The Washingtons. Volume 9: The Presidential Branch: Six Wright Lines

By Justin Glenn

This is the ninth volume of a comprehensive history that traces the “Presidential Line” of the Washingtons. Volume one began with the immigrant John Washington who settled in Westmoreland Co., Va., in 1657, married Anne Pope, and was the great-grandfather of President George Washington. It contained the record of their descendants for a total of seven generations. Subsequent volumes two through eight continued this family history for an additional eight generations, highlighting most notable members (volume two) and tracing lines of descent from the royalty and nobility of England and continental Europe (volume three). Volume nine collects over 8,500 descendants of the recently discovered line of William Wright (died in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1809). It also provides briefer accounts of five other early Wright families of Virginia that have often been mentioned by researchers as close kinsmen of George Washington, including: William Wright (died in Fauquier Co., Va., ca. 1805), Frances Wright and her husband Nimrod Ashby, and William Wright (died in Greensville Co., Va., by 1827). A cumulative index will complete the series as volume ten.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781940669342

Justin Glenn

Justin Matthews Glenn was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Glendale and Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from Stanford University [B.A., Classics, 1967; magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa] and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Princeton University [M.A., Classics, 1969; Ph.D., Classics, 1970]. His career as a professor of Classics at the University of Georgia and Florida State University spanned thirty-five years, and he has published over seventy articles, notes, and reviews in his field. A distant cousin of George Washington, he has served as Registrar General of the National Society of the Washington Family Descendants since 2002.

Book preview

Introduction

This ninth volume of my Washington family history presents six often disputed branches of the Wright branch. Only the Revisionist William Wright line (presented at length in Appendix A) is now accepted as genuine and eligible for membership by The National Society of the Washington Family Descendants (NSWFD). The Traditional William Wright line (Appendix B) is no longer accepted as valid for new applications to the NSWFD, although the members previously admitted have been grandfathered in. The Wright-Ashby line (Appendix C) is the most promising of all of the unproved lines of the Washington presidential branch. I am hopeful that further research will one day will build at least a strong circumstantial case that this line is descended from the immigrant Col. John Washington of Westmoreland Co., Va. The brief Appendices D and E (branches of early Wright settlers in Southampton Co., Va., and northern Georgia, respectively) are almost certainly not Washington lines, in spite of various claims to the contrary. The very brief Appendix F presents evidence that the claims of Washington descent for John Philip Wright of Obion County, Tennessee, are clearly invalid.

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I am keenly aware that, in spite of my best efforts and many years of work, this book has numerous errors. These creep into genealogies with lamentable ease, especially in the case of dates. Especially when a date of birth, marriage, or death is entered on a computer, it is appallingly easy to hit a wrong numeral key, and once entered the mistake often becomes virtually undetectable in subsequent proofreading. Although I strove to use reasonable caution, I am keenly aware that numerous mistakes must still remain. Any corrections (especially when documented) from readers will be gratefully received and carefully stored for a supplemental volume that I hope to publish someday.

Since this is essentially a history of a Southern family, I have generally used the Southern names of Civil War battles (e.g., Manassas for Bull Run, Sharpsburg for Antietam, and Murfreesboro for Stones River). Exceptions are battles for which the Northern title is almost universally used today (e.g., Pea Ridge for Elk Horn Tavern, Shiloh for Pittsburg Landing, and Brice’s Cross Roads for Tishomingo Creek). For the sake of convenience, I use the term Civil War for what I deem the more technically correct but more awkward War Between the States.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

I also need to ask the reader’s patience with several inconsistencies that evolved as my multi-volume book traversed many chronological and geographical boundaries.

Army Air Service/USAF

For U.S. military aviation veterans of World War I, I have universally adopted the term Army Air Service, although technically this term was used only from May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926. Previous official designations in 1917-1918 were Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and Division of Military Aeronautics.

For U.S. World War II-era and later military aviation veterans, I have universally adopted the term USAF (U.S. Air Force), although this technically was not created until Sept. 18, 1947. Previous designations were U.S. Army Air Corps (July 1926-June 1941) and U.S. Army Air Force (June 1941-Sept. 1947).

Independent Cities in Virginia

Since many of the most basic genealogical records in the U.S. are county documents, it has become a customary courtesy in modern genealogical writing to attempt to cite not only city and state but county as well. This is especially important, of course, for rural areas and small hamlets which are obscure and in some cases have faded completely out of existence. In general, I have attempted to include counties in my numerous entries, except for a few of the largest cities.

One of the most perplexing and confusing contradictions that faces students of Virginia genealogy is the problem of classifying Virginia’s larger towns and cities in terms of counties. (A somewhat similar problem prevails in Connecticut, which essentially abolished county governments in 1960. In addition, the state of Alaska is divided into boroughs, not counties). Since the 1870s, most of Virginia’s towns and cities have been classified as Independent Cities and are technically separate political entities from the counties that in many cases completely surround them. This spawns a host of unavoidable and vexing inconsistencies. Many individuals who lived their entire life in the same house were classified as residents of a certain county up until the 1870s but not afterward. The situation is inherently odd: Salem, Va., for example, is completely surrounded by Roanoke County, and it both contains the Roanoke County Court House and functions as the de facto county seat of Roanoke County. Since 1871, however, it is technically an Independent City and not part of Roanoke County.

