We were inside for 3 days this week due to an ice storm that shut down the DFW area so I decided to have another go at positively identifying the original owner of a presentation sword that has been in my family since the end of the Civil War. As some of you know I have an Ames sword with the inscription "Capt. E. M. Reading from the Citizens of Springfield, May 1858".
It's a beautiful sword, Rafael Eledge of Shiloh Relics appraised one identical to it on Antiques Roadshow in 2007 saying it was 'the pinnacle' of an Ames sword. I'd been trying to find E. M. Reading and the reason for such a beautiful presentation piece for many years. Reading is a fairly rare name and sometime ago I located him fairly early in Springfield, Illinois, where he was associated with the fire company there in the late 1850's. That was good but I couldn't picture such a gift for that position and have wanted to clarify the reason for it ever since. Also, the May 1858 date in Springfield is so significant because of Lincoln's House Divided speech there in June followed by the Lincoln-Douglas debates beginning just three months later around the state. One can only imagine the hubbub in the city of 9,000 at the time Capt. Reading received his sword.
Basic genealogy information: Edward M. Reading was born in 1834, the 8th child of Thomas Reading and his second wife Mary in New Jersey. He was also a great-grandson of Gov. John Reading, the first native born governor of the colony of New Jersey so he came from a wealthy and politically powerful family. But there is no other information on him that I've found until he turns up in Springfield in the late 1850's.
So this week I found the site GenealogyBank.com, searched through the Springfield newspapers and came up with much more. It seems he moved up quickly in the relatively large city no doubt due to his background. The first reference is on 6/7/1857 when at 23 years old E. M. was appointed to a committee to arrange a 4th of July celebration for the city. On 3/25/1858 he chaired a meeting in the Statehouse Rotunda calling for volunteers for the Utah/Mormon Expedition. On 4/13/1858 he was made Captain of the Springfield Company of the Illinois Volunteer Regiment which signed up 1600 men. Simon Bolivar Buckner is listed as its Colonel. It is not known if the unit accompanied US Col. A. S. Johnston to Utah but the "conflict" was over by July with almost no loss of life. But there it is, the reason Springfield presented him with this sword and called him Captain!
There were several other references to him in 1858-59 but this one stands out. In January 1859 he was one of the undersigned congratulating Mrs. J. M. Mozart of New York for her performance in Springfield. Below is the clipping. Note that A. Lincoln, bottom left column, was also one of the co-signers. Young Capt. Reading was among high company, I wonder if he wore his uniform with that sword at the concert!
After 1859 E. M. Reading is no longer mentioned in Springfield but he shows up in Memphis in 1861 recruiting and outfitting a company for Confederate service. He was a Democrat and things were likely getting dicey in Illinois. For some reason his company was not accepted for service and his petition in May 1861 for a Lieutenant's commission was not granted either. Perhaps his recent past in Springfield made his patriotism suspect. By 1864 he is seen in Montgomery, Ala., in the Confederate civilian records as a druggist selling medicine to the army hospital there. By 1870 Reading had moved to California where first he was a druggist, then a newspaperman, a politician and successful businessman in San Francisco.
In 1880 he even gave a lecture to his fraternal organization titled "Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln."
On his death in 1892 the paper notes his Confederate service as a Major. That rank of course never happened.
As mentioned before E. M. Reading was a great-grandson of John Reading, the colonial governor of New Jersey. A. B. Reading and brother C. A. Reading, prominent residents of antebellum Vicksburg, were also great-grandsons, their grandfather having moved to Kentucky from New Jersey early on. A. B. did have a son, Thomas R., who rose to Major before resigning in Oct. 1863. I wonder if E. M. gave the sword to his cousin A. B. Reading prior to leaving for California. A. B. ended up living close to my gg-grandfather after the war (Hinds and Copiah Cos.) and they must have known each other well both in pre-war and wartime business (A. B. had a cannon making foundry and gg-grand was a regimental AQM) in Vicksburg. Perhaps that's how we ended up with it, but that part I'll never know for sure.
