Foote records two distinct Virginia families whose surnames are easily confused. The Read family was established at Bushy Forest in present-day Charlotte County and became prominent in county government, Revolutionary service, education, and the ministry. The Reid family entered Rockbridge County through several migrations and became connected by marriage with the Alexander and McDowell families. Foote does not establish a relationship between the Read and Reid lines.
The following account brings together the Read and Reid family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship.
Colonel Clement Read and Mary Hill
Colonel Clement Read was born in Virginia in 1707 and lost his father while still young. John Robinson of Spotsylvania became his guardian and supervised his education. Read later completed his studies at the College of William and Mary while Commissary James Blair served as president.
About 1730 Clement married Mary Hill, the only daughter of William Hill, an officer in the British Navy. Through her mother, Mary was a granddaughter of Governor Jennings.
Soon after his marriage, Clement joined Colonel Richard Randolph and Colonel Nicholas Edmunds on an expedition to examine lands in the region that later became Charlotte County. Clement purchased approximately ten thousand acres along the waters of Ash Camp, Dunnivant, and Little Roanoke and established his residence at Bushy Forest, about four miles south of the later village of Marysville.
When Lunenburg County was organized in 1746, Clement became the county clerk. He maintained the clerk’s office at his home and served for seventeen years. He also represented the area repeatedly in the House of Burgesses.
Clement Read died on January 2, 1763, and was buried at Bushy Forest. Mary survived him and was later buried beside him.
Foote names five children of Clement and Mary Read:
- Isaac Read.
- Thomas Read.
- Clement Read.
- Margaret Read, who married Paul Carrington on October 1, 1755.
- Edmund Read.
Colonel Isaac Read
Colonel Isaac Read, son of Clement and Mary Hill Read, resided at Bushy Forest. He represented Charlotte County during the Revolutionary movement and acted with Virginia leaders including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry.
In 1776 Isaac received a commission from Congress as colonel of a Virginia regiment and joined the army. He died of disease in Philadelphia in 1777, during his thirty-seventh year, and was buried there with military honors.
Isaac married a daughter of Henry Embra. Foote does not provide her given name. After Isaac’s death, his widow married Colonel Thomas Scott, who became stepfather to the Read children and supervised their education.
Isaac and his wife had three children:
- Clement Read.
- Priscilla Read.
- Isaac Read.
Major Edmund Read and Paulina Read
Major Edmund Read, another son of Clement and Mary Read, lived on an estate near Charlotte Court House. His home offered hospitality to young men pursuing education and preparing for the ministry.
William Hill lived with the family from April 1789 until July 1790 while continuing his studies. Archibald Alexander also resided there during part of his theological and classical preparation.
Edmund’s wife was Paulina Read. After Major Read’s death, she married Rev. Nash Legrand. During her second widowhood she was commonly known as Mrs. Legrand.
Paulina became a generous and determined patron of young men preparing for the ministry. She provided material assistance to poor and pious students and remained a firm supporter of Hampden-Sydney College and Union Theological Seminary.
Foote does not supply Paulina’s maiden name or identify children from either marriage in the passages gathered here.
Rev. Clement Read
Rev. Clement Read, son of Colonel Isaac Read and grandson of Colonel Clement Read, was six years old when his father died in military service. His stepfather, Colonel Thomas Scott, directed his education.
Clement attended Hampden-Sydney College. As a resident graduate during the religious awakening of the late 1780s, he participated in prayer meetings with William Hill, Cary Allen, and James Blythe. These meetings became an important part of the revival experienced by the college community.
Clement initially entered the ministry among the Republican Methodists. He began preaching before completing the trials required by Hanover Presbytery, and his name was consequently removed from the presbytery’s list of candidates without a formal censure of his character.
The Republican Methodists ordained Clement, and he became known as a devout and earnest preacher. On September 28 and 29, 1809, Hanover Presbytery met at Briery to consider his application for admission. After reviewing his ordination, character, and religious standing, the presbytery received him as a member and extended the right hand of fellowship.
Clement thereafter lived in harmony with Hanover Presbytery and continued his ministerial labors while his health permitted. Foote remembered him as an unusually sincere, simple-minded, and devout man.
Clarissa Edmunds and the Pocahontas Descent
In March 1789 Clement Read married Clarissa Edmunds, daughter of Colonel Thomas Edmunds of Brunswick County. The couple had thirteen children—six sons and seven daughters—but Foote does not provide their names in this account.