To compound the chaos, U.S. Federal documents are hopelessly inconsistent on the subject, even if we restrict ourselves to just the post-1870s period. Depending on the year and the census taker, census records sometimes list the same persons, living in the same house, as residents of (for example) Richmond, Independent City, and sometimes as residents of Richmond, Henrico County, Va. Also, World War I Draft records were organized basically by state and county, so a man registering for the draft in (say) Danville, Va., was classified in Federal records as registering in Danville, Pittsylvania County, even though the state of Virginia would technically classify this location as Danville, Independent City.

In addition, the towns in the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area have undergone a bewildering series of mergers and consolidations that, once again, make consistency virtually impossible. A rather extreme case is Warwick County, Va., which in 1952 ceased being a county and became simply the city of Warwick, and then in 1958 disappeared altogether when it was incorporated into the city of Newport News. In the face of such chaos, I can only alert readers to the problem and ask their forbearance.

Index/Record

There is great inconsistency among the titles of the birth, death, and marriage on-line databases (e.g., Death Records vs. Death Index). For the sake of consistency (and my sanity), I have adopted the uniform term Index.

Acknowledgments

My most pleasant task in writing this history is to acknowledge those whose exceptionally generous assistance and encouragement have sustained me in my long journey. I must acknowledge again my enormous debt to my mentor John Augustine Washington, although with few exceptions his prodigious research on the Washington family did not extend to the branches of the Wright family that are presented in this volume.

I begin with a special thank you to my supportive wife, Jody Glenn, who assisted in proofreading and patiently has endured my genealogy addiction. I am also deeply grateful to Ted Savas of Savas Beatie Publishers, who had faith in my unusually lengthy book and took the risk of publishing it in the depths of a severe and seemingly endless economic recession.

In the case of the present volume nine of this Washington family history, I am profoundly indebted to Robert Nolan Grant of Menlo Park, California. He generously permitted me to draw freely from his three-volume (in five parts), privately published and rare book Sorting Some of the Wrights of Southern Virginia. Part III: 1809 William Wright of Franklin County, His Wife Mary (Grant) Wright, and His Descendants. Any researcher of this family, which I have labeled The Revisionist William Wright Line (see my Appendix A below), must lean very heavily on this brilliant and indefatigable lawyer-genealogist and his massive book.

The long lapse of years makes me fearful that I might accidentally omit some of the many correspondents who generously supplied information on these six Wright branches. I have attempted to list them all in the section headed Contributors (a wide category that includes postings on the Internet) found near the beginning of my bibliography. At the risk of seeming ungrateful to others, however, I here make an attempt to single out (in alphabetical order) those who have been extraordinarily generous in supplying information for this particular volume.

Cathea Mingee Curry (Piedmont, Okla.)

Janet Wolf Grummitt (Atascadero, Cal.)

Charles Eugene Herbaugh (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.)

Sharon Kay Cox Hlava (Greenwood, Ind.)

Karen Jorgensen (Bedford, Tex.)

Kathie Trent Kingery (Chesterfield Co., Va.; Ancestry.com/PMT)

Nick Douglas Payne, Jr. (Richmond, Va.)

Carolyn McCubbins Scott (Green Co., Ky.)

Judi Conrad Sheffler (Grapevine, Tex.)

Norman Thomas Wright, Jr. (Franklin County, Va.)

Abbreviations

[Note: additional abbreviations for frequently cited books and standard reference works are found at the beginning of the bibliography]

ACWS = American Civil War Soldiers (database on Ancestry.com)

AEF = Allied Expeditionary Force (World War I)

AlaDI = Alabama Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

Anc. = Ancestor(s)/Ancestry

Anc.com = Ancestry.com

Anc.com/Dept. of Veterans Affairs = U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 (database on Ancestry.com)

ANV = Army of Northern Virginia

ArkMI = Arkansas Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

AWOL = absent without leave

AWT = Ancestry World Tree (database on Ancestry.com)

Battn. = Battalion

B.D. = Bachelor of Divinity

bibliog. = bibliography

Biog. = Biography/Biographical

CalBI = California Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

CalDI = California Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

CalDivI = California Divorce Index (database on Ancestry.com)

CalMI = California Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

Capt. = Captain

CDA = See NSCDA

CD XVII Cent. = National Society of the Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century

cem. = cemetery

CEO = Chief Executive Officer

Co. (in clearly military contexts) = Company

Co. (except in military contexts) = County

ConnDI = Connecticut Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

CPA = Certified Public Accountant

Cpl. = Corporal

CPO = Chief Petty Officer

CSA = Confederate States Army

CV = Curriculum Vitae

Cycl. = Cyclop(a)edia

DAR = National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution

desc. = descendant(s)

Dicty. = Dictionary

Div. = Division (except in academic degrees, where it means Divinity)

d.s.p. = died without issue (decessit sine prole)

E.D. = Enumeration District

Fam. = Family/Families

FamDataC = Family Data Collection (database on Ancestry.com)

FamSearch.org = FamilySearch.org (a non-profit website maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

FamSearch.org/AF = FamilySearch.org/Ancestry File (database on FamilySearch.org)

FamSearch.org/PRF = FamilySearch.org/Pedigree Resource File (database on FamilySearch.org)

FGS = Family Group Sheet (an unpublished genealogical chart, usually undocumented and based on personal knowledge)

FlaDI = Florida Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

GaDI = Georgia Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

Gen.com = Genealogy.com

GenForum = a network of on-line genealogical forums (including surnames, U.S. states, cemeteries, and other genealogical categories) operated by Genealogy.com

Hist. = History/Historical

ibid. = in the same place

IdaMI = Idaho Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IGI = International Genealogical Index (database on the website FamilySearch.org, a non-profit site maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

IllDI = Illinois Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IllMI = Illinois Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IndBI = Indiana Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IndMI = Indiana Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IowaBI = Iowa Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

IowaMI = Iowa Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

J.A.W. = John Augustine Washington (of Chevy Chase, later Bethesda, Md.; author of the unpublished Outline that became a major component of previous volumes of the current book. For many years he collaborated extensively with Prentiss Price, of Rogersville, Tenn.)

