Little Chapel only served
Winthrop as a classroom during its inaugural year. In the fall of 1887, the
Winthrop Training School moved to a much larger building on Marion Street in
Columbia, SC which contained four large rooms and the chapel returned to its
prior use as a religious center for the Columbia Theological Seminary.
In 1927, the seminary moved
to Decatur, GA. and the Little Chapel was left vacated. With pleas from the
Winthrop Alumnae Association, Winthrop
began a campaign to have the structure moved to Rock Hill. Their efforts
were rewarded when the Seminary Board of Directors presented the Chapel to
Winthrop on May 7, 1936. Plans were then set into motion to transport the
building, brick by brick, to the Winthrop campus in Rock Hill, SC.
On the morning of September
29, 1936, with aid from a Federal Works Progress Administration grant, a long
procession of cars and trucks set out from Columbia with 36,000 numbered
bricks, massive hand-hewn timbers, and other building materials. Chaperoning
these materials along its route to Rock Hill were such Winthrop dignitaries as
Winthrop president, Dr. Shelton Phelps; former Winthrop president, James
Pinckney Kinard and his wife, Lee Wicker Kinard; Mrs. D. B. Johnson, widow of
Winthrop’s first president; and 55 representatives of Winthrop’s numerous
alumnae chapters.
The reassembling of the
chapel on campus under architectural supervision took several months and was
completed in the early spring of 1937. A formal dedication of the Little Chapel
was held on May 29, 1936 with numerous prominent South Carolinians present,
including Archibald Rutledge, S. C. Poet Laureate and 4 of 5 living members of
Winthrop’s first graduating class of 1887. President Johnson’s remains, buried
on the front campus in 1928, were re-interred under the chapel in 1936. His
wife, Mai Rutledge Smith Johnson, who died in 1978, is also buried at his side.
The chapel sits amid a grove
of large oak trees on the plateau above the athletic field, northwest of the
amphitheater. This pastoral area is all that remains of Oakland Park, which
originally covered most of the campus. Laid out in 1890 by W. B. Wilson, the park
attracted patrons from “downtown” Rock Hill who came out on Wilson’s privately
built street car track. The park’s main features were a large pond where the
depressed athletic field is now, a casino, bandstands, and landscaped walks.
The area immediately
surrounding the chapel was landscaped in 1936 with sidewalks and shrubs. The
building and grounds continued to be maintained through the years, however, by
the early 1980s the larger surroundings of the chapel and the amphitheater,
built around 1916, had fallen into disrepair and suffered from inadequate
drainage. Also, the building was kept locked and was only used during special
ceremonies.
In the early 1980s, a
significant revitalization effort was implemented and the Little Chapel
received much needed repairs. Following the completion of these repairs the
Little Chapel was rededicated and reopened at a ceremony on October 13, 1983.
These efforts were largely spurred on by Winthrop’s centennial celebration in
1986.
In 2005, effort was made to
return the Little Chapel to a more prominent and appealing place within the
campus community. The David Bancroft Johnson Bust which had been commissioned
by the Winthrop Alumni Association to celebrate Winthrop’s centennial was
removed from the front campus and relocated to the Little Chapel. Also, a
sculpture garden was added to the lawn in front of the Little Chapel with
Architectonic Benches and a meditative garden to further its appeal to
visitors.
The chapel retains its 1830
integrity, even though moved from the original site. In 1970, as part of the
Ainsley Hall House restoration, the carriage house was reconstructed on its
original site by the Historic Columbia Foundation. This reconstruction is
currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The original
chapel is at least of equal significance.
President Woodrow Wilson,
whose father was a professor at the seminary in the 1860s-80s, regularly
attended services and lectures in the chapel. In 1873, he took vows to become a
member of the Presbyterian Church there. Much of Wilson’s intellectual
stimulation came from listening to sermons and philosophical lectures given in
the chapel. Wilson had been a student at the seminary until 1886, when
scientific and philosophical differences with established religion caused him
to seek a career in secular academic life.
For many reasons this small
building seems clearly eligible for National Register listing. It is a Robert
Mills building of distinctive style and elegance; it was the site of President
Wilson’s early education; and it was the original Winthrop Building. The
careful 1936 move to Rock Hill was a pioneer accomplishment in historic
preservation. An official State Historical Marker is already in place.
The Chapel as it appears today:
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After graduating from
Columbia Presbyterian Seminary,
Columbia, South Carolina,
John J. Read was licensed to preach and supplied at the
Presbyterian Church, Port Gibson, MS.
The church was first called Bayou Pierre Presbyterian Church; then later First Presbyterian.
Pictures of the church (below) are how it looks today, little changed).
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This church has one of the most unusual histories. "The Church with the Golden Hand," by Jim Woodrick, is very informative:
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The present brick building
housing the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson was completed in 1860. The
Romanesque Revival church was created by James Jones, apparently a local
architect, and bears a distinctive 165-foot high steeple crowned by an upwardly
pointing gilded hand. First carved of wood by Daniel Foley in 1859, the
original hand was replaced by one of sheet metal about 1901.
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The perfect
acoustics that the cove ceiling gives, (seen in the picture below) allows the preacher’s normal speaking
voice, to be heard easily far in the back pew.
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One man who recently visited the church developed this synopsis: "By 1859, they had outgrown their small brick building and
hired a man from the North to build their new larger sanctuary. The contractor
ran off after only completing the walls up to the roofline, which is so typical
of Yankees, isn’t it? According to the church’s website, the congregation
pulled together and completed the building by late 1860 with contributions from
church elder H.N. Spencer.
"As it stands today, the church shows a high degree of
craftsmanship in its design and workmanship on both the exterior and the
interior. A fine Romanesque Revival style church, it relies on strong basic
forms, including most prominently its rounded windows and door openings.
"On the interior, the simplicity of the Presbyterian creed
comes through in the minimal decoration punctuated by the cove of the ceiling
and again by the round arched forms. This simplicity allows the plasterwork
archway behind the pulpit to really draw attention to the pastor and the
preaching of the Word. A nice plaster cornice also surrounds the sanctuary,
subtly showing off the cove in the ceiling."
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Visitors will notice that the front windows are of a
different stained glass than the side windows. The fronts are the original
colored glass, while those in the sanctuary have been replaced with more ornate
memorial windows over time.
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Presbyterian records indicate that John Jeremiah Read was ordained on December 10, 1871, by the Brazos Presbytery.
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John Jeremiah Read
ordination
The Galveston Daily News
DEC 13, 1871:
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Rev. John Jeremiah Read served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas, 1871-1876.
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A reporter from the Galveston newspaper attended one of Rev. J.J. Read's worship services and mentioned that he preached an excellent sermon,....without notes:
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John Jeremiah Read married
Lillah Porter on April 25, 1874.
The service was conducted by
Dr. H.W. Dodge, pastor of First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas, 1871-1877.
From the "History of First Baptist Church" of Austin, Texas, 1923, Mr. John F. Smith, wrote this of him at the time of the churches' 50th anniversary celebration: "Brother Dodge has been justly called the old man eloquent. He is liberally endowed with rich mental, moral, and social qualities, highly cultured and deeply learned. He is an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile."
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READ - PORTER Marriage License and Certificate on PDF:
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Selma, Alabama newspaper announces wedding:
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ISABEL MARIA READ: first child of J.Leighton and Lillah Porter Read. Born: 1874, and Christened on September 26, 1875, in the First Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas.
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Atoka Independent AUG 30 1878:
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From the Caddo
Free Press (Caddo, Oklahoma),
November
1, 1878, p. 16:
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A Report on Rev. John Jeremiah Read's work at Spencer Academy, from "The Gospel in All Lands," 1881, Vols. 3-4, page 78:
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Spencer
Academy, named for the then Secretary of War John C. Spencer, was built in 1824 for Choctaw boys and led by Reverend Alexander Reid
(Presbyterian). After the Civil War, the school re-opened, and Reid opened
nearby Oak Hill Industrial Academy to educate Choctaw freedmen. The famous and
well-known gospel, "Swing Lo, Sweet Chariot," was first sung and
heard at the Spencer Academy by freed people "Uncle Wallace and Aunt
Minerva." (Source: Oklahoma Historical Society).
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More information about
Spencer Academy:
A
noted school for boys, Spencer Academy was established by the Choctaw Nation in
1841 and named for Secretary of War John C. Spencer, who served in the John Tyler administration. Students who became
Choctaw leaders included Allen Wright, Jackson McCurtain, and Jefferson
Gardner. Two elderly black slaves, Uncle Wallace and his wife, Aunt Minerva,
hired out by their Choctaw owner to work for missionaries at the academy, first
sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Roll, Jordan, Roll" and
other spirituals composed nearby.
Rev. Alexander
Reid, principal of Spencer Academy, was a native of Scotland, and came to this
country in his boyhood. He graduated from the college at Princeton, N. J., in
1845, and the theological seminary there, three years later. He was ordained by
the Presbytery of New York in 1849 and accepting a commission to serve as a
missionary to the Indians of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory, was immediately
appointed superintendent of Spencer Academy, ten miles north of Fort Towson.
He was
accompanied by Rev. Alexander J. Graham, a native of Newark, New Jersey, who
served as a teacher in the academy. The latter was a roommate of Reid’s at
Princeton seminary, and his sister became Reid’s wife. At the end of his first
year of service he returned to Lebanon Springs, New York, for the recovery of
his health, and died there July 23, 1850. Rev. John Edwards immediately became
his successor as a teacher.
Alexander Reid
while pursuing his studies learned the tailor’s trade at West Point and this
proved a favorable introduction to his work among the Choctaws. They were
surprised and greatly pleased on seeing that he had already learned the art of
sitting on the ground “tailor fashion” according to their own custom.
The academy
under Reid enjoyed a prosperous career of twelve years. In 1861, when the
excitement of war absorbed the attention of everybody, the school work was
abandoned. Reid, however, continued to serve as a gospel missionary among the
Indians until 1869, when he took his family to Princeton, New Jersey, to
provide for the education of his children.
While
ministering to the spiritual needs of the Indians his sympathies and interest
were awakened by the destitute and helpless condition of their former slaves.
In 1878 he resumed work as a missionary to the Choctaws making his headquarters
at or near Atoka and in 1882 he was appointed by the Foreign Mission Board,
superintendent of mission work among the Freedmen in Indian Territory. In this
capacity he aided in establishing neighborhood schools wherever teachers could
be found. In order that a number of them might be fitted for teaching, he
obtained permission of their parents to take a number of bright looking and
promising young people to boarding schools, maintained by our Freedmen’s Board
in Texas, Mississippi and North Carolina. He thus became instrumental in
preparing the way, and advised the development of the native Oak Hill School
into an industrial and normal boarding school.
In 1884, owing
to failing health, he went to the home of his son, Rev. John G. Reid (born at
Spencer Academy in 1854), at Greeley, Colorado, and died at 72 at
Cambridgeport, near Boston, July 30, 1890.
“He was a
friend to truth, of soul sincere, of manners unaffected and of mind enlarged,
he wished the good of all mankind.”
Uncle Wallace Willis and
Aunt Minerva
Uncle Wallace
and Aunt Minerva were two of the colored workers that were employed at Spencer
Academy, before the war. They lived together in a little cabin near it. In the
summer evenings they would often sit at the door of the cabin and sing their
favorite plantation songs, learned in Mississippi in their early youth.
"Swing low,
sweet Chariot"
In 1871, when
the Jubilee singers first visited Newark, New Jersey, Rev. Alexander Reid
happened to be there and heard them. The work of the Jubilee singers was new in
the North and attracted considerable and very favorable attention. But when
Prof. White, who had charge of them, announced several concerts to be given in
different Churches of the city he added,
“We will have
to repeat the Jubilee songs as we have no other.”
When Mr. Reid
was asked how he liked them he remarked,
“Very well, but
I have heard better ones.”
When he had committed
to writing a half dozen of the plantation songs he had heard “Wallace and
Minerva” sing with so much delight at old Spencer Academy, he met Mr. White and
his company in Brooklyn, New York, and spent an entire day rehearsing them.
These new songs included,
“Steal away to
Jesus.”
“The Angels are Coming,”
“I’m a Rolling,” and “Swing low, sweet Chariot.”
“Steal Away to
Jesus” became very popular and was sung before Queen Victoria.
The Hutchinson
family later used several of them in their concerts, rendering “I’m a Rolling,”
with a trumpet accompaniment to the words:
“The trumpet
sounds in my soul,
I haint got long to stay here.”
These songs
have now been sung around the world.
When one thinks
of the two old slaves singing happily together at the door of their humble
cabin, amid the dreary solitudes of Indian Territory, and the widely extended
results that followed, he cannot help perceiving in these incidents a practical
illustration of the way in which our Heavenly Father uses “things that are weak,”
for the accomplishment of his gracious purposes. They also serve to show how
little we know of the future use God will make of the lowly service any of us
may now be rendering.
These two
slaves giving expression to their devotional feelings in simple native songs,
unconsciously exerted a happy influence that was felt even in distant lands; an
influence that served to attract attention and financial support to an
important institution, established for the education of the Freedmen.
New Spencer Academy
In the fall of
1881 the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions re-established Spencer Academy
in a new location where the post office was called, Nelson, ten miles southwest
of Antlers and twenty miles west of old Spencer, now called Spencerville.
Rev. Oliver P.
Stark, the first superintendent of this institution, died there at the age of
61, March 2, 1884. He was a native of Goshen, New York, and a graduate of the
college and Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J. In 1851, he was ordained
by the Presbytery of Indian which, as early as 1840, had been organized to
include the missions of the American Board.
As early as
1849, while he was yet a licentiate, he was commissioned as a missionary to the
Choctaws, and, locating at Goodland, remained in charge of the work in that
section until 1866, a period of seventeen years. During the next thirteen years
he served as principal of the Lamar Female Seminary at Paris, Texas. His next
and last work was the development of the mission school for the Choctaws at
Nelson, which had formed a part of his early and long pastorate.
Rev. Harvey R.
Schermerhorn, became the immediate successor of Mr. Stark as superintendent of
the new Spencer Academy and continued to serve in that capacity until 1890,
when the mission work among the Indians was transferred from the Foreign to the
care of the Home Mission Board. The school was then discontinued and he became
pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Macalester. After a long and very useful
career he is now living in retirement at Hartshorne.
These
incidents, relating to the work of the Presbyterian Church among the Indians,
especially the Choctaws, have been narrated, because the men who had charge of
these two educational institutions at Wheelock and Spencer Academies, were very
helpful in effecting the organization of Presbyterian Churches, the
establishment of Oak Hill Academy and a number of neighborhood schools among
the Freedmen in the south part of the Choctaw Nation.
|
Photos of principals involved at Spencer Academy, noted in above article:
1. Secretary of War, John C. Spencer
2. Rev. Alexander Reid
3. Allen Wright
4. Jackson F. McCurtain
5. Jefferson Gardner
|
Editorial written by Rev. Frank Wright, about the excellent work rendered by Rev. J.J. Read at the Spencer Academy:
|
Spencerville, Oklahoma:
Spencerville today,
is an unincorporated community in northern Choctaw County, Oklahoma. It is 12
miles northeast of Hugo, Oklahoma, adjacent to the Pushmataha County border.
The improved Ft. Smith to Ft. Towson military road of 1839, ran north-south thru
Spencerville after crossing the "Seven Devils" on its way southeast
to Doaksville. This wagon road was heavily used by the U.S. Army from 1839–48,
especially during the War with Mexico.
Spencerville,
named for U.S. Secretary of War John C. Spencer, was home to Spencer Academy, a
Choctaw Nation boarding school for boys. The trace of the military road today
serves as the access road from Spencerville 1/4 mile north to the site of old
Spencer Academy. A large Oklahoma Historical Society marker identifies the site.
Spencer
Academy was founded in 1844. It was here that Negro freedman "Uncle"
Wallace Willis composed “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”. He was inspired by the Red
River which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah being
taken to heaven by a chariot. Spencer Academy was operated on behalf of the
Choctaw Indians by the Presbyterian Board of Missions.
Prior
to Oklahoma's statehood Spencerville was in Towson County, Choctaw Nation—but
only barely. A United States post office operated at Spencerville, Indian
Territory from January 22, 1844 to July 22, 1847 and was established again on
May 17, 1902. The community and its post offices took their name from the
academy. The academy later relocated to Nelson, Oklahoma several miles to the
west.
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Deep
bass guest soloist Stan Toal from Robinson Memorial United Church in London,
Ontario, performs Wallis Willis' famous spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot" as part of the July 13, 2008 Sunday service at Strathroy United
Church accompanied by Edith Hanselman on the Boston grand piano. (SEE MUSIC AUDIO FILE BELOW THIS ARTICLE).
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an American Negro spiritual. The first
recording was by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1909. In 2002, the Library of
Congress honored the song as one of 50 recordings chosen that year to be added
to the National Recording Registry. It was also included in the list of Songs
of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment
for the Arts.
While sung primarily in Protestant churches and in concerts throughout the
United States, it also has a large association with English rugby union and is
also regularly sung at England national rugby union team matches. It is
sometimes called "Coming for to carry me home".
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was composed by Wallis (Wallace) Willis, a Choctaw
freedman in the old Indian Territory, sometime before 1862. He was inspired by
the Red River which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah
being taken to heaven by a chariot. Some scholars (see Songs of the underground
railroad) believe this song and "Steal Away to Jesus"—also composed
by Willis—had some hidden lyrics referring to the Underground Railroad.
Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing
these two songs and transcribed the words and melodies. He sent the music to
the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee
Singers then popularized the songs during a tour of the United States and
Europe.
The song enjoyed a resurgence during the 1960s Civil Rights struggle and the
folk revival; it was performed by a number of artists, perhaps most famously
during this period, by Joan Baez during the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival.
The song was adopted by England rugby union fans during the last match of the
1988 season.
Traditional lyrics
Lyrics are as follows:
Chorus:
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Coming for to carry me home
A band of angels coming after me
Coming for to carry me home
(chorus)
Sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down
Coming for to carry me home
But still my soul feels heavenly bound
Coming for to carry me home
(chorus)
The brightest day that I can say
Coming for to carry me home
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.
(chorus)
If I get there before you do
Coming for to carry me home
I'll cut a hole and pull you through
Coming for to carry me home
(chorus)
If you get there before I do
Coming for to carry me home
Tell all my friends I'm coming too
Coming for to carry me home
(chorus)
|
WALLACE
WILLIS
Born: 1820s
Died: 1860s
The story of Wallace Willis begins on a plantation in Holly Springs,
Mississippi. Wallace “Uncle” Willis and his wife, Aunt Minerva, were slaves of
Britt Willis, a wealthy half-Irish, half-Choctaw farmer. When the Choctaws were
relocated by the United States government as a result of the Treaty of Dancing
Rabbit, Britt Willis walked the Trail of Tears with his Choctaw wife to
Oklahoma’s Indian Territory. Among the 300 slaves that made the trip with Britt
were Wallace and Minerva.
The group settled near Doaksville, Oklahoma, which is located near present-day
Hugo and Fort Towson. It was here that Wallace composed “plantation songs”
while working the cotton fields of Britt Willis. Britt’s granddaughter, Jimmie
Kirby, recalled: “Mama said it was on a hot August day in 1840. They were
hoeing the long rows of cotton in the rich bottomland field. No doubt [Wallace]
was very tired. They worked in the fields from sun-up to sundown. And sundown
was a long way off. South of the field, he could see the Red River shimmering
in the sun. Can’t you just imagine that suddenly Uncle Wallace was tired of it
all?”
And so “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” was born. The mournful lyrics are a classic
example of black spirituals of the time period – songs that were sung by slaves
toiling under back-breaking labor in the fields. Taken at face value, the
lyrics of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” express hope that divine help was on its
way. Most historians also attribute a secret meaning to Willis’ lyrics with
many arguing that they were used as a coded message about escaping the shackles
of slavery and heading north. It is written that some slaves would even change
the lyrics to “Swing Low, Sweet Harriet” in reference to Harriet Tubman, who
was the leader of the Underground Railroad that ferried slaves north to
freedom.
Buried in an unmarked grave located within the slave burial section of the old
Doaksville Cemetery.
~ The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
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Another old photograph of Spencer Academy:
|
The picture above, appears in the pdf file: "Read Family Story, Part 1." It is a picture of Indian Boys playing Stickball. Here is a video that explains the game:
|
Old hotel at Doaksville, Indian Territory:
|
A short history of Doaksville, Indian Territory, and it's founding as a trading site:
|
An archaeological site today, Doaksville was once the
largest town in the Choctaw Nation. The settlement got its start in the early
1820s when a man named Josiah S. Doaks and his brother established a trading
post. Anticipating the arrival of the Choctaw Indians to the area after the
signing of the Treaty of Doak’s Stand in October, 1820, the brothers moved
westward on goods laden boats up the Mississippi and Red Rivers. Not long after
they established their store, other settlers moved into the area for mutual
protection.
Raids from Plains Indians, especially those from
Texas, caused nearby Fort Towson to be established in 1824. Afterwards,
Doaksville began to grow and gave every indication of becoming a permanent
town. Commerce grew with the establishment of several roads built to supply
Fort Towson.
Sitting at the center of these crossroads, Doaksville
prospered from the Central National Road of Texas that ran from Dallas to the
Red River, before connecting with the Fort Towson Road which went on to Fort
Gibson and beyond to Fort Smith, Arkansas. In addition, steamboats on the Red
River connected with New Orleans at a public landing just a few miles south of
Doaksville, carrying supplies to Fort Towson and agriculture products out of
the region.
In 1837, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw signed the
Treaty of Doaksville, which allowed the Chickasaw lease the western most
portion of the Choctaw Nation for settlement.
By 1840, Doaksville had five large merchandise stores,
two owned by Choctaw Indians and the others by licensed white traders. There
was also a harness and saddle shop, wagon yard, blacksmith shop, gristmill,
hotel, council house, and a church. A newspaper called the “Choctaw
Intelligencer” was printed in both English and Choctaw.
A missionary named Alvin Goode, described the
settlement at the time:
"The trading establishment of Josiah Doak and
Vinson Brown Timms, an Irishman, had the contract to supply the Indians their
rations, figured at 13 cents a ration. A motley crowd always assembled at
Doaksville on annuity days to receive them. Some thousands of Indians were
scattered over a tract of nearly a square mile around the pay house. There were
cabins, tents, booths, stores, shanties, wagons, carts, campfires; white, red,
black and mixed in every imaginable shade and proportion and dressed in every
conceivable variety of style, from tasty American clothes to the wild costumes
of the Indians; buying, selling, swapping, betting, shooting, strutting,
talking, laughing, fiddling, eating, drinking, smoking, sleeping, seeing and
being seen, all bundled together."
In 1847 a post
office was established in Doaksville and by 1850, the town boasted more than
thirty buildings, including stores, a jail, a school, a hotel, and two
newspapers. The same year, it was designated as the capitol of the Choctaw
Nation. For the next several years, the settlement continued to thrive until
Fort Towson was abandoned in 1854. Without the business from the soldiers at
the fort, Doaksville began to decline. However, it would continue to be the
tribal capital for the next nine years. (by Kathy Weiser from "Legends of America")
|
Doaksville: An Oklahoma
Ghost Town
The principal antebellum town of the
Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Doaksville was located immediately north and
west of the present Choctaw County community of Fort Towson. Named for Josiah
Doak, Doaksville was founded between 1824 and 1831. Doaks co-owned the
Mississippi trading post, or stand, where a Choctaw removal treaty was
negotiated in 1820. He and his brother preceded the Choctaw to Indian Territory
and erected a store above the mouth of the Kiamichi River. They relocated north
along Gates Creek when Fort Towson was established in 1824, or after the army
reoccupied the site in 1831. The area, a part of Miller County, Arkansas, until
1825, was occupied by settlers, many of whom joined the Doaks near the fort.
Immigrating Choctaws inhabited the settlement after 1830.
Served by steamboats plying the Red River, Doaksville prospered. Several
general stores, a gristmill, blacksmith, and hotel operated there before 1840,
and two newspapers, the Choctaw Telegraph and the Choctaw Intelligencer, were
soon published. Doaksville served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation in 1860
63. A convention held there in 1860, resulted in the ratification of the
Doaksville Constitution, the document that guided tribal government until 1906.
