JOHN READER was born in Glassboro, New Jersey on June 8, 1851. He went out to Nebraska with his family for about ten years. He and his wife, the former Lillia Grindle, and sons Addison, Aaron, and Lawrence, moved back to Camden from Nebraska in 1890. His parents stayed in Nebraska, where they passed away. John Reader and his family were known throughout the Seventh and Thirteenth Wards of Camden.

John Reader received his appointment to he Camden Police Department from Mayor Cooper B. Hatch on Aug. 1, 1898. He was a member of the department for at least 19 years, where his abilities were soon recognized. John Reader he was promoted to Sergeant on July 1, 1901, with a salary of $500 per     

year. He had been working as an acting sergeant for several months prior to that date, but only received patrolman's pay. 

In 1911 he made 63 arrests, and was 1 of 10 sergeants 
In 1914 he made 6 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants 
In 1915 he made 6 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants
In 1916 he made 4 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants

Lillia Grindle Reader died in 1916, and John remarried to WillAnna Graham  June 5, 1917. John Reader's lat address was at 749 Walnut Street. John Reader died on February 26, 1919  in Camden, and was buried at Harleigh Cemetery on Haddon Avenue

John Reader's son Addison was a doctor in Camden. Dr. Addison B.G. Reader was born October 16, 1876 in Camden. He died on October 22, 1922 in Camden. Aaron Reader was born on August 29, 1880 in Minden, Nebraska. He was in business and moved to Ocean County, New Jersey where he died on December 25, 1957. Lawrence Reader was also born in Minden, on February 16, 1886. He became a lawyer and served on Camden's city council. Lawrence Reader died in Camden, a victim of the influenza epidemic, on October 10, 1918. The Reader sons all rest with their parents, at Harleigh Cemetery.