William Thackara Read (November 22, 1878 – August 7, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey.

Read

Read was born on November 22, 1878 in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, the son of William Thackara Read and Lucretia Swindell McCormick. Read attended the Camden public schools and the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in 1900. He attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School and studied in the law office of former State Comptroller J. Willard Morgan. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1903 and as a counselor in 1906. He then opened a law office in Camden and became solicitor of First National Bank of Camden and the Mutual Building and Loan Association of Camden. He was also Solicitor of the borough of Riverton and the township of Voorhees, and for eight years he was District Examiner of the Camden Board of Education. In 1909, he became second lieutenant of the Third Regiment of the New Jersey National Guard and assigned to the First Battalion as quartermaster and commissary. An expert rifleman, he was a member of the Third Regiment Rifle Team from 1910 to 1911. In 1915 Adjutant General Sadler appointed him to his staff as a major. He became a lieutenant colonel on the staff of General Spencer in 1917, and in 1918 he became colonel. In 1911, Read was elected to the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

as a Republican, representing Camden County. He served in the Senate in 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916. He was Minority Leader of the Senate in 1913 and 1914, Majority Leader of the Senate in 1915, and President of the Senate in 1916. He resigned from the Senate in 1916 to became

State Treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

, an office he held until retired in 1928. He became trustee of the State Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund in 1930, serving two terms in that position until he resigned to become a member of the board of control of the State Department of Institutions and Agencies. He resigned from that position in 1953. He was a delegate to the 1947 New Jersey State Constitutional Convention. He was Camden County Treasurer from 1941 to 1945, and when he died he was chairman of the board of the Camden Fire Insurance Association. By the time he died, he lived in

Merchantville Merchantville is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 3,821, He was also a delegate to the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

, and

1944 Republican National Convention The 1944 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from June 26 to 28, 1944. It nominated Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York for president and Governor John Bricker of Ohio for vice president. Background When the conve ...

s. Read was vice-president of the First National Bank and director of the West Jersey Trust Co. of Camden and the Colestown Cemetery Co. He was a member of the American Bar Association, the

New Jersey State Bar Association The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is a voluntary bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is der ...

, the Camden County Bar Association, the

American Academy of Political and Social Science The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmo ...

, the Philadelphia Club, the Army and Navy Club, the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, and the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1903, he married Florence Atmore. Their children were William T. Jr., Walter N., and Edith. He attended the Grace

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

Church in Merchantville. Read died from a stroke in

Cooper Hospital The Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Medical College, also known as HBT Medical College, is a public medical college located in Juhu, Mumbai, India. It is owned and operated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The medical college ...

on August 7, 1954. He was buried in the family crypt in Colestown Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Read, William T. 1878 births 1954 deaths Politicians from Camden County, New Jersey Politicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Merchantville, New Jersey William Penn Charter School alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers New Jersey lawyers New Jersey National Guard personnel 20th-century American politicians Majority leaders of the New Jersey Senate Presidents of the New Jersey Senate Republican Party New Jersey state senators State treasurers of New Jersey County treasurers in the United States American Freemasons 20th-century American Episcopalians Burials at Colestown Cemetery (Cherry Hill, New Jersey)