Doaksville, where Confederate Gen. Stand Watie surrendered in 1865, declined
after the Civil War. The Choctaw capitol was moved to Chahta Tamaha in 1863,
and a postwar labor shortage hurt local agriculture. Businesses closed, but the
Doaksville post office functioned until 1903. Except for the cemetery, nothing
remains of the townsite, which is listed in the National Register of Historic
Places
Doaksville - Off US 70 in Fort Towson, take the
north road to the cemetery (signs posted). Drive to the back of the cemetery
(which is worth a visit in its own right, with WPA built stone walls and hand
carved tombstones) and you'll find a set of stairs. After traversing them
you'll enter a trail leading to the old Doaksville settlement. An archeological
survey done by the Oklahoma Historical Association uncovered several stone
foundations. Along the trail, signs explain what the remnants once contained.
|
Dudley Nail Doak, described in the following article, was the son of Josiah Dudley Doak:
|
Near
this cistern, the last Confederate General, Stand Waite (Cherokee) surrendered
in 1865:
|
The following article (with some typographical errors/article will appear "as is") appeared in the aforementioned "A Standard History of Oklahoma," concerning Rev. J.J. Read:
|
REV.
J. J. READ. Authorities on the subject of the
advancement
of the American Indian are agreed that no
agency
has been more powerful than the Protestant missionary
in bringing the red man from a state of savagery
to
a moderately high standard of civilization. Certainly
there
are no more interesting chapters in the history of
the
Indian than those that relate to the hardships, priva
tions,
industry and philanthropy of the pioneer mission
ary.
But for his influence and painstaking labor there
would
never have been developed so great a fund of
pretty
romance, so rich an intermingling of the blood of
reds
and whites, out of which has been developed as high
professional
talent as the transfusion of the bloods of
any
other races show, and the work of the missionary
also
helped to bring about the highly organized form of
government
which was maintained in some of the tribes.
In
any record and appreciation of the missionaries who
long
labored in old Indian Territory, a high place must
be
given to the late Rev. J. J. Read.
The
story of his life as a missionary begins while he
was
pastor of a large and fashionable Presbyterian
Church
in Houston, Texas, and with his marriage to Miss
Lillah
Porter, a leader in church, social and club life in
the
City of Austin. The second chapter finds them, fort
years
ago, in the wild solitudes of the Choctaw Nation,
setting
about the task of learning the Indian tongue in
order
that the cause of Christ might be advanced among
the
heathens—for Indian Territory forty years ago was
regarded
as a foreign missionary field just the same as
if
an ocean separated it from the rest of America. Chap
ter
three covers a period of twenty-two years and em
braces
more than a mere volume of experiences that are
as
vital to Oklahoma history as all the Indian treaties
and
all the Indian laws. The devoted labors of Mr. Read
ended
with his death in 1898.
Born
at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1843, he was the
son
of William and Mary Louise Read. He was educated
in
a plantation school in Mississippi, where he had one of
those
picturesque classical instructors who were often the
peer
of any members found in college faculties. Later
he
attended Oakland College at Oakland, Mississippi, and
finished
his preparation for the ministry in a theological
seminary
of the Presbyterian Church at Columbia, South
Carolina.
Mr. Read served four years as a soldier in the
Confederate
army, entering the ministry soon after the
war
and being assigned to a church in Texas. Until he
took
up missionary work he filled some of the best pastorates
in Texas. In 1876 he was elected superintendent
of
Spencer Academy of the Choctaw Nation, located ten
miles
from the present village of Doaksville. This was
one
of three important schools maintained in the Choctaw
Nation at that time, the others being known as
Wheeler
Academy and Pine Ridge Academy.
After
five years Rev. Mr. Read resigned from the
presidency
of the academy and was transferred by his
church
to the Chickasaw Nation. He and his young wife
settled
four miles from the present site of Wapanucka,
on
a tract of land still owned and occupied by Mrs. Read.
Boggy
Depot, twelve miles distant, was their nearest
post Office,
but Mr. Read shortly started a movement to
have
the post office established nearer his home. It was
necessary
that the distance to Boggy Depot be measured
in
order that the Post Office Department could be assured
of
the distance filling the requirement of the rules of the
department.
Mrs. Read accordingly tied a red cloth to a
buggy
wheel and counted the revolutions of the wheel all
the
way to Boggy Depot, by which simple means the distance
was officially established. Mrs. Read was given
the
honor of selecting the name for the office, and she
took
from Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans" the
euphonious
word "Wahpanncka" (sic), which was the name of a
chieftain
clan of the Delaware Indians. The field of
labor
in this region embraced four or five charges, scattered
from a point north of Stonewall to Red River and
west
to the Santa Fe Railroad. At each place Mr. Read
organized
a church and in due time assisted in the construction
of a church edifice at most of them. Indians
who
had been converted sawed and hauled lumber and
worked
under his direction as carpenters. In the beginning
he held services under trees and bush arbors and in
crude
schoolhouses. Like the pioneer country doctor of
Indian
Territory, no ugly demonstration of the elements
or
other agency which were within the power of man to
endure
deterred him from his work, and thousands of
Indians
revere his name today. Among those who were
his
students in Spencer Academy are Dr. E. N. Wright,
one
of the leading men today of the Choctaw Nation;
Peter
Hudson, a Choctaw leader who frequently has been
suggested
for governor of the nation ; Rev. Silas Bacon,
for
a number of years principal of the Goodland Indian
School
; and Rev. William McKinney, who later graduated
from
Harvard and became a prominent politician among
the
Choctaw.
Throughout
all his years in Oklahoma Mr. Read was a
member
of all organizations that assisted in uplifting the
red
men and the pioneer white men, and individually did
such
a work that its record should always be a permanent
memorial
to his name. He was affiliated with the Masonic
Lodge.
To Mr. and Mrs. Read were born six children :
E.
D. Read, a civil engineer in Oklahoma; Rev. John Leighton
Read,
now pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church at
Little
Rock, Arkansas; Mrs. T. N. Binnion, wife of a
traveling
salesman of Pauls Valley; D. L. Read of Arizona;
Mrs. R. T. Ball of Wapanucka; and Theodore P. Read,
who
lives with his mother and conducts the old farm at
Wapanucka.
|
Rev. J.J. Read in the news:
|
He preached the annual sermon on foreign missions, 1875:
|
Rev. J.J. Read attended the October 28, 1891 Presbyterian Synod of Texas meeting where the Indian Presbytery became a member:
|
Rev. J.J. Read served as Moderator, 1895:
|
At the 1896 Texas Synod meeting, Rev. J.J. Read presented two Memorials for Indians who were ordained ministers:
|
Rev. J.J. Read attends Synod of Texas, 1872:
|
Another individual has placed the following photo of a church on the Ancestry site, stating it is the Presbyterian Church in Wapanucka, OK, "where Rev. John Jeremiah Read preached." However, there is no additional confirmation that this is an accurate photo:
|
Background information about early Oklahoma, the Ball family, and a history of Wapanucka:
|
The
Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church built the Wapanucka Female
Manual Labour School in 1851-2. The school, which opened in 1852, was named for
a nearby creek. Local residents often called it Allen's Academy, for James S.
Allen, who supervised it. Later many dubbed it Rock Academy for its impressive
stone building. The school closed in 1860 after the Presbyterian Board withdrew
its financial support. The Confederate forces used the building during the
Civil War as a hospital and a prison. After the war the academy reopened,
serving male and female students. In 1890 it became a boys' school. In 1911 it
was permanently closed and the property sold. The Wapanucka Academy site was
listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NR 72001065) in 1972.
|
Mrs. J.J. Read was instrumental in the naming of the Post Office, Wapanucka:
|
Rev. J.Leighton Read preaches at his father's church in Wapanucka, Oklahoma:
|
Public School, Wapanucka, 1900s:
|
Lime Kilns in Wapanucka (1909):
|
O'Neals store and pharmacy, Wapanucka:
|
Wapanucka in 1904 photograph:
|
Boggy Depot Bridge and Creek:
|
Overland Stage at Old Boggy Depot, painting by Joe Beeler:
|
The Overland Butterfield Stage, seen in the picture below, in Arizona circa 1860s, followed a route through Oklahoma, westward, and through the small town of Apache, Arizona; the place where John W. Richhart would murder a Deputy Sheriff in 1913, and later murder his second wife, Lillah Read Ball, (daughter of Rev. John Jeremiah Read). (Story follows near bottom of this page).
|
The
Butterfield Overland Mail Co. operated from 1858 to 1861 under contract with
the U.S. Postal Department, providing transportation of U.S. mail between St.
Louis, Missouri, and San Francisco, California. Nearly 200 miles of the route
cut a diagonal through what would become southeastern Oklahoma and along that
route still stands Edwards Store, which served as an unofficial stop on the
stagecoach route. The only such original structure in Oklahoma, Edwards Store
is eight miles northeast of Red Oak in Latimer County. Built in 1858, the
establishment served meals and offered a place to safely rest horses. Although
in poor condition, the structure is easy to access off Norris Road. It was
listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Edwards Store on the Butterfield Stagecoach Route:
|
Old Boggy Depot Civil War Skirmish
On April 24, 1865, fifteen
days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, a party of twenty
Confederates moving north from Boggy Depot was attacked by Union forces under
the command of Brigadier General Cyrus Bussey. Three Confederates were killed
and their mail captured. A letter from a Confederate paymaster stated that
General Stand Watie’s command was expected soon at Old Boggy Depot to collect
horses due by April 25 from forage camps in Texas. Watie, the paymaster
related, would then take the offensive across the Arkansas River. For this
reason General Bussey recommended that the Federal line on the Arkansas be
strengthened by the addition of more troops. The mail also indicated the
Confederates had no news of the fall of Richmond and Lee’s army.
(From Civil War Sites in
Oklahoma by Muriel H. Wright and LeRoy H. Fischer)
|
The W.H. Ball Company was located in Boggy Depot until 1869, then moved to Wapanucka; it is listed on this diagram:
|
Boggy Depot School, circa 1900. Children identified, L to R: Jimmie, Ollie, Kittie:
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The two articles that follow concerning the work of Rev. and Mrs. J.J. Read, are written by Natalie Morrison Denison. (NOTE: no attempt has been made to correct the numerous typos/misspelling's in the articles, but are reprinted here "as is.")
|
It was here, at Spencer Academy, that
Negro freedman "Uncle" Wallace Willis composed “Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot.” He was inspired by the Red River, which reminded him of the Jordan
River and of the Prophet Elijah being taken to heaven by a chariot. Spencer
Academy was operated on behalf of the Choctaw Indians by the Presbyterian Board
of Missions. I heard my Grandfather Read explain this to my father.
|
Spencer Academy Cemetery information:
|
Because John Jeremiah Read's first child Isabel, died while they were at Spencer Academy, and had to, according to papers about him, leave her buried there, it is almost certain that her burial was in this cemetery:
|
Spencer
Academy, Choctaw Nation, 1842-1900, By an act of the Choctaw Council
in 1842, the Nation authorized a boarding school for boys at a site 10 miles
north of Fort Towson at Doaksville. It was named for the Secretary of War, John
C. SPENCER. Three dorms were named for trustees Peter P. PITCHLYNN, Robert M.
JONES and William M. ARMSTRONG, Indian Agent.
In
1851, Spencer Academy was overwhelmed by measles and out of 100 boys, 70 were
ill; four died. During the Civil War, Spencer Academy did not function as an
educational institution but the dormitories in 1863 were used as a Confederate
hospital. Gen. Douglas COOPER with the Wells Battalion established headquarters
there.
The
academy was rebuilt by Calvin ERVIN and reopened the school on Nov. 2, 1870.
The academy was relocated in Soper as New Spencer in 1882 where new facilities
were erected. On Oct. 3, 1896, main building and storeroom burned. Five
students died and seven were seriously burned. The school reopened in fall
1898. Spencer burned again June 23, 1900.
Graduates
include principal chiefs B. J. SMALLWOOD, Jefferson GARDNER, Allen WRIGHT,
Jackson McCURTAIN, Gilbert DUKES; Judge Charles VENSIN and national treasurer
William WILSON. Educators Peter J. HUDSON and Simon DWIGHT, Dr. Elijah Nott
WRIGHT, the Rev. Frank Hall WRIGHT, Gabe PARKER were teachers during its last
years.
Sponsored
By: The Presbyterian Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions;
Superintendents: Edmund McKinney, 1843-1845; Rev. James B. Ramsey,
1846-49; Alexander Reid, 1849-1855; Rev. J. H. Colton, 1871-1875; John H. Read
1876-1881; Oliver P. Stark; Harvey Schermerhorn, 1888; Rev. R. W. Hill,
temporary; Alfred Docking, 1889-1891; W.A. Caldwell; J.B. Jeter; Wallace B.
Butch. John Jeremiah Read, a Presbyterian, had charge of Spencer
from 1877-1882.
|
From a dissertation by Eloise Spear, Oklahoma University, 1977, a discussion of Rev. J.J. Read at Spencer Academy:
|
Rev. J.J.Read was instrumental in having the Indian Presbytery enrolled as a Member in the Texas Synod. From
the Fort Worth Gazette,
October 29, 1891:
|
From
the The Houston Daily Post,
(Houston, TX.) October 21, 1896:
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Rev. John Jeremiah Read was included in the booklet, "Work Among the Indians"
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Presbyterian Mission work among the Indians:
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The Christian influence of
Rev. John Jeremiah Read is seen in the life of Rev. Silas Bacon, as told in the following article:
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Rev. J.J. Read died without a will. Mrs. Read had to make application for probate, as seen below:
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This is a photo from the original document (on right hand side of page) which provides greater resolution:
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Here is a PDF file of the same document, which gives very high photo resolution. With the higher resolution, you can read the names of the Read children, and note that Lillah put Eugene's age at 20 years old when this document was filed. This confirms what David L. Read stated on Eugene's death certificate as his being born in 1878. (See information about Eugene further down this page about his conflicting birth dates).
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Lilliah Pratt Porter Read: background information from a granddaughter:
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Laleah Logan penned this note concerning Eugene Daniel Read (more information about him near bottom of webpage):
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Additional information about Mrs. J.J. Read can be found further down on this page.
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Wauchope and Spengler
Family Information: these two families are directly related to the Read family.
(In order to avoid duplication, the Spengler Family information and their relationship to the Read and Wauchope families, has been moved to the "Wauchope Family Story" web page).
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New Genealogy Research (2015-2017): Wauchope, Spengler, Rutherford
After he retired, my father and mother visited several sites in Virginia and West Virginia. They found a very old lady living in Capon Bridge, WVA, who, as a child, knew the Wauchope family. She told my mother, that "they had a very large family." My mother also visited Woodstock and Strasburg, Virginia. She was able to locate some information that is on this website. She also indicated to me the Read and Wauchope family connection to the Spengler family, also included on the "Wauchope Family Story" web page.
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Church Membership Record, Colony, OK, for Kate A., Katherine Rutherford, Edward H., William C., Mary A. Wauchope:
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Wauchope children in 1886, at Capon
Bridge, WV: (left to right)
Edward Houston, Samuel Kendrick holding
Mary Armstrong, Joseph Alleine, William Crawford ("Bill"),
and Arthur Douglas. Katharine Rutherford was not born yet.
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Wauchope/Walkup
Family: 1880 Census, Capon Bridge, WVA.
Note: Joseph
W. is listed as “Clergyman”
Wife, Kate is
listed as “Housekeeper”
Son, George
Armstrong is listed as “School Teacher.”
There is also
a servant listed, who was born in Maryland, living with them:
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A pdf file of the 1880 Census:
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Joseph Wauchope (sometimes spelled as “Walkup”)
and his family in 1897: Samuel Kendrick Wauchope (1), Joseph Walker Walkup (2),
Katherine Kendrick Wauchope (3), Katherine Rutherford Wauchope, my Grandmother
(4), George Armstrong Wauchope (5), Mary Armstrong Wauchope (6), Joseph Alleine
Wauchope (7), William Crawford Wauchpe (8), Arthur Douglas Wauchope (9), Edward
Houston Wauchope (10). Edward graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1897, so
that must be the occasion for this picture. (NOTE: There are some problems with the designations someone gave to this picture as reproduced here: girls have been given boys names and Katherine R. Wauchope was misidentified! See PDF file for correct information).
George Armstrong Wauchope was the only child of
Joseph Walkup and Jane Armstrong. Jane died shortly after George's birth.
Joseph served as a Chaplain with commission as Captain in 18th Va. Regiment of
Infantry during the Civil War. He married Katherine Kendrick, daughter of
Samuel Kendrick and Clarinda Spengler in 1869, and had seven more children.
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Early picture of Presbyterian Church, Capon Bridge, WVA:
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A 1991 photo showing the Capon Bridge Methodist Church on the right; and on the left side is the Old Presbyterian Church, now used as the Capon Bridge Senior Center:
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Here are pictures of the Presbyterian church and manse at Capon Bridge, WVA taken by my father during a "genealogy" trip my parents took:
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Post Office at Capon Bridge, WVA:
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Dad also took pictures of Strasburg and Woodstock Presbyterian Churches in Virginia, which are referenced in information further down on this page. These churches were also served by Wauchope ministers, who were ancestors of Katherine Rutherford Wauchope, my Mother's mother:
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Additional Hughes, Read Pictures/Information
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Katharine Anne Read was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. The attending doctor was Dr. H.H. Kirby:
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Katharine Anne Read in Okemah, OK
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Between 1938-1940, Katharine Anne Read (my mother) was teaching school (Latin and English) in Okemah, Oklahoma High School and Junior High School. Okemah had a population of 3,811. She rented a room with an elderly lady named Mrs. Lura Allen Box, whose husband, James Harrison Box, had already died; and their adopted son (by a previous marriage) John Harrison Box. The Box family owned a local hardware store.
Here are some pictures of Okemah, and newspaper articles that mentioned Miss Read, as teacher (one paper misspelled her first name):
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Trixie June Nash who also graduated from Oklahoma University and taught with Mother, were involved in directing the Junior High School Cantata:
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Trixie June Nash who taught school with Katharine Read:
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Okemah is located just off Interstate 40
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My mother told me that Okemah was named after a
Kickapoo Indian chief. In March 1902, Chief Okemah built a bark house in his
tribe's traditional fashion. He had come to await the opening of the townsite,
which took his name on April 22, 1902. In the Kickapoo language, okemah means
"things up high," such as highly placed person or town or high ground.
Here is a picture of the first oil well "gusher" in Okemah:
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Okemah, Oklahoma Early History
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Okemah was named after a
Kickapoo Indian chief. In March 1902, Chief Okemah built a bark house in his
tribe's traditional fashion. He had come to await the opening of the townsite,
which took his name on April 22, 1902. In the Kickapoo language, okemah means
"things up high," such as highly placed person or town or high ground.
In the town's first week, the
following stores were established: four general merchandise, two hardware, one
5 & 10 cent store, three drugstores, four groceries, three wagon yards, four
lumberyards, three cafes, one bakery, two millineries, four livery barns, three
blacksmiths, two dairies, two cotton gins and two weekly newspapers. Eight
doctors settled there, four lawyers, two walnut log buyers, and one Chinese
laundryman. Two hotels were quickly put up, including the three-story Broadway
hotel, which set the city apart as an important town in early Oklahoma.
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Okfuskee County History, courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society:
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James Harrison Box' Hardware Store was located on Broadway St, Okemah, OK:
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House where Woodie Guthrie was born in Okemah, OK.
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The next two photos are of early schools in Okemah, not where Katharine Read taught.
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Next photo includes photo of the Junior High School where Katharine Read taught school in Okemah, OK:
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Here is a picture of some Indian boys who were playing "Stick Ball" in Okemah, Oklahoma, 1924. The sport (forerunner of Lacrosse) and how it is played, is discussed elsewhere on this page.
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Blue Eagle, Creek Indian:
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Before my mother came to teach school, Okemah was subject to occasional vigilante justice. Law enforcement and justices of the peace were located some distance away...and in 1911, a black woman and her teenage son were lynched by a mob of white men, having been accused of killing a police officer in an altercation at their home. They were kidnapped after being held at the jail and the county courthouse, and hanged from a suspension bridge over the North Canadian River:
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I know this "Parking Meter Tombstone" has nothing to do with the Read/Wauchope/Hughes family, and I apologize to my Read Cousins; but when I found this in the Okemah cemetery, it was so unusual, I couldn't resist putting here:
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A Video tour of Okemah, Oklahoma, courtesy of Youtube:
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High Bridge Presbyterian Church
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New Providence Presbyterian Church
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Strasburg Presbyterian Church
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Woodstock Presbyterian Church
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Central Presbyterian Church, Arkansas, where Rev. J. Leighton Read ministered. Letter, Church history, Session Minutes that reference him:
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Rev. J. Leighton Read (from an original photograph in my mother's collection.)
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J.Leighton Read: 1900 Census, while he was in school at Austin College, Sherman, Texas:
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J. Leighton Read: 1930 Census, Fort Sill:
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J. Leighton Read: 1930 Census, Fort Sill Indian Mission
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Photograph of Fort Sill Indian School:
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J. Leighton Read: 1920 Census, Colony, OK (Note the misspelled family members' names).
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Rev. W.C. Wauchope and Rev. J. Leighton Read both served as Missionaries to the Indians, in Colony, Oklahoma. (See list below:)
The ordained
Indian missionaries who served at Colony were: Frank Hall Wright, 1895-7;
Walter C. Roe, 1897-1913; Arthur Brokaw, 1904-5; L. L. Legters, 1905-6; Richard
H. Harper, 1907-9; W. C. Wauchope,
1909-10; John H. Baxter, 1910-13; Henry A. Vruwink, 1913-17; J. Leighton Read, 1917-23; John H. Baxter, 1923-6 (second term);
Richard H. Harper, 1927-9 (second term); Peter Van Es, Jr., 1930-2.
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Colony was originally founded by John Seger and was known as the Seger Colony.
Colony is one of the oldest towns in Western Oklahoma founded in 1886, by John Seger and
the Cheyenne-Arapaho on the banks of Cobb Creek. Seger Indian Industrial School
operated here from 1892 until 1932. Local tradition holds this was a starting
point for the Land run of 1892. Dutch Reformed Mission opened here in 1895.
Post Office established Jan. 8, 1896.
Long
before the 20th Century, Native Americans occupied the surrounding land c.
904-1400 A.D. George Bent lived in the area and is buried nearby. PowWows held
here since late 1930's by Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe. (Source: OK Historical Society).
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Information about the Columbian Memorial Church, Colony, Oklahoma, where Rev. W.C. Wauchope and Rev. J. Leighton Read served:
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A later picture of the Columbia Memorial Church, Colony, Oklahoma. The church was founded and operated under the Dutch Reformed Church denomination.
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Note: because of the extensive number of documents (minutes of the Colony Church Session) found concerning both Rev. W.C. Wauchope and Rev. J.Leighton Read, these have been placed on the "Wauchope Family Story" web page.
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Rev. J. Leighton Read served
as Supply Pastor of Minco Presbyterian Church, Minco, Oklahoma, February
1941-1945. (Source for dates: Rev. J. Leighton Read's Bible)
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Additional Read, D'Antoni, Dillon, Hughes pictures and information
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Next 2 Pictures, L to R: Grandmother and Grandaddy Read, Jim, Katharine Hughes, Joe (who is holding a Bible Rev. Read gave him):
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Next 2 pictures: My 3 Aunts and Uncle John; Mother is 2nd from Right:
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Mr. and Mrs. D'Antoni and my Mother:
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L to R: Mrs. Hughes, Jim Hughes, and Betty and Bob Dillon; front row: Joe Hughes, Nancy and Ellen Dillon.
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Mr. and Mrs. D'Antoni family with Joe, Jim and our Mother, Katharine:
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Baptism Record for
Elizabeth Louise Read Dillon
(She was baptized, September 12, 1920, by
Rev. Frank Hall Wright, D.D.)
