Looking into Samuel's family

My previous post returned to the story of America Parrish Chase and her connection to my 4th-great-grandmother Emily Ballard Read. I am now going to look closer at the family of Emily's son, Samuel Benjamin Read. Samuel was a brother of my 3rd-great-grandfather Guilford Dudley Read.

Samuel was born in Culpeper, Virginia on 4 August 1822. He married Mariah Louisa Utterback in Culpeper on 8 August 1842. Samuel and Mariah appear in the 1850 US Census in Shenandoah, Virginia. Samuel is listed as a teacher, with two children. I have a hard time reconciling his profession as a teacher with being a slave owner. In the 1850 Census, Samuel appears as a slave owner, very likely of a young family.

1850 US Census, Shenandoah, Virginia.

1850 US Slave Schedules, Shenandoah, Virginia.

Sometime between 1850 and 1860, Samuel and Mariah relocated to Barren County, Kentucky. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Samuel was drafted in the Union Army in 1862. This is surprising given he was a slave owner. There is a file on his service on Fold3, and a pension file listed at the US National Archives. Samuel was a Lieutenant in the 8th Kentucky Cavalry. It appears he resigned in December 1862. I will have more on this in another post.

According to tax records, in 1864 Samuel ran a hotel and was a retail liquor dealer in Edmonson County.

Samuel died in 1869. His widow Mariah was head of household in the 1870 US Census in Edmonson County, Kentucky, living with daughters Emma and Laura.

Samuel and Mariah's daughter Harriet Emma Read married Aurelius M. Potter on 12 February 1877. The marriage record was witnessed by Mariah and Charles Ettlinger, husband of Emma's sister Laura, and the record also includes Emma's signature.

Source: Ancestry. Kentucky Marriage Records.