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	'''Samuel J. Reader''' (1836–1914) was an American ] and artist who wrote about his experiences ~~living in~~ ] and the ].<ref name="kshs">{{cite web \|url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/samuel-j-reader/12180 \|title=Samuel J. Reader – Kansapedia – Kansas Historical Society \|website=www.kshs.org}}</ref>		'''Samuel J. Reader''' (1836–1914) was an American ] and artist who wrote about his experiences during ] and the ].<ref name="kshs">{{cite web \|url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/samuel-j-reader/12180 \|title=Samuel J. Reader – Kansapedia – Kansas Historical Society \|website=www.kshs.org}}</ref>

	==Early life==		==Early life==

Latest revision as of 01:06, 16 November 2024

American diarist (1836–1914)

Samuel J. Reader
Reader in 1855
Born	Samuel James Reader (1836-01-25)January 25, 1836 Greenfield (present-day Coal Center), Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	September 15, 1914(1914-09-15) (aged 78) Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Resting place	Rochester Cemetery, Topeka, Kansas, U.S. 39°06′16.0″N 95°40′48.9″W / 39.104444°N 95.680250°W / 39.104444; -95.680250
Occupation	Farmer writer artist amateur photographer
Years active	1849–1914
Spouse	Elizabeth Smith (m. 1867)
Children	3

Military career
Service / branch	Kansas State Militia
Years of service	1863–1864
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	2d Regiment
Battles / wars	American Civil War Battle of the Blue (POW)

Samuel J. Reader (1836–1914) was an American diarist and artist who wrote about his experiences during Bleeding Kansas and the American Civil War.

Early life

Samuel James Reader was born on January 25, 1836, in Greenfield (present-day Coal Center), Pennsylvania, where his father settled in 1847 upon his second marriage, the son of carpenter and millwright Francis Reader and Catherine (née James) Reader. His mother died May 19, 1836, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents and an aunt, Eliza James. He lived in La Harpe, Illinois, from the age of five to 18. He had a sister, Eliza Matilda, who later became the wife of Dr. M. A. Campdoras.

Career

He began recording events of his life in journals in 1847 after being inspired by the documentation of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1855, he traveled in a wagon from Illinois and settled on a farm near Indianola, Shawnee County, Kansas, with his sister and his aunt. An early settler of Shawnee County who remained a resident of the state until his death, his continuing journals captured the history of the territory and early years of the state. He illustrated his writings with primitive watercolor and oil paintings and pen and ink illustrations. They were written in English and French.

He served as a sergeant of the Indianola Guards, a local militia group, and was a member of John Brown's forces, opposing slavery and supporting Kansas as a free state prior to the Civil War. In 1856, he participated in the conflict against the Border Ruffians and fought in the Battle of Hickory Point, coming "under fire" for the first time.

He was a second lieutenant and later paymaster of Company D of the Kansas state militia during the Civil War and fought in the Battle of Little Blue River (October 1864). He was captured and escaped three days later. He depicted the conflict in an oil painting, which is now in the collection of the Kansas Historical Society with four of his other paintings. His journal includes accounts of several Civil War battles, and his painting Before Dawn is used on the cover of the book Kansas's War: The Civil War in Documents (2011) by Pearl T. Ponce. He retired from service on October 30, 1864.

On December 18, 1867, he married Elizabeth Smith at La Harpe, Illinois. They had three children, the only one of whom survived was their daughter, Elizabeth. His wife died in 1898 in Topeka. He died at his home on September 15, 1914, and was buried in Rochester Cemetery.

Notes

While Samuel moved to La Harpe, Illinois with his aunt and sister, his father remained in Pennsylvania and married a second time in 1842 to Eleanor Bentley Smith. After having three children, his wife died of typhoid fever in 1847. Although it is said that Samuel lived in La Harpe, Illinois until he was 18, Jordan states that he was reunited with his father upon his third marriage in 1849 to Mrs. William Duvall Jackson, who died in 1854.