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Guilford Dudley READ

Guilford Dudley READ[1]

Male 1803 - 1883  (79 years)

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  • Name Guilford Dudley READ 
    Born 9 Dec 1803  North Carolina Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    _UID 5F003423F55C42F5B4E4A85DB1214A6259EA 
    Died 1883  Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I14124  Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 5 Feb 2012 

    Family Elizabeth WALLACE,   b. 8 Feb 1812,   d. 1891, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years) 
    Married 18 Jan 1825  Davidson County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. William Benjamin READ,   b. 15 Oct 1829, Davidson County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Oct 1904  (Age 74 years)
     2. James READ,   b. 12 Feb 1832,   d. 5 Oct 1833  (Age 1 years)
     3. Cordelia Ann READ,   b. 5 Oct 1834,   d. 4 Sep 1869  (Age 34 years)
     4. Sara Elizabeth READ,   b. 6 Jun 1837,   d. 11 Jan 1847  (Age 9 years)
     5. Guilford Dudley READ, Jr.,   b. 18 Feb 1840,   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Martha Olive READ,   b. 1 Oct 1842,   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Harriet Adarene (Adrian) READ,   b. 12 Jan 1845,   d. 12 May 1868  (Age 23 years)
     8. Lydia Frances READ,   b. 4 Aug 1847,   d. 20 Jun 1850  (Age 2 years)
     9. James Wallace READ,   b. 1 Jun 1850,   d. 3 Jun 1852  (Age 2 years)
     10. Opie Pope READ,   b. 22 Dec 1852, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Nov 1939, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 86 years)
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2016 
    Family ID F7282  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Notes contributed by Linda Read Chesser:

      I have carefully transcribed the Bible belonging to Guilford Dudley and Elizabeth (Wallace) Read. They were married in Davidson County TN in 1826, where all eleven of their children were born. Their oldest son, William Benjamin Read (1829-1904), served in the CSA as a cavalry soldier in Ward's 9th at the Battle of Hartsville and rode with General Morgan. He was captured in 1863, on the Ohio and imprisoned at Camps Morton (Indianapolis) and Douglass (Chicago). Released in June 1865, he came home to find his wife had died 6 months before, leaving his three sons as guardians of Guilford Read Sr. The families moved to Sumner County after the Civil War, first residing in Gallatin and then moving to land southwest of Richland Station (now Portland). Their youngest son was Opie Pope Read (1852-1939), American Novelist and Humorist, who studied at Neophogen College in Gallatin, founded The Arkansas Traveler in Little Rock and was author of 57 books and numerous short stories. He had met Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) on the Chautauqua circuit and later would travel that road himself. He wrote for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and worked until his death for a paper in Chicago. Portland's Elmer Hinton Public Library has a portrait of Opie Read and a few of his novels on display.
      The Guilford Dudley and Elizabeth (Wallace) Read Bible
      (c. 1810 written on inside cover and first seven chapters of Genesis missing.)
      Signature on last page: Mrs. Elizabeth Read
      Transcribed by Linda Read Chesser, 3rd great-granddaughter of Guilford and Elizabeth Read, the 28 day January 2002
      This is a large Bible approx. 10 by 12 inches and 3 inches thick. The center of the Bible between Testaments is now loose and tucked in. Everything was copied exactly by the transcriber, including misspellings, spelling variations, and grammatical errors.
      P. 1 Parents' Record
      Father
      Guilford Read was born December the 9 1803
      Elizabeth Read the wife of Gilford Read was born
      Febuary the 8 1812
      Mother
      Gilford Read and Elizabeth Wallace
      was married January
      the 18 day 1825
      P. 2 Marriages
      This is my grand Children
      John Wasly Read was
      Born November the
      27 day 1851
      (Transcriber's Note: Wesley is the middle name.)
      William Olever Read
      was born October the
      18 day 1853
      (Transcriber's Note: Oliver is the middle name.)
      Gilford Dudley Read
      was born January
      the 26 day 1856
      (Transcriber's Note: There are four known Guilford Reads in this family, three with Dudley as their middle name.)
      W.B. Read and Mattie An
      Hunter was
      Married Jan 18
      1870
      ( Transcriber's note: This was William Benjamin's 2nd marriage. He 1st married M. Amanda Morris March 1851 Davidson Co. TN. She died December 1864.)
      A total of eleven children were born to Guilford and Elizabeth Wallace Read. It was unnamed and either miscarried or stillborn. Opie Read was the 11th and last child born.
      The list of children follows:
      Guilford and Elizabeth Wallace Read Bible
      P. 3 Births
      William Benjamin
      Read was born
      October the 15 day
      1829
      James Read was born
      Febuary the 12 day
      1832
      Cordelia An Read was
      born October the 5 day
      1834
      Sara Elizabeth Read
      was born June
      the 6 day 1837
      Gilford Dudley Read
      was born Febuary the 18 day 1840
      (Transcriber's note: This would be Jr.)
      Martha Ollive Read
      was born October
      the 1 day 1842
      Harret Adarene
      Read was born January
      the 12 1845
      Lydia Frances Read
      was born August
      the 4 day 1847
      James Wallace
      Read was born June
      The 1 day 1850
      Opie Pope Read
      was born December
      the 22 day 1852
      (Transcriber's note: This proves that "Percival" was NOT the famous novelist/humorist's middle name. "Pope" is written in his mother's own hand. The Opie Pope family had a business across the street from the Read's carriage shop in Nashville in the 1850's, hence the name. Percival was made up as were many of his stories about the family. See early Business Directories- TSA)
      Guilford Dudley and Elizabeth (Wallace) Read Bible
      P. 4 Deaths
      James Read the son of
      Gilford and Elizabeth
      Read departed this
      life on the 5 day
      of October 1833
      (Transcriber's Note: After losing this son, they named a later son James. He also died young.)
      Sara Elizabeth the dauter
      of Gilford and Elizabeth
      Read departed this life
      January the 11 1847
      Lydia France (sic) the dauter
      of Gilford and Elizabeth
      Read departed this life
      June the 20 day 1850
      Jimny Wallace the son
      Gilford and Elizabeth
      Read depart this life
      June the 3 day 1852
      (Transcriber's Note: This is the 2nd James Read)
      Hatty A. Read the
      daughter of Gilford
      and Elizabeth Read
      departed this life May
      the 12 day 1868
      Cordelia A. Allen the
      daughter of Gilford and
      Elizabeth Read and
      the wife of G W Allen
      depart this life
      September the 4
      day 1869
      Transcriber's note: And in another's hand, in purple pencil:
      Elizabeth Read Wife
      of Gilford Read Dep
      arted this Life
      May 4th 1891 (continued)
      Guilford and Elizabeth Wallace Read Bible
      P. 4 Deaths continued,
      Gilford Read the
      husban of Elisabthe (sic)
      Read
      departed this
      life Decembier
      the 18 day 1883
      P. 5 Deaths (Transcriber's Note: On the back of the printed pictures just before the New Testament written in pencil:)
      Mattie A. Read
      Wife of W.B. Read
      Departed this Life
      July 23th 1904
      W.B. Read, Husband
      of Mattie A. Read Departed
      this life October 1th 1904
      W.O. Read departed this life
      On the 26 day of Aug 1916.
      Alice Wallace departed the
      ( )day of Feb 1916.
      (Transcribers Note: There is a space left before "day".)
      (End of record. Additional loose records left in the Bible will be transcribed at a later date.) L.R.C.)

  • Sources 
    1. [S894] Linda Read Chesser.