KyBI = Kentucky Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

KyDI = Kentucky Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

KyMI = Kentucky Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

LL.B. = Bachelor of Laws

LL.D. = Doctor of Laws

LPN = Licensed Practical Nurse

LSM = Landing Ship Medium

LST = Landing Ship Tank

Lt. = Lieutenant

Maj. = Major

MichDI = Michigan Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

MinnBI = Minnesota Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

MinnDI = Minnesota Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

MissMI = Mississippi Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MoMI = Missouri Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

MontDI = Montana Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

Natl. = National

NCarBI = North Carolina Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

NCarDI = North Carolina Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

NCarDivI = North Carolina Divorce Index (database on Ancestry.com)

NCarMI = North Carolina Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

n.d. = no date (of publication) indicated

NevDI = Nevada Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

NevMI = Nevada Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

n.p. = no place (of publication) indicated

NSCDA = The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America

NSDAR = see DAR

NSSAR = see SAR

NSWFD = The National Society of the Washington Family Descendants

OhBI = Ohio Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

OhDI = Ohio Death Index database on Ancestry.com)

OhMI = Ohio Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

on-line census index = that provided by Ancestry.com

OreDI = Oregon Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

OWT = One World Tree (database on Ancestry.com)

p. = page (pp. = pages)

PC = personal computer

PFC = Private First Class

PMT = Public Member Tree (database on Ancestry.com)

POW = Prisoner of War

q.v. = whom see (quem vide)

Reg. = Register/Registration

Regt. = Regiment

Rev. War = Revolutionary War

R.N. = Registered Nurse

ROTC = Reserve Officers Training Corps

SAR = National Society, Sons of the American Revolution

SCarDI = South Carolina Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

S.C. Delayed Births = South Carolina Delayed Births, 1766-1900 (database on Ancestry.com)

SCV = Sons of Confederate Veterans

Sgt. = Sergeant

SSDI = Social Security Death Index

TexBI = Texas Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

TexDI = Texas Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

TexDivI = Texas Divorce Index (database on Ancestry.com)

TexMI = Texas Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

UCLA = University of California-Los Angeles

UDC = United Daughters of the Confederacy

unm. = unmarried

U.S.(A.) = United States (of America)

USA = U.S. Army

USAF = U.S. Air Force (also used for U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Army Air Force)

USCWSR&P = U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles (database on Ancestry.com)

USMA = U.S. Military Academy, West Point

USMC = United States Marine Corps

USN = U.S. Navy

USNA = U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis

USPRI = U.S. Public Records Index (database on Ancestry.com)

U.S. Veterans Gravesites = U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006 (database on Ancestry.com)

U.S. WW II Navy Muster Rolls = U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (database on Ancestry.com)

VaDI = Virginia Death Index

VaMarrI = Virginia Marriage Index

VMI = Virginia Military Institute

vol. = volume (vols. = volumes)

Vols. = Volunteers

VPI = Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech)

WashDI = Washington (State) Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

WCP = World Connect Project (database on RootsWeb.com)

WPA = Works Progress Administration

WVaBI = West Virginia Birth Index (database on Ancestry.com)

WVaDI = West Virginia Death Index (database on Ancestry.com)

WVaMI = West Virginia Marriage Index (database on Ancestry.com)

WW I Draft Reg. = WW I Civilian Draft Registrations (database on Ancestry.com)

WW II AER = U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records (database on Ancestry.com)

WW II Draft Reg. = WW II Civilian Draft Registration Cards (database on Ancestry.com)

WW II Navy, M.C., and C.G. Casualties = WW II Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945 (database on Ancestry.com)

WW II POWs = World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 (database on Ancestry.com)

APPENDIX A

The Revisionist William Wright Line

#152. William Wright (Listed as #152 in Volume 1, he appears in this appendix as #1 below): The Revisionist Line. On Oct. 1, 2004, The National Society of the Washington Family Descendants voted that applicants on this line would be eligible for membership as descendants of the immigrant Col. John Washington and his wife Anne Pope.

