IAGenWeb Project - Allamakee co.

Eugene A. Read

 

Eugene A. Read owns and cultivates a large farm in Franklin township and by constant application has surrounded himself with an enviable degree of prosperity. His two hundred acres lying on section 6 constitute the farm upon which he was born on the 27th of May, 1852, his parents being Charles B. And Caroline (Dawson) Read, the former born in Massachusetts in 1823 and the latter in Jefferson county, New York, February 23, 1828. The father was a son of Charles Read, born in Massachusetts in 1795, he being the son of Joseph, born in Massachusetts in 1750. Joseph Read was a son of Thomas Read, who was born in England in 1727 and who died in Oxford, Massachusetts, all being descendants of Thomas Read, who passed away in Colchester, England, in 1616. Charles B. Read, father of the subject of this review, was a resident of Illinois. He married Caroline Dawson, of Algonquin, Illinois, in 1850. He was a doctor by profession and enjoyed a good practice until his death, which occurred in 1879. The mother came to Iowa, late in the fall of 1851 with her parents, Alexander and Jane Dawson. The latter preempted three hundred and twenty acres of land in Allamakee county, Franklin township, section 6. Caroline (Dawson) Read taught in the Allamakee county public schools for twenty years. Her death occurred on March 3, 1876.

Eugene A. Read acquired his knowledge of agriculture upon his mother’s farm in Franklin township and obtained his education in the district schools. He laid aside his books at the age of twelve and began chopping cordwood on the farm upon which he now resides, hauling it afterward to Postville and selling it in the markets of that city. After he attained his majority he became a landowner and when his mother died he purchased the homestead, whereon he has since resided. He finished the clearing of this property and has now one of the finest and most highly improved farms in this section of Allamakee county. Of his one hundred acres, one hundred are principally in maple timber, and he operates only part of the remainder, the rest being rented to desirable tenants. The portion whereon he makes his home is beautified with running water and woodlands and Mr. Read has provided it with a comfortable residence, barns and outbuildings so that his premises are among the most desirable in the community. In addition to general farming he specializes in the raising of a fine quality of corn and in the breeding of hogs, making this a very remunerative department of his business.

On the 14th of February, 1891, Mr. Read was united in marriage to Miss Myrtle Cutshaw, who was born in Lancaster, Grant county, Wisconsin. She is a daughter of David and Adele (Herrington) Cutshaw, the latter born in New York city, April 27, 1849. The father passed away when Mrs. Read was only one year old and the mother afterward married Albert Carson, now a resident of Austin, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Read have become the parents of four children: Violet C., who was born January 4, 1892, and is now attending the Southern Minnesota Normal College; Rosamond A., born October 2, 1895, who is a pupil in the Waukon high school; Laverne L., who was born October 28, 1897, and died July 2, 1898; and Opal Adele, whose birth occurred May 5, 1911.

Mr. Read is independent in his political views, voting according to his personal convictions without regard to party lines. Locally he is interested in the betterment of the community and for a number of years rendered the township excellent service as justice of the peace and school director. He is a man of many sterling traits of character-able in business, progressive in citizenship and at all time trustworthy and reliable.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich

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