Cumberland County, Maine - Joseph W. Read
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Biography
Joseph W. Read
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 238-239


Joseph W. Read, who owns and occupies a portion of the original homestead in
South Windham, Me., on which his grandfather, Noah Read, settled in the latter
part of the eighteenth century, was born in the town of Windham, November 9,
1835. He is of English antecedents, being the lineal descendant of John Read,
the son, presumably, of William and Lucy (Henage) Read, of England. John Read
sailed from England with the large fleet that came to New England in 1630, and
settled at first in Weymouth, Mass., but afterward removed to Rehoboth, Mass.,
buying property there in 1643. He was a large landholder, and quite prominent in
local affairs, for some years holding the office of Constable, which was then
the chief executive office.

His son, Daniel Read, the next in line of descent, was born in Rehoboth in
March, 1655. He married Hannah Peck on August 27, 1677; and they reared six
children. Daniel, Jr., their second child and first son, was born in Rehoboth,
January 20, 1680. He and his wife, Elizabeth Bosworth, were the parents of
sixteen children, Noah, Sr., great-grandfather of Joseph W., being the eighth
child.

Noah Read, Sr., a native of Attleboro, Mass., born December 17, 1718, married
Abigail Baldwin, who became the mother of eleven children. The eighth child,
bearing the father's name Noah, as noted above, was born September 21, 1755, in
Attleboro. He married Mary Robinson, of Windham, Me., November 26, 1788, and
they became the parents of ten children. He was for many years a teacher of the
younger members of the Society of Friends in Falmouth. He was very religious,
and in 1800 was appointed an Elder in the church, an office which he filled
until his death, which occurred April 4, 1844.

Nathan Read, son of Noah and Mary (Robinson) Read, and father of Joseph W., was
a native of Windham, born March 2, 1795, and lived to the good old age of
eighty-four years. He married January 28, 1824, Ruth Horton, a daughter of John
Horton, of Portland. Of the five children who were the fruit of this union three
are now living; namely, the subject of the present sketch and his two sisters.
Emily H. Read, the elder of these, born August 30, 1826, is the wife of Isaiah
Jones, and has three children - Charles W., Elmer H., and Frank; Julia W. Read,
born September 1, 1831, is the wife of Nathan R. Dyer, of South Portland.

Joseph W. Read acquired his elementary education in Windham, this being
supplemented by an attendance at Westbrook Seminary. In 1855 he went to
Portland, where he worked for a time as a clerk in a retail grocery store, and
then became clerk in the wholesale grocery store on Commercial Street of T. & W.
H. Shaw, remaining with them during the year 1857. He was next employed for
three years in the wholesale flour and grain establishment of William L.
Southard. In 1860 Mr. Read, still remaining in Portland, established himself in
business, and carried on a substantial wholesale trade in groceries until 1876.
In that year he returned to Windham, moving on to the old homestead. In 1889 he
was appointed Postmaster for South Windham, retaining the office four years, two
and one half months; and in 1880 he was elected a member of the Board of
Selectmen, in which office he served four consecutive years, being Chairman of
the Board the last two years. Politically, he is a stanch Republican.

Mr. Read was married July 9, 1863, to Ellen F. Jordan, daughter of William
Jordan, of Portland. They have had seven children, but have been called to part
with five. The two now living are: Charles W., born February 13, 1866, employed
by Chisholm Brothers in Portland; and Elizabeth Horton Read, born May 22, 1868,
and now residing at South Windham with her parents.