[Note: For the disputed ancestry of William Wright, see the main text (Volume 1) above, entry #152 = William Wright. Unless otherwise indicated, all references below to R. GRANT refer to Robert N. Grant, Sorting Some of the Wrights of Southern Virginia. Part III: 1809 William Wright of Franklin County, His Wife Mary (Grant) Wright, and his Descendants. 3 vols. Menlo Park, Cal.: Privately published, 2004. I am deeply grateful for Mr. Grant’s generous permission to draw freely from this excellent and rare publication]

1. William Wright (born in Stafford Co., Va., ca. 1728 or 1729, probably at his father’s residence in Stafford Co. in the part that became Prince William Co. in 1731. He married [ca. 1746-1748] Mary Grant [died ante Oct. 10, 1808]. By 1751 they were living on his land in Hamilton Parish, Prince William Co., Va. By Sept. 1759, during the French and Indian War, he was serving as Captain in the Fauquier Co., Va., militia. Throughout the 1760s, a series of deeds and court proceedings demonstrate that he was a landholder with residence in Fauquier Co., Va. He then drops out of sight: a legal action against him establishes that he was not to be found in that county on Jan. 28, 1764. R. Grant marshals careful and generally convincing, if circumstantial evidence, that he is the same man who later appears in the records of Bedford Co., Va., beginning May 24, 1768. That section of Bedford County where he resided later became part of newly formed Franklin Co., Va., in 1785. A claim for debt against this William Wright dated on or about April 28, 1774, establishes that he was working as a blacksmith and that he had previously resided in Fauquier Co., Va. As early as Nov. 1779, William Wright was one of 100 citizens in the southern portion of Bedford County who began to petition for the formation of a new county, an effort that was ultimately successful six years later. A deed dated Feb. 21, 1782, establishes that this same William Wright of Bedford County was married to a woman named Mary. As Grant argues, he was probably the William Wright who appears in the 1782 Land Tax List as owning 158 acres in Bedford Co., Va. By 1785 a similar record shows him owning 256 acres, and by 1786 this had grown dramatically to 733 acres in newly formed Franklin Co., Va. By 1794, however, a series of sales reduced his holdings to just 44 acres, which remained constant until and including the final appraisal of his estate. His will was dated Oct. 10, 1808, and it was probated in Franklin Co., Va., Jan. 2, 1809).

Children:

+2. John Wright (probable).

+3. Wingfield Wright (probable).

+4. James Wright.

+5. William Wright, Jr.

+6. George Wright.

+7. (son) Wright. [Quotation from R. GRANT, 1:95 (see also esp. 1:93-220), citing many sources, including Franklin Co., Va., Will Book 1:368]

NEXT GENERATION:

2. John Wright (although not named in the will of his presumptive father William Wright, he is described by R. Grant as probably a son of that man whose will was probated in Franklin Co., Va. on Jan. 2, 1809. John Wright was born in Fauquier Co., Va., ca. 1747. He served the cause of independence in the Revolutionary War, and in his Pension File S6449, dated Oct. 1, 1832, he gave his age as 85 (or 83). He also stated that he resided in Bedford Co., Va., when he enlisted in 1778, and had resided in Franklin Co., Va., since the war. As Grant points out, the 1786 Property Tax List for Franklin Co., Va. lists only five men with the surname Wright: John Wright, William Wright, Sr. and William’s sons James, William, and George. We also know that John Wright lived in close proximity to William Wright, and there is also good reason to believe that the will of William Wright, Sr., omitted the name of at least one of his children [see R. Grant, esp. 1:225].

According to John Wright’s pension statement, he entered voluntarily in a company called minute men who had pledged to take the field when required, which company was commanded by Captain Moses Greer . . . that under the orders of said Greer during the revolution war he was called out and served repeated tour [sic] of duty against the tories on the Carolina line & in the mountains where they often took shelter. The application was approved, and John was granted a pension of $30 per year.

Land Tax records for Franklin Co., Va., show John consistently owning ca. 250 acres of land from 1792 to 1812, and ca. 60 acres thereafter. The 1810 census for Franklin Co., Va. lists his household’s free white males as 1 age 45+, 2 age 16-26, and 1 age 10-16, and the free white females as 1 age 45+, 1 age 16-26, and 1 age 10-16. There were no slaves. He married Mary Wray, and Federal pension records indicate that he died in Franklin Co., Va., ca. Jan. 11, 1845).

Children:

8. Rachel Wright (married in Franklin Co., Va. [Sept. 23, 1788] Adam Running).

+9. Jesse R. Wright (probable).

+10. William Wright (probable).

+11. Tabitha Wright.

+12. John Wright, Jr. (probable).

+13. Ezekiel Wright.

+14. Oliver Wright (possible).

+15. Elizabeth Wright.

+16. Mary Wright.

17. ___ Wright (possible).

+18. Lydia Wright.

+19. Joseph Wright. [Quotation from R. GRANT, 1:224, 273 (see also 225-621). See also: P. G. WARDELL, Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Rev. War Pension . . . Records, 6:218; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 198 (for Adam and Rachel Running); 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 162]

3. Wingfield Wright (married Tabitha Wray, and he appears in the Personal Property Tax Lists in Bedford Co., Va., from 1782 to 1784. He then moved to Botetourt Co., Va., where he owned 200 acres in 1796-1819, as confirmed by Tax Lists).

Child:

+20. Mary Polly Wright. [R. GRANT, 1:621-640, citing numerous Tax Lists]

4. James Wright (born ca. 1756; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Oct. 9, 1786] Margaret Young [born ca. 1765, to judge from the 1850 census. She was still alive, age 95, in the 1860 census]. On Jan. 31, 1844, Margaret affirmed in a legal deposition for Revolutionary War Pension File 11901 that her deceased husband James Wright was a revolutionary soldier and to be the best of my belief served seven different tours of three months each three of which tours he served in the Virginia Malitia [sic] for himself [and] one tour in the Malitia [sic] of Va. as a substitute for James Ray . . . and one three months tour in the Virginia malitia [sic] was a substitute for George Wright and one other tour of three months for a man whose name I have forgotten.

