Description: Read family papers

Read family papers

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author:	Read Family (Creator)
Collection:	Read Family Papers
Collection Number:	LCP.in.HSP38
Format:	Manuscript
Language:	English
Subjects and Genres:	Diplomatic Relations > France > 19th century Diplomatic Relations > Greece > 19th century Family life > Personal correspondence > 19th century. Genealogy > Read Family Legal profession > 19th century. Pennsylvania > Politics and government > 19th century. United States > History > Civil War, 1861-1865 > Personal Correspondence.
Online Access:	Link to finding aid
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Physical Description:	86.0 Linear feet 82 boxes, 177 volumes
Summary:	Papers of a family prominent in politics covering three generations. The papers, 1792-1854, of John Read, a lawyer of Philadelphia, President of the Philadelphia Bank, 1819-1841, (about 5,000 items, unarranged) include incoming correspondence, legal papers, and miscellaneous items. There are a large number of papers pertaining to his legal practice; some records of the Philadelphia Bank, especially suits in which the bank was involved; family correspondence, including letters, 1804-1807, from his brother, William Read, a merchant of Philadelphia, regarding the China trade; a letter book, 1850-1854 (1 volume); bills and receipts, 1792-1845; a receipt book, 1800-1822; account books, 1835-1854 (3 volumes); financial and legal memoranda (9 volumes); and a scrapbook. The papers, 1815-1874, of John Meredith Read [I], the son of John Read (about 4,000 items, arranged chronologically) include incoming correspondence, legal, and miscellaneous papers relating especially to Pennsylvania and national politics. Read was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party and, after 1854, the Republican Party. The papers pertain to his term as Attorney General for eastern Pennsylvania, 1837-1841, and Attorney General for Pennsylvania, 1846; his unsuccessful nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court, 1845-1846; his candidacy for the presidency, 1860; and his tenure on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1858-1873. Political correspondents include James Buchanan, Henry D. Gilpin, Henry A. P. Muhlenberg, Andrew G. Curtin, and Senator Henry Wilson (MA). His papers also contain more than 200 detailed Civil War letters, 1862-1864, by Charles H. T. Collis, an Union officer, written from the principle theaters of war; family correspondence; Read and related family letters (2 volumes); letter books, 1846-1852, 1855, 1857-1858 (2 volumes); account books, 1837-1838, 1840-1841, 1855 (3 volumes); and miscellaneous financial records. The papers, 1859-1896, of John Meredith Read [II], the son of John Meredith Read [I], diplomat, and social lion in European capitals, make up the largest part of the collection. They consist of 77 large folio-size albums of correspondence and miscellaneous papers, about 4,500 unbound items, letterpress books, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous volumes. Incoming and outgoing correspondence relates to legal, political, diplomatic, family, and personal affairs. Read's activities represented in the collection include: the organization of the Wide Awake Clubs and other Republican political efforts in New York state in 1860; letterpress files, Jan.-Aug. 1861 (2 volumes) of official correspondence as adjutant general in New York; letterpress file, 1868-1873 (12 volumes), as consul general at Paris, including his service as Prussian Consul in France during the Franco-Prussian War; letterpress file, 1874 (2 volumes), as U. S. minister to Greece, a position he held from 1873 to 1878; and a letterpress file, 1879-1896, while living as an expatriate in Paris. There are also about 100 letters, 1877-1896, from King George I of Greece; notebooks, 1879-1896 (15 volumes) of research materials collected for his "Historic Studies of Vaud. . ." (1897); and a small autograph collection which includes 64 letters, 1736-1776, by Voltaire, 43 of which are to Charles Mancel de Vegobre. Miscellaneous items include numerous memorandum books; and scrapbooks (33 volumes) on Read's wide ranging social and research interests. The scrapbooks are largely filled with memorabilia, but they include a volume of correspondence regarding the 5,726 Robert Morris letters, 1781-1784, that Read at one time owned; and a volume of correspondence with Samuel Sartain, engraver, and the Broadbent Brothers, photographers, of Philadelphia. Read's efforts to trace the American and British branches of the Read and related families are documented by 36 volumes of correspondence and records, two of which are devoted to Thomas, a navy officer during the American Revolution. Related families represented include Cadwalader, Howell, Marshall, Meredith, Pumpelly, Ross, and Waterman. In addition, there are some Cadwalader and Meredith papers, including correspondence, a few Samuel Meredith letters and record books (5 volumes) 1777-1801, and Thomas Meredith account books, 1792-1819 (2 volumes).

