George Reade French (1802 - 1889)

Born 24 Jan 1802 in Fall River, MA

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Caroline (Weeks) French — married 5 Apr 1827 in Wilmington, New Hanover, NC St, James Episcopal Church

Husband of Sophia W (Allen) French — married 27 Aug 1872 in Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 15 Mar 1889 at age 87 in Wilmington, New Hanover, NC

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Magna Carta Descendant

George Reade French is a descendant of the Magna Carta signer Saher De Quincy:

George Reade French son of

Sarah Reade daughter of

Mary Cornell daughter of

Thomas Cornell son of

Deliverance Clarke daughter of

Walter Clarke son of

Jeremiah Clarke aka Clerke son of

William Clerke son of

James Clerke son of

George Clarke ada Clerke son of

Elizabeth (Ferrers) Clark daughter of

Henry Ferrers son of

Thomas Ferrers son of

William Ferrers son of

Henry de Ferrers son of

William de Ferrers son of

Henry de Ferrers son of

William de Ferrers son of

William de Ferrers son of

Margaret De Quincy daughter of

Roger De Quincy son of

Saher De Quincy

George Reade French is a descendant of Magna Carta surety barons Saher de Quincy (Marbury line), Roger le Bigod, Hugh le Bigod, and Robert de Vere.

Line to Roger and Hugh Bigod: ^[1]

George Reade French is the son of

Sarah Reade daughter of

Mary Cornell daughter of

Thomas Cornell son of

Deliverance Clark daughter of

Hannah Scott daughter of

Katherine (Marbury) Scott daughter of

Bridget (Dryden) Marbury daughter of

Elizabeth (Cope) Dryden daughter of

Bridget (Raleigh) Cope daughter of

Edward Raleigh son of

Edward Raleigh son of

Elizabeth Greene daughter of

Thomas Greene son of

Mary (Talbot) Greene daughter of

Richard Talbot son of

Petronilla (Butler) Talbot daughter of

James (Butler) Boteler son of

Edmund (Butler) Boteler son of

Joan (FitzJohn) Butler daughter of

Isabel (Le Bigod) FitzGeoffrey daughter of

Hugh Le Bigod Magna Carta Surety Baron

Roger Le Bigod Magna Carta Surety Baron

Biography

George Read French, Sr. was born in Troy, now Fall River, Massachusetts, United States, on the 24th of January, 1802. "He began work when young in the shoe factories of his native city, and advanced so rapidly that at the age of seventeen he was made manager of one of the leading factories of Onysville (now a part of Providence, Rhode Island, United States). That position, however, he held but a short time when his health failed and he was compelled to resign. He soon after accepted a position with the firm of Perry Davis of Darien, Georgia, formerly of Providence, and later the rounder of Perry Davis' Pain Killer. Mr. French remained in Georgia about ten months, when retuned to his northern home. In the autumn of 1822, he again started south and located in the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. Here he soon formed a partnership with John Hathaway, under the firm name of Hathaway & French, and carried on a lumber and general merchandise business. He remained in that firm until 1828, when he opened a shoe store in his own name, and then laid the foundation for the immense business that subsequently grew from it. He was married to Sarah C. Weeks, of Wilmington, N.C., on April 5, 1827, and he was next married on August 27, 1872 to Mrs. Sophia M. Sawyer, of Fall River, Massachusetts."^[2]

His politics were Whig: opposing President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats (before L.B. Johnson, the Democrats were pro slavery and racist policies). Whigs stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements.^[3]

"Taught in his early youth to cherish a patriotic adherence to the union his ancestors had aided in establishing, he took a decided stand against the doctrines of secession, and during that great struggle he adhered to his convictions as to the folly of appealing to arms for the settlement of the then existing differences, although his friends and family were of the opposite belief. ^{[4] [5]}

Sources

1. ↑ Richardson, Douglas Magna Carta Ancestry, (2011), , Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Volume I, page 436-436.
2. ↑ Cyclopedia of eminent and representative men of the Carolinas of the nineteenth century. Madison, Wis.: Brant & Fuller,1892. Pages 547-549."
3. ↑ Cyclopedia of eminent and representative men of the Carolinas of the nineteenth century. Madison, Wis.: Brant & Fuller,1892. Pages 547-549."
4. ↑ Biography from Cyclopedia of eminent and representative men of the Carolinas of the nineteenth century. Madison, Wis.: Brant & Fuller,1892. Pages 547-549.
5. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=wkYTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Cyclopedia of Eminent and Representative Men of the Carolinas of the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2

• Research of L. A. McCall