By 1805 James owned ca. 168 acres in Franklin Co., Va., where he resided in a log house about two miles from Boones Mill. He died March 11, 1823, as confirmed by his widow’s same deposition of Jan. 31, 1844. According to Lewis F. Jamison, the great-great grandson of James and Peggy Wright, James once had a violent altercation with another man and got the worst of it. Seeing her husband prostrate, Peggy took off her shoe and struck the assailant repeatedly with her heel until he became insensible.

On July 3, 2011, Robert N. Grant posted important new research about this family as Message #23760 on GenForum on the website Genealogy.com. Here Grant assembles a strong circumstantial argument, supported by some important new DNA evidence, that James Wright and Margaret Young had an additional child, Daniel Wright. The Daniel Wright in question married Lucy Chewning, and he died in Morris Co., Tex., 1878. Daniel and Lucy had five children: William B. Wright, George Wright, Nathaniel Wright, Mary J. Wright, and Minerva A. Wright.

In an e-mail communication dated Sept. 20, 2011, Robert N. Grant also notes that this same James Wright who died in Franklin Co., Va., 1823, apparently had another son named Lewis Wright. According to Grant, He changed his name to Lewis King and his descendants use the surname King, but the family tradition was that Lewis was originally a Wright and the Y-DNA confirms that).

Children:

+21. Phoebe Wright (possible).

+22. Berry Wright.

+23. George Wright (Stiller).

25. Mary Wright.

+26. James Grant Wright.

+27. Margaret Wright.

+28. John B. Wright.

+29. Goodman A. Wright. [Quotations from R. GRANT, 1:670 and 674 (see also 1:640-1039), citing: numerous personal property tax lists, 1810 census Franklin Co., Va.; will of James Wright dated 12/12/1821, probated 5/5/1823 in Franklin Co., Va., Will Bk. 2:629; Rev. War Pension File 11901; DAR approved application #388187 for Genevieve Wright Smith, dated Feb. 24, 1949; and IGI 7731106, sheet 57, film 1126151. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; posting by Robert N. Grant, dated 7/3/2011, on the Wright Family Genealogy Forum at http://genforum.genealogy.com/wright/messages/23760.html]

5. William Wright, Jr. (first appeared in the personal property tax list for Bedford Co., Va., in 1782. Later residing in Franklin Co., Va., where he first appeared in the land tax list in 1788, he married Catherine Doran. By 1793 he was a Captain in the militia and owned over 600 acres in Franklin Co., Va. He increased his land holding to over 750 acres by 1809 and over 1,100 acres by 1823. He died in early 1830, and his will was probated in Franklin Co., Va., Feb. 1, 1830).

Children:

+30. Mary Wright.

+31. John Anthony Wright.

32. Nancy Wright (born in Va., ca. 1782; died unm. in Franklin Co., Va., Sept. 15, 1853).

+33. George Finney Wright.

+34. Hiram Wright.

+35. James Wright.

+36. Mildred Wright.

37. Rhoda Wright (born in Va., ca. 1815; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Feb. 12, 1835] Otey Meador [born in Va., ca. 1813]. They farmed in Bonbrook, Franklin Co., Va., 1860).

+38. William Wright III.

39. Miriam Wright (married in Franklin Co., Va. [Jan. 1, 1827] Joseph Duckwiler). [R. GRANT, 1:1039-1107 and 2:1108-1823, citing numerous records, including Franklin Co., Va., Will Bk. 3:25. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 77 (for Miriam and Joseph Duckwiler) and 159 (for Rhoda and Otey Meadow); 1860 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 315 (for Rhoda and Otey Meador as well as Miriam and Joseph Duckwiler); Anc.com/AWT, entry by Don Smith]

6. George Wright (born between 1760 and 1770; married in Franklin Co., Va. [June 9, 1792] Mary Polly Abshire [born in Va., ca. 1770; resided as a widow in the household of John A. Wright in Franklin Co., Va., 1850. The inventory and appraisement of her estate was dated June 18, 1860, and filed Feb. 4, 1861, in Franklin Co., Va.]. George owned over 600 acres in Franklin Co., Va., where he died Jan. 21, 1843).

Children:

+40. Moses Wright.

+41. Susannah Wright.

42. Gabriel Wright (born in Va., Aug. 6, 1794; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Nov. 2, 1829] Florina Wray [died July 18, 1866]. He died Dec. 28, 1872, and both he and Florina were buried at Bethlehem Cemetery in Fishers, Hamilton Co., Ind. As Robert Grant suggests, he is almost certainly the Gabriel Wright [born in Va., ca. 1794], married to Louisa___[born in Va., ca. 1785], and farming in Fall Creek Township, Hamilton Co., Ind., 1850.In the 1860 census Hamilton Co., Ind., however, Gabriel’s wife is listed as Florinda).

+43. Pendleton Wright.

+44. Christina A. Tenah Wright.

+45. George Washington Wright.

46. Luke Wright (appears on personal property tax lists in Franklin Co., Va., from 1832 to 1849).

+47. Charlotte Wright.

+48. Mary Wright.

+49. Catherine Wright.

+50. Martin Wright.

+51. Quintina Wright.

+52. John A. Wright.

