vital records sources
go to Hannah Farnum's page

John moved with his parents from Salem to Smithfield, Rhode Island, where Friends comprised a significant part of the population and weren't persecuted as they were in Salem. John is in the 1774 census of Rhode Island, having 2 females over 16, 4 under, 1 male over 16, and 2 under.1 The accounting of females is wrong but the males are accurate. John is also on a 1777 military census of Rhode Island able bodied men, but like the vast majority of men of his faith, he didn't serve in the Revolution.2 The census includes the notation "cert." for those men who had certificates from their Friends Meeting, including John.
     John surely lived on Great Road in Smithfield near the state border. Deed records need to be checked to find out exactly where, but one house in particular may have been his, based on census information. This is on the north side of Old Great Road one house east of Mountain road.
     He moved over the state border to Mendon probably after Hannah died. Based on the 1820 census,3 he likely lived with his daughter Hannah Smith. His death record in Smithfield Friends Monthly Meeting says he died and was buried in the Friends Yard at Mendon. There is a Friends cemetery near the village of Mendon, but John had no close relatives near there. The Smiths lived in the part of Mendon that became East Blackstone in the late 19th century. Samuel Smith, Hannah's husband, gave the land for the Friends cemetery there, which was associated with the South Mendon Meeting House. He and Hannah have marked graves, and John may be beside them. It apparently wasn't as much of a tradition in the Friends faith to be buried next to your spouse. Hannah (Farnum) Read may have been buried in East Blackstone, but there's no record of it (anywhere) as there is for John. It's most likely she would be in the Upper Smithfield cemetery in Woonsocket.

children of John Read and Hannah Farnum:

i. Anna b. 4 March 1756
ii. Abigail b. 12 March 1758
iii. Rhoda b. 24 May 1760
iv. Ruth b. 9 July 1762
v. Rachel b. 19 September 1764
vi. Hannah b. 30 October 1766
vii. David b. 15 January 1769
viii. George b. 30 June 1771
ix. Lydia b. 18 July 1773
x. John b. ca. 1775

vital records sources: John's birth is recorded in the Dame Bible, transcribed in the New England Historical and Genealogical Society Register, 89:194. Richard Dame was one of John's son-in-laws. Smithfield Monthly Meeting recorded his marriage, and was included in the published vital records of Uxbridge, MA. John is described as being from Smithfield, son of Jonathan, and Hannah of Uxbridge, the daughter of Moses. The same records (the originals of which need to be checked) have his death. ("John above died in Mendon, 20d 11m 1823; buried Friends' Yard there." The Dame Bible, as transcribed, says he d. on 20 Nov. The 29 Nov. issue of the Providence Gazette says he died on the 26th. It was a weekly, so it's very likely the notice would have appeared in the 22 Nov issue if he died on the 20th. It's likely the person transcribing the Bible mistook the 6 for a 0.

1 1. Census of the Inhabitants of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (Providence:1858), 109, taken 1 June 1774; 1 m 16+, 1 m -16, 2 f 16+, 4 f -16
2. The Rhode Island 1777 Military Census (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.:Baltimore, 1985), 91.
3.
Worcester Co., MA, probate file 49187.