Thomas Read

Background

Thomas Read was born in 1740 on his father's estate at the headwaters of the Christiana River, Newcastle County, Delaware, the fourth son of John and Mary (Howell) Read and brother of George Read.

Career

Having a brother William in business in Havana, he early took up seafaring and became master of vessels in the West Indies and transatlantic trade.

In 1761 he commanded the Tartar and family letters show he was still in her in 1765, bound from London to Newfoundland, thence to Lisbon and Port Royal, and in frequent "ill luck". He commanded the ship Fame in 1769. He was commissioned captain on October 23, 1775, in the Pennsylvania state navy and commodore of the thirteen row galleys constituting the Delaware River defense flotilla during the Revolution.

In January 1776, Thomas Caldwell became commodore, and the following March Read was assigned to second rank with command of the newly purchased ship Montgomery, in which, during the fight between the galleys and the frigates Roebuck and Liverpool in May, he was stationed at Fort Island and in charge of the chevaux-de-frise.

Though he was placed in chief command again from May 29 to June 5, he then resigned for a captaincy in the Continental navy, standing eighth in the order of precedence. In the Trenton campaign, his ship George Washington being still unfinished, he marched on December 5 to join Washington's forces with a naval battery , with which he raked the bridge over Assanpink Creek, January 2. Upon the British occupation of Philadelphia, Read and his senior, Commodore John Barry, moved their frigates Washington and Effingham up the Delaware to Fieldsboro, New Jersey, just below Bordentown, and in December dismantled and partly sank them. They were destroyed on May 7, 1778, by the British.

In the meantime Read was assigned to the fast brigantine Baltimore, intended for carrying dispatches abroad. In April 1778 he was in Baltimore, Maryland, fitting out the vessel and he appears to have made a voyage in her in that year. In February 1779, he was ordered to protect the Chesapeake, and in June his ship was reported as expected in Philadelphia.

On September 30, 1779, he was appointed to the frigate Bourbon, building in Connecticut but never completed. On July 22, 1780, he took out letters of marque for the brig Patty of Philadelphia, and family letters indicate that he was at sea in 1782.

He joined Barry on September 24, 1785, in presenting to Congress a memorial of naval officers for equal treatment with army officers. In the frigate Alliance, purchased by his friend and employer Robert Morris, Read subsequently made a remarkably quick voyage to China at an unusual season and by a new route east of the Dutch Indies and through the Solomon Islands, discovering or rediscovering two islands, probably Ponape and another of the Carolines, which he named "Morris" and "Alliance. "

He left Philadelphia in June 1787, reached Canton on December 22, and returned September 17, 1788, with a cargo of tea worth about 100, 000$. His death occurred at Fieldsboro, New Jersey, very shortly thereafter.

Achievements

• In this voyage he discovered two islands, which he named, respectively, "Morris" and "Alliance" islands, and which formed part of the Caroline Islands.

Personality

From his portrait and other evidence, he seems to have resembled his brother George in appearance, intelligence, and amiability of character.

Connections

In 1782 he married Mary (Peele) Field, widow of Robert Field, and made his home thereafter at "White Hill, " Fieldsboro, New Jersey.

Father:

John Read

Mother:

Mary (Howell) Read

Spouse:

Mary (Peele) Field