+53. William A. B. Wright. [R. GRANT, 2:1825-2167, citing numerous personal property and land tax lists, deeds, and the will of George Wright, Sr., Franklin Co., Va., Will Bk. 5:452, as well as the estate inventory and appraisement of Mary Polly Wright. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 93; 1850 census Hamilton Co., Ind., p. 66 and 1860 census ibid., p. 159 (for Gabriel Wright); www.findagrave.com; Anc.com/OWT]

7. (son) Wright (married_____).

Child:

+54. Enoch Wright. [R. GRANT, 2:2167-2218]

NEXT GENERATION:

9. Jesse R. Wright (probable; married in Franklin Co., Va. [March 19, 1799] Elizabeth Crawford [born in Va., ca. 1788, according to the 1850 census, but her marriage date shows that this birth date is clearly wrong. Her tombstone birth date reads 1781, according to R. Grant, 1:298, which is presumably the correct date. She resided as a widow with her son Thomas Wright in Oktibbeha Co., Miss., 1850]. They moved by 1830 to Carroll Co., Ga. Primarily on the basis of his painstaking analysis of tax records, Grant assembles admittedly circumstantial but highly convincing evidence that Jesse R. Wright is indeed the son of John Wright and Mary Wray).

Children:

+55. William R. Wright.

+56. John Wright.

+57. Crawford Wright.

+58. Lucinda Lucy Wright.

+59. James N. Wright.

60. J. Woods Wright (born in S.C., 1812; married Sarah ___ [born in Ga., ca. 1824]. They farmed in Oktibbeha Co., Miss., 1850).

+61. Nancy Wright.

+62. Thomas Wright.

+63. Belinda Wright. [R. GRANT, 1:294-334; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1830 census Carroll Co., Ga., p. 225; 1850 census Oktibbeha Co., Miss., p. 285]

10. William Wright (probable; born in Va., ca. 1770, he married in Franklin Co., Va. [1st, on Feb. 18, 1803] Ellender Johnson. He married [2nd] Lydia Vincent [born in Va., ca. 1796]. He was still living and listed as a farmer in the 1850 census of Muhlenberg Co., Ky. On the basis of his painstaking analysis of tax records, Grant assembles admittedly circumstantial but highly convincing evidence that William Wright is indeed the son of John Wright and Mary Wray. This William Wright is sometimes styled Jr. in legal documents, but, as Grant explains, this designation . . . would be used in the sense of a younger William Wright, rather than a son of a William Wright, and to distinguish this William Wright from his Uncle [who died in] 1830 William Wright of Franklin County. William Wright’s second wife Lydia reported as a widow in her War of 1812 pension application that she married her husband William Wright in Muhlenberg Co., Ky., Jan. 28, 1819, and that he had served as Pvt. in Capt. C. F. Wing’s Company from Aug. to Nov. or Dec. 1813, and that he died Oct. 9, 1859).

Children:

+64. Tabitha Wright (probable).

+65. William Wright, Jr. (probable).

66. Mary Ann Wright (probable; married William Highley).

+67. Thomas Morris Wright. [Quotation from R. Grant, 1:338 (see also 334-354), citing Nathan W. Murphy, Early Families of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky (no page given). See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 251; 1850 census Muhlenberg Co., Ky., p. 204]

11. Tabitha Wright (married in Franklin Co., Va. [June 8, 1799] Thomas Huston [born Feb. 1, 1774; died in Union Co., Ind., Oct. 3, 1850]. They resided on a farm in Union Township, Union Co., Ind., 1850. She died Aug. 3, 1869, and both were buried at Keiffer Cemetery in Union Co., Ind.).

Children:

+68. Nancy Agnes Huston.

69.___Huston (married William Wimmer).

+70. Elizabeth Huston.

+71. Rachel Huston.

72. Sarah Huston (born in Franklin Co., Va., Aug. 26, 1813; married in Union Co., Ind. [Oct. 18, 1841] her 2nd cousin, once removed, Matthew W. Wright [born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. April 11, 1810; he = #188, q.v. for issue]).

73. William Huston (married [Dec. 5, 1882] Polly Cottrell. An undocumented posting on Anc.com/PMT reports that William was born in Franklin Co., Va., March 12, 1800, and died in Madison Co., Ala., Jan. 3, 1878).

+74. Joseph Huston.

75.___Huston. [R GRANT, 1:354-392, 2:1291, including a partial Family Bible record. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 124; 1850 census Union Co., Ky., p. 332; www.findagrave.com; Anc.com/PMT]

12. John Wright, Jr. (probable; married Elizabeth McElwain or Muckelwain [born in Va., ca. 1786. On the basis of his painstaking analysis of tax records, Grant assembles admittedly circumstantial but highly convincing evidence that John Wright, Jr. is indeed the son of John Wright and Mary Wray. John Wright, Jr. appears in personal property tax lists for Franklin Co., Va., until 1810, which is consistent with Grant’s identification of him with the John Wright who settled in Muhlenberg Co., Ky., ca. 1810-1811. This John Wright obtained a grant for 400 acres on Cypress Creek, Muhlenberg Co., Ky., on Feb. 8, 1809).