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John L. Read, Jr. ("Jack")
(son of Rev. J. Leighton Read)
marriage license
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JOHN LEIGHTON READ,
JR., born in Colony, OK on August 21, 1921, died on November 29, 2009, in Palo
Alto, CA. He is survived by his sons and their wives, J. Leighton Read, III and
Carol of Palo Alto, CA, and Timothy Thomas Read and Lee of Roswell, GA; his
five grandchildren, Travis and Haley Read of Palo Alto, CA, Katie Read of
Charlottesville, VA, James and Leighton Read of Roswell, GA, other loving
family and countless dear friends. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary
Margaret eleven weeks earlier and second son, James Andrew Read (1954-1978) and
his four sisters, Katherine, Mary, Betty and Eleanor. John was a graduate of
Norman High School (OK) and earned his B.S. in Geological Engineering at
Oklahoma University where he was also President of the OU chapter of the KA
fraternity. His studies were interrupted by service in the Army Air Corps,
where he served as a B-17 navigator in the 483rd Bombardment Wing in Italy,
surviving 35 missions over Central and Eastern Europe. After graduation, he
earned a M.S. in Geology at Stanford University in 1950. He was married to Mary
Margaret Tillery of Tulsa, OK for 61 years. John and Mary Margaret lived in
Palo Alto, CA during his graduate studies. He began his career in Tyler, TX as
a Field Geologist for Amerada Petroleum, Manager of Exploration and Production
of W.H. Bryant Interests, and then an independent consultant in oil and gas
exploration and production. He published articles on his work in the AAPG
Bulletin and other leading publications. He served as President of the East
Texas Geological Society and was a Legion of Honor Member of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers.John and family moved to Houston, TX in 1967, where he
continued his work as an independent geologist, exploring in the Mid-Continent,
Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, West Texas, New Mexico and California. He and Mary
Margaret were active in a number of tennis organizations, and he was a founding
director and regular player in the World Oilman's Tennis Tournament. He began
another adventure with Mary Margaret when they moved to Santa Fe, NM in 1992
where they greatly enjoyed old and new friends and the historic desert
mountains. Their latest move was a return to Palo Alto, CA in 2005.The son and
grandson of Presbyterian ministers, John was an active member of various
congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), where he was a teacher and
church officer, including First and Highland (Tyler), Memorial Drive (Houston),
First (of Santa Fe) and Menlo Park Presbyterian Churches. In Santa Fe, he was
also a member of The Church of the Holy Faith and was a founding volunteer of
Mentoring, Santa Fe. John will be remembered for his passion for petroleum
exploration, sports, people he admired and his family and the gentle, thoughtful
way he dealt with those around him. His life was celebrated in a service at
Classic Residence by Hyatt in Palo Alto, CA on December 4, 2009. His remains
and those of Mary Margaret will be interred at 11AM on December 28, 2009, in a
service at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston, TX. A reception will follow at
the Houstonian at noon. For those inclined, the family recommends that memorial
contributions be made to the A.I. Levorsen Research Fellowship, School of Earth
Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Published
in Houston Chronicle on Dec. 22, 2009
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JOHN AND MARY MARGARET HAD 3 SONS: John Leighton, III, James Andrew, and Timothy Thomas.
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Eldest son, JOHN LEIGHTON READ, III, ON LEFT, AT HIGH SCHOOL GERMAN CLUB:
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JOHN LEIGHTON READ, III, school picture:
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Several scholarly articles have appeared in newspapers about Dr. Read's work:
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James Andrew Read, second son, school pictures and information:
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Timothy Thomas Read, third son, school pictures:
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Mary Margaret Tillery Read wife of John Leighton Read, Jr.
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Mary Margaret Tillery (Read) at University of Oklahoma:
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Mary Lillah Read (daughter of Rev. J. Leighton Read)
was married
on January 1, 1936, to David Hollis Saunders,
in the Central Presbyterian Church,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
by the Rev. Frank R. Dudley:
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Central Presbyterian is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Indian Nations Presbytery. In 2016, they have been in Oklahoma City for 108 Years.
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Mary L. Saunders, from an OU photo, 1951:
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My Aunt: Mary Lillah Read Saunders
(her husband, David H. Saunders)
had two children: Cheryl Jeanne and David Leighton. David was born:
December 1, 1945, Wilbarger, Texas; died: September 22, 2002, Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
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Mary and husband David H. Saunders with daughter Cheryl on her first birthday:
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The obituary for my Aunt Mary (below) has the names of several family members misspelled:
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From "The Messenger" newsletter, South Norfolk Baptist Church:
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Information about Mary's husband, David Hollis Saunders:David Saunders was born on May 25, 1915, in Ringling, Oklahoma. He had one son and one daughter with Mary Lillah Read. He then married Elizabeth Marie Williams in April 1951 in Carrizo Springs, Texas. He died on December 7, 2004, in Dalhart, Texas, at the age of 89, and was buried in Dalhart, Texas. DALHART - David Saunders, 89, died Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004. Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday in First Baptist Church with Rodney Weatherly, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery by Horizon Funeral Home. Mr. Saunders was born May 25, 1915, near Norman, Okla. He married Elizabeth Marie Williams on April 21, 1951, in Carrizo Springs. Survivors include his wife; a son, James Patrick "Pat" Saunders of Indonesia; three daughters, Cheryl Smith of Ponca City, Okla., Susie Hale of Stratford and Kelly Wood of Allen; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
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David Leighton Saunders
(in high school photo)
Son of David H. Saunders and Mary Lillah Read.
Born: Wilbarger, TX, December 1, 1945; Died: Tulsa, OK, September 22, 2002, age 56. Arrangements by Adams-Crest Cremation Center. Private funeral service. (Source: Tulsa World Newspaper, Oct. 5, 2002).
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Cheryl Jeanne Saunders
daughter of
David H. Saunders and
Mary Lillah Read;
granddaughter of
Rev. and Mrs. J. Leighton Read She married Alfred L. Smith on June 25, 1959 at 8 pm in the Baptist Student Center, Oklahoma University, Norman.She attended: University of Oklahoma High School, Norman High School, Sacred Heart Academy, Vinita, OK, and then Benedictine Heights School, Guthrie, OK. (Vinita, OK. is the second oldest town in the state, the oldest incorporated town on Oklahoma Route 66, and the first town in the state with electricity.)
(Alfred Smith received the B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oklahoma University).
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The Norman Transcript (Norman, Oklahoma) · Sun, Jul 5, 1959 · Page 15:
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Enlarged detail of the wedding article above:
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Alfred L. Smith, husband of Cheryl Saunders(Some photos from Ponca City High School where he attended):
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It
is with deep regret that I must tell my Read cousins that our Grandfather’s
home, at 304 S. University Boulevard, Norman, Oklahoma, has been sold, and is now
being used by Moon’s Unification Church.
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Information about the Children of William Read
(Son of John and Dicey Read)
and Mariah Louisa Dotson
From the 1850 Census:
Includes a nephew, Joseph Madison Dotson (sometimes spelled 'Dodson'), born 1835, in Macon, Tennessee.
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Joseph Madison Dotson, born 1835, in Macon, TN, lived with William Read family in 1850, when he was 15 years old. Later joined the CSA: 55th Regiment, TN Infantry (Brown's) 56th Infantry, Company H. He was captured in 1862, at Island No. 10 in the Vicksburg Campaign and sent to Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin, then to Camp Douglas; then, he was sent to Vicksburg in a prisoner exchange.
It is interesting that his name on the 1850 Census, his Confederate service records, and his marriage license of 1867, is spelled "Dotson." Yet, on the marriage certificate signed by the minister, it is spelled "Dodson." His name, and names of his children are also listed as "Dodson" as is his tombstone inscription. And the tombstone lists his birth as 1844!
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I was recently asked by a Read cousin if any of William or John Read's children were found to be a member of the KKK. The answer is "No." No evidence has been found as yet, that any of them were members of that organization formed at the end of the War Between the States.
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A Tribute to the Confederate Navy:
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Charles W. Read ("Savez")
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New photo of Charles Read discovered at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. It is from a "cartes de visite" group portrait, titled: "Distinguished Officers
of the Confederate Navy."
Distinguished Officers of
the Confederate Navy; middle, clockwise from top: Admil. Buchanan, Lieut Maury,
Com. Semmes, Capt. Hartstein [also spelled as Hartstene], Capt Maffit, Lieut
Reed [also correctly spelled as Read], Com. Hollins. Verso: Published by E. & H. T.
Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York. Manufacturers of the best photographic albums.
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The
Photographic History of the Civil War
Volume 7 - Prisons and Hospitals
Confederates
in a Northern Keep — Fort Warren, Where Charles "Savez" Read was imprisoned for awhile:
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Charles W. Read is No. 21 in picture below, while in prison:
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Civil War Navy magazine presents article by R. Thomas Campbell about Charles Read:
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A newly discovered original oil painting of Charles W. Read,
by
Herb Mott
commissioned especially for the Old Depot Museum, Levee Street, Vicksburg.
My thanks to the Museum Curator for allowing me to photograph these paintings, done without flash, to protect the paintings' surface.
There are no known prints of them available.
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Plaque mounted underneath painting:
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Artist details on the painting:
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Additional original, one-of-a-kind, oil paintings in the Old Depot Museum:
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(Lt. Charles W. Read served on the CSS Arkansas, subject of the next painting):
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Dabney Minor Scales, a friend of Savez Read, later served on the CSS Shenandoah, which sailed to Australia at the close of the war. His diary was recently found in an attic in Tennessee, and has been bought by a historical museum in Victoria, Australia, which was a port-of-call for him before the war ended.
An 1861 photograph of Dabney Minor Scales:
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Picture of Charles Read seen in the Old Depot Museum, Vicksburg, MS:
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Sword of Charles Read, housed in the Civil War Museum at Confederate Memorial Hall, New Orleans, LA:
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Charles "Savez" Read, in later life, following the War Between the States.
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Charles "Savez"Read, graduation photo,
U.S. Naval Academy, 1860:
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"Savez" Read at the Navy Academy
(September 20, 1856--June 15, 1860)
When “Savez” Read was
attending Annapolis, all the students were rated as “Acting Midshipmen, on
probation.” On graduating they became
“Midshipmen.” After the War Between the States, they
were called “Naval Cadets” and finally, years later, they became known as just
“Midshipmen.” At the Academy there were also several “old” Midshipmen studying
at the Academy, taking a one-year course prior to standing examination for
promotion. They had returned, were
older, and were housed in separate quarters.
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U.S. Naval Academy waterfront in the
late 1860s with the barracks and school ships USS Constitution and Santee
tied up in the background. Other ships not identified.
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Hospital at the Academy, where "Savez" spent a few days as recorded in hospital records.
(Hospital Records are below:)
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Photograph
of the “Old Quarters” with the Recitation Hall on the extreme left, circa the
1860's.
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"ANCHORMEN" The Legends of Annapolis
by James S. Robbins:
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As a member of the "Second Class" (aka his Junior Year) in 1859, "Savez" was still the "Anchorman":
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(New York Times, OCT. 8, 1895)
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It was fortunate that "Savez" was not dismissed in the following incident that occurred in 1859, while at the Academy:
Tarring and
Feathering at the US Naval Academy
As first reported: April 20,
1859, in the “Augusta Chronicle” (Augusta, Georgia). And then reported on April 21, 1859, in the
“Charleston Mercury” (Charleston, South Carolina):
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The Acting Midshipmen
are reinstated,
As reported on May
25, 1859, by “Louisville Daily Courier” (Louisville, Kentucky):
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Background to the
story: It was Acting Midshipman Henry D. Foote who was tarred and feathered. He attempted to rape and then beat a Black female servant at the Academy. He beat her so severely, that it prompted his classmates to tar and feather him. My research indicates that "Savez" was not one who was dismissed/reinstated. (Those dismissed were: Fister, Robertson, McCarty, Fuller, Ogden, and Lambert); all the others had to go on board the ship for the summer and be quarantined during the cruise. Those dismissed were later reinstated.
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Newly
Appointed Midshipmen
As reported on
Tuesday, June 19, 1860, in the Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Virginia)
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"The Confederate Ram "Arkansas"
by Charles Read.
(Found in the Mississippi state archives, 2016).
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“Savez” Read was born in Satartia,
Yazoo
County, Mississippi
Satartia, a town in Yazoo county: derived from an Choctaw Indian
word meaning, “pumpkin place.” (Source:
“The Origin of Certain Place Names in the State of Mississippi” by Henry
Gannett, from a publication by the U.S. Geological Survey.)
“The Encyclopedia of Mississippi
History,” by Dunbar Rowland, 1907, stated:
The town of Satartia on the Yazoo River was laid
out about the year 1830 and became the shipping point for a scope of country
east and south of that place, extending across Big Black river a short distance
into Madison county. It was a small town, and the shipments of cotton were not
very large.
H. 0. Runnels, Isaac V.
CaIdwell, D. B. Wright and Benjamin Johnson acquired title to the land in and
around Hanan’s Bluff, which was laid off into lots and incorporated in 1829 by
the Legislature as a town by the name of Manchester. This was the first town
chartered in Yazoo County, after its organization in 1823. Satartia was
incorporated in 1833, and Benton in 1836, and these three were the only
chartered towns in Yazoo county previous to the Civil War. There was another
town about twelve or fifteen miles southwest of Benton called Planeville, near
where Dover is now, which at one time promised to be prosperous but it became
extinct in the 30’s and formed at length a part of the Gartley plantation.
Charles W. Read is listed in the
official records as the only notable person to be born in the Village of
Satartia.
In the early 1800s, Satartia was a busy shipping point
from which cotton was transported by steamboat to New Orleans along the Yazoo
River.
During the Civil War, General Grant sailed a gunboat
from Vicksburg to investigate rumors of a large Confederate build-up of troops
at Satartia; but he was so drunk, that
he was prevented by several aides from landing. (Information about the episode is below in a pdf file.)
The “Satartia Rifles,” was a well-regarded Confederate
regiment and recruitment group (Information about them is below in a pdf
file.)
Currently there is one small country grocery store and
a cotton processing gin in Satartia. The
Emmaus (Christian) Retreat Center is located at the nearby “No Mistake
Plantation.” The population, as of July 1, 2015, is 52 and the town comprises only 0.2 square miles.
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General Grant goes up the Yazoo River to Satartia, where "Savez" Read was born....and gets drunk:
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In his memoirs
of the Civil War, Cadwallader, attached to General Grant’s Command,
described the general’s role in an incident during the siege of Vicksburg.
Cadwallader claimed Grant went on a disgraceful drunken binge while steaming up
the Yazoo River in June 1863. Cadwallader’s “Three Years With Grant,” published
posthumously 92 years after the reputed incident, ignited a brisk controversy
as to what did or did not happen when Grant steamed from the Union base at
Haynes’ Bluff to Satartia, Mississippi, (where "Savez" Read was born). General Charles Hamilton also stated that Grant was drunk on the same occasion. The evidence is simply overwhelming that during the Vicksburg campaign, Grant "fell off the wagon." He was a binge drinker. Clinically, he was probably an alcoholic; he could go for months without a drink, but once he started, it was difficult for him to stop. Grant simply backslid and went on a bender....and not only during the Vicksburg campaign, but during others as well. New evidence has surfaced in letters from junior officers to their families, that they observed first-hand, Grant's drunkenness.
Among several newly-discovered documents, includes the statement by James H. Wilson, a newly-appointed engineer on Grant's staff, when he first reported to Grant's HQ in the fall of 1862, was told by Grant's Chief of Staff: "The man you have come to report to is a drunkard." Then, there are the reports by General Nathaniel Banks and General William Franklin, who claimed Grant was drunk in New Orleans.
Several major Civil War historians now believe that Grant's "Memoirs" are tainted with falsehood, and do not stand the test of complete truthfulness.
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Recent and Recommended:
for those wishing to follow-up on General Grant's drinking, cover-up of his own failures in various battles, and other problems, (which occurred during some of the battles two of the Read brothers participated in),
several new books of excellent scholarship were just released:
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As
the highest-ranking Union officer, a two-term President, and possibly the
best-known man in the world of his day, Grant has enjoyed a remarkably positive
public image. Several books about him were printed before the war ended, but
their authors “faced the problem that very little was actually known about
Grant, and so turned for solution to compiling newspaper pieces, popular
anecdotes, and printing at length from military dispatches.” After the conflict
was over, Grant authorized a number of his supporters–Henry Coppée, Adam
Badeau, Albert D. Richardson, and Charles A. Dana and James Harrison Wilson—to
compile biographies in time for his first presidential campaign. The last two
books, along with Henry Deming’s Life of Ulysses S. Grant(which was also
hurriedly published before the election) were “carefully guarded against any
expression which could be used against [Grant] by the politicians.” Such
self-censorship was common when writing about Grant. Harry Wilson had asked
Badeau: “How could you imagine me capable of writing anything to injure the
reputation or inimical to the character of General Grant?” Unsurprisingly,
these volumes criticized their subject little, if at all. Badeau’s not only
supported each military move the General made, but besmirched “every officer
who incurred Grant’s displeasure either during or since the war,” according to
Harry Wilson many decades later.
Still,
the laudatory biographies kept coming, especially during his reelection in 1872,
after his world tour, and upon his death, and further added to his stature.
James Grant Wilson, a friend since meeting in Cairo in 1861, compiled yet
another campaign biography in 1868, revised and expanded it upon Grant’s death,
and then completed an even lengthier biography twelve years later. Another
general-turned-biographer, Grenville Dodge, warned Harry Wilson that “I would
eliminate from [Wilson’s biography of John Rawlins] everything that in any way
reflects on Grant.”
The
Personal Memoirs have been, from the moment they were first
published, tremendously influential in Civil War historiography, to the point
where they can trump contradicting perspectives, even when the latter are far
more firmly documented. Although acclaimed as marvelously truthful and
accurate, the Memoirs reveal myriad flaws. Grant’s errors of fact,
unjust criticisms, partiality, scapegoating, misremembrances, and outright
distortions make them, on the whole, unreliable. A case in point was his asking
Adam Badeau while preparing a preliminary Century article: “My
recollection is that McCooks division was not under fire at Shiloh atall. I am
not sure about Crittendens. Did Buell have any of his army with him the second
day except Nelsons division”? As these three divisions fought all day April 7th
under Buell (and Wood’s division joined them near the end), it was nothing but
deceitful for Grant to claim in the Memoirs that he had commanded them
all.
Sins
of omission accompanied those of commission. Despite the immeasurable and irreplaceable
assistance they provided Grant throughout the war, Elihu Washburne, Charles
Dana, and John Rawlins were effectively erased from the autobiography. Ulysses’
ardent devotee Sylvanus Cadwallader stated that, until the Memoirs
minimized Rawlins, “I had been loyal to Gen. Grant—had rarely spoken of his
excesses to any one—had apologized for and defended him at all times and in all
places—and mentioned his faults to but a few intimates.” Even though Cad’s
manuscript (posthumously published as Three Years with Grant) strongly
defended Grant on most issues, his daring admission that Grant drank during the
war and, at Satartia, went off on a major binge, was enough to earn him the
abuse of many Grant partisans. Grant Under Fire illustrates the vital
backing given by Washburne, Dana, and Rawlins, as well as by Grant’s pet
newsmen, such as Cadwallader and William C. Carroll. Grant’s intoxication on
the Satartia trip is methodically documented, and the denials of it are shown
to be baseless.
During
the last of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, a succession of
more-than-admiring portraits has been provided by the likes of Horace Porter,
John Emerson, Hamlin Garland, J.F.C. Fuller, Lloyd Lewis, and Bruce Catton. But
Porter’s undependable recollections were replete with impossibly long
quotations and an unqualified vindication of the bungled Overland campaign. The
inclusion of apparently fabricated correspondence in Emerson’s series of
magazine articles makes them equally unreliable. Even Catton, who wrote so
prolifically and so well, flip-flopped from several of his earlier, negative
positions, so that his two-volume Grant biography contains little that is
unsympathetic to its subject. Geoffrey Perret, Brooks Simpson, Jean E. Smith,
and H.W. Brands continued this spate of overly flattering works up to the
present day. Not coincidentally, the adherents happen to esteem not only Grant,
but admire almost all of the “Grant men,” whilst typically disparaging those
whom Grant hated.
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Grant
Under Fire, on the other hand, refutes many of the
conclusions reached by the General and his coterie. As a consequence, it not
only duly diminishes the reputation of Grant, but tarnishes many of his
favorites–William Sherman, most of all—while it concurrently elevates (to a greater
or lesser degree) the standings of various officers who directly or indirectly
suffered from the General’s activities during the war and his writings
afterward. Chief among these are Lew Wallace, John McClernand, Don Carlos
Buell, Jacob Lauman, William Rosecrans, George Thomas, Gordon Granger, Joseph
Hooker, George Meade, Gouverneur Warren, and Robert E. Lee.
Very
few books emerged to counter this century-and-a-half of praise and to point out
the errors of fact and illogical arguments. Most of these critical accounts
remain out of the mainstream. Google Scholar counted only six works which cited
Carswell McClellan’s Personal Memoirs and Military History of U.S. Grant
Versus the Record of the Army of the Potomac published in 1887. William
McFeely’s Pulitzer-winning biography is one of the few relatively balanced
biographical treatments of Grant, but it is over thirty years old. Recently,
however, Frank Varney’s General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the
Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the
Civil War and Diane Monroe Smith’s Command Conflicts in Grant’s Overland
Campaign: Ambition and Animosity in the Army of the Potomac have supplied
new perspectives on some of Grant’s command failings.
In
this vein, Grant Under Fire finely dissects the major and minor episodes
of the General’s Civil War career. It delves deeply into the most
controversial, such as Lew Wallace’s march to the battlefield of Shiloh and the
capture of Missionary Ridge by George Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland (which, at
that point, included Joseph Hooker’s contingent from the Army of the Potomac).
By themelves, these two cases illustrate how Grant made foolish and unmilitary
decisions, lied about what actually happened at the time and afterward, and
penalized innocent generals, even in victory. The methodology used by Edward
Bonekemper and others in statistically proving that the General was not a
butcher—and which underlies the unstated contention that the Overland
campaign’s proportional losses gave the Union an advantage—is shown to be
specious, both mathematically and historically. While making its points, Grant
Under Fire details the copious errors in Grant’s writings and definitively
overturns Mark Twain’s characterization of the Personal Memoirs of U.S.
Grant as the “best military memoirs” since Caesar’s Commentaries. But
then again, Twain was Grant’s publisher.
The
obviously one-sided viewpoint of Grant Under Fire should come as no
surprise, given its wholesale revision of conclusions grossly distorted in the
General’s favor. The facts speak for themselves. In case after case, the
standard pro-Grant version of history is exposed, revealing little more than
weak excuses, unfounded accusations, and exaggerated claims.
Grant
suffered the biggest military surprise of the Civil War, committed the worst
official act of anti-Semitism on United States soil, and came closest of all
federal commanders to losing Washington, D.C. In ranking his generalship above
Robert E. Lee’s, Grant’s defenders ignore his crude, pugnacious strategies that
resulted in a costly war of attrition and his amateurish tactics of impetuous
frontal assaults against fortified positions. In addition, his cronyism
poisoned the Union war effort.
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This groundbreaking work resolves such
persistent controversies as Grant’s drunken partying with the enemy on
flag-of-truce boats, unfairly blaming Lew Wallace for the slow march to Shiloh,
pretending all along to possess a plan to pass Vicksburg, taking credit for the
charge up Missionary Ridge, leaving wounded men to die between the lines at
Cold Harbor, and mistreating Black soldiers and civilians. In doing so, Grant’s
celebrated Personal Memoirs are shown to be
unreliable.
Joseph A. Rose spent twelve years writing Grant Under
Fire, combining original research—rigorously based on primary
sources—and investigative historiography. It overturns 150 years of distorted
and untrue accounts of Ulysses S. Grant’s military career and comprehensively
debunks his outstanding reputation as an officer and a gentleman.
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In
the following lecture, author Joseph Rose will contend that General U.S.
Grant’s vaunted military reputation is, in large part, undeserved. As opposed
to his Personal Memoirs and the writings of his staff and other supporters,
contemporary first person accounts and correspondence (often from Grant
himself) convincingly show how he often blundered on the battlefield and then
covered it up later. His extreme bias for or against various Union commander
also damaged the country's war effort.
Declarations that Grant was not tactically surprised at Shiloh or that he
ordered the Army of the Cumberland to ascend Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga
sent the author to the New York Public Library in search of primary source
materials on these and other battles. The talk will contend that Grant, and the
numerous defenders of his generalship and character, have distorted the
historical record.
Lecture was given at the Chicago Civil War Roundtable:
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Did Grant win the War Between the States, as some historians claim?
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The Personal Memoirs of U.S.
Grant (1885) is considered a classic of American literature. Many judge it the
greatest book ever written by a former U. S. President. Mark Twain, for one,
declares of the Memoirs: “Their style is at least flawless and no man can
improve upon it.” Now, Twain was not a disinterested party, being the book’s
publisher. But his praise has been echoed by others. Historian Bruce Catton,
for instance, observed that: “the book itself has a glow and shine…”
Ironically, this praise is
offered to the memoirs of a president perhaps least known for his intellectual
powers.
However, while the prose and
narrative flow of Grant’s memoirs earns near unanimous approval, historian
Frank Varney has challenged the book’s value as history.
“The shame is that Grant
shaped history,” explains Varney in his controversial new book, General Grant
and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S.
Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War. “[I]t is his version
of the story, and not the truth, which has become the accepted account.” By
taking Grant’s word for the matter instead of checking other sources, he later
says, historians “have allowed one man’s personal agenda to dictate how history
is written.”
“As important as Grant’s
Memoirs are,” Varney contends, “there is much more to know and to
understand—-and, I would argue-—errors to correct, prejudices to overcome, and distortions
to be balanced.”
And with that, Varney sets
off on a quest to do just that, using Grant’s treatment of Maj. Gen. William
Rosecrans as a case study. Varney uses the written record other than Grant to
demonstrate that, as always, there is more than one side to the story.
