John S. Read & Harriet P. Read Obelisk - Cherry Hill, NJ
N 39° 56.019 W 074° 59.502
18S E 500709 N 4420393
Once upon a time there was a prominent 19th century family living in this area named the Reads. There are two obelisks located inside this early 18th century cemetery, one in honor of their kin, the other, for this locally famous man & 2nd wife.
Waymark Code: WMDM6A
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2012
Views: 4
Colestown Cemetery sets the scene for some wonderful funerary sculptures and obelisks. Colestown was the original settlement in this part of West Jersey before Delaware Twp. which became today's Cherry Hill, NJ. There are at least 5 noteworthy obelisks located here. This one is about 20 to 25 feet high from base to tip. This obelisk (1 of 2 with the family name) is located 20 feet off the winding cemetery road. The other Read obelisk is exactly 133 feet to the north of this granite monument. I uncovered a HUGE amount of information on this fellow (and his wife):
John S. Read was called upon to fill a large number of positions of trust and responsibility. For twenty-five years he served as director and treasurer of the Camden Fire Insurance Association; was one of the directors of the First National Bank of Camden; was one of the projectors of the Camden Building and Loan Association, the first in the city, and was subsequently treasurer of several other building associations; at the time of his death he was one of the commissioners of the Morris Plains Insane Asylum of New Jersey, and a State director of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, appointed by the Legislature. In 1870 he was elected a member of the City Council, and took an active part in the deliberations of that body; was re-elected in 1873 and made president of City Council. While a member of Council he was greatly instrumental in securing the purchase of the water-works by the city authorities, and also obtained the passage of an ordinance for the system of culverts now in use in Camden; served for several years as a member of the Board of Education, and was chosen its president. With his brother, Edmund E., he built Read’s Hall, at the corner of Third and Federal Streets; with William S. Scull he built the Market House, on Federal Street; and with Jonathan Burr, built the row of stores and dwellings on Federal street, above Fifth. He also erected and owned the Camden post-office building.
With the hope of recruiting his failing health, he went to Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and died there August 6, 1882, at the age of sixty years. His remains were interred in the Colestown Cemetery, in this county. He was highly honored and respected for his many virtues and recognized as a man of fine executive and administrative abilities...By his second marriage, with Harriet Peak, of Camden, he had one child, Edmund E. Read, Jr., a member of the Camden County bar, who, on December 27, 1882, was married to Margaret Mulford. They have one child, John S. Read.
SOURCE
The inscriptions at the base of the obelisk reads as follows:
John S. Read
Born March 11th 1822
Died August 6th 1882
______
Harriet P. Read
Born October 30 1825
Died May 8 1891