It's a beautiful sword, Rafael Eledge of Shiloh Relics appraised one identical to it on Antiques Roadshow in 2007 saying it was 'the pinnacle' of an Ames sword. I'd been trying to find E. M. Reading and the reason for such a beautiful presentation piece for many years. Reading is a fairly rare name and sometime ago I located him fairly early in Springfield, Illinois, where he was associated with the fire company there in the late 1850's. That was good but I couldn't picture such a gift for that position and have wanted to clarify the reason for it ever since. Also, the May 1858 date in Springfield is so significant because of Lincoln's House Divided speech there in June followed by the Lincoln-Douglas debates beginning just three months later around the state. One can only imagine the hubbub in the city of 9,000 at the time Capt. Reading received his sword.
Basic genealogy information: Edward M. Reading was born in 1834, the 8th child of Thomas Reading and his second wife Mary in New Jersey. He was also a great-grandson of Gov. John Reading, the first native born governor of the colony of New Jersey so he came from a wealthy and politically powerful family. But there is no other information on him that I've found until he turns up in Springfield in the late 1850's.
So this week I found the site GenealogyBank.com, searched through the Springfield newspapers and came up with much more. It seems he moved up quickly in the relatively large city no doubt due to his background. The first reference is on 6/7/1857 when at 23 years old E. M. was appointed to a committee to arrange a 4th of July celebration for the city. On 3/25/1858 he chaired a meeting in the Statehouse Rotunda calling for volunteers for the Utah/Mormon Expedition. On 4/13/1858 he was made Captain of the Springfield Company of the Illinois Volunteer Regiment which signed up 1600 men. Simon Bolivar Buckner is listed as its Colonel. It is not known if the unit accompanied US Col. A. S. Johnston to Utah but the "conflict" was over by July with almost no loss of life. But there it is, the reason Springfield presented him with this sword and called him Captain!
There were several other references to him in 1858-59 but this one stands out. In January 1859 he was one of the undersigned congratulating Mrs. J. M. Mozart of New York for her performance in Springfield. Below is the clipping. Note that A. Lincoln, bottom left column, was also one of the co-signers. Young Capt. Reading was among high company, I wonder if he wore his uniform with that sword at the concert!
After 1859 E. M. Reading is no longer mentioned in Springfield but he shows up in Memphis in 1861 recruiting and outfitting a company for Confederate service. He was a Democrat and things were likely getting dicey in Illinois. For some reason his company was not accepted for service and his petition in May 1861 for a Lieutenant's commission was not granted either. Perhaps his recent past in Springfield made his patriotism suspect. By 1864 he is seen in Montgomery, Ala., in the Confederate civilian records as a druggist selling medicine to the army hospital there. By 1870 Reading had moved to California where first he was a druggist, then a newspaperman, a politician and successful businessman in San Francisco.
In 1880 he even gave a lecture to his fraternal organization titled "Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln."
On his death in 1892 the paper notes his Confederate service as a Major. That rank of course never happened.
As mentioned before E. M. Reading was a great-grandson of John Reading, the colonial governor of New Jersey. A. B. Reading and brother C. A. Reading, prominent residents of antebellum Vicksburg, were also great-grandsons, their grandfather having moved to Kentucky from New Jersey early on. A. B. did have a son, Thomas R., who rose to Major before resigning in Oct. 1863. I wonder if E. M. gave the sword to his cousin A. B. Reading prior to leaving for California. A. B. ended up living close to my gg-grandfather after the war (Hinds and Copiah Cos.) and they must have known each other well both in pre-war and wartime business (A. B. had a cannon making foundry and gg-grand was a regimental AQM) in Vicksburg. Perhaps that's how we ended up with it, but that part I'll never know for sure.
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. The floor had collapsed and this was an 1850 post and beam barn. He brought in a crew and rebuilt that barn in one whole summer with new floors, new hayloft, new roof.
Bringing the