Frank Varney earned his Ph.D.
at Cornell University. He regularly leads student groups to Civil War
battlefields and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War
Roundtables and historical societies. Professor Varney is currently developing
a course to be taught on-site at Gettysburg, and will do the same for a course
on Chickamauga. He teaches U.S. and classical history at Dickinson State
University of North Dakota, where he is also the director of the Theodore
Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program. Here is Dr. Varney's lecture:
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If you read virtually any book on the Civil War, or any of
the biographies of Grant, you'll find repeated over and over again a set of
charges against Rosecrans that are derived from Grant's repeated libels against
probably the best general the Union army fielded. So-called historians did not
go to the original sources or conduct any analysis, contenting themselves with
echoing the words of other historians who, in turn, never bothered to study
Rosecrans themselves. Reading Lamer's biography, you'll discover just what a
genius Rosecrans was and in this careful analysis, how much he's been
mistakenly maligned. I wish I could send a copy of this book to those who
parrot Grant or repeat the usual nonsense. In this, the sesquicentennial of the
Civil War, it's time Rosecrans had his due.
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At
least three books published in 2013 have severely challenged one of the
standard versions of Civil War history: that Ulysses S. Grant was beset on all
sides by his subordinates’ incompetence. While Frank Varney reassessed that
general’s relationship with William S. Rosecrans in General Grant and the
Rewriting of History and Diane Monroe Smith in Command Conflicts in
Grant’s Overland Campaign did the same for Gouverneur K. Warren, Kevin
Getchell has taken on the controversy between Grant and Lew Wallace over the
latter’s indirect march to the Shiloh battlefield on April 6, 1862 in his Scapegoat
of Shiloh: The Distortion of Lew Wallace’s Record by U.S. Grant.
This
book aptly details how General Grant and his supporters scapegoated Wallace to
cover up Grant’s own blunders–such as his late arrival at Pittsburg Landing–and
presents a multitude of misrepresentations they employed in doing so. Mr.
Getchell particularly criticizes Grant’s use of the army’s quartermaster,
Algernon Baxter, to carry orders to Wallace at Crump’s Landing that morning,
given the supply problems which federal troops encountered throughout the day.
In fact, the book spends at least as much time analyzing the effect of Grant’s
mishandling of this staff-member as it does on the undue derogation of
Wallace’s generalship.
Although
the author’s arguments run up against the dearth of information regarding the
flow of ammunition to the front lines and the activities of the various
officers on the field of battle, he clearly demonstrates that many units ran
low on cartridges or cannonballs throughout the day, challenging the notion
that Grant quickly and effectively started the supply trains rolling. One can
only speculate about the subsequent ill-effect on combat as individual
regiments, even whole brigades, withdrew in order to restock the men’s pouches.
An important document in Mr. Getchell’s possession and reproduced here is an
order from April 6th to “Send all teams available to Steamer Rocket
[the ordnance storeship] to haul ammunition to the field immediately.”
Quartermaster Baxter’s name and the initials of one of McClernand’s
lieutenant-colonels appeared on the bottom. The author posits that these
supplies helped buttress the right wing under McClernand and Sherman at the
expense of the federal left.
The
author’s treatment has a tendency to shift back and forth chronologically and
thematically. Many of the book’s topics are repeated, such as the extent of
Baxter’s duties and the impact of his absence. The author does, however,
provide many other unusual and interesting nuggets of information, apart from
his main subject. An excerpt from an article in a small-town Wisconsin
newspaper contained a mortality figure for the local regiment doubling the
published number (confirmed by Bev Hetzel’s examination in Wisconsin Deaths
at Shiloh, Tennessee) and indicating how the war’s tremendous cost probably
mounted much higher than the already appalling official statistics. Among the
images of previously unpublished materials is a voucher for over sixty-seven
tons of corn “to Build breastworks near Pittsburgh Landing” on the first day of
the battle. The reference to a brigade commander’s Black servant who provided
Ulysses Grant “some curious liquid supply assistance” originated from a
first-person, but apparently unreliable, account detailing how the General
downed a pint of whiskey on April 6th but remained “perfectly sober
at the battle.”
Mr.
Getchell makes many telling points against Grant. The General only mentioned
choosing a quartermaster on his staff to deliver the message to Lew Wallace, as
opposed to identifying Baxter as the quartermaster of his army. Instead of
sending him on the errand immediately after landing, Grant apparently met
General W.H.L. Wallace nearer the front, or about a half-mile from the landing,
before dispatching his aide. Grant, for some reason, left Baxter’s name off the
list of personal staff in his early, and inadequate, official report of the
battle.
The
author’s thesis is strengthened by the portion of Baxter’s post-war letter which
was omitted from Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. The former
quartermaster wrote: “I had received no orders that morning from Gen. Grant
previous to leaving for Crump’s Landing, and had no opportunity to speak with
him until late that afternoon.” This alone goes a long way in explaining the
difficulties in supplying ammunition to the Union soldiers on the first day of
battle. By focusing on a seemingly insignificant episode, Mr. Getchell’s book
has illuminated some of the many shortcomings of the Union commander during the
Battle of Shiloh.
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Diane Monroe
Smith.
Command Conflicts in Grant's Overland Campaign: Ambition and Animosity in
the Army of the Potomac. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc., 2013
Reviewed by Drew S.
Bledsoe (Lee University)
Published on H-War (August, 2014)
Along with
Robert E. Lee and William T. Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant is certainly the most
famous general to have emerged from the American Civil War. Grant’s stature
among historians has waxed and waned in the 150 years since his military
triumph over the Confederacy, and yet his reputation for determination,
humility, and command acumen persists in both modern historiography and in
public memory and perception. Diane Monroe Smith, in Command Conflicts in
Grant’s Overland Campaign: Ambition and Animosity in the Army of the Potomac,
seeks to if not demolish then certainly to correct what she sees as deep
misconceptions about Grant, his character, and his abilities as a military
commander. The result is a provocative, though largely unconvincing, portrait
of a grasping, manipulative, and incompetent Grant that is considerably at odds
with more favorable, and widely accepted, interpretations.
The title of
Smith’s book is somewhat misleading. Students of the Overland campaign of 1864
will likely be disappointed with the book, as the author devotes just over half
of her study to his 1864 attempts to destroy Lee’s army near Richmond. Three of
ten chapters are devoted to Grant’s early military career in the West. Grant’s
involvement in the Overland campaign, the titular focus of Smith’s study,
occupies just six chapters, with a final chapter devoted to the Siege of Petersburg.
One of Smith’s
major themes is that Grant was an ambitious, even grasping officer propped up
by political supporters in the army. This flies in the face of the common
conception that one of Grant’s virtues, at least according to his advocates,
was his apparent lack of political ambition. Smith strongly disagrees with this
assessment. “Grant, trailed by a cloud of cronies, sycophants, and ardent
advocates, would march in his own eccentric way through the war, ‘falling
forward’ into the leading role of the country’s military hero and savior,” she
declares (p. 2). It was Grant’s unwavering loyalty to these military “cronies,”
as Smith puts it, that both made his reputation and protected him from the
criticism he justly deserved. Crossing “Grant’s Men” could be dangerous to
one’s military career and reputation (see George H. Thomas); being in the great
man’s good graces, however, could ensure an officer’s ascent through the
hierarchy of the army regardless of other connections or actual ability.
Grant’s clique included his confidant and defender John Rawlins, Charles A.
Dana of the War Department, “malicious” cavalry commander James H. Wilson, the
controversial William “Baldy” Smith, Horatio Wright, and Horace Porter (pp.
79-80). These men, Smith maintains, each played key custodial roles in
promoting, defending, or manipulating their boss and his reputation both during
and after the war.
Another theme
of the book is that Grant’s successes were anything but successful. Far from a
military genius, in Smith’s estimation, Grant was barely competent to do his
job. Grant’s Overland campaign was full of “dubious” victories, and the general
bears the ultimate responsibility for the flawed management of this effort,
particularly in his mishandling of the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac. The
role of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, though noted by Smith, seems to
be of secondary concern in her assessment. Smith peppers her study with example
after example of what she sees as Grant’s incompetence, starting with his first
battles and extending through the end of the war. Despite this sorry record,
one of the reasons Grant emerged from the Overland campaign with a creditable
record, Smith argues, is because he and his defenders excelled at shifting
blame.
Smith reserves particularly stinging criticisms of Grant for her account
of the infamous June 3, 1864, assault at Cold Harbor, characterizing his
involvement in the enterprise as a “bizarre” combination of apathy and
“insanity” followed by “a mind-boggling attempt at face-saving and
self-justification in the face of conspicuous defeat” (p. 185).
Given these
qualities, Grant’s rise to military prominence is almost inexplicable to Smith.
His is a “twisted version of the American success story,” and Smith attributes
Grant’s success mainly to his friends and supporters who saw him as their
golden ticket (p. 2). Though provocative, particularly to modern
admirers of Grant, this is an unsatisfying interpretation. All military leaders
have imperfect records; Grant was certainly no exception. Smith seems all too
eager to overlook Grant’s determination to prosecute the war despite its
horrendous cost, which was perhaps one of his most important attributes, and
was exactly what President Abraham Lincoln had been desperately searching
for in a commanding general.
Despite the
partisan bent to her study, Command Conflicts in Grant’s
Overland Campaign raises interesting questions about Grant the leader and
the hotbed of political conflict that surrounded him. Given Smith’s title, one
might expect a more focused examination of the Overland campaign at the complex
web of command relationships within the Army of the Potomac. Rather, the book
stands as an interesting, if sharply one-sided, critique of the flaws in
Grant’s military decision making, and an indictment of the general’s
apparent refusal to tolerate criticism. In that sense, Smith’s work encourages
us to complicate our understanding of one of the most famous military figures
in American history.
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Why was the Mississippi River important in the Civil War?
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Satartia after the War Between the States:
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Meteorological historical data indicates that Satartia, situated on the Yazoo River, has always been considered a high-risk area for flooding and tornadoes. Photos and film reports (below) illustrate the problems faced by residents.
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SATARTIA, Miss. —June 2015 has
been like a coming out party for black bears in Central Mississippi -- and 16
WAPT News viewers are catching them on camera.
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During the War Between the States, Savez returned to the waters off Satartia in order to take depth 'soundings' while operating on ships in the area.
The story about his return to Satartia, his overnight ride of 50 miles to see the commanding general at Vicksburg, and other adventures, is well represented in the book, "History of the Confederate States Navy from it's Organization to the Surrender of it's Last Vessel" by John Thomas Scharf. You can see and download a free PDF copy of this book here:
https://archive.org/details/historyofconfede00scha
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Pages in the "History of the Confederate States Navy" that reference Savez Read:
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"Savez" Read's early education included country schools and a short stay at Andrews College. He served an apprentice position in the Barksdale & Jones Printing Office. He and his brothers, much as the Wright Brothers would do in the late 1800's, were involved in the writing and publication of a local newspaper in Hinds County, "Scraps of Young America." He also worked for a short time as a writer for "The Mississippian" newspaper, in Jackson, MS.
He joined a local Thespian Society and appeared as a young sailor in a play entitled, "Black-Eyed Susan."
“Black-Eyed Susan;” or “All
in the Downs” is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold.
The story concerns a heroic
sailor, William, who has been away from England for three years fighting in the
Napoleonic Wars. Meanwhile his wife, Susan, has fallen on hard times and is
being harassed by her crooked landlord uncle. A smuggler named Hatchet offers
to pay her debts because he wants her for himself; he tries to persuade her
that William is dead.
Soon after William returns to solve this
problem, his drunken, dastardly captain tries to seduce Susan. William, not
recognizing his captain from behind, strikes him with his cutlass. He is
court-martialed for attacking a senior officer and sentenced to be hanged. Much of the humor in the piece centers on the
sailor's nautical dialect, combined with his noble character. The play is a
nautical melodrama (with all its stock characters) that praises the patriotic
British tar (sailor) while critiquing authoritarianism in the British Navy.
Aspects of the story were later parodied in H.M.S. Pinafore (1878).
Characters in the play:
Doggrass, a wealthy publican
Gnatbrain, a gardener and waterman
Tom Hatchet, a smuggler who covets Susan
Jacob Twig, a ploughboy turned bailiff
Susan, married to William and niece to
Doggrass
Dolly Mayflower, a spinner in love with
Gnatbrain
William, a sailor married to Susan
Blue Peter, a sailor
Ploughshare, a farm labourer
Lieutenant Pike, of William's ship
Captain Robert Crosstree, of William’s ship
The Admiral, in charge of the court martial
Master at Arms
Country girls and sailors
Will "Savez" aka William the Sailor, be hanged in the end? No spoilers, but here is a copy of the play from public domain, and you can read how it turned out:
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Oak Tree
Hotel, Raymond, Mississippi,
owned by
Howell Alexander Hall, father of Rosa Hall,
wife of Charles “Savez"
Read. (Her mother was Elizabeth Ann Benson).
He courted her at this Hotel.
After Howell’s
wife (Elizabeth Ann Benson) died, he married Mary Elizabeth “Eliza” Read, aunt of “Savez” Read, John
Jeremiah Read, and their siblings.
(Dr. C.A. Rice, who later treated Savez at his home in Meridian, MS, (where he died) lived for some time in this hotel before the War Between the States. He is listed on the enumerated Census as a boarder, along with the Hall family).
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Dr. C.A. Rice is listed in this newspaper advertisement:
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Howell A. Hall served in the Confederate Army:
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Children of Howell A Hall
and Elizabeth Ann Benson are:
i. William Hall, b. 13 Jan 1837, Hinds, MS.
ii. Mary Eliza Hall, b. 04 Dec 1837, MS.; married Henry Terry, 27 April 1878, Lowndes, MS.
iii. Barry W Hall, b. 28 Feb 1839, Hinds, MS.
iv. Robert Nesbit Hall, b. 04 Nov 1840, Raymond, Hinds, MS, d. 02 Oct 1894, Woodlawn, TX.
v. Rozaltha G Hall, b. 24 Sep 1842, MS, d. 1878, New
Orleans, Orleans, LA.
vi. Alexander J. Hall, b. 27 Aug 1844, MS. (He joined Company A, Mississippi 12th Infantry Regiment, Confederate Army).
vii. Georgiana A Hall, b. 11 Sep 1846, MS., married Cesar Russell, 11 July 1882, Washington, MS.
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Alexander I. Hall, Confederate Army service record:
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Howell Alexander Hall, Census Records:
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Robert Nesbit
Hall, was well acquainted with "Savez" Read. He was the son of Howell Hall and brother to Rosa Hall, who married "Savez." In addition, Robert married Elizabeth Catherine Read, "Savez" Read's sister!
He was born and reared in Hinds
county, MS. At twenty years of age he enlisted in the "Raymond Fencibles," later known as Company C of the 12th Mississippi Infantry. He achieved the rank of SGT. In the Battle of Seven Pines, near Richmond, Va., he lost his left arm and
was discharged. Returning home, he kept up with the war news and when the town of Raymond was threatened by Union forces, he organized local teenagers and already-discharged veterans for a 90 day enlistment, as a home guard. His group would be soon involved in the Battle of Raymond.
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Robert Nesbit Hall, Confederate service record:
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After
the war ended, Robert Hall was elected probate clerk of Hinds county. Being
a lawyer, he afterwards served as probate judge until he felt called to
preach.
After his Baptist ordination to the ministry in 1868, he held a number
of pastorates in
the Central Baptist Association until the fall of 1873, when he was
elected agent of
the Lauderdale Orphans' Home, and afterwards superintendent. He
operated a grist mill in order to get funds for the orphanage. He was in
charge
of this institution in 1875, when it was suspended. (Photo: of Confederate Orphanage, about 1900; and children of General John Bell Hood, from the Confederate Orphans
Home):
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The War Between the States created a pint-sized
nation of orphans. Hundreds of thousands of children in both the North and the
South struggled to survive, half-starved, bedraggled and sick. Many did not
survive. In East Mississippi alone, it was estimated there were 10,000 war
orphans. The problem was so acute that the Confederate Orphans Home of
Mississippi was established by the Mississippi Baptist State Convention in 1865, at Lauderdale Springs,
outside of Meridian. In less than two years, the facility was home to over 200
orphans, and it remained in operation until 1878, when the last of its charges
had been placed into homes.
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In the spring of
1877, Rev. Hall accepted missionary work in the Columbus Baptist Association.
Later he located at Crawford, Miss., and was pastor there and at
Brooksville.
Shortly after this, his
wife died and he was subsequently married to Miss Emma Lea, of Liberty, MS,
a daughter of W. Z. Lea. (Wilford
Zachariah Lea was a private in the Amite County Defenders, Co. K, 33rd
Mississippi Regiment, organized March 1862. Other Leas in the same regiment
were all privates and all these records are available. H. C. Lea was killed in
Franklin, TN, C. C. Lea was killed in Atlanta, Ga, Iverson G. Lea died in
army, J. P. Lea was killed at Pine Mt. James E. Lea was also in this regiment.)
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It was here in Brooksville, where Rev. Hall was pastor of the Baptist Church, that his first wife, Elizabeth Catherine Read died.
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Children of Robert Nesbit Hall
and Elizabeth Catherine Read:
Robert N. Hall, Jr., Fay, Sheldon Leodson Hall, Mary L. Hall, Barry Benson Hall, Katie R. Hall. (All born in MS.) (Sheldon L. Hall died October 12, 1935, Marietta, Cobb, Georgia, age 64. He was a bookkeeper. Type of burial: cremation).
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Barry Benson Hall, son of Robert Nesbitt Hall, became a minister:
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Barry Benson Hall married Jessie May Bartlett:
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Rev. Barry Benson Hall (Nov 30, 1877- July 11,1960) and Jessie May Bartlett (1885-1956) had 6 children: Barry Benson Hall, Jr. (1902-1949). Melba (1907-). Gertrude (1908-1933). Stanley G. (He is sometimes listed as "G. Stanley"); (Dec 5, 1909-Feb 27, 2000; married 1933 to Clara Mae Josey (June 10, 1909, Park Hill, S.C.); they had a girl: Suzanne, born Oct 10, 1937, San Pedro, CA) he lived in Charleston, S.C.; in 1939, he, Clara and Suzanne took a trip by boat to Pago Pago, American Samoa to Hawaii, then to Los Angeles. Margaret (March 15, 1913, Minn.-September 4, 1994, Natchez, MS.); she married William Lee McGehee (1911-1966). Gertrude. Melba had a son, William Parker.
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Children of Robert Nesbit Hall
and Mary Lea:
Rosa Hall: born December 29, 1889, died December 18, 1974; Beulah Cemetery, Bolivar County, MS.
Fay Hall: born March 14, 1891, died April 17, 1926.
Robert N. Hall, Jr.: born February 17, 1893.
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Rev. Hall moved to Atlanta, Texas, in 1891, where he was
pastor for about 3 years. He resigned this church to accept a call to Woodlawn,
Texas, where he died October 2, 1894, internment following in the Woodlawn
cemetery. While in Texas he displayed the same zeal and earnestness, which
characterized his earlier life. Occasionally he wrote letters from his Western
home to the Baptist Record, sending good cheer and greeting to his friends. He
was a man of strong convictions and good preaching ability. Rev. Hall was
moderator of the Association three years and clerk one year.
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Marriage License of
Charles William "Savez" Read
and
Rosa G. Hall
|
Charles W. Read and Rosa Hall
Marriage License
from the Hinds County Courthouse,
Raymond, MS.
(Original color photographs taken in 2016, with details of the actual license he signed):
|
Notice Charles Read's initials written on the face of the stamp:
|
The Court House in Raymond, MS, built in 1857, where Charles Read registered for his marriage to Rosa Hall:
|
Name of Sculptor of monument on court house grounds, engraved on bottom:
|
An autographed photo of Savez Read
taken a few weeks after his wedding to Rosa.
|
Rozaltha (Rosa) G. Hall
first wife of Savez Read.
She died 11 years after their marriage of Yellow Fever.
|
An early picture of Rosa G. Hall (Read):
|
Rosa Hall Read is buried with their daughter Alice Nash Read, in the Biloxi, Louisiana Cemetery.
Both died from Yellow Fever:
|
A recently discovered photo (above) of
"Savez" Read
in the Duke University archives. (A copy is in the Virginia State Archives, but is not the original).
|
A picture of the portrait painted by my Aunt Mary Margaret Read, circa 2000, from Charles Read's official Annapolis graduation photo (below), courtesy of Timothy Read:
|
From the Read family Bible:
|
Children of
Charles William "Savez" Read
and his first wife,
Rosa Hall:
1. Charles William Read, Jr.: born January 4, 1869, and lived only 18 months.
2. Roby Deavenport Read: born August 2, 1870, died 1924.
3. Alice Nash Read: born September 10, 1872, died November 8, 1878.
4. Louise Dornin Read (twin of Lamar): born September 27, 1875. She married Jordan D. Cauthen, Nov. 22, 1889, Lampassas, TX. He was born in Georgia, and was 31 at the time; she was 25. He died Jan. 25, 1944. She died in 1949.
5. Lamar Fort Read (twin of Louise): died on December 4, 1877.
6. Mallory John Read: born February 28, 1878, died January 25, 1923.
and with his second wife, Nebraska Carter, whom he married on February 23, 1884:
1. May Elizabeth Read, born March 3, 1885, died August 18, 1951.
|
Charles W. Read and Nebraska Carter
(his second wife after Rosa died)
Marriage License,
issued in Meridian,
Lauderdale County, MS:
|
Nebraska Carter Read's death certificate:
|
Nebraska Carter Read death certificate PDF in high resolution:
|
Nebraska Carter was born July 13, 1854, Augusta, MS. Died, 1926, Los Angeles, CA, at her home, 528 North Santa Anna Ave. She and Charles Read had one daughter, May Elizabeth, born March 3, 1885, New Orleans. She had two sisters, C.E. and May Carter, Hattiesburg, MS, and a brother Asa Carter, Gulfport, MS.
Funeral services were held at the Fillbach chapel; conduced by Rev. Roy O. Youtz, pastor of the Christian Church.. Remains were cremated and sent to Meridian, MS, and placed beside the grave of her husband, Charles Read. There, in the Rose Hill Cemetery, a prayer service was conducted by Rev. Blanding Vaughan, pastor of South Side Baptist Church.
After the death of Charles Read, she married a Mr. May; then after his death, was granted a petition of June 20, 1911, to resume the name of Read. She is buried with Charles Read, in Rose Hill Cemetery, Meridian, MS.
|
Nebraska Carter Read's parents:
|
Louise Dornin
Read and half-sister May Read:
|
May Read was a secretary and bookeeper for the Burbank Daily Review newspaper. She would not disclose her political affiliation until the 1938 election, when she registered as a Democrat.
|
May Elizabeth Read, was born March 3, 1885 in New Orleans. She died August 18, 1951 in San Bernardino County, CA. Her obituary:
|
Roby Deavenport Read
(Second Son of Charles and Rosa Read)
Roby Deavenport Read was born on August 2, 1870, in Algiers/New Orleans, Louisiana. He died on May 13, 1924, in Alameda, California, at
the age of 53.
He
married Alice May Ingraham on January 1, 1898, in Martinez, California. (One document says she was born Sept 24, 1873 in San Francisco, CA.) (His children: Cora, born: October 21, 1898, died: April 4, 1983; Ingraham, born: September 2, 1902, (another document says Sept 8th), died: February 9, 1982; Gracia, born: May 15, 1909, died: November 24, 1912; and Virginia, born: November 18, 1910, in Yokohama, Japan, died: 1950).
(Note the name correction: according to the Read family Bible, his middle name was Deavenport, not "Davenport," although it was often misspelled on consular documents. He was named after Lt. Francis M. Roby, whom Savez had met at the U.S. Navy Academy, and with whom he had served on the Webb, during the Civil War).
|
Roby D. Read obituary, published, May 14, 1924:
|
Roby D. Read served as a sailor, at age 20, on a steam ship:
|
Roby D. Read: on manifest list of passengers en route from Japan to San Francisco, CA:
|
Roby Deavenport Read,
age 49
|
Alice May Ingraham Read was born in San Francisco, Sept 8, 1902. She died in 1967.
|
Cora Read was born in San Francisco, CA, Oct 12, 1898. She died April 4, 1983, La Canada, California.
|
Cora Read, Passport Photo:
|
Virginia Read, another daughter of Roby D. Read, was born in Yokohama, Japan, Nov. 18, 1910; died March 13, 1952, Santa Clara, CA. She married Stephen Sanders Patten (born July 6, 1907, in Hawaii-died Feb. 17, 1971, in Alameda, CA.).
|
Stephen Sanders Patten, high school photo:
|
Ingraham Read, son of Roby D. Read. He married Florence H. MacGregor.
|
Ingraham Read, age 16, Passport Photo:
|
Florence H. MacGregor, student at University of California, Berkeley:
|
Florence married Ingraham Read on November 11, 1928, in Alameda, California. They had 2 children during their marriage. She died on June 14, 1984. She was born on September 15, 1901.
|
Social event planned to honor Florence MacGregor, from newspaper dated Aug. 29, 1928:
|
Louise Dornin Read
(Second Daughter of
Charles "Savez" and Rosa Read):
|
Marriage license of Louise Dornin Read and Jordan Denis Cauthen:
|
J.D. Cauthen and Louise Read on 1900 Census:
|
On October 29, 1900, Louise and Jordan lost their first child, a son, who is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lampassas, Texas. The following news story carried the information about what happened. It has typographical errors, but is reproduced as written:
|
THE LAMPASAS LEADER
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1902
About 6 p.m. Wednesday, the little two-year-old child of Mr. Dod Cauthen while
playing with other children in the yard, got hold of a bottle of gasoline and
before it was noticed, drank a portion of it, how much is not known. Several
physicians were immediately called and were with the little sufferer within ten
minutes after the call was made and of course, did all that was possible to do
in a case of the kind, but their efforts were not rewarded with success and
death resulted at 7:30 p.m. It is sad, sad indeed to have to chronicle such an
accident and the Leader extends its sincere sympathies to the bereaved family.
