THOMAS JONES READ

 

 

     Thomas Jones Read, b November 24,1809 in Sumner County, Tennessee, d March 25, 1899 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas - grew up in Mississippi, but moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama, where he met and married Martha Jane Heard, b September 26,1812 in Alabama, d May 24,1874 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin - a daughter of Alabama Judge, Stephen Rhodes and Jemima (Menefee) Heard. Judge Heard died in Alabama, and when Thomas J. and Martha Jane (Heard) Read came to Texas with Austin’s third colony, her widowed mother came with them, traveling with Mrs. Heard's brother, William Laban Menefee - a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, her son, and other allied families. They arrived on the Navidad River on December 9, 1830, and Mr. Read was granted a league of land (4,428 acres) by the Mexican Government in what is now Jackson County, Texas.

     Thomas Jones Read served during the Texas Revolution in the military company of Captain George Collingsworth, and in 1874, he applied for a pension for this service.

     At the end of the Texas War for Independence from Mexico, the Jones family moved to Wharton County, where many of Mrs. Read's family had settled. They called the colony in which they settled, "Egypt," because of the corn crop failure everywhere in the colony except there, and everyone came to Egypt for food.

     Thomas Jones and Martha Jane (Heard) Read were the parents of ten children:

Martha Read, died before 1892 - married Elisha Atkinson.

     Thomas Jones Read, Jr., b 1835 in The Republic of Texas, d July 24, 1873 and buried in Calvary Cemetery In Marlin, Falls County, Texas. He was in Falls County by 1860, with a wife, L. F., b ca 1838, and two sons who were listed only by their initials: "M." Read, b 1857, and "J. A." Read, b 1860. Thomas, Jr. enlisted In the Confederate States Army, and was one of the members of Captain Willis Lang's Lancer Corps, which became Company B, Green's Brigade, Hardiman's Division, Sibley's Battalion, which was in the Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico. No further information.

     William H. Read, b ca 1837 in The Republic of Texas - was residing near his brother in Falls County, Texas in 1860, and was then not married. He, with his brother, Thomas Jones Read, Jr., joined Captain Willis Lang's Lancer Corps, which became Company B, Green's Brigade, Hardiman's Division, Sibley's Battalion, and was in the Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico. Family tradition says that the two brothers were disabled, and their father dispatched a younger brother, John P. Read, to New Mexico in a carriage to bring them home. By 1892, William H. Read was residing in Brown County, Texas. No further information.

     John P. Read, b ca 1841 in The Republic of Texas, d July 16, 1869 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin. He brought his two older brothers back to Texas from the Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico, and later enlisted in the services of the Confederate States. No further information.

     Elizabeth J. Read (called "Bettie"), b April 17, 1845 in The Republic of Texas, d November 30,1869 and buried in Calvary Cemetery at Marlin - was the first wife of David Y. Gaines, b October 23, 1832 in Florida, d March 29, 1878.

     Tabitha Ann Read, b 1846 in Texas, d March 30, 1870 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin - was the first wife of Albert Ware Foster, b April 12, 1842, d December 12, 1922, whose second wife was the sister of Tabitha Ann, Mildred. Albert Ware and Tabitha Ann (Read) Foster were the parents of Annie Katherine Foster, who married Israel Lilboume Peterson - and they were the parents of four sons and one daughter: Robert Dupree Peterson who married Fanny H. Hill; Lilbourne Peterson; Albert H. Peterson who married "Lib" Foree; Thomas Peterson who married and moved to Arizona; and Mildred Katherine Peterson who married William Smith Bowdon. Tabitha Ann (Read) Foster died when a lamp exploded.

     Fannie Read, b September 14, 1849, d August 24, 1927 and buried in Calvary Cemetery - married Benjamin Bedford Clarkson, b January 2,1845, d May 16, 1891 and buried in Calvary Cemetery.

     Samuel Adriance Read, b February 14, 1850 in Wharton County, Texas, d June 14, 1894 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin - married April 18, 1888 in Falls County, Texas to Mrs. Susan M. (Roberts) Powers - a daughter of Thomas and Narcissa (Cartwright) Roberts, and widow of John W. Powers. Samuel farmed for two years, when, at the age of 21 years, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Falls County. He subsequently entered in partnership in the stock business with John W. Powers. By 1892, Samuel had 6,000 acres of land - some of which was his wife's inheritance from her first husband and parents, with several farms under cultivation. The principal part, however, was devoted to stock, and he shipped between 2,000 and 2,500 head a year to beef markets.

     Dr. M. S. Read - who became a dentist, and moved to Corsicana, Texas. No further information.

     Mildred V. Read, b October 6, 1854 in Texas, d March 2, 1934 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin - was the second wife of Albert Ware Foster, whose first wife was Mildred's sister, Tabitha Ann (Read) Foster who died from the effects of an exploding lamp in 1870.

     In 1866, Thomas Jones and Martha Jane (Heard) Read moved their family to Marlin, Falls County, Texas, where he purchased the Coleman Hotel. All of his children were educated in Rutersville Academy and College in Round Top, Fayette County, Texas - the first such institution in The Republic of Texas.

     The Coleman Hotel in Marlin was two stories tall, made entirely of cedar and put together with cedar pegs. It was a stagecoach stop that housed Sam Houston and other notables through the years of its existence. Descendants of Thomas Jones Read described him as a redoubtable character with an indomitable will, stubborness, and high temper which "stilllingers" among his descendants. It was his habit, in his late years, to sit in a high-backed hickory chair on the front porch of the hotel, from whence he directed the lives of his family, his servants, and at times, those of passing strangers. Truly a rugged individualist, he was one of that stern, strong breed of pioneers who wrested Texas from virgin wilderness and turned her into a state.

     Descendants of Thomas Jones and Martha Jane (Heard) Read continue to reside in Falls County, Texas.

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 374 column 1 and 2 and page 375 column 1 and 2.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.