Foote traces Clarissa’s ancestry to Pocahontas through the following line: Pocahontas and John Rolfe’s son Thomas Rolfe; Thomas’s daughter, who married Robert Bolling; their son John Bolling; a daughter of John Bolling who married Thomas Eldridge; a daughter of the Eldridge family who married Colonel Thomas Edmunds; and Clarissa Edmunds, wife of Clement Read.
Through Clarissa, Foote therefore presents the thirteen Read children as descendants of Pocahontas.
The Reid Family of Pennsylvania and Virginia
The separate Reid family associated with the Alexanders began with Andrew Reid, who emigrated from Ireland with two brothers. They settled near Octorara, Pennsylvania, where their early neighbors included members of the Shawnee nation.
Andrew’s son, also named Andrew Reid, was born in Ireland and came to America at the age of fourteen. He married his cousin Sarah Reid, daughter of John Reid, and later moved permanently to Virginia.
Andrew and Sarah were the parents of Agnes Ann Reid.
Agnes Ann Reid and William Alexander
Agnes Ann Reid married William Alexander, son of Archibald Alexander and Margaret Parks. William had come to Virginia as a child and was raised within the Timber Ridge settlement and Presbyterian congregation.
William and Agnes Ann initially lived along Irish Creek and later on the North River near Lexington. They had ten children:
- Andrew Alexander.
- Margaret Alexander.
- Archibald Alexander, born April 17, 1772, who became the first professor at Princeton Theological Seminary.
- Sarah Alexander.
- Phoebe Alexander.
- Elizabeth Alexander.
- John Alexander.
- Nancy Alexander.
- Ann Alexander.
- Martha Alexander.
The first four children were born along Irish Creek. The younger six were born near the North River in the vicinity of Lexington.
Andrew Reid and Magdaline McDowell
Foote records another Reid connection through Andrew Reid, son of Andrew and Mary Reid of Rockfish. He married Magdaline McDowell, daughter of Colonel Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung.
Magdaline was a great-granddaughter of Ephraim McDowell, one of the patriarchs of the Timber Ridge settlement. Her father had served as a militia colonel at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
Andrew and Magdaline were the parents of Samuel McDowell Reid, who served for many years as clerk of Rockbridge County.
Foote does not explain how Andrew Reid of Rockfish was related to Andrew and Sarah Reid, the parents of Agnes Ann Reid. The two lines should not be joined without additional evidence.
Genealogical Notes
The surnames Read and Reid identify separate families in Foote’s account. They should not be treated as interchangeable spellings without evidence from contemporary records connecting particular individuals.
Foote prints Colonel Clement Read’s death date as January 2, 1768. Charlotte County historical documentation and Read family research place his death on January 2, 1763, which agrees with the end of his seventeen-year service as Lunenburg County clerk. The year 1763 has been used here.
Foote names five children of Colonel Clement Read and Mary Hill: Isaac, Thomas, Clement, Margaret, and Edmund. Later Read family compilations identify additional children. Researchers should consult the family Bible, probate records, and the published Read genealogy before treating Foote’s list as complete.
Foote identifies Colonel Isaac Read’s wife only as a daughter of Henry Embra. Later sources call her Sarah Embra, but that given name should be confirmed from contemporary marriage, probate, Bible, or land records.
Foote does not provide the maiden name of Paulina Read, later Mrs. Nash Legrand, or identify any children from her marriages in the passages summarized here.
The Pocahontas descent is presented as Foote gives it. Each generational link should be verified against Rolfe, Bolling, Eldridge, and Edmunds family records before the lineage is used as documentary proof.
Foote does not establish a relationship between the Reid ancestors of Agnes Ann Reid Alexander and Andrew Reid of Rockfish, husband of Magdaline McDowell. The recurrence of the names Andrew and Reid is not sufficient evidence that they belonged to the same immediate family.
The spelling M’Dowell appears frequently in Foote’s nineteenth-century text. The modern surname form McDowell has been used throughout this account for consistency.
Colonel Clement Read established Bushy Forest before Lunenburg and Charlotte counties were formed. Records relating to his early residence may therefore appear in Brunswick County, followed by Lunenburg County and then Charlotte County. The Reid-Alexander family lived in the Rockbridge area while it was still part of Augusta County, making Augusta an important predecessor jurisdiction for that line.
Source
This family genealogy was compiled from references appearing throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Foote’s scattered biographical, family, church, and settlement references have been brought together here and arranged by generation to make the genealogical relationships easier to follow.
Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Second Series. Second edition, revised. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856. Available online at AccessGenealogy, Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Accessed 12 August 2026.