Children:

76. Robert G. or Y. Wright (possible; born ca. 1808, he married in Muhlenberg Co., Ky. [Aug. 16, 1829] Elizabeth Gossett. He died ibid., Dec. 1844. They had six children: John Robert Wright [born in South Carrollton, Muhlenberg Co., Ky., Nov. 3, 1830]; Mary Wright [born ibid., March 26, 1831]; Jane Wright [born ibid., July 11, 1834]; Margaret Wright [born ibid., Feb. 27, 1835]; Rachel Wright [born Oct. 18, 1837], and Jacob Wright [born ibid., Nov. 4, 1839]. This family is highly tentative).

77. Thomas Wright (possible; born in Va., ca. 1809, he was a farmer, and he married in Muhlenberg Co., Ky. [Nov. 29, 1829] Mary Polly James [born in Ky., ca. 1813]. This family is somewhat tentative, but derives some support from his residence being adjacent to David Wright, a confirmed son of John Wright and Elizabeth McElwain Wright, in the 1850 census. Thomas and Polly had five children: Archy Wright [born in Muhlenberg Co., Ky., ca. 1831], William Bluford Wright [born ibid., ca. 1835], Martin Wright [born ibid., ca. 1838], Lucinda Wright [born ibid., ca. 1845], and Clabourn Wright [born ibid., ca. 1849]).

78. Amos Wright (possible; born in Muhlenberg Co., Ky., ca. 1811).

79. William Wright (possible; born ibid., ca. 1813; a farmer, he married ibid. [April 30, 1831] Cinderella James [born in Ky., ca. 1815]. They had five children: James M. Wright [born in Ky., ca. 1832], Mary Wright [born ibid., ca. 1839], Benjamin Wright [born ibid., ca. 1841], Sarah J. Wright [born ibid., ca. 1847], and Elizabeth Wright [born ibid., ca. 1849]).

80. Mary Ann Wright (possible).

+81. John Wright III (probable).

+82. Daniel Wright (probable).

+83. David Wright. [R. GRANT, 1:392-417, citing Muhlenberg Co., Ky., Deed Book 21:173 and numerous tax records of Franklin Co., Va. and Muhlenberg Co., Ky. See also: Anon., Ky. Marriage Records, 620 (for Thomas Wright); 1850 census Muhlenberg Co., Ky., p. 249 (for Thomas Wright), 1860 census ibid., p. 79 (for Mrs. E. Wright, presumably Elizabeth Wright, widow of John Wright, Sr.]

13. Ezekiel Wright (born in Va., ca. 1786; married in Franklin Co., Va. [May 20, 1812] Elizabeth Bowles [born in Va., ca. 1784; died in Franklin Co., Va., Sept. 2, 1868]. He is listed in personal property tax lists for Franklin Co., Va., from 1812 to 1821 and 1826 to 1868. He ran afoul of the law on June 20, 1830, when a Franklin County Superior Court grand jury indicted him for beating a local planter, Isham Ferguson, so seriously that his life was for a long time greatly dispaired [sic] of. On Aug. 11, 1830, he received a summons to answer the charges, but the unknown outcome apparently left Wright unscathed, since he appears as a resident in Franklin County with his same 147 acres in 1831. He continued to have problems with his Ferguson neighbors, however: a certain John H. Ferguson sued him for damages of $500 in a trespass case that resulted in a court summons dated Sept. 4, 1833. Three years later, Ezekiel was apparently exonerated of a charge of stealing a slab of bacon. In 1845 he served as administrator of the estate of his father John Wright, and he died in Franklin Co., Va., May 1874).

Children:

84. John Wright (named as son of Ezekiel Wright in Franklin Co., Va., personal property tax list for 1832-1839).

85. George A. Wright (named as son of Ezekiel Wright in Franklin Co., Va., personal property tax list for 1837-1839).

+86. Lucy Wright.

87. Teresa (or Teacy) Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1823; resided unm. on her parents’ farm in Franklin Co., Va., 1850. She later married ibid. [Jan. 20, 1879] Randolph Abshire [born ibid., 1818]. She died ibid., Dec. 20, 1888).

88. Susan Wright (born in Va., ca. 1825; resided unm. on her parents’ farm in Franklin Co., Va., 1850).

+89. Mary Wright.

90. William Wright (born in Va., ca. 1835). [R. GRANT, 1:417-488; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 249; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 126, and Franklin Co., Va. death certificates of Ezekiel and Elizabeth Wright]

14. Oliver Wright (possible; born ca. 1787; married Sarah Jane ___, and he died in Milford, Kosciusko Co., Ind., June 9, 1848. Robert Grant skillfully assembles seven pieces of circumstantial evidence in support his suggestion that this Oliver Wright from Elkhart/Kosciusko Co., Ind., is the son of 1845 John Wright of Franklin Co. Grant concludes: The implication from this evidence is clear that there was a family connection between 1848 Oliver and the family of 1809 William Wright of Franklin County. However, no direct evidence of the relationship has yet been discovered and further research will be required to confirm this identification).

Children:

+91. John D. Wright.

+92. Susannah Wright.

+93. Moses P. Wright.

+94. Newel Wright.

+95. Oliver Wright, Jr.

+96. Joseph Wright.

+97. Elizabeth Jane Wright. [Quotation from R. GRANT, 1:490 (see also 488-533)]

15. Elizabeth Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., April 4, 1786; married ibid. [1st, on April 16, 1804] William Gearhart [born ibid., ca. 1779; died ibid., July 6, 1807]. She married ibid. [2nd, Oct. 15, 1810] Iles/Ike Cooper. She died 1812).

