Joseph Read/Reed

(June 4, 1716 – November 1, 1795) 

Joseph Read was a career politician and public servant for most of his life. Prior to 1773, he served as town selectman and town clerk for Westford, Massachusetts.    

Additionally, Read served as the Westford representative to the General Court of Massachusetts from 1771 to 1781. Though Joseph Read met often for the General Court in Boston, it is unlikely that he took part in the “destruction of the tea” on the night of December 16, 1773. Read’s descendants mention his participation, but there are no documents to support this claim. 

During the Revolutionary War, Read would continue to serve as Westford’s selectman in the General Court, and then as a member of the Provincial Congress in Watertown after Royal Governor Thomas Gage disbanded the Massachusetts Assembly in 1774. 

Joseph Read died on November 1, 1795, in Westford, Massachusetts, and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.