Charles B. Read House (1892)

The house at 66 Marina Park Circle in Bridgeport is a Shingle-style cottage built in 1892 for Charles B. Read. It was acquired by the University of Bridgeport in 1947 and served as Linden Hall, a women’s dormitory. The above picture shows the side of the house. Charles Barnum Read (1858-1912) was the son of David M. Read and Helen Augusta Barnum, the daughter of P.T. Barnum‘s half-brother, Philo Fairchild Barnum. According to Men of Mark in Connecticut, Volume 4 (1908):

Mr. Read has from his earliest years been closely identified with the social and civic life of Bridgeport, having resided there his entire life. He attended the public schools, and graduated from the high school in 1877, going from there into the mercantile house of his father where he occupied a position in the financial department and became thoroughly acquainted with the details of the business. In 1884 The D. M. Read Company was founded, and he became associated with his father, David M. Read, and his brother, David Farnum Read, in that corporation. […] He is a lover of horses, an automobilst, and greatly enjoys different forms of sport, but perhaps finds his greatest relaxation in golf and squash. He is a member of the vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, and is always interested in any movement which may arise for furthering the interests of Bridgeport in social or municipal affairs.

Charles B. Read died on July 4, 1912 at his country home in Greenfield Hill in Fairfield. The water supply to his house was pumped in by a gas engine, 100 feet away. There was a break in the gas pipe and the gardener, John Ruhl, went to investigate. When he did not return, his wife went to find him and shrieked when she found his body. They were both overcome by the gas, as was Read, who suffocated while trying to bring the two bodies out himself.