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Louise Dornin Read Cauthen is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park/Glendale, Los Angeles County, Calif.:
|
Louise Dornin Read (Second Daughter of Charles and Rosa Read) stands with her half-sister, May Elizabeth Read, who never married (only daughter of Charles "Savez" Read and his second wife, Nebraska Carter):
|
Louise Dornin Read (L) and her half-sister
May Read (R)
|
Charles "Savez" Read
married Nebraska Carter
(who lived to be 91),
daughter of Asa Carter, Sr.,
of Meridian, MS, on February 23, 1884, in the First Baptist Church, Meridian, by the Rev. Joseph Woodruff Bozeman.
Bozeman was pastor in Meridian, 1879-1895. He previously attended the University of Virginia, and, after ordination, pastored Pine Street Baptist Church, Richmond, VA., then, the Baptist churches of Lexington and Aberdeen, MS. He served as Trustee of Mississippi College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. Rev. Bozeman is buried in the same Rose Hill Cemetery as "Savez" Read.
|
First Baptist Church, Meridian, MS, as it appears today:
|
Information about Nebraska Carter (Read) family:
|
Alice Katherine McNulty (1880-1967)
She was the daughter of John J. McNulty (Born in Liverpool, England, June 6, 1855, died Feb 15, 1911, New Orleans) and Mary Duffy (1849-1928). Alice had 6 siblings: Florence (1877-), Amelia (1885-), Hasel (1887-), Mary (1999-), John (1889-), and Ernestine (1890-).
Mallory and Alice had 3 children: Mary Louise Read (1908-1908) Mallory John Read (1909-1990) and Roby Charles Read (1913-1997).
|
Mallory John Read--Alice McNulty
marriage license:
|
Mallory Read served in the
Spanish-American War
|
Mallory Read was a Master Mariner at the Engineering Department, U.S.A.C.
|
Grave of Mallory John Read, son of “Savez”
Read. Stone is inscribed with the wrong
birth date. He couldn’t have been born
in 1880: his mother Rosa Read died in August 1878, of Yellow Fever. Mallory was
born February 28, 1878, and died January 25, 1923.
|
Mallory Read
death certificate:
|
This photo found online has the following identification: "L to R: Roby Read, his brother Mallory, his cousin John Hall, and unidentified child."
There seems to be a problem with the above identification. Consider the following information: Bettie and Robert Hall took in Charles "Savez" Read's children to look after, after Charles' wife Rosa died (aunt and uncle to the children). Mallory's two kids: their birth dates don't coincide with Charles' kids if the identification is to be believed. Roby was 8 years older than Charles' Mallory. Bettie and Robert Hall's child, Barry Benson Hall was 6 years old; same age as Charles' Mallory. John Hall was 6 months old when Mallory was 5 months old. It is thought that Mallory and Barry are in the carriage pictured. Which leaves Roby as the oldest boy at about 8 or 9, standing in the picture, right side. That would indicate the girl is Louise, who looks about 4. (My Read cousins are invited to contact me reference this interpretation: your thoughts?) -J.Hughes
|
Mary Louise Read
birth certificate:
|
Death Notice of Mallory's daughter,
Mary Louise:
|
Mary Louise Read
death certificate:
|
Mallory John Read, Jr.
son of Mallory Read and Mallory, Jr.'s wife Mary:
|
Roby Charles Read (brother of Mallory John Read, Jr.)
birth certificate, photo of Roby, photo of Roby and family (Roby, his wife Anastasia "Anna" Agnelly , daughters Ann A. (1937-1995) and Patricia Ann Powell (1941-1996), and obituary:
|
Roby C. Read and second wife Cecil M. (1921-2011):
|
A Copy of the Letter written by
Charles W. Read,
resigning his regular Navy Commission, in order to join the Confederate Navy.
(It is said that when his services were offered and declined by the U.S. Navy, he went and had a personal audience with President Jefferson Davis, who offered him a commission in the Confederate States Navy.)
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Maine's Hidden History: The Civil War
Clash in Portland Harbor
(Source: The Maine Public
Broadcasting Network)
(Picture above: Herb
Adams looks out over Portland Harbor, where a little-known Civil War battle
took place 150 years ago.)
Much attention is focused on the 150th anniversary of the battle of
Gettysburg as it approaches. But there's a similar milestone for a much less
well-known Civil War clash - and it took place in Portland Harbor. Unlike
Gettysburg, this was a more or less bloodless affair, but if it wasn't for some
good Yankee luck, things could have turned out a lot differently. Tom Porter
talked to local historian Herb Adams, in this latest installment of our Maine's
Hidden History series.
|
The man at the center of this drama was a
swashbuckling Confederate Navy Lieutenant named Charles William Read.
On June 26,
1863 he sneaked into Casco Bay, intent on causing trouble.
A short
walk from the parking lot of Southern Maine Community College leads to some
overgrown ramparts. It's a good vantage point to survey Portland Harbor and the
islands that overlook it: the scene of the northernmost naval engagement of the
U.S. Civil War.
Transcript of PBS Radio Interview:
Tom Porter:
"We are standing here on the site of Fort Preble - the remains of Fort
Preble, which was originally built over 200 years ago, in 1808. But it was in
1863, in June, when Lt. Charles Read was incarcerated with the crew of the CSS
Archer, for activities that had happened the previous day, here in Casco Bay.
Herb Adams, what was Lt. Read doing in Casco Bay. What was the Confederate Navy
doing here 150 years ago?
Herb Adams:
"An absolute surprise is what he was doing, very cleverly disguised, could
have been an extremely negative mark upon the northern efforts in the war.
Today, you kind of look upon it as a raid that was worth of Gilbert and
Sullivan, via Grant and Lee. But had it worked the way he had intended, he
would be remembered as a second Cpt. Mowatt, a man who burned the city of
Portland for the second time."
Charles Read has been described as a
"Confederate Corsair." As a so-called commerce raider, his job, says
Adams, was to wreak havoc up and down the coast. His mission was simple:
"To sink as many ships - capture them, sink them, bomb them, burn them -
as possible," Adams says. "And Read was given papers and permission
to do that."
Tom Porter: "So he was seizing Yankee
property, basically, for the Confederacy - it sounds a little bit
piratical."
Herb Adams: "And the reason he escaped
being caught as a pirate is because he had official papers allowed by a
government in conflict with the United States, that government calling itself
the Confederate States of America. Now it depends on your point of view, he
could indeed still be seen as a pirate by anybody whose ships he captured - and
he captured plenty."
"He captured, in fact, 22 ships in 20
days, says Adams, as he headed north. But his luck ran out when he tried to
overtake the Caleb Cushing - a United States Revenue Cutter.
On the
night of June 26, aboard a captured mackerel schooner renamed the Confederate
Ship Archer, Read sailed into Portland Harbor. Relying on stealth more than
firepower, he and his crew of 15 surprised sleeping crew members of the
Cushing, tied them up, and prepared to depart.
His intention, says Adams, was to sail the
vessel out into the bay, and bombard the city of Portland - but this wasn't to
be.
"You know the gods that love gamblers
dealt Read a very mixed hand," Adams says. "He had the vessel but the
tide turned against him, the wind went down and he had no way to get that
vessel out of this harbor except to put out boats on ropes and tow it
away."
And this he proceeded to do. But Read was
still only a few miles off Portland Head Light the next morning when dawn
broke. The inhabitants of Portland were outraged that the vessel that was
supposed to be defending the harbor had been taken from under their noses.
Their first thought was that the commander of
the Cushing - a Captain Davenport from Georgia - had turned traitor and stolen
his own boat. A sizeable posse was assembled, says Adams, and two steamships
sailed out into the bay to intercept the Cushing.
Herb Adams: "If accounts are correct, 200
people piled aboard these things waving muskets and cutlasses and were armed by
the city armory."
Tom Porter: "And that posse included
regular soldiers based here at Fort Preble."
Herb Adams:
"Absolutely true - they came puffing aboard with two brass howitzers from
Fort Preble, the 17th United States regulars. They were joined by the 7th Maine
volunteers, with their own two cannon, and their brass band from South
Portland."
Tom Porter: "They took a brass band
along?"
Herb Adams: "Well, of course, one must
have music to do these things."
Shots were exchanged between the Cushing and
her pursuers, but little harm was done. Seeing he was outgunned, Lt. Read
decided to surrender - but not before he scuttled the Caleb Cushing, blowing it
up in Casco Bay, in clear view of the Portland residents who had taken to their
rooftops to witness the battle.
Only when
Read surrendered did the Portland authorities discover the true identity of
their tormentor. By this point Charles Read had become something of a celebrity
- so much so, says Adams, that his presence as a prisoner at Fort Preble proved
too distracting, and he was moved to Boston.
"It's
easy for us to smile about it now, and I certainly have, but his designs were
absolutely serious," Adams says. "And had he succeeded this would
have been considered one of the great calamities of the Civil War."
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Audio interview, PBS Radio:
|
This is a picture of "Savez" Read's knife, which was confiscated upon his capture, after his raid on Portland, Maine. It is in a Portland, Maine museum:
|
“Tramp,
Tramp, Tramp”
(Source: The Civil War Trust)
Composed by George Root in 1863, this piece struck a chord
in the heart of every prisoner or war. In Andersonville, rumors that Union
troops were on their way to liberate the prisoners circulated constantly. Hope
of liberation, of escape, release, or prisoner exchange was often the only
thing that stood between prisoners and total despair.
|
I found the following original Newspaper article, written by Charles Edgeworth Jones, tucked inside a copy of "Register of Commissioned and Warrent Officers of the Navy of the Confederate States."
Charles Read's name appears in the article, "Additional List of Officers Who Joined Southern Navy," first paragraph of listing:
|
Date Of Present Commission: 8th Feb 1862 (left off of above picture)
|
Letter from Savez Read to
President Andrew Johnson,
June 21, 1865:
|
The “Clarion Ledger”
Jackson, Mississippi,
October 17, 1889,
announces the serious illness of “Savez”
Read:
|
Information about Dr. Rice who treated "Savez" Read, at his home, where he died:
In 1863, Dr. Rice was
commissioned a surgeon in the Confederate States Army. He was post
surgeon at Washington, Georgia at the time of surrender in 1865. It was
as a surgeon that Dr. Rice excelled. His experience and knowledge of
hermetically sealed wounds-gunshot, fractured, lacerated or contuse and
especially in gunshot wounds of the lungs and chest, was stellar. In
1889, when the Confederate Veterans was organized, Dr. Rice was unanimously
elected Surgeon General of Mississippi.(The Biloxi Herald, April 3, 1897, p. 8).
As an author and
inventor, Dr. Rice contributed to the medical literature with his articles,
‘Resuscitation from Death by Chloroform’, ‘Ovariotomy’, and others. His
inventions were: a tourniquet for field service, which was adopted by many of
the surgeons of the Confederate service; a gag to be used on insane persons
during the introduction of the stomach pump; and a speculum for operating in
vesico-vaginal cases. (The Biloxi Herald, April 3, 1897, p. 8).
A detailed biography of Dr. Rice follows:
|
Dr. C.A. Rice had this unusual article published in the New York Medical Times:
|
The eulogy for "Savez" Read
was given at the First Baptist Church, Meridian, MS,
by the famous lawyer,
William Harris Hardy.
|
William H. Hardy was a former Confederate Army officer, who had recently engineered construction of the New Orleans and North East Railroad from New Orleans to Meridian.
|
First Baptist Church, Meridian, MS., photo taken about 1906.
|
From the Sunday edition,
January 26, 1890, Page 2, (on two columns)
"Times-Picayune" (New Orleans, LA.):
|
The Wednesday, January 29, 1890 edition of “The Times-Picayune” (New Orleans, Louisiana),
announced the replacement of “Savez” Read as harbormaster, upon his death, with
William Wallace Hunter:
|
It is interesting to note that Hunter was a contemporary of Read's, and both had served in the Confederate Navy. Born in 1803, he served as Commodore aboard the CSS Gaines. He was from the "Old Navy," and, unlike "Savez" Read, more of an administrator than a warrior. Early in the war, he commanded a little naval force at Galveston, Texas, where he infuriated Gen. John B. Magruder with his refusal to get the navy involved in winning the port back from the Yankees. He would die June 29, 1892.
|
William Wallace Hunter
(a portrait from the book,
"The Davis Memorial Volume," (1890)
by J.William Jones)
|
Original entrance to Cemetery where "Savez" Read
is buried:
|
This historic
cemetery contains the monuments of
Meridian founders John Ball and Lewis Ragsdale,
the graves of Emil and Kelly Mitchell,
the King and Queen of the Gypsies, a mound that
contains the remains of the confederate dead and
the grave of Lt. Charles W. Read who is regarded as
the John Paul Jones of the Confederacy.
|
Short film about the Cemetery and "Savez" Read:
|
Joseph Hughes lays flowers at the grave of his
Great Great Uncle,
Charles W. Read
|
Listing of those Confederate Soldiers buried in the mound with
Charles and Nebraska Read:
|
Sign seen, as you leave the Confederate burial mound. My father, Rev. Frank Hughes, Jr., used these words at the close of every funeral service he conducted at a graveside:
|
Henry Clay Sharkey
was a son of William Lewis Sharkey, Governor of Mississippi, and was a friend of "Savez" Read, Joseph Read, and their family:
|
Charles "Savez" Read: more information
|
The following letters between the editor of the Hinds County Gazette, Raymond, MS, newspaper, written in 1904, from "Savez" Read's Cousin, William M. Dotson, Sr., who inquired about "Savez" Read. Raymond was the location of the Oak Tree Hotel, where "Savez" met his first wife, and where Dr. C.A. Rice stayed. The letter with the reply by the editor follows:
|
Original oil painting by Herb Mott with this note above the painting seen below: "August 6, 1862:
Helpless and aground, “ARKANSAS” is scuttled and abandoned by her crew after
her engines failed as she prepared to engage “USS ESSEX” in battle above Baton
Rouge, LA."
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While still less than
a hundred years old in 1861, the nation stood on the brink of catastrophic
civil war as states in the lower south followed South Carolina in seceding from
the Union. These dire times confronted officers of Southern origin in the
country's military service with an agonizing decision whether to remain under
the "Old Flag" or leave and follow their section. Local, state and
family ties ran very deep. Men of the highest principles from young midshipmen
at the Naval Academy to the most senior officers who had devoted their lives to
the Navy---Raphael Semmes, Josiah Tarnall, Matthew Fontaine Maury, for example,
resigned their commissions to cast their lot with the Confederacy.
In this unique and
interesting study, which includes information about Charles "Savez" Read, Dr. William S. Dudley of the Naval Historical Center has
examined in depth how President Lincoln, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles,
and the Navy Department reacted to and handled the almost 400 Navy and Marine
Corps officers who resigned to "Go South." The author has included a
comprehensive appendix listing the name of each officer by rank. The Naval
Historical Foundation is deeply indebted to Dr. Dudley for making the results
of his invaluable research available to the Foundation members.
J.L. HOLLOWAY, III
Admiral, USN (Ret.)
(Webmaster’s note: The Naval
Historical Center has gratefully acknowledged Dr. William S. Dudley and the
Naval Historical Foundation for their support and encouragement in posting this
online edition, in the public domain):
|
After the War Between the States, Savez Read often traveled on steamships out of New Orleans. Picture on left is of the S.S. City of Mexico (photo taken in 1905); owned and operated by the Mexican-American Steamship Company.
Savez Read's name is on the Manifest of this ship, dated July 19, 1875, in the pdf file below. He is listed as "Charles W. Read" on the second line:
|
Savez Read commanded the 915 ton Steamer,
the S.S. City of Dallas, for 7 Years, out of New Orleans, pictured above.
It was owned by the Morgan Line.
|
From the “The Ouachita Telegraph,” Monroe, LA.
October
23, 1869:
|
Entire Books or books with a chapter,
about Savez Read:
|
Jimmy Morgan, close friend of Savez Read, who wrote the book: "Recollections of a Rebel Reefer." It includes interesting highlights of Read's adventures. (See image of book below):
|
Jimmy Morgan's sister kept a diary about the Civil War, which is now available in print along with more information written by her brother:
|
William Francis "Frank" Shippey, was another close friend of Savez Read; serving together in the CSN. He would later leave with other Confederates for Brazil, establish a plantation in Campinas, San Paulo, and marry Eliza Kerr "Lizzie" Froelich/Freligh. He and his wife are pictured here:
|
Shippey’s
wife’s family were Confederates. As a young girl of about 10 years old,
Lizzie helped her mother smuggle medicine across enemy lines. Her mother
would put the medicine into large buttons, and sewing these on their
dresses.
Later, as a
teen, Lizzie went with her family to Brazil to try to start a new life.
Some of her time there is recorded in a book I call the "Keyes
Diary". While in Brazil, she met and married her husband, Capt. Wm.
Francis "Frank" Shippey. He was working on railroads at the
time. Not long thereafter, the family returned to the USA, where
they lived in Florida for a while (1870 Census).
Later in
life, she was an actress and had several roles of note. There are several
mentions and/or reviews of her in various periodicals and newspapers of the
time.
Eventually,
she moved to California with her family. Her son Henry Lee Shippey became
a writer and columnist.
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William Francis "Frank" Shippey Capt
Birth ABT 1847 • New York, USA
Death 1899 • Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, USA
Father:
Josiah William Shippey 1811-1880
Mother:
Louisa Brundred
1818–1854
Wife:
Eliza Kerr
"Lizzie" Froelich/Freligh
1851–1937
Children:
Louisa
R (Lulu) Shippey
1871–1963
Virginia
Lee "Jennie" Shippey
1873–1955
Charles
Stuart Shippey
1876–1953
Mary
Shippey
1879–
Henry
Lee Shippey
1884–1969
|
William F. Shippey wrote up his exploits in the Confederate Navy in
"A Leaf from my Log-Book":
|
Books that have information about Charles Read
|
This is the story of Captain John N. Maffitt of the Confederate Navy, and includes many pages of information about his interaction with, and the exploits of "Savez" Read.
|
Genealogy Research
has always been problematic at best, especially when the surname of the individual is misspelled.
An excellent letter to the editor of the
Macon Telegraph Newspaper, July 17, 1863, illustrates precisely why it is difficult in locating information on the Read family:
|
Here is another example of
the newspaper press misspelling "Savez" Read's name:
From “The Louisiana
Democrat,” (Alexandria, La.)
December 11, 1867:
|
For many years after the War Between the States, the name of Charles "Savez" Read would be remembered in many, many newspaper articles, such as this one that follows:
|
Here is the full 6-page article, in PDF format:
|
In honor of the veterans of the Confederate States Navy assembled in Washington for the Confederate Reunion, Mr. Charles W. Stewart, Superintendent of Naval Records of the Navy Department, and compiler of the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies," wrote this historical sketch which appeared in a June issue of "Sea Power," the official magazine of the Navy League of the United States. (I apologize for it's reproduction in small print, as it appeared on a full page, and you may need a magnifying glass to read it.)
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Years later, the career of "Savez" Read would be discussed in groups. Here, in October 24, 1974, from the Mobile Register (Mobile, Alabama), we learn that the United Daughters of the Confederacy, discussed his career:
|
"Savez" Read was also the subject for a presentation by the Winnie Davis Chapter of the Children of the Confederacy:
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From the “Perrysburg
Journal,”
(Perrysburg, Wood Co., Ohio April 24, 1908:
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From the “The National
Tribune,”
July 7, 1910 (again, one
gentleman misspelled Read's name as "Reed":
|
(Originally published in the Lewiston Journal Illustrated Magazine, Maine, May 30, 1908):
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How to understand the various Confederate Flags:
|
Historical Picture: A Painting of the Confederate Ram "Arkansas" is placed in the hands of the Confederate Monument Association. A Letter from Charles "Savez" Read is included in the following Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS.) newspaper article, October 17, 1889:
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Charles W. Read listed in the Mississippi Archives:
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Charles Read was the subject of an article on an Australian website: "Marauders of the Sea, Confederate Merchant Raiders During the American Civil War"
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Article on Charles Read from "Emerging Civil War" website: "Savez Read Invades the North"
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Article about Charles W. Read written in Spanish:
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Articles about Charles W. Read added on June 2018:
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From "Civil War Navy" Magazine, Summer 2018, Vol.6, Issue 1: an article about James E. Taylor and his scrapbooks which include a picture of Charles W. Read and his friend Jimmy Morgan:
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From Civil War Navy Magazine, Winter 2024, Vol. 11, Issue 3: "CSS McRae's Cancelled Secret European Mission" which features Charles Read:
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Medal of Honor for Charles William Read
and painting in the Beauvoir Museum, Biloxi, Mississippi (home of Jefferson Davis):
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Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis:
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John Jeremiah Read: was enrolled 17 March 1862, as a Private in the Confederate Army at Raymond, Mississippi. From July-August 1861 -- January/February 1864 he served as clerk at the brigade headquarters. On 28 April 1865, he surrendered as part of 3rd Mississippi Battalion/45th Mississippi Regiment, Company K, "The Charlton Rebels" at High Point, N.C., and was paroled at Greensboro, N.C., at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
Joseph Dotson Read: was enrolled 13 March 1862, as a Private in the Confederate Army, at Raymond, Mississippi. He was wounded 8 October 1862, at the Battle of Perryville; wounded again by gunshot to the right leg 29 November 1864, at the Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee. (Spring Hill was part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign). He was captured 18 December 1864, at Spring Hill, and his leg was amputated. He was sent to the prison at Camp Chase, Ohio; released on oath 11 June 1865. He was previously promoted to 1st Lieutenant for bravery on the battlefield.
Joe Read's commander (Lt.Col. Charlton) of the 45th Mississippi, specifically wrote the following about Read: "Never did men act more gallantly than these men under my charge in this move, and, with but few exceptions, during all the battles. I take particular pleasure in recommending corpl. (Corporal) J.D. Read for promotion. When two color bearers were shot down, he nobly volunteered to bear the colors. He is every way qualified for an officer."
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Complete Confederate Army Record for John Jeremiah Read, courtesy of Fold3:
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Complete Confederate Army record for Joseph D. Read, courtesy of Fold3:
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This is a picture of the actual (original) regimental flag which then-Corporal Joe Read picked up and carried upon the death of the color bearer. It lists all the battles where it was carried.
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These
Civil War reenactors, pictured below, illustrate what you didn't want to happen: the enemy
capturing your Regimental Battle Flag. The Color Bearer was an important
individual on the battlefield, both North and South. It was a very heroic
thing for Joe Read to do, in picking up the colors when the Color Bearer was
killed.
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A look into why Civil War soldiers placed so much importance
on the flags of their regiments
The devotion to a flag was not merely an emotional
matter. Men would sacrifice their lives defending a regimental flag
simply to protect it from being captured by the enemies. Clearly, Civil
War regimental flags played a vital part in the outcomes of Civil War battles
and it is important to note why.
1. Flags were
valuable morale builders.
Civil War armies on both sides of the battles were organized
by regiments from particular states and regions. Soldiers tended to feel
their first loyalty toward their regiment – similar to that of local sports
teams. Each state regiment typically carried its own flag into battle.
Soldiers tended to take a great deal of pride in their flags, in which case
they were treated with reverence. Many ceremonies were held as a sort of
morale builder so the soldiers knew what/who they were fighting for.
Civil War Color Bearers played an important role in the
outcome of battles. Shown here are the color bearers with the American flag and
their regimental flag.
2. Flags helped
with drawing practical battle lines.
Among all the smoke of the battles and noise around, the
lines of battle tended to become very unclear. Flags were used as a
visual rallying point, of which soldier were trained to follow the flag.
