Read, John W.

Born: 1807-XX-XX Tennessee

Flourished: Pope County, Illinois

Read represented Pope County, Illinois, in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1838 to 1840. In 1843, he became the first sheriff of Massac County, holding that position until 1850. In 1845, he received appointment to take the first census of Massac County. In the late 1840s, he took up farming, purchasing over 100 acres of public land near Metropolis. In 1850, he was farming near Metropolis and owned real estate valued at $3,000.

John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 207; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 312; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Massac County, 819:227, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Metropolis, Massac County, IL, 221; O. J. Page, History of Massac County, Illinois (Metropolis, IL: Massac County Genealogical Society, 1900; repr., Salem, MA: Higginson, 1997), 48, 53, 55, 57.