vitals sources
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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 were not persecuted. John appears in the 1774 census of Rhode Island, having 2 females over 16, 4 under, 1 male over 16, and 2 under. John is also on a 1777 military census of Rhode Island of able bodied men aged between 16 and 50, but like the vast majority of men of his faith, he didn't serve in the Revolution. Apparently he moved to Mendon not long before he died. His death record at Smithfield Friends Monthly Meeting says he was buried in the Friends Yard at Mendon, which is just south of the center of the village. There is a cemetery at Blackstone, MA, near the border of Rhode Island, associated with a church known as the South Mendon Meeting House, established in 1812. This was not far from where he likely lived in North Smithfield near the Massachusetts border. This cemetery is named in the published Mendon vital records, but the cemetery near the center of Mendon is not, perhaps due to a lack of stones from which to obtain records. The published vital records are a compilation from numerous sources, including gravestones. He probably never had a gravestone, which is why he doesn't appear in the vital records (or cemetery records in Rhode Island). His death notice says he died in Mendon, "formerly of Smithfield." If he died in or near Blackstone, it may still have been referred to as Mendon in 1826. The reference to the Friends Yard in Mendon suggests that it was Mendon and not Blackstone, since both cemeteries existed at that point. What the Blackstone cemetery was called in 1826 hasn't been found. This also begs the question why he wasn't buried in Smithfield. His wife died in 1816 and was presumably buried there. No reason comes to mind for her to be buried in Mendon.
children of John and Hannah (Farnum) Read:5
i. Anna
ii. Abigail b. 3/12/1758 m. Richard Dame, in whose Bible is recorded information on the Reads
iii. Rhoda b. 5/24/1760
iv. Ruth b. 7/9/1762
v. Rachel b. 9/19/1764
vi. Hannah b. 10/30/1766
vii. David b. 1/15/1769
viii. George b. 6/30/1771
ix. Lydia b. 7/18/1773
x. John b. ca. 1775
vital records sources: John's birth is recorded in the Dame Bible, coll. New England Historic Genealogical Society. Smithfield Monthly Meeting (of Friends) 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 the daughter of Moses of Uxbridge. 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." This is a composite record of his children's births and his death - when was this entry made?). This record disagrees with his death as noted in the Dame Bible (Nov 10). The Providence Gazette reported the death on 29 November as having happened on the 26th, but a handwritten request to put the notice in the paper could have allowed for a misinterpretation of the 0 in 20 with a 6. The same could be true of the church and bible records, the originals of which haven't been checked yet.
all text and photographs © 1998-2005 by Doug Sinclair unless where otherwise noted