Because the regimental flags had genuine strategic importance in battle,
certain soldiers, known as the color guards, were designated to hold and guard
the flags. Being a color bearer was considered a mark of great
distinction.
3. Protecting
the regimental flag was of great importance.
The Civil War produced countless tales of regimental flags
being protected during the battle. Many stories were told of common
soldiers protecting the flag if/when the color bearer became injured or died in
battle.
(Source: Collins Flag Company)
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Silas C. Buck, Confederate Color Bearer of the 16th Cavalry, 12 Mississippi Cavalry, Army of Mississippi:
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After watching a 2013 symposium led by Dr. Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the Civil War, University of Virginia (Pictured here, courtesy of the UVA website), concerning the Battle at Gettysburg, I came to realize how central a role Joseph D. Read played in picking up the regimental battle flag. It was no small thing for him to pick up the battle flag when the assigned Color Bearer fell; it had enormous consequences. I now understand why he was so brave, so commended, (in writing), by his Regimental Commander for his heroic efforts on the battlefield.
I have included a short clip from Dr. Gallagher's lecture below, as he discusses the importance of the Color Bearer:
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Color Bearer Courage: the following 4 photographs are from the White House of the Confederacy Museum, taken December 2017:
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An example of a Battle Flag of the 3rd Virginia Infantry, and what happened to the Color Bearer(s). Note the close-up inscription reference the flag's presence at the Battle of Gettysburg, inscribed by the the CSA command, in the second photograph.
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Background information concerning the Company, Battalion, and Regiment(s) of
Joe and John Jeremiah Read.
Note: In order to avoid confusion, the reader should understand that the 3rd Battalion MS Infantry (Hardcastle’s) was expanded into the 45th MS Infantry and then -- due to significant loss in numbers -- reduced again to the 3rd Battalion MS Infantry
(Hardcastle’s).
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Pension Application Papers for
Joseph D. Read. Includes witness statements, notary public endorsement:
|
Isabel Eliza "Belle" Thornton
married
Joseph Dotson Read
on Christmas Eve,
December 24, 1884,
in Freestone, TX.
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Belle Thornton Read is buried in West Hill Cemetery, Sherman, Grayson County, Texas. The information on the Find a Grave website states, (which we think may be incorrect), that she was born in Kentucky to Richard and Amelia Thornton. Other evidence points to her parents as: Thomas William Thornton (1824-1911) and Sarah Ann Campbell Harris (1825-1880).
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Dr. Joseph Dotson Read
First Surgeon/Doctor: Texas A&M
(Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library)
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John Jeremiah Read and Joseph Dotson Read
both enlisted at Raymond, MS
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Joe Read was wounded at the Battle of Perryville, KY. (This was not where he lost a leg; that came later at the Battle of Spring Hill, TN.)
(My thanks to the Civil War Trust {Civilwar.org} for some of the following pictures, maps, and animated battle maps; an excellent non-profit organization that has saved thousands of acres of endangered battlefield sites.)
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"My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster (1826-1864) is offered here as a musical tribute to those from Kentucky who fought with Joe Read in Perryville, Kentucky.
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Joe Read lost a leg in the battle of Spring Hill, TN, which was part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. It was at that point, he was captured by Union forces and sent to prison.
Here is information about the Spring Hill/Franklin/Nashville Campaign:
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On the night of November 28, 1864,
Lieut. Gen. John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee marched toward Spring Hill to
get astride Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield’s Union army’s supply line. Hood was
pursuing Schofield as the Yankees withdrew north from Columbia towards
Nashville. Cavalry skirmishing between Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson’s Union
cavalry and Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederate troopers continued
throughout the day as the Confederates advanced. On November 29th, Hood’s
infantry crossed the Duck River and converged on Spring Hill. In the meantime,
Schofield reinforced two brigades holding the crossroads in town there guarding
the Union supply trains. In the late afternoon, the Federals repulsed several
piecemeal Confederate attacks. The Rebel infantry and cavalry attacks from east
to west attempted to dislodge Schofield's army from the Columbia Pike, their
route north to Nashville.
During the evening, the rest of Schofield’s command
passed unmolested from Columbia through Spring Hill to Franklin -- within a few
hundred yards of Hood's men in their camps for the night. This was, perhaps,
Hood’s best chance to isolate and defeat the Union army. The engagement has
been described as “one of the most controversial non-fighting events of the
entire war." The next day, Hood would meet Schofield 12 miles north at
Franklin.
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The
Battle of Spring Hill was fought November 29, 1864, at Spring Hill, Tennessee,
as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. The
Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood, attacked a
Union force under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield as it retreated from Columbia
through Spring Hill. Because of a series of command failures, the Confederates
were unable to inflict serious damage on the Federals and could not prevent
their safe passage north to Franklin during the night. The next day, Hood
pursued Schofield and attacked his fortifications in the Battle of Franklin,
resulting in severe Confederate casualties.
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Battle of Spring Hill map, in PDF, which shows greater detail:
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Battle of Spring Hill, animated map, no sound, courtesy of the Civil War Trust:
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The Battle of Franklin was fought on
November 30, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin–Nashville
Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's Army
of Tennessee conducted numerous frontal assaults against fortified positions
occupied by the Union forces under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield and was unable
to break through or to prevent Schofield from a planned, orderly withdrawal to
Nashville.
The Confederate assault of six infantry divisions containing eighteen brigades
with 100 regiments numbering almost 20,000 men, sometimes called the
"Pickett's Charge of the West", resulted in devastating losses to the
men and the leadership of the Army of Tennessee—fourteen Confederate generals
(six killed or mortally wounded, seven wounded, and one captured) and 55
regimental commanders were casualties.
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The Battle of Franklin, TN; animated map courtesy of the Civil War Trust:
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Battle of Franklin Civil War Lecture - Franklin
Classical School - November 2014:
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The
Battle of Franklin often called the "Gettysburg of the West" was one
of the bloodiest battles in the bloody Civil War fought on November 30, 1864.
The Confederate Army of the West led by General John B. Hood assaulted an
entrenched Union army at Franklin as they waited to ford a river and get to
Nashville.
What followed was 5 hours of bloody carnage as the Confederates made a frontal
attack on fortified positions. Union losses were over 2000 while Confederate
losses were over 6000 including six generals killed.
Hood limped on towards Nashville but really his army was crushed at Franklin
and it was only a matter of time.
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The carnage.....the day after....................
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After he was captured by Union forces at the Battle of Spring Hill, where he lost a leg, Joe Read was taken to Camp Chase, Ohio. As the following information illustrates, he is lucky to have survived in that camp.
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Rita Hughes' Great Great Grandfather, John Fowler, died at Camp Chase, just before the war ended. Pvt John L. Fowler, Company B, 13th VA Inf, died March 4, 1865.
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At the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, Monty Chase talked about the history
of Camp Chase, which was named for his ancestor, Salmon P. Chase, former
Secretary of the Treasury. It was used during the Civil War as a Union training
ground and a Confederate prison camp. Starting in 1895, the deteriorated
cemetery began to be restored by former Union Colonel William H. Knauss, and an
annual commemoration ceremony was begun which continues to be held by the
Hilltop Historical Society. The film is courtesy of C-Span:
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It has now been established, by a personal visit to the Mississippi State Archives, Jackson, MS, that Joe Read died in Jackson, MS, and is buried there in the Confederate section of Greenwood Cemetery. Having suffered a stroke, he had lived in Jackson for 6 years.
His death certificate:
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John Jeremiah Read pension application:
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"Dear
Evelina, Sweet Evelina"
This
song was published in New York in 1863 with the notation that the words were by
M. and the melody by T. The music also notes that it was printed "As Sung
by all the Minstrel Bands," so it may have been known earlier. It was also
printed in Philadelphia. It was popular among Confederate troops in the Civil
War and was said to be one of J.E.B. Stuart's favorite songs. The song regained
popularity in the 1920s.
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Information on the White House of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia; a repository of Battle Flags, other
Civil War artifacts, and a library of historical manuscripts and papers.
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The White House of the Confederacy served as the
Executive Mansion of the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865, when Richmond was the
capital of the Confederacy. The mansion was the official quarters during the
Civil War of the only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson
Davis. From this house, Davis fled
Richmond on April 3 1865, just before the April 9, 1865 surrender of
Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. The house was the birthplace of his daughter
Winnie, “Daughter of the Confederacy,” and where his son Joseph died in a fall
from a porch.
Originally built in 1818 for Dr. John Brockenbrough,
the home is one of the finer examples of Federal style homes in the City of
Richmond. Celebrated architect Robert Mills designed the mansion. Mills was also responsible four years earlier
for the design of the nearby Monumental Church at 1313 East Broad Street.
In addition to its historic interest as the seat of
the Confederacy during the Civil War, the home and attached museum rank as the
most outstanding repository of Confederate memorabilia in the United
States. The Confederate Memorial
Literary Society, a group of Richmond women, acquired the house in 1893. Three years later, on February 22, 1896, the
building opened as the Confederate Museum and “promptly became the premier
national repository of Confederate artifacts, acquiring the majority of its
world-famous collection between 1896 and World War I” (The American Civil War
Museum). The white house continues to
house an astounding collection of objects associated with the Confederacy and
President Davis. The contemporary museum
building next door now houses most of the institution's vast collection which
includes the Appomatox uniform and Robert E. Lee's field tent, “Stonewall”
Jackson’s sword and cap, and items of clothing and equipment associated with
other noted Confederate leaders.
Richmond architect Henry E. Baskervill provided
direction for fire-proofing and restoring the mansion to museum status in 1895.
Another renovation of the house occurred from 1977 to 1988 to restore the white
house to its Davis-era elegance complete with period decor, furnishings, and
objects. The museum building next door houses three floors of exhibits as well
as the Eleanor S. Brockenbrough Library and the conservation and preservation
efforts. The house and the modern museum building, in addition to museums at
Historic Tredegar and Appomattox, comprise The American Civil War Museum. (Source: National Park Service).
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James Read Hughes, son of Katharine Anne Read Hughes, on steps of White House of the Confederacy:
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The White House of the Confederacy as it looks in 2017, surrounded by the Medical College of Virginia buildings:
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Joe Hughes, brother of Jim, at the White House of the Confederacy, 2017:
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John Read, the grandfather of
Charles W. "Savez" Read, was born in Halifax, North Carolina, circa 1794, and died in Carroll, Mississippi, in July of 1874; other research states he was born December 6, 1794 and died April 28, 1877. He is buried in Bluff Springs Cemetery, Carroll, MS.
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1850 Census, Hinds County, MS, listing John Read family: he appears on lines 24-27. (Pdf file of same, appears below):
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John Read (often misspelled as "Reed") had spent several years in Tennessee and Alabama, before coming to settle in Mississippi in 1828. His family had first lived in Madison County, MS., where his daughter Elvira was born (1829). It was when they moved to Hinds County, MS., that he obtained a farm that was situated about 6 miles from the town of Edwards. He stayed there for 35 years. Mary Elizabeth was born on the farm, in 1835. From the 1850 Census records, the farm was valued at $1,200. 1860 Census records indicate the value had increased to aprox. $10,000, with the total personal estate valued at $19,000; which was quite a sum of money for those days.
John Read remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, although as a Democrat who had first supported Andrew Jackson, he did not support Lincoln, but as he claimed to support the Union and as a result, when Federals came onto his plantation, they did not burn his house, although they occupied it. They also misappropriated his property and his heirs won a judgement against the US government in the Southern Claims Commission in 1877. (Documents are now attached).
We have been able to find records indicating that John and Dicey (sometimes spelled "Dicy" in some records, and often listed as "DT" on a Census) were members of the Old Liberty (Methodist) Church, Edwards, MS. Although some say she is buried in the Old Hinds County Cemetery, my recent conversation with an official "Find-a-Grave" internet manager indicated that this particular cemetery has never been completely "audited," but a recent visit to Edwards, MS, confirms that she is buried along with her son, John D. Read, in the Edwards Cemetery. We are currently doing research on the apparent connection between Dicey Duke and the Duke family who founded Duke University, Durham, N.C.
We have read where John left the farm after her death and moved to be near his son Jesse, in Carroll County, MS. Arthur Knight Barlow, Elvira's husband, lived in the old Read house after John's departure. They had a daughter, Ida, who traveled with her grandmother to Jesse's house and stayed on after Dicey's death; being raised by her aunt and uncle.
Children John and Mary Elizabeth survived after John and Dicey died, having been married over 50 years. Federal pension records indicate that he applied for a War of 1812 Pension at age 77. He and his son Jesse had supported Andrew Jackson.
Maggie Trotter wrote the following:
Read Family
Mt. Beulah, Edwards Township, Hinds County,
Mississippi
The John Read family came to Mississippi in 1828
after spending six intervening years between Tennessee and Mississippi and
Alabama. Son, Jesse, and daughter, Rebecca, had been born in Greene Co.,
Alabama. The family had also lived in Tuscaloosa Co., Alabama.
In Mississippi, the Reads
lived first in Madison Co., where daughter, Elvira, was born in 1829. It
was not long before they moved on to Hinds Co. and established a farm on land
five miles from Edwards between Bolton and Edwards. Here they remained
for 35 years, tending their farm, growing cotton. Their last child, Mary
Elizabeth, was born there in 1835. In 1850, their real estate was valued
at $1,200.00; and in 1860 $10,000 and personal estate was $19,000.00.
John and Dicy were
Methodists, worshipping at the Old Liberty Church at Edwards. Dicy was
buried in the Old Hinds Co. Cemetery there. She died in 1867, at 68 years
of age, while on a visit to Carroll Co., near Winona at her son Jesse's
home. John left the farm after Dicy's death and moved to be near Jesse in
Carroll Co., Winona did not become part of Montgomery Co., until 1871 when
Carroll Co. was divided. We do not know when John died. (Note: he died April 28, 1877). It was
after 1871 when he applied for a War of 1812 pension at 77 years. Only two of their
children were still living when John and Dicy died, John and Mary
Elizabeth. John & Dicey were married over 50 years.
Arthur Knight Barlow,
Elvira's husband, lived in the Read house with his new family after John
left. An earlier Barlow farmhouse had been burned in the Civil War.
Ida Barlow, daughter of Elvira and Arthur Knight Barlow, had gone with her
grandmother to visit Jesse. She stayed on there after Dicy's death and
was raised by her aunt and uncle. In 1916, John Read's heirs received
$2,160.00 for property taken or destroyed in the war..
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Ida Lawrence Barlow, seen in photo below, with her husband Alpha Peebles Trotter. They had 8 children. She passed away on September 26, 1926, in Winona, MS.
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Ida Barlow Trotter wrote of her experiences in "Story of the Siege of Vicksburg, and Some Personal Experiences Connected Therewith":
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John Read Census and request for reimbursement for items taken from his farm:
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John Read's heirs filed and won judgement against the US Government in the Southern Claims Commission.
Here is the summary in the Congressional Record:
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How the Southern Claims Commission worked
Union loyalists in the grey states on this map who suffered losses could
apply for compensation from the Southern Claims Commission.
Although only a few people per county qualified for a settlement, the
application papers of the Southern Claims Commission typically include
questions mentioning hundreds of their neighbors. Neighbors of all
races, and classes were questioned and discussed in these records.
John Read's heirs were qualified to file claims before the Southern Claims
Commission (SCC) between 3 March 1871 and 3 March 1873 based on the fact they:
1.
were loyal to the Union during the Civil War
2.
had quartermaster stores or supplies taken by or furnished
to the Union Army during the rebellion
While only losses incurred in the twelve states in
rebellion at the beginning of the Civil War qualified many claims were made
from other states by individuals that claimed to reside in the qualifying
states during the war. As a result, records from a total of 24 states and the
District of Columbia appear in the "Barred and Disallowed Case Files of
the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880" (NARA M1407) records
Southern
Loyalists (those who were Union sympathizers) made 22,298 claims for property
losses totaling $60,258,150.44. However, only 7,092 claims (32%) were approved
for settlements totaling $4,636,920.69. Each claimant sought to prove their
loyalty and loss through the testimony of others. The paper trail created by
the claimants and the people who came forward to testify, for or against a
claimant, provide a wealth of information about individuals living in the South
during the Civil War.
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Information about John Read and the Civil War from the Archives, Meridian, MS:
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John Read did own slaves and
some interesting information about the earliest slave owner in Virginia,
who was himself Black, and other relatively unknown facts surrounding
slavery in the South, and Indian Territory is now included in a separate web page, "The Old South."
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Cotton, shown in this picture taken by Joe Hughes, a descendant of John Read, in 2016, is still grown in the area of John Read's former plantation:
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An older film that describes Plantation Life during the time of John Read:
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John Read served under Lt.Col. Peter Perkins, from Madison County, Mississippi:
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John Read also served with the local Alabama Militia during the Creek War:
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MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
and the
WAR of 1812-1815
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Letter to John Read from
President Andrew Jackson:
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John and Dicy Read lived in Brownsville, MS. before moving to Edwards Depot, MS.
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Grave of Dicy T. Read
in the Old Hinds County Cemetery (also known as the Edwards Cemetery).
(Notice that they misspelled her last name as "Reed.")
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Yellow Roses of Texas
were laid at the grave of
Mrs. Dicy Taylor Read, wife of John Read, on September 21, 2016, by
Rev. and Mrs. Joseph Hughes
assisted by our tour guide,
Sid Champion, V:
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She is buried to the right of her second oldest son, John Duke Read, and two of her grandchildren, the children of her daughter Mary Elizabeth Read Hall, are buried on the right side. Note the two sleeping lambs on top the tombstone.
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Dicey (or Dicy) Taylor Read obituary:
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John Read: additional information from the Mississippi Archives, Meridian, MS:
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Children of John Read and Dicey
(sometimes spelled Dicy) Taylor Duke Read
William Francis Read born: January 6, 1817, Montgomery, MS.; died: July 6, 1850, Nevada City, Calif. (He had gone to the gold fields of California). (He was Charles "Savez" Read's father).
John Duke Read born: May 1, 1818, Montgomery, MS. died: December 13, 1853, Edwards, Hinds County, MS.
Martha Read born: June 16, 1820, Montgomery County, TN.; died: June 20, 1860, Hinds County, MS. She married a Doctor Todd, then Isaac Roberts, Sr. She died of Yellow Fever.
Jesse Read born: 1823, Green, Alabama; died: August 18, 1895, Gerrenton, Carroll County, MS. and is buried in Bluff Springs Cemetery.
Rebecca Ann Read born: 1824, Alabama; married Jesse Barton Hall; 21 Oct 1845 in Yazoo County; died: June 13, 1860, Bolton, Hinds County, MS. Buried in New Salem Cemetery, Bolton, Hinds County, MS. She died of Yellow Fever. Husband was born 1810, Tennessee; parents: Jonathan Hall and Joanna Barton. He died 17 OCT 1878, Bolton, Hinds, MS.
Elvira Pleasants Read born: March 16, 1833, Madison, MS. died: July 16, 1860, Edwards, MS. Buried in Liberty Cemetery, Edwards. She married Arthur Knight Barlow. She died of Yellow Fever.
Mary Elizabeth Read born: November 1834, Edwards, Hinds County, MS.; died: November 27, (some say Feb. 16) 1912, Palo Pinto, TX. (She would marry Howell Hall, owner of the Old Oak Hotel, Raymond, MS.)
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Jesse Read born: 1823, Green, Alabama; died: August 18, 1895, Gerrenton, Carroll County, MS. and is buried in Bluff Springs Cemetery. He was a graduate of the Sharon Male Academy, Madison County, MS. June 1, 1846, he enlisted at Vicksburg, MS, to fight in the Mexican War. He was mustered in on June 6, 1846, at Benton, MS. He was part of Capt. Sharp's Company, First Regiment, MS Infantry, under the command of Col. Jefferson Davis. A training injury and illness due to exposure caused his early discharge, and made him eligible for a disability pension.
Records reveal that on October 3, 1846, he was on the march to Monterey. By
February 1847, he was camped at Saltillo, Mexico.
He was discharged on June 9, 1847, New Orleans. He was described as 5 feet, 9 inches, tall, dark complexion, brown hair, and hazel eyes.
Even at his advanced age, he was conscripted to serve in the Confederate army.
Shortly before the Civil War, Jesse and Nancy moved from
Carroll County to Hinds County, where most of his family still lived. They
lived there until the conflict ended, at which time, he returned with
his family to Carroll County. Most of Jesse's property was lost in the
general wreckage that followed the war.
During the war, Jesse was part of the Commissary
Department, a position he filled with credit. He was detailed to this service
because of the heart condition that would later take his life.
Jesse Read died Sunday, August 18, 1895, at the Carroll
County home of his son John W. Read. He is buried at "Bluff Springs
Cemetery" in Carroll County Mississippi. The cemetery is almost
inaccessible now.
He married Nancy Jane Gary, 1847, who was a daughter of West Gary and Eizabeth Steadman, in the parents' home, Middleton, MS, with the service performed by Rev. James N. Clinton, a Baptist. They lived in Carroll County, then moved to Hinds County before the Civil War. Most of his property was lost following the war. The family moved back to Carroll County, where he died and is buried next to his father in the Old Bluff Springs Cemetery.
In his obituary, Jesse was described as an influential
citizen, a staunch Democrat, a devoted husband, a kind and indulgent father, a
faithful friend and a Christian gentleman.
Before her death, sometime after 1897, Nancy Jane (or Nan,
as she signed her letters) lived with her daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth,
the wife of B. Yancey Peeples, lived at Winona, Mississippi. Nancy's
pension
applications reveal she had lost the use of her
left arm.
Their children: John Wesley Read, born May 1849, died 1905; Mary Elizabeth "Mollie" Read, born 1851, died circa. 1904; Elizabeth D. Read, born 1854, died circa. 1904; Allen Jesse Read, born 1858, died 1924in Greenwood, Leflore, MS. buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery; Marvin Gary Read, born 1860, died Oct 26, 1924 in Memphis, Shelby, TN., buried in Elmwood Cemetery.; Albert Sidney Read, born 1863, died September 4, 1887 in Winona, Montgomery, MS.; and Victor M. Read, born October 25, 1866, died August 18, 1887 in Winona, Montgomery, MS.
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John Read and son Jesse are buried in the Bluff Springs Methodist Cemetery:
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Complete Service Record of Jesse Read in the Mexican War:
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More information on Jesse Read family
(son of John and Dicey Read).
(Some of this information, with typos, is from a website posting by James Michael Read, and has not been completely verified).
John Wesley Read (son of Jesse Read and Nancy Jane Gary) was
born May 1849 (tombstone reads: 1845) in Carroll County, Mississippi, and died 1905 in new Salem Cem.
Carroll County, Mississippi. He married (1) Mary E. Tyson on 1868 in Mississippi.
He married (2) Katherine Tardy (Katie) on 31 Jan 1888 in Carroll County,
Mississippi.
More About John W. Read and
Mary E. Tyson:
Marriage: 1868, Mississippi.
More About John W. Read and
Katherine Tardy (Katie):
Marriage: 31 Jan 1888,
Carroll County, Mississippi.
Children of
John W. Read and Mary E. Tyson are:
i. Mary E. Read, b. 1869, Carroll County, Mississippi, d.
date unknown, Carroll County, Mississippi.
ii. Read, b. 1871, Montgomery County, Mississippi, d. date
unknown, ?.
iii. Sarah Ann Read, b. 20 Dec 1873, Montgomery County,
Mississippi, d. 03 Nov 1959, Vaiden Cem., Carroll County, Mississippi.
iv. Adelaide Read, b. Jan 1875, Montgomery County, Mississippi, d.
date unknown.
v. Elizabeth Read, b. 04 Feb 1876, Montgomery County,
Mississippi, d. 30 Jul 1927, Odd Fellows Cem., Starkville, Mississippi
vi. John W. Read, b. 1879, Montgomery, Mississippi.
vii. Jonnie Read, b., Montgomery, Mississippi, d. 26 Jun 1945, Leflore County, MS.
viii. William Dabney Read, (Listed on tombstone as: Dabney William Read) b. 05 Apr 1881, Montgomery, Mississippi,
d.
31 Dec 1962, Carroll, Mississippi.
ix. Nancy E. Read, b. 22 Jan 1884, Montgomery, Mississippi.
Children of
John W. Read and Katherine Tardy (Katie) are:
i. Nellie Read (mammy), b. 31 Oct 1888, Carroll County,
Mississippi, d. 1974, Eupora, MS.
ii. Lois Read, b. 02 Aug 1894, Carroll County, Mississippi,
d.
17 Feb 1953, New Salem Cem., Carroll County, Mississippi.
iii. Ella Read, b. Jul 1895, Carroll County, Mississippi, d., New
Salem Cem. Carroll County, Mississippi.
iv. Hessey D. Read, b. Jan 1898, Carroll County, Mississippi, d.
