Editing Reading, Pennsylvania (section)

===19th century===
{{See also|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}}
In 1809, [[Susanna Cox]] was tried and convicted for infanticide in Reading. Her case attracted tremendous sympathy; 20,000 spectators came to view her hanging, swamping the 3,000 inhabitants.

According to census data, Reading was among the nation's most-populous 100 cities in the nation from 1810 to 1950.

The [[Schuylkill Canal]], a north–south canal completed in 1825, paralleled the [[Schuylkill River]] and connected Reading with Philadelphia and the [[Delaware River]]. The [[Union Canal (Pennsylvania)|Union Canal]], an east–west canal completed in 1828, connected the Schuylkill and [[Susquehanna River]]s, and ran from Reading to Middletown, Pennsylvania, a few miles south of [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], the state capital. Railroads forced the abandonment of the canals by the 1880s.

Future Supreme Court Justice [[William Strong (Pennsylvania jurist)|William Strong]] lived and practiced law in Reading from 1832 to 1857.

The [[Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] (P&R) was incorporated in 1833. During the [[Long Depression]] following the [[Panic of 1873]], a [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877|statewide railroad strike]] in 1877 over delayed wages led to a violent protest and clash with the National Guard in which six Reading men were killed.<ref>Zinn, Howard. ''A People's History of the United States 1492–present'' (New York: HarperPerennial, 1995), p. 243.</ref> The [[Reading Brewing Company]] was also established around this same time, and was officially chartered in 1886.<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50499491/reading-brewing-co-startup-8101886/ Reading Brewing Company: Permanent Organization Effected Last Night]." Reading, Pennsylvania: ''The Reading Times'', August 10, 1886, front page.</ref>

The [[Charles Evans Cemetery]] is the non-sectarian cemetery where many of the city's prominent business and community leaders have been buried since the cemetery's opening in the 1840s. Established through the donation of land by Reading attorney and philanthropist Charles Evans and a subsequent financial endowment upon his death in 1847, which provided for future improvements to the grounds,<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=18850428&id=xk4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z-EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2126,4125844&hl=en 'Cities of the Dead': The Improvements Being Made in the Cemeteries of Reading.]" Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', April 29, 1885, p. 1.</ref> the cemetery became a primary gathering point for annual Memorial Day activities from the late 19th through the late 20th centuries due to the presence of the [[Grand Army of the Republic]] monument, which was dedicated there in 1887.<ref>Homan, Wayne E. "[http://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/gar-monument/ The Poignant History of the GAR Monument]", in ''The Historical Review of Berks County'', Fall 2004. Reading, Pennsylvania: Berks History Center, retrieved online August 23, 2018.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19150528&id=84wtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,3878545 Charles Evans Cemetery Memorial Day Services]". Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', May 28, 1915.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19310531&id=eckxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y-IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1894,5856040 Memorial Day Rites Held at Graves of Hero Dead]". Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', May 31, 1931, p. 1.</ref><ref>"[http://www.wfmz.com/news/national/former-pow-jim-delong-speaks-at-readings-memorial-day-ceremony/18905323 Former POW Jim DeLong speaks at Reading's Memorial Day ceremony] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824101857/http://www.wfmz.com/news/national/former-pow-jim-delong-speaks-at-readings-memorial-day-ceremony/18905323 |date=August 24, 2018 }}". Allentown and Reading, Pennsylvania: WFMZ-TV, May 27, 2013.</ref>