Read Brothers of Delaware

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Read Brothers of Delaware

READ BROTHERS OF DELAWARE. Their father, John (1688–1756), a descendant of Sir Thomas Read of Berkshire, emigrated from Dublin, Ireland, in the early eighteenth century and became a large landholder in Maryland and Delaware. With six associates he established Charlestown at the head of Chesapeake Bay as a trade rival to Baltimore. Soon after 1734 he moved to nearby New Castle, Delaware. He and Mary Howell had three distinguished sons, George (b. 1733), Thomas (b. 1740?), and James (b. 1743). Another son, William, was in business in Havana. The Read brothers were closely associated with Robert Morris during and after the Revolution.

                           revised by Michael Bellesiles