1905.
v. +Roby Mceachern Read, b. 01 Oct 1902, Carroll county,
Mississippi, d. 03 Jan 1993, Mccalla, Alabama. Aiden Mississippi Cemetery.
vi. +Louise Read, b. 05 Feb 1906, Carroll County, Mississippi.
vii. Katherine Read, b. Sep 1890, Carroll, Mississippi.
Allen Jesse Read (b. 1858,
d. 1924) (Also known as "Allie"; headstone reads, Born: 1859).
Allen Jesse Read (son of
Jesse Read and Nancy Jane Gary) was born 1858 in Winona, Montgomery, Mississippi,
and died 1924. Buried in Odd Fellows Cem., Greenwood, Lefore, MS. He married
Martha Petty. They had two sons: A.J. (Allie Jesse Read, Jr.) and James Petty.
James Petty Read (son of Allen "Allie" Jesse Read and Martha "Mattie" Petty) was
born 21 Jul 1913 in Greenwood. Leflore, MS.
James Petty Read:
Event Type: Military Service
Event Date: 28 Aug 1940
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the Philippine Department
Event Place: Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Race: White
Citizenship Status: citizen
Birth Year: 1913
Birthplace: Mississippi
Education Level: 4 years of high school
Civilian Occupation: Farm hands, general farms
Marital Status Single, without dependents
Military Rank Private
Army Branch Air Corps
Army Component Regular Army (including Officers,
Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
Source Reference Civil Life
Serial Number 14016644
Affiliate ARC Identifier 1263923
Box Film Number 01462.3
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John Wesley Read and wife Katie, 1888:
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1920 Census: Allie Jesse Read, his wife Mattie, son AJ, Jr., and son James Petty Read:
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1930 Census: Mattie, Allie Jesse Read, Jr., his wife Frances F., and James Petty Read:
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Marvin G. Read, son of Jesse Read, death certificate:
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Guy M. Read, son of Marvin Read, death certificate:
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Lois Read Dacus, daughter of John Wesley Read and Kate Tardy; obituary:
Funeral
rites for Mrs. Dacus, 58, who died Tuesday, Feb. 17, at her home in Memphis, were
held Wednesday, Feb. 18, from the New Salem Baptist Church near Vaiden. The
Rev. D. M. Rennick, pastor of the LaBelle Baptist Church in Memphis, the Rev.
Curtis Ellis, pastor of New Salem Church and the Rev. Joe Cooper, pastor of the
Vaiden Baptist Church, officiated.
Mrs. Dacus had been ill for some time. She was the former Lois Read and was
born near New Salem and was the daughter of the late John W. Read and his wife,
Mrs. Kate Tardy Read. She was survived by her husband, J. H. Dacus of Memphis,
three sisters, Mrs. Gary Peeples of Greenville, Miss., Mrs. Katie Kellum of
Memphis and Mrs. Louise Power of Winona; two brothers, Dabney Read and Robye
Read of Vaiden.
Pallbearers were: J. M. Vandiver, Dell Bryan, Roy Word, J. F. Herring, B. J.
Nelms and Weldon Baskin.
The Winona Times – Page 8
Winona, MS
February 27, 1953
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Isaac Roberts, Sr. family; he married Martha Read, who was first married to a Dr. Todd. (Her name "Read" is incorrectly spelled in this listing):
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MORE INFORMATION ON:
Rebecca Ann Read (Daughter of John and Dicey Read) born:
1824, Alabama; married Jesse Barton Hall; 21 Oct 1845 in Yazoo County;
died: June 13, 1860, Bolton, Hinds County, MS. Buried in New Salem
Cemetery, Bolton, Hinds County, MS. She died of Yellow Fever. Husband
was born 1810, Tennessee; parents: Jonathan Hall and Joanna Barton. He
died 17 OCT 1878, Bolton, Hinds, MS.
Jesse Barton Hall of Yazoo County, Mississippi, received a land grant from President Zachary Taylor:
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Jesse
Barton Hall was born in 1810 in Tennessee, the son of Joanna and Jonathan. He
married Rebecca Ann Read on October 21, 1845, in Yazoo, Mississippi. They had
eight children in 14 years. He died on October 17, 1878, in Bolton,
Mississippi, at the age of 68.
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Jesse Barton Hall 1850 Census, Line 20; on the same census pages as William Read and John and Dicey Read:
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Jesse (or Jessie) Addison Hall, one of Jesse Barton Hall's sons by Rebecca Read, was administrator of Jesse's estate. He lived to the ripe old age of 116.
Jessie
Addison Hall
Birth NOV 1855 •
Bolton, Hinds, Mississippi
Death 15 NOV 1971 •
Jackson, Hinds, Mississippi
When Jessie Addison Hall was born in
November 1855 in Bolton, Mississippi, his father, Jesse, was 43 and his mother,
Rebecca, was 28. He married Minnie Berta Tinnin on November 7, 1883, in Hinds,
Mississippi. They had six children in 15 years. He died having lived for more
than 100 years. He died on November 15, 1971, in Jackson, Mississippi, at the
age of 116.
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The official will of John D. Read, 2nd oldest son of John and Dicy Read
from the MS. State Archives,
Jackson, MS:
|
William Francis Read, C.S.A.
|
William Francis Read, youngest brother of Charles W. "Savez" Read. Photo taken shortly before his death on
July 4, 1909.
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William F. Read family
1850 Census, Hinds County, MS:
|
William F. Read family
1880 Texas Census:
|
A copy of the original marriage records for Madison County, MS, listing the minister as Selman Loggins; and the license for William Francis Read and Louisa Dotson:
|
William Francis Read was born in Edwards Depot, MS. Here is the town in 1936:
|
Complete Confederate Army record of William F. Read, courtesy of Fold3:
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Note: Because I did not want to publish this as fact without two sources of confirmation (another older tome had a reference to him as joining the fight at Raymond, as an under-aged youth) another document now proves that William Francis Read, entered the war as a youth, (not officially enrolled in the C.S.A. at the time) and fought against the Union Army, which was attacking Raymond, MS. (When he left the C.S.A. in 1865, he was only 16 years old). Again, my thanks to the Civil War Trust {Civilwar.org} for one of the Battle of Raymond maps. The Battle of Raymond was part of the overall Vicksburg Campaign.
The following article is from
Confederate Veteran Magazine, Vol. 17:
|
An article about W.F. Read in the Hinds County Gazette, Raymond, Mississippi, Friday, August 6, 1909:
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The following information is from William's great grandson: "William's Civil War experiences were quite remarkable. Apparently, a battle was raging close to the family farm near Jackson, which William was watching from the roof of a barn. A man was shot at his feet and William juped down, picked up the man's gun and joined the fight. After it was over, the Confederate commander came to his mother and said the boy wanted to join. She refused as William was but a boy, but the officer told her he would run away anyway and it was best to let him go with the officer as a guide where the boy could be watched and kept out of danger. She agreed to let him go, but only if a slave who was a little older that William and had grown up with him, went also. The slave was a lifelong friend of William's named Pickett. Off they went to war and when it was over William told Pickett he was free. Pickett said, "Where would I go, Mr. Read? I don't want to go anywhere. I'd like to stay with you." So he stayed. Pickett died of pneumonia in a cot under a tree in William's yard with William desperately trying to nurse him to health. They remained lifelong friends. William used to prefer to take his dinner back in the kitchen with Pickett much to the family's consternation."
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William Read was only 16 when the war ended. He spent a year in school then went to work on a farm for a short time; then entered a drug store as a clerk. He went to Carroll County, MS in 1871, and was married to Kate Trotter in 1872. In 1879, he moved to Texas and after farming for several years he again entered the drug business. In September 1885, he became a drummer for Thompson and Ohmsteade of Galveston, wholesale druggists; traveling for them and other firms up to June 30, 1909, when he was stricken with paralysis, and died four days later.
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William Francis Read's granddaughter, Kay Koury wrote the following in a letter: "William Francis earned a good living. He was known far and wide as 'Drummer Read' and his territory was Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This was in the days of travel by train, buggy or horseback. He was a well known character famous for his wit and humor. He was active on the local political scene in Lampasas and was a supporter of Governor Hogg. It was told as a 'big' joke that on the occasion of the governor's visiting Lampasas when his staunch supporter William Francis was on the welcoming committee, that two carriages wre required since both he and the governor were at the 300 pound plus stage! William Francis died in Bryan, Texas, where he had gone for medical help from his brother Joe. William Francis was a Royal Arch Mason."
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William Francis Read's wife, Kate, wrote
that "the little courier (referring to William) of General Cockrell who for a time rode a white horse that was conspicuous by his prancing when the band played."
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Battle of Raymond tour information:
|
Overview of the Vicksburg campaign:
|
Retired General Parker Hills leads a tour at Vicksburg for the National Park Service:
|
A more in-depth lecture on the Vicksburg campaign:
|
Newly released (2018) book, "Vicksburg" by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., devotes one chapter to the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi.
|
William Francis Read served directly under Brig.Gen. Francis Marion Cockrell (seen in the portraits on the left, and below), as a scout and courier. Documents state that assured William's mother that he would take care of him. He let him sleep in his own tent and treated him as a son. General Cockrell was named for Francis Marion (known as "The Swamp Fox") of Revolutionary War fame.
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As detailed in the "Confederate Veteran" article (above), William Read was involved in several major campaigns in the war, including the Battle of Champion Hill, Mobile, and Meridian. A look at Cockrell's Missouri troop involvement will illustrate the hard fighting that William Read was involved in.
Many consider Cockrell’s high water mark to be Champion
Hill. To be sure it was heroism of the first degree. Initially held in reserve,
orders came quickly for Col. Cockrell to move the Missouri Brigade to shore up
the collapsing division of Carter Stevenson. As the Brigade took its place
within Stevenson’s lines, Federal canon tore into Stevenson’s right. The line
collapsed and the Brigade was flanked. Hovey’s federals were about to make
mince meat of the confederates.
Cockrell acted quickly. He repositioned the 2nd Missouri quickly
in the middle and flanked them with the 3rd and 5th. As the confederates were
about to fold under Hovey’s onslaught, Cockrell took his place among his men.
Cockrell rode up and down behind the line, clutching his
reins and a large magnolia blossom in one hand and his saber in the other. At a
signal from Cockrell, the division unleashed an ear-splitting Rebel Yell (see description below) and tore into the Federals.
Cockrell’s hard-charging Missourians stormed up the face of Champion’s Hill,
where the fighting became, in the words of a regimental historian, “desperate
and bloody.” (From “Literal Hill of Death” – America’s Civil War)
The Missourians tore into Hovey’s Brigade with all the
frustration of men determined to avenge months of disappointing losses. For two
hours they pushed Hovey back, refilling their ammo packs from fallen soldiers.
The moment was there and all John Pemberton had to do was demand Loring’s
support. It did not happen and another great American rose to the occassion. US
Grant, seeing his entire campaign in jeopardy, personally rallied his artillery
and turned his defeated soldiers around. With no support, the Brigade were
sitting ducks. Grant beat them all the way back to the Big Black River.
Grant called the Bowen/Cockrell charge “one of the great
charges of the war”.
But Francis Cockrell’s legacy did not end on Champion Hill.
This American Hero took the saddle again and again with the Missouri Brigade.
When Bowen died after Vicksburg, the Brigade became Cockrell’s alone. He
directed it through Atlanta and on to Franklin where he somehow survived Hood’s
Folly, despite being shot from his horse and wounded.
One must wonder how he felt when he surrendered at Blakely
for the last time – a war hero who served in combat for 4 years and was wounded
over six times. HE had to have wondered how HE had survived where so many had
died.
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I included the following information about General Cockrell to illustrate how fortunate William Read was to serve directly under this man who had a sterling character:
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More information about Col. Cockrell's involvement at the Raymond and Champion Hill battles:
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The above map of the Vicksburg Campaign, gives an excellent overview of the various early battles William Read was involved in.
The map, below, is an enlargement, showing the Raymond, Edwards Depot, Champion Hill, and Big Black River battles:
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The Battle of Champion Hill illustrates the severity of the fighting Cockrell and Read were involved in:
(Maps courtesy of Civil War Trust)
(Can you locate Cockrill's Missouri Brigade on the map? Answer is below.)
Here's a detail of Cockrell's Missouri Brigade on the above map, and as you can see, they are in the midst of the battle:
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Surviving documents say that Col. Cockrell promised William's mother that he would take care of the young boy. He allowed him to sleep in his own tent and share his food. He treated him as a son.
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"Kathleen Mavourneen" is a song, written in 1837,
composed by Frederick Crouch with lyrics by Marion Crawford. It was popular
during the American Civil War. "Mavourneen" is a term of endearment
derived from the Irish Gaelic "mo mhuirnín," meaning "my beloved."
The song plays a prominent role in Michael Shaara's Civil
War historical novel “The Killer Angels” and its film adaptation “Gettysburg.”
It is recalled by Confederate Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead that the
song was sung at a dinner at the home of Armistead's best friend, now Union
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock and his wife Almira, at the U.S. Army
garrison in Los Angeles, California in 1861 (at which time Armistead was a
major and Hancock was a captain). This was the night before Armistead and
several other Southern officers were to depart for the Confederacy, having
resigned their US Army commissions. Armistead and Confederate Brigadier General
Richard B. Garnett, who was also present at the dinner, are killed and Hancock
is severely wounded as Armistead's and Garnett's brigades assault the position
defended by Hancock's II Corps on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg during Pickett's
Charge. In the film, "Kathleen Mavourneen" is sung once by an Irish
tenor at the Confederate camp, and thereafter is used frequently as a theme in
the music score by Randy Edelman.
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What was the REBEL YELL?
Professor S.C. Gwynne explains where it came from (General Stonewall Jackson) and what it sounded like:
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The John Read home near Edwards, Mississippi, Yankees lounging on the parlor piano, the Aunt pretending to be on her sick bed.....hiding the hams.....lots of drama here:
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Starting on page 7 of the aforementioned document ("John Read Family and Stories from the Civil War") we find Miss Bettie Read having altercations with Union soldiers in their house. At one point in the story we learn that one soldier offered his gun to her, to go and shoot Captain Chambers, who was sitting on the front porch. And who was Captain, later Colonel, and still later General Chambers?
He was involved in the Edwards, Champion Hill, Vicksburg campaign and, he was not liked by his soldiers. Here is a letter written by a Sergeant Thomas Christie, who tells the real story of how Chambers was and why the soldier in the Read story was so ready to give her a gun to kill him.
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Author:
Thomas D. Christie
Date:
March 13, 1864
Location:
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Addressee:
Sarah J. Christie
Description:
Thomas, acting as Sergeant, is brought in front of the captain by a drunken
General Chambers, who believes that he was insulted by one of the Battery's
soldiers.
Thomas,
acting as Sergeant, is brought in front of the captain by a drunken General
Chambers, who believes that he was insulted by one of the Battery's soldiers.
Vicksburg
March 13th 1864
My
Dear Sister:
I
only wish you could see the number of waste sheets of paper on my shelf, all
beginning "My Dear Sister," and dated all the way from Feb 28th to
the present time. Some of them are half written, some with one page scribbled
over, and 3 or 4 have just the date and the address.
Sometimes
I would flatter myself, as I do now, with the expectation that I could finish
them without interruption, but when just in the midst of some interesting (to
you) sentence, the Orderly Sergeant perhaps would poke his head into the tent
with "Christie, the Captain wants you at HdQrs." "What the deuce
is that for?" "Oh, something about that ordnance report that is to be
made out." So, down would go your letter into the cigar box which serves
me for desk and portfolio, with a mental promise to finish it
"tonight," on would go my best cap, and that would be the last my
tent would see of me till perhaps 10 O'clock at night, for the Captain always
had plenty of other work for me when the Report would be finished, and I would
have to stay and eat dinner and supper with him, while his waiter would be sent
down to the company to feed my horse and excuse me from Roll call.
Or,
perhaps the interruption would arise from the cry of "come Sergeant,"
(they all call me Sergeant now, although I am only acting) "divide the
bread," or "divide the sugar," or "get your squad out to
the piece for drill."
Then,
next day, when I could spare time to sit down to write again, I would not be
satisfied with what had been written, and would start another sheet only to be
thrown aside again like its predecessors.
I
have not much news to write that would be interesting to you, if it were to one
of my comrades I were writing, I could tell him a great deal that would be
interesting to him, but by you, such items as, "Dick and Sandy, (the 2
negroes,) died of Pneumonia last week." "James Cheatham, the brother
of him who died of Small Pox, is very sick with the same disease that carried
off his brother," such items are not appreciated. The only thing I can
tell you of special interest is that William left the hospital today, and is
again with the Squad, but can not be put on Duty yet.
A
little incident occurred this evening that I must tell you of: We were out in
the park playing quoits, Dave Duryu and I being playing against Dan Wright and
his partner. All of us were deeply engrossed in the game and were
"playing," as the boys say, "for all in sight." Dave had
just thrown a "good shoe," and it was now the turn of Dan's partner.
All
our heads were bent down over the "hub," to see the effect of the
throw, when down came the shoe, square on to the peg, — a "Ringer."
On seeing this, Dan sent up a shout of exultation at the success of his
partner, and unfortunately, at the same instant, Gen. Chambers, the commander
of the 3rd Brigade, was riding swiftly by, coming from town, and, as our
officers generally are after being in town, he was about 3 sheets in the wind
as Mother says. On hearing the shout, he was fool enough to think someone was
making fun of him, as he is very unpopular in his own Brigade, and immediately
he reined in his horse, rode up to where we were standing, and dismounting with
difficulty walked up to me, and took me by the shoulder, saying "I'll
learn you to holler at me, come along sir."
I
saw at once the mistake he had made in first supposing that the shout was
intended for him, and secondly, in thinking that I did it. So, pointing to the
"ringer" still lying on the hub, I said, "General, you are
mistaken, there is the cause of the shout you heard." One of the boys
spoke up and said that I was not the one who had made the noise, whereupon he
turned to me and asked me if such was the case, saying that he saw me
"holler." I told him then, that it was not I who shouted, and
reiterated the assurance that no disrespect was intended by it. This he would
not believe, and asked me who was the offender, which I refused to answer, and
he was threatening punishment if I still continued obstinate, when Dan stepped
up and owned to the act, giving the reason for it. I had got my
"dander" up, and would not have told who was the supposed culprit, if
he had put me in the Guardhouse for a month. "Come along you sir,"
the drunken fool, (it is too bad to use such language about so high an officer,
but it would be perfectly applicable if he had been a private,) said to Dan,
whereupon, Dan demands to be taken before the Captain, which, Chambers acceding
to, away they went, and I run my head in the lion's mouth by going too, to bear
testimony in Dan's favor. It was needed, too, for after the General had
proferred [sic] his charges, in which he implicated me pretty deeply for aiding
and abetting, the Captain turned to me, and sternly demanded our reason for the
insult. He believed our explanation, and told the General that it was customary
for our boys to make a noise when playing, but Chambers would not believe but
what it was intended for him, and after abusing the artillery generally, and us
in particular, threatening Clayton with punishment if Dan were not punished,
and swearing he would shoot the next man who should shout at him he went off.
Isn't it melancholy to think of this drunken bully having command of thousands
of men, the meanest of whom is more of a gentleman than him.
All
our starred officers however, are not like him.
No
more now, as my paper is out and as are my ideas.
Love
to all, and believe me, Yours, Thos. D. Christie
[Postscript
on page one] While writing, the candle has twice tipped over and dripped on the
sheet, but I suppose you can read it anyhow.
[Postscript
on page four] I have heard nothing from Tom Reid since that letter I sent you.
Tell me all about Helen when you write. I judge by what is in one of your
letters, that she is not living with the [illegible word].
How
have Grandmothers Reid and Bertie stood the winter?
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The famous and anonymous Confederate soldier captured after
Mr. Lincoln
sent his troops into the South was asked, “Why do you fight us, Johnny Reb?
“Because you are here,” the soldier answered.
|
"There are three
things men will fight for: their country, property and religion."
~ Major Fontaine R. Earle, 34th Arkansas Infantry, CSA.
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"Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" (also known as Tenting Tonight) was a popular song during the American Civil War. A particular favorite of enlisted men in the Union army, it was written in 1863 by Walter Kittredge and first performed in that year at Old High Rock, Lynn, Massachusetts.
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William Francis Read (brother of "Savez" Read) married Kate A. Trotter, and they had 4 children:
two daughters (Edna and Annie) and two sons (Charles William and James Johnston).
|
William F. Read, 1870 Census:
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William F. Read, 1900 Census:
|
Katherine Alcade Trotter,
wife of William Francis Read:
|
Charles William Read (sometimes going by C.W. or "Billy" Read; named after Charles William "Savez" Read) was William Francis Read's oldest son. He was co-owner of the Jackson & Read Drug Store.
Born in Lampasas, Texas on February 24,
1893, Charles William Read was the son of William
Francis Read and Katherine Alcade Trotter.
In 1900, Charles
William Read was living with his parents in Lampasas, Texas. The 1910 Census
shows our charter member living with his mother in Lampasas and working as a
clerk in a hardware store.
Mr. Read
registered for the draft in Pine Bluff Arkansas on June 5, 1917. He reported
that he was living in Pine Bluff and working as a druggist.
In 1920 Mr.
Read was living in Cameron, Texas. Census records show him living with his
mother and working as a druggist.
By 1930 Mr.
Read had moved to Houston, Texas. Census records show that he had a wife and
children and that he was still working as a druggist. By 1940, he owned a drug
store.
Mr. Read died
at his residence in Houston on July 30, 1961. His death certificate lists his
occupation as druggist and shows that he was a veteran of World War I. He is
buried in Houston at Forest Park Cemetery.
Mr. Read married Clara Melissa Curtis. Clara was born December 23, 1893, in Calvert, TX, and died October 22, 1977, Houston, TX; and, like her husband, is buried in Houston
at Forest Park Cemetery.
Clara was a public music teacher, Cameron, TX, where she met C.W. Read. From age 5, she was a musician; attended the Cincinnati Conservatory; during the 1900s studied with Mr. Hubert Huffmaster, thought to be the best organ teacher in Houston at that time. Clara died at the home of her daughter Kay Koury of heart failure following a brief stay in the hospital with flu.
Mr. and Mrs. Read had two children:
1 - Katherine (sometimes spelled Kathryn on the Census reports) Anne Read was born in Cameron, Texas on
August 30, 1922. She married Adeeb S. Koury. She died January 21, 2010. She and
her husband had two sons, Read Koury and Mason Koury.
2 - Charles William Read, Jr. was born April 10,1925, in Houston, TX. He married Ethel Jean Bennett. They had a daughter, Jean
Anne Read who married Doyle L. Coburn (1973) at age 17, divorced, married Bruce L. Tomastik at age 24 (1979), had one child, divorced (1992), at age 35, married Jerry R. Cano at age 39. Jerry was born 14 Mar 1966 to Jesus Cano, Jr. and Minerva Ramirez.
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Charles William Read and Clara Curtis
Marriage License:
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Clara and William Read, Sr.:
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William Read, Sr., William Read, Jr., and Clara Read (Wife of William Read, Sr.):
|
William Read Sr. and Jr.:
|
William Read, Jr.: next 2 photos:
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Charles William Read, Jr. and Ethel Jean Bennett
Marriage License:
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Katherine Anne Read was the oldest child of C.W. Read
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KATHERINE
ANNE READ KOURY, 87, born in Cameron, Texas, died January 21, 2010 of cancer
after a short illness. She was a loving mother, devoted wife and faithful
friend. Kay was born to Charles William and Clara Read on August 30, 1922.
After living in several small Texas towns, her parents moved to Houston where
her farther opened a pharmacy. Kay attended Saint Agnes Academy and received a
B.A. ('43) and M.A. ('51) from Rice Institute, graduating Magna Cum Laude and
as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Rice, she met a fellow Masters' student
who became the love of her life Adeeb S. Koury. They married in 1952 in Beirut,
Lebanon when it was the most beautiful city on the Mediterranean. Adeeb went
into foreign service with Esso, and with their two boys they traveled the
world, living in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Libya along the way. The family
returned to Houston in 1965 after Adeeb was diagnosed with a fatal liver
disease, and Kay undertook the responsibility of raising two sons with her
typical courage and determination. Kay went to work to keep her family going
while at the same time doing all the many things required of a single parent
and mother. She never faltered and never failed to fill her home with love. In
retirement, she enjoyed her association with the Garden Club of Houston, the
University Women's Alliance and later the Pan American Round Table where she
made many new friends. She was predeceased by her husband, Adeeb Koury, her
parents Charles William Read and Clara Curtis Read, and her brother Charles
William Read, Jr. She leaves behind her two sons Read and Mason, her extended
family and a legion of loving friends, who will miss her wit and love of life.