Children (by her 1st husband):

+98. Mary Elizabeth Polly Gearhart.

99. Elizabeth Gearhart (born in Feb. 18, 1805).

+100. John W. Gearhart. [R. GRANT, 1:533-537; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 94, 63; Anc.com/PMT]

16. Mary Wright (born in Va., April 14, 1789; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Dec. 23, 1810] James Highley, Jr. [born in Va., 1788-1789; died in Richland Township, Grant Co., Ind., July 13, 1861, although his gravestone says 1860]. They farmed in Richland Township, Grant Co., Ind., 1850, and she died Oct. 4, 1856. Both were buried at Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery in Wabash, Wabash Co., Ind.).

Children:

+101. Clayborne Highley.

+102. Clark Highley.

+103. Lydia Highley.

104. Nicey Highley.

+105. Wright Highley.

+106. Mary Ann Highley.

+107. John Highley.

+108. James Riley Highley.

109. Thomas Highley (born in Franklin Co., Va., June 10, 1830; he resided unm. with his parents and worked on their farm in Grant Co., Ind., 1850). [R. GRANT, 1:537-600, citing Anon., Centennial Hist. of Grant Co., Ind., 1:288, and Anon., Biographical Memoirs of Grant Co., Ind., 879; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 114; 1850 census Grant Co., Ind., p. 215, which spells the surname Hiley; www.findagrave.com]

18. Lydia Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1805; married ibid. [Nov. 2, 1818] John R. Forbes [born in Va., ca. 1795]. Their marriage bond identifies Lydia as the daughter of John and Mary Wright. They farmed in Franklin Co., Va. I tentatively identify him as the John R. Forbes listed in the 1830 census Franklin Co., Va., with presumably himself as the one male between age 30 to 40 and with presumably his wife as the one female between age 20 and 30. This record also lists one son under age 5, two sons age 5 to 10, one male age 15 to 20 [perhaps a close relative or a son from a previous marriage?], one male ages 40 to 50 [the relationship is obscure], one daughter under age 5, one daughter age 5 to 10, one daughter age 10 to 15).

Children (partial list?):

+110. Robert Parker Forbes.

111. Mahala Forbes (born in Va., ca. 1829).

112. Mary Forbes (born ibid., ca. 1832).

113. John Forbes (born ibid., ca. 1834).

114. Solomon Forbes (born ibid., ca. 1836).

+115. William Terry Forbes.

116. Frances Forbes (born ibid., ca. 1839).

+117. Manervia Angeline Forbes. [R. GRANT, 1:601-605; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co, Va., 91; 1830 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 60; 1850 census ibid., p. 115]

19. Joseph Wright (born in Va., ca. 1800; a blacksmith, he married in Franklin Co., Va. [Feb. 23, 1824] Judith Agee [born ibid., ca. 1796]. They resided in Franklin Co., Va., 1850).

Children:

118. Eliza Jane Wright (born in Va., ca. 1827; her record is very tentative).

+119. John Adrian Wright. [R. GRANT, 1:605-621; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 251; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 162; R. N. Grant, posting on 1/26/2008 at http://genforum.genealogy.com/wright/messages/21142.html; Anc.com/PMT]

20. Mary Polly Wright (born in Bedford Co., Va., 1776; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Dec. 25, 1792] Edward Lewis [born in Bedford Co., Va., April 24, 1769; died 1847]. R. Grant lists only one child, Nancy, but I agree with Robert Grant that this family moved by 1810 to Green Co., Ky. In the 1810 census of that county, Edward Lewis resided in Greensburg, Green Co., Ky., as the father of two sons and six daughters, which closely approximates the record of three sons and five daughters born by that date according to admittedly undocumented postings on Ancestry.com/OWT and PMT).

Children:

120. Jane Lewis (born Dec. 29, 1793).

121. Betsy Lewis (born Sept. 25, 1795).

+122. James Lewis.

+123. Nancy Lewis.

124. Thomas Lewis (born Oct. 8, 1799).

125. Mary Polly Lewis.

126. Diana Dimmey Lewis (born Apr. 17, 1807).

127. Edward W. Lewis (born April 29, 1809).

128. Lucy Lewis (born Dec. 30, 1811).

129. Cynthia Ann Lewis (born Oct. 22, 1813).

130. Tabitha Lewis. [R. GRANT, 1:633-640; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co, Va., 144; 1810 census Green Co., Ky., p. 256; Anc.com/PMT and AWT, entry by DanielK]

[Subject to proof]

21. Phoebe Wright (possible; born in Va., ca. 1787; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Feb. 3, 1814] Abraham Abshire [born ibid., ca. 1782]. They farmed in Franklin Co., Va., and both died between 1860 and 1870. R. Grant lists only four children, namely those still residing in the household in the 1850 census: James L. Abshire, John Abshire, Jacob Abshire, and Susan Abshire. This is surely incomplete, however, in light of the household of Abram Abshire as found in the 1830 census Franklin Co., Va.: Males: under age 5, 2; age 40 to 50, 1; Females: age 5 to 10, 3; age 10 to 15, 2; age 15 to 20, 2; age 60 to 70, 1. This census record raises as many problems as it solves. It lists zero male children for ages 5 to 10, but this oddly ignores James L. Abshire, confirