ironmaster jurist Landowner statesman
Charles Read was born about 1713 in Philadelphia, the grandson of Charles Read, Philadelphia merchant, who came from England and settled at Burlington, New Jersey, in 1678, and the son of Charles Read, also a merchant, who served as mayor of Philadelphia, 1726-27. His mother was Anne Bond.
He received a liberal education under private tutors.
About 1736 he was sent to London, and subsequently was appointed midshipman in the British navy.
About 1739 he became clerk of the city of Burlington and shortly after was made collector of the port of Burlington. Thus he began an active public career that embraced the following offices: surrogate; clerk of the circuits (appointed 1739); secretary of the province; member of the assembly for Burlington City; member of the Council (1758 - 74); Indian commissioner (1755, 1758); associate justice of the supreme court of New Jersey (appointed 1749).
For a brief period in 1764 he held the office of chief justice on appointment by Governor Franklin, having been strongly indorsed by Lord Stirling. In addition to affairs of state, he was engaged in many enterprises.
His law practice was one of the best in the province. A land speculator on a large scale, he was party to more than one hundred recorded land transfers, involving many thousands of acres in western New Jersey. He was interested in agriculture, and carried on experiments to improve farm practices.
About 1765 he took up the manufacture of iron from bog ore, setting in motion an important industry. In the next few years he established iron furnaces at Taunton, Etna, Atsion and Batsto, in Burlington County, which were a source of munitions during the Revolutionary War. There is record also that he had a fishery on the Delaware River below Trenton.
As Indian Commissioner he advocated a liberal policy in dealing with the natives, and was instrumental in having a reservation set aside for them in southern Burlington County. During the French and Indian War he served as colonel of the Burlington County militia. Ill in body and worried by financial troubles, he removed in 1773 to the isle of St. Croix.
The following year, according to report, he kept a small shop at Martinburg, on the Tar River, North Carolina, where he died.
Read's rural interests resulted in a unique contribution to the history of American agriculture. An extensive manuscript which contains notes on his observations in the various phases of farming came to light in 1928 and is now in the Rutgers University library. It ranks among the most fruitful of the known sources of information on agriculture in the American Colonies, and has been edited by C. R. Woodward for publication under the title "Charles Read's Notes on Colonial Agriculture. "
Though not a member of any religious body, Read favored the Quaker faith.
His qualities of character are described in the diary of Aaron Leaming, who pictured a dynamic personality, pursuing an extraordinary career that rose to the heights of power and success but came to a tragic end. His whims "to the borders of insanity" were matched by unremitting industry and forceful leadership, and his pursuit of private interests paralleled a zeal for the public welfare.
On one of his cruises to the West Indies he fell in love with Alice Thibou, daughter of a wealthy Creole planter on the isle of Antigua. Resigning from the navy, he married her and returned to America. He had two sons, Jacob and Charles.