In accordance with her wishes, a graveside service will be held on Tuesday,
February 2, 2010 at 12:00 noon at Forest Park Lawndale, where she will be
interred next to her husband and parents. In lieu of flowers, please make
donations to Houston Hospice, who took special care of her in her final days.
(Obituary and photo from the Houston Chronicle, Sunday, January 31, 2010.)
From former conversation with my Mother, it is believed that the two sons, Read and Mason, changed their last names in order to "Americanize" their given name "Koury" to Corey or Cory (See their draft cards below).
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Katherine Anne Read birth certificate:
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Updated/Corrected information on Read and Mason Koury:
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Charles William "Bill" Read, Jr.
He was born April 10, 1925, Houston, Texas, son of C.W. and Clara Read; and died September 28, 2005, at age 80, at his home in Waco, TX. Funeral service was held in Wilson Valley Cemetery, Bell County, TX, with the Rev. David Newsom officiating. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and participated in the Battle of the Bulge.
His wife Ethel Jean Read, preceded him in death. At the time of his death, he was survived by a daughter, Jean Anne Read Cano of Alabama, born August 17, 1955; a sister, Kathrine Koury of Houston, 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
Ethel Jean Bennett Read was born August 21, 1927 and died November 9, 1983, Waco, TX.
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James Johnston Read
was William Francis Read's
youngest son. (His middle name after General Joseph E. Johnston, CSA)
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James J. Read, prison photo:
|
James Johnston Read
married
Lessie Stringfellow
in 1905.
Lessie had a very, very strange background, as detailed in the information below.
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Read-Stringfellow Marriage Announcement:
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James Johnston Read & Lessie Mable Stringfellow
Marriage License:
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How did James J. Read meet Lessie Stringfellow? The Stringfellow's were the Read's next door neighbors and everyone in the family were pleased when Jim married Lessie. Mr. Stringfellow was good to Jim's father and took him to church, and, as it has been related, "made a good Episcopalian out of him."
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The Stringfellow house on 329 Washington Ave., Fayetteville, Arkansas, where James Read lived with Lessie and her adopted parents, Henry and Alice Stringfellow.
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Leslie Stringfellow,
step-brother of
Lessie Stringfellow
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Who were the Stringfellow's?
At 7:00 o’clock,
virtually every evening for 15 years, beginning in 1886, Alice and Henry Stringfellow would sit
down at a table and speak to the spirit of their deceased son, Leslie. When
Alice lightly placed her fingers on one edge of a planchette and Henry touched
the other edge, it would glide smoothly across a large sheet of paper, writing
out what seemed to be Leslie’s responses. During this period, and for over a
decade after the sessions ended, the family neither sought nor received any
publicity about the other-worldly communications.
Henry was a
world-renowned horticulturist and author of several books that earned him a
place in Who’s Who In America. Alice, the only daughter of a medical doctor,
had attended all the proper schools and
was an accomplished musician when she met and married Henry in 1863. Their
daughter, adopted after Leslie’s death and named Lessie, became a journalist
and was deeply involved in the women’s suffrage movement. In her position as
the national press chairperson for the General Federation of Women’s Clubs,
Lessie Stringfellow was on speaking terms with John D. Rockefeller, Thomas
Edison, and other illustrious people of the day. All of which is related to
explain why the family was not anxious to be known as “those kooks who talk to
dead people.” Nevertheless, in 1926, Alice and her daughter detailed their
experiences in a small book titled Leslie’s Letters to His Mother.
The story of Leslie
Stringfellow, who was born in Texas just after the conclusion of the Civil War
is strange indeed. Leslie’s untimely death at age nineteen resulted in what his
well-educated parents regarded as successful attempts to make contact with their
dead son through private séances held nightly in their own home.
Once established (according to their account),
contact continued nightly for over fifteen years. With the help of their dead
son, Henry Martyn and Alice Stringfellow recovered a lost inheritance, learned
immediately the last words of one of their own parents when he died over a
thousand miles away, and adopted and raised a two-year-old orphan girl who grew
up to become an active suffragist, newspaper editor, and publicity director for
the largest women’s organization of the early twentieth century.
During the years of
contact with what the Stringfellows believed to be their departed son, they
received thousands of séance messages through “automatic writing” in which the
young man described his personal afterlife and provided detailed descriptions
of the geography of paradise.
When Alice
Stringfellow was eighty years old and widowed, she decided to write about her
experiences with Leslie with the help of her adopted daughter. In 1919 the two
women contacted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who read their manuscript and sent them
two letters, one handwritten, encouraging them to publish it. The creator of
the Sherlock Holmes stories even proposed an experiment that involved his own
deceased son, Kingsley Doyle, who was killed in World War I.
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Stringfellow home in Galveston, TX, where Lessie grew up. They would move to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in a house which was an exact copy of the one in TX.
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Alice Johnston, daughter of a doctor who practiced in Seguin, TX, married a young Confederate
officer, Henry Martyn Stringfellow (pictured on left), December 1863, and
lived in on Galveston Island, TX, where Henry made his fortune in the citrus
industry. He had been born in Winchester, VA, the son of an Episcopal minister.
The
Springdale News - Springdale, Washington County, Arkansas - June 28, 1912, reported the following: "
H.M.
Stringfellow, an aged citizen of Fayetteville who, following a nervous
breakdown, attempted suicide a few weeks ago by stabbing himself, died on
Monday of last week."
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1880 Census, Galveston, TX:
Stringfellow family:
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WHO WAS LESSIE (READ) STRINGFELLOW?
Lessie Stringfellow (Read)
was an early champion of women’s rights, a writer for six national periodicals
of her day, a correspondent for two large newspapers, and a newspaper editor
herself. She was a founder of the Women’s Suffrage Association of Washington
County and was an officer for the local Red Cross during World War I. In
addition, she served many years as national press chairperson for the largest
women’s organization of the early twentieth century, the General Federation of
Women’s Clubs.
Lessie Stringfellow
was born Mabel Staples on January 3, 1891, in Temple, Texas, to William and
Lillian Staples. Both her parents died from a fever when she was two years old,
and the renowned horticulturist Henry Martyn Stringfellow and his wife, Alice,
adopted her. The Stringfellows, who had lost their only child, a
nineteen-year-old boy named Leslie, to malaria in 1886, had been friends of the
Staples family.
According to the
Stringfellows, their deceased son made himself known to his parents by means of
spirit communications during the years Mabel lived with them. (Henry
Stringfellow was a member of the Rosicrucian Society, a spiritualist
organization, but his wife did not believe in spiritualism until her
experiences with her dead son began.) The parents maintained that their son and
the little girl jointly requested that her name be changed to “Lessie.”
Although little Lessie was not allowed to attend the family’s daily séances,
numerous messages for and about her were received.
Stringfellow grew
up on the family farm and orchard that her adopted father had established in
1881 outside the gulf coast village of Hitchcock, Texas. He held three college
degrees, and his wife, Alice, had attended Hunter College for Women in New
York, and Lessie received her basic education at home from her adopted parents.
During her teenage years, arrangements were made for her to be privately
tutored during the summers by a professor from Leland Stanford University (now
Stanford University). While still a teenager, Lessie worked as a correspondent
for the Houston Chronicle, contributing articles on local news from her area of
the state.
In September 1910,
Stringfellow married James Read, a pharmacist. The couple moved with the
Stringfellows to Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1911, where her adopted
father died a year later. The following year, Read’s husband disappeared.
Unsubstantiated rumors of that time suggest that he had left town abruptly
under suspicion of having embezzled money from a Fayetteville drugstore where
he was employed.
Without the
responsibilities of a being a wife, but retaining married status, Read was able
to move unimpeded in a society that discriminated against single women. By
1915, at age twenty-four, she was involved in the women’s suffrage movement as
a founder of the Washington County Women’s Suffrage Association and president
of the Fayetteville Equal Suffrage Association. She was named national press
chairwoman in 1916 for the largest international women’s organization of that
time, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, and was also editor of the
organization’s General Federation News. In 1918, the GFWC’s biennial convention
was held in Hot Springs (Garland County), and Read was primary coordinator for
the event. From 1916 to 1926, she served as press director for national
conventions of the GFWC and, in that capacity, met and spoke with many national
figures, including Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, and Carrie Chapman Catt,
who in 1900 replaced Susan B. Anthony as president of the American Woman’s
Suffrage Association. Catt stayed with Read at her home in Fayetteville while
in town for a speaking engagement.
Read was working as
a journalist for the Fayetteville Democrat in 1918 when its editor, J. D.
Hurst, resigned his position to join the American forces in World War I. She
became the editor of the newspaper. She offered to resign when Hurst returned
from the war. Hurst declined, choosing instead to work as the newspaper’s
business manager, and Read was editor of the Fayetteville Democrat for the next
twenty-seven years.
During her years
with the paper, Read worked in an unconventionally feminine atmosphere: she was
the editor, Roberta Fulbright was the owner, and Maude Gold was the paper’s
only full-time reporter.
In 1933, the
newspaper became embroiled in a battle with a corrupt political machine that
had operated in Washington County for years. Sheriff Harley Grover and County
Circuit Court Judge John S. Combs were protecting men who operated illegal
stills and were running a car theft ring within the county. Because these
high-ranking officials were corrupt, little legal recourse existed to combat
this corruption until Fulbright and Read effectively used the newspaper to
galvanize local churches and civic organizations into forming the Good
Government League, which ultimately forced out the corrupt officials and voted
in its own candidates. Threats were received frequently at the newspaper, and
one of Fulbright’s employees began carrying a gun, but Fulbright, Read, and
Gold did not back down.
In later years,
Read was a founding member of the Washington County Historical Society, an
occasional correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Memphis
Commercial Appeal, as well as the Associated Press and other news syndicates.
She wrote for Good Housekeeping, Deliniator, Southern Women’s Magazine, Country
Gentleman, Woman Citizen, and the Saturday Evening Post. Her articles covered
subjects as diverse as photography, poetry, and women’s rights. She published a
book by Arkansas poet George Ballard, as well as her adoptive mother’s book,
Leslie’s Letters to His Mother. She also edited a book of poetry by Roberta
Fulbright, with whom she shared a close friendship, and assisted folklorist
Vance Randolph with collecting original folk tales of the Arkansas Ozarks for
the Library of Congress.
Read remained the
editor of Fayetteville’s main newspaper until her retirement in 1945. By the
late 1930s, the paper had changed its name to the Northwest Arkansas Times.
She continued
living alone in the family mansion until becoming senile during the late 1960s.
She spent her final years at the Fayetteville City Hospital and died on May 28,
1971, at the age of eighty. She is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in
Fayetteville.
For additional
information:
Chism, Stephen. The
Afterlife of Leslie Stringfellow: A Nineteenth-Century Southern Family’s
Experiences with Spiritualism. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press,
2006.
———. “The Very
Happiest Tiding: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Correspondence with Arkansas
Spiritualists.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 59 (Autumn 2000): 299–310.
Lessie Stringfellow
Read Papers. Special Collections. University of Arkansas Libraries,
Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Source of Information:
Stephen Chism
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
This entry, originally published in Arkansas
Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives, appears in the Encyclopedia of
Arkansas History & Culture in an altered form. Arkansas Biography is
available from the University of Arkansas Press.
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Lessie Stringfellow Read
is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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What really happened to
James Johnston Read
(He didn't just disappear, as one author claims, who wrote a book on the Stringfellow family; he divorced Lessie; and quite frankly, I'm sure it was hard to live with a family that dabbled in the occult.)
The Bible is clear in it's instructions to Christians: do not practice and deal with the occult.
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James J. Read was then married twice more:
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James Johnston Read: Second Marriage information; his second wife was also previously married:
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James Johnston Read, third marriage; it was her second marriage:
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Edna Corrinne Read
(Daughter of William Francis Read)
was born in Houston, TX, 1874, and died in Brownwood, TX, October 24, 1928.
She married George Whitaker, Jr. (May 9, 1870--September 28, 1944). (More information about his family follows).
George Whitaker, Jr. lived in Temple, TX, in 1910, working as a Train Conductor, while his wife taught in public school. His father, George Whitaker, Sr., was born in England and his mother in Georgia.
In 1930, the Whitaker family lived in Brownwood, TX, and George was still a train conductor, but now also owned his own filling station; son Joe worked with him; son Justin was working in Mississippi as a telegraph operator, and his wife worked as a public school teacher.
Their Children:
Justin Pope Whitaker (May 13, 1900-January 18, 1971) (a WW1 veteran) (He married Mignonne Maxey, born: June 17, 1903, died: February 12, 1924).
Joseph Blackburn "Joe" Whitaker (August 22, 1903-January 2, 1970) (He was a WW2 veteran: enlisted on July 8, 1942 from Abilene, TX, Serial Number: 38134124.) (He was delivered by Dr. Joseph D. Read, brother of "Savez" Read)!
Roby Read Whitaker (Inaccurately listed on 1910 Census as "female.") This has caused a lot of misinformation on Ancestry.com website. The 1920-1940 Census(s) clearly indicate Roby is a "male." (Oct 24, 1901-July 1978) (He was sent to prison: used the alias "Jim Baker", in Collins County, TX, for burglary, age 23, served 2 years; by 1935, he was in Nebraska, working as a farm laborer; then, by 1940, he was in Colorado, working on a ranch.) In 1919-1922, he was living in Brownwood, Texas going to school. By 1942, he was in Reno,Nevada, working for Joe Bass of the Saviers Electrical Corp., Shipping Dept; and in 1953, he was self-employed as a carpenter, living in Reno, Nevada. Still being researched and not fully confirmed: that he married Mildred Marie Knight, and had two children (Taylor, TX): William Dewitt Whitaker (October 25, 1956, and has lived in Trent, Clyde, and Abilene, TX); and Ruby Marie Whitaker (March 5, 1953). Ruby Whitaker (age 15) married Arlie Gary Dupree (age 18) on June 24, 1968 in Taylor, Texas. They had one son, Gary Dwayne Dupree.
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Whitaker family
1920 Census, Brownwood, TX: (NOTE: the census correctly indicates that Roby is a "son").
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Roby Read Whitaker in Pueblo, Colorado, 1940, when he lived with the Foreman of a Cattle Ranch:
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Look carefully at the Birth Certificate for Joseph B. Whitaker......he was delivered by J.D. Read (Joseph Dotson Read, M.D.) who was in Lampasas, TX at that time; he was Charles "Savez" Read's brother:
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Roby Read Whitaker
1930 Prisoner Census:
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His conduct report with punishment he received, while in prison:
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Roby Read Whitaker draft registration card, confirmed:
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Roby Read Whitaker & Mildred Knight
Marriage License (Unconfirmed at present as to whether this is the Roby Read, son of George and Edna Whitaker):
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Edward Read Whitaker
& Lorraines M. Nicolaisen
1942 Marriage License:
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George Whitaker, Jr. husband of Edna Corrinne Read
Born: May 9, 1870. Died: Sept. 28, 1944. Buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown County, TX.
Parents: George Whitaker, Sr. (1828-1916). First Wife: Nancy Caroline "Carrie" Hopson Whitaker (April 9, 1849-Nov 10, 1926). Second Wife: Martha Susan Martin Jones Whitaker (1861-1934)
Brothers: William W. Whitaker (1867-1898), N.C. Whitaker, George Whitaker, Arra Bell Whitaker, Thomas Whitaker, and
John Pope Whitaker (1878-1892)
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Annie Elizabeth Read
(youngest daughter of
William Francis Read)
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Newer research reveals that Annie Read was born in 1879, and married Arthur F. Noble, June 28, 1899; died in 1910, and is buried in the same cemetery as her parents, William Francis Read/Katherine A. Trotter Read (the only Reads buried in that cemetery). We found that Annie had a stillborn female baby, delivered by Dr. Joseph D. Read (brother of William F. Read, "Savez" Read, and John Jeremiah Read), and after Annie died in 1910, it is thought that her husband, Arthur Noble, remarried. In 1910, Arthur and Annie were living in Lampasas, TX; he worked as a salesman in a hardware store. He later served in the U.S. Army during WW1. He died March 6, 1937, and is buried at Fort Sam Houston, TX.
Here are the documents referenced above, that support that research:
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Arthur Noble and Annie Read, 1910 Census:
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1880 Census showing the William Francis Read family:
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Dr. William Thornton Read, Sr.
son of Joseph Dotson & Belle Thornton Read
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William Thornton Read was home-schooled by his mother and learned to read by age 4.
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Information about W.T. Read, Roxana Clark:
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(Dr. William Thornton Read was the son of Dr. Joseph D. Read, first college physician of Texas A&M, College Station, Texas. Dr. Joseph Read was brother of Charles W. Read, CSA war hero.) (Dr. William Thornton Read, Sr. was my Grandfather Read's (J. Leighton Read) first cousin.)
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Roxana Clark Read
daughter of William Thornton Read, Sr.
High School Yearbook:
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Dr. Roxana Clark Read:
sister of William Thornton
Read, Jr., had married Otto Eugene Wiswell (her second husband) in 1961. She was a physician in
Harper, TX and he was a lawyer in private practice. He died of heart trouble. His father, a farmer, was Walda William Wiswell; his mother was Ellen Ray Baggett. Otto was born Nov. 24, 1927. Otto and Roxana were living in Pasadena, TX at the time of his death.
They had one son: John
Howard Wiswell, born August 4, 1958; as of 2004, he was living in Austin, TX.
She tragically died in an
auto accident, January 31, 1983, Denton, TX.
Her first husband, Howard
Lee Schnur, was also a doctor as she, born October 29, 1917, in New York City. He
graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He died on March 22, 1958. Howard had a
brother, Sidney Schnur, who was also a doctor, who had specialized in
Cardiology, and practiced in Houston. Howard and Sidney are buried side by side
in Forest Park West Cemetery, Houston, TX. Howard died in the Veterans Hospital, Houston, TX from Cerebral Hemorrhage stemming from Acute Leukemia of undetermined origin/type.
Roxana Read graduated from Columbia University with an M.D. degree, with
a specialty in Physical Medicine.
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Roxana Read Schnur engagement announced in the Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light, 17 March 1961:
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Roxana Read Wiswell Schnur wedding announcement and photo, in the Corsicana, Texas Daily Sun, April 7, 1961:
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Roxana Read Wiswell, obituary announced in newspaper:
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Roxana Clark Read, medical school picture:
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John Howard Wiswell, Pasadena, Texas High School picture:
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Rev. John Jeremiah Read
and Rev. Wauchope
(More historical information on their Missionary work in Indian Territory)
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Mrs. J.J. Read (Lillah Porter Read) took a position as teacher in the mission dayschool, conducted in the Wapanucka Presbyterian Church (seen in the picture below). In addition to regular subjects, instruction was also given in Bible and catechisms. She worked in the "Ladies Aid" society and was elected Historian of the Woman's Synodical in 1912. She left from here and spent 7 years in Arizona, near her daughter, teaching in schools there. Then, she came back to Wapanucka, and finally moved to Norman, OK, to live with Rev. J. Leighton Read, until she passed on to be with the Lord, in 1940.
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Jonas
Wolf, a son of Capt. James Wolf
and his full blood Chickasaw Indian wife, was born near Horn Lake in what is
today De Soto County, Mississippi, on June 30, 1828. Captain Wolf was a
character of some prominence among the Chickasaws, having been a signer of the Treaty
of October 22, 1832. He removed with his family in the Chickasaw removal party
which departed from Memphis on November 1, 1838, arriving at Doaksville on
December 22nd. Shortly thereafter the Captain removed to lands south of Boggy
Depot but later effected his permanent settlement on the Blue in the vicinity
of the present town of Milburn, Johnston County, Oklahoma, where he and his
wife passed away some years later. Meager educational advantages were afforded
young Jonas Wolf during his adolescent years. He briefly attended school at
Boggy Depot but the school of experience re-enforced by self-education were the
factors which prepared him for the efforts which he later undertook. Farming
and stock-raising became his gainful pursuits. Early in life Jonas Wolf
established himself upon a farm along the north bank of the Washita some five
miles west of Tishomingo and south of Ravia which remained his home until his
death and where he lies buried. He saw no service in either the Union or
Confederate armies during the Civil War. Jonas Wolf became a member of the
Presbyterian Church, South, and later was ordained to the ministry of that
denomination under the leadership of Rev. John Jeremiah Read. Active
participation in tribal politics did not seem to enlist his interest until
later in life. He served consistently as a member of the Chickasaw legislature
but had reached the age of 56 years when he first became governor. [Source:
"Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture" and John Jeremiah Read
archives.]
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Additional information about
Rev. J.J. (John Jeremiah) Read
and Rev. Jonas Wolf; and
Rev. J. Leighton Read.
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"Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes" pictured above, depicts the Great Seals of each Tribe. (courtesy of the Inter-Tribal Council website).
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"Cherokee, The Five Civilized Tribes, An
Unfinished Journey"
from TV station KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this award-winning
documentary, although dated, probes the history of five Oklahoma tribes: Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee, called by the U.S. government, "The five
civilized tribes.", 1966:
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THE 5 CIVILIZED TRIBES FILM:
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"Quanah Parker: Last Comanche Chief"
A film presented by his grandsons.
One of his sons, White Parker, a Christian, knew and worked with
Rev. J. Leighton Read.
(See information in the section: "Read Family Story" on this website for details. Rev. Read told me that he had, on one occasion, met Quanah Parker).
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A historical tour concerning
Quanah Parker:
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The Parker family held a Reunion in 1954. This film shows White Parker in attendance:
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Online biography of White Parker, which includes mention of his work with Rev. J. Leighton Read:
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Quannah Parker participated in the Inaugural Parade for President Teddy Roosevelt.
Five
Indian chiefs passing in review before President Roosevelt during his 1905
Inaugural parade.
Left to right: Buckskin Charlie (Ute), American Horse (Oglala
Sioux), Quanah Parker (Comanche), Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache) and Hollow Horn
Bear (Brule Sioux):
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"The Daughter of Dawn" film is to be widely released in 2016, in which White and his sister Wanda Parker (son and daughter of Quanah Parker) play leading roles.
To me, this film is of great importance in understanding the era and culture, in which Rev. J. Leighton Read and his father, Rev. J.J. Read worked among the Native Americans. It is especially important from the standpoint of seeing one of the Indians (White Parker) was a converted Christian, who personally worked with Rev. J. Leighton Read in his mission work. Rev. Read also told Jim and I that he had met White Parker's father, Quanah.
He talked with us about the problems some of the Indians had with the peyote cactus plant, which contained psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Some anthropologists believe that North American Indians may have used peyote for spiritual purposes or transcendence practices, for at least 5,500 years. They tried to keep using it while still attending a mission church service. Unfortunately Quanah Parker led many Indians astray and helped to start the Native American Church, which used Peyote as part of their "worship." (I have included more about this dangerous practice that Rev. Read tried to persuade the Indians to stop, in a note below).
Another practice that Rev. Read told Jim and I about was his success in getting many of the male Indians he ministered to, to stop wearing the breechcloth, and wear less revealing clothes. (I have also included a note on that below).
It was emotionally moving for me to see the film clip (below) and realize the vital work he was doing for the Lord. I remember reading what Dr. A.D. Wauchope said about doing "personal work" among those who had never professed Christ as their Saviour. ("Personal work" is an older term that describes a Christian witnessing to the "lost" who do not know Jesus).
I have a better understanding of what Rev. Read's ministry was about by watching this film.
"The Daughter of Dawn" film is now available in DVD or Blueray, from the Oklahoma Historical Society and can be ordered thru their website: www.okhistory.org.
When our family visited Rev. and Mrs. Read in Norman, OK, I went walking out into the neighborhood with Mrs. Read, to invite children into her home, to sing gospel songs in her front room, as she played the piano, and then to listen to her teach a Bible story with her flannel graph board. They both had a real heart for witnessing and winning the lost. Their distribution of New Testaments and Bibles, and work with Child Evangelism Fellowship, are already detailed on this page.
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"After screening only a handful of times when it was made in 1920, "The Daughter of Dawn" disappeared without a trace. For almost 90 years it was considered lost, until it was rediscovered by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Now beautifully restored and with a new orchestral score, the film is an astonishing revelation."
"Shooting on location in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, Norbert Miles ably directed an excellent all-Indian cast. The beautifully filmed drama features romantic rivalry, buffalo hunts, village scenes, dances, deceit, tests of courage, and hand-to-hand combat." "The cast of more than 300 Kiowa and Comanche actors brought their own tipis, horses, clothing, and traditions to the set, making "The Daughter of Dawn" fascinating to film fans and students of American Indian history and culture."
-Oklahoma Historical Society
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White Parker, Comanche Tribal Member, as White Eagle, in the film:
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Wanda Parker (brother of White Parker), Comanche Tribal Member, as Red Wing, in the film:
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Black Wolf, Kowa Tribal Member, played by Jack Sankadota, stands on the left of Wanda Parker, Comanche Tribal Member, who plays Red Wing:
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