Physical Description:

86.0 Linear feet 82 boxes, 177 volumes

Summary:

Papers of a family prominent in politics covering three generations. The papers, 1792-1854, of John Read, a lawyer of Philadelphia, President of the Philadelphia Bank, 1819-1841, (about 5,000 items, unarranged) include incoming correspondence, legal papers, and miscellaneous items. There are a large number of papers pertaining to his legal practice; some records of the Philadelphia Bank, especially suits in which the bank was involved; family correspondence, including letters, 1804-1807, from his brother, William Read, a merchant of Philadelphia, regarding the China trade; a letter book, 1850-1854 (1 volume); bills and receipts, 1792-1845; a receipt book, 1800-1822; account books, 1835-1854 (3 volumes); financial and legal memoranda (9 volumes); and a scrapbook. The papers, 1815-1874, of John Meredith Read [I], the son of John Read (about 4,000 items, arranged chronologically) include incoming correspondence, legal, and miscellaneous papers relating especially to Pennsylvania and national politics. Read was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party and, after 1854, the Republican Party. The papers pertain to his term as Attorney General for eastern Pennsylvania, 1837-1841, and Attorney General for Pennsylvania, 1846; his unsuccessful nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court, 1845-1846; his candidacy for the presidency, 1860; and his tenure on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1858-1873. Political correspondents include James Buchanan, Henry D. Gilpin, Henry A. P. Muhlenberg, Andrew G. Curtin, and Senator Henry Wilson (MA). His papers also contain more than 200 detailed Civil War letters, 1862-1864, by Charles H. T. Collis, an Union officer, written from the principle theaters of war; family correspondence; Read and related family letters (2 volumes); letter books, 1846-1852, 1855, 1857-1858 (2 volumes); account books, 1837-1838, 1840-1841, 1855 (3 volumes); and miscellaneous financial records. The papers, 1859-1896, of John Meredith Read [II], the son of John Meredith Read [I], diplomat, and social lion in European capitals, make up the largest part of the collection. They consist of 77 large folio-size albums of correspondence and miscellaneous papers, about 4,500 unbound items, letterpress books, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous volumes. Incoming and outgoing correspondence relates to legal, political, diplomatic, family, and personal affairs. Read's activities represented in the collection include: the organization of the Wide Awake Clubs and other Republican political efforts in New York state in 1860; letterpress files, Jan.-Aug. 1861 (2 volumes) of official correspondence as adjutant general in New York; letterpress file, 1868-1873 (12 volumes), as consul general at Paris, including his service as Prussian Consul in France during the Franco-Prussian War; letterpress file, 1874 (2 volumes), as U. S. minister to Greece, a position he held from 1873 to 1878; and a letterpress file, 1879-1896, while living as an expatriate in Paris. There are also about 100 letters, 1877-1896, from King George I of Greece; notebooks, 1879-1896 (15 volumes) of research materials collected for his "Historic Studies of Vaud. . ." (1897); and a small autograph collection which includes 64 letters, 1736-1776, by Voltaire, 43 of which are to Charles Mancel de Vegobre. Miscellaneous items include numerous memorandum books; and scrapbooks (33 volumes) on Read's wide ranging social and research interests. The scrapbooks are largely filled with memorabilia, but they include a volume of correspondence regarding the 5,726 Robert Morris letters, 1781-1784, that Read at one time owned; and a volume of correspondence with Samuel Sartain, engraver, and the Broadbent Brothers, photographers, of Philadelphia. Read's efforts to trace the American and British branches of the Read and related families are documented by 36 volumes of correspondence and records, two of which are devoted to Thomas, a navy officer during the American Revolution. Related families represented include Cadwalader, Howell, Marshall, Meredith, Pumpelly, Ross, and Waterman. In addition, there are some Cadwalader and Meredith papers, including correspondence, a few Samuel Meredith letters and record books (5 volumes) 1777-1801, and Thomas Meredith account books, 1792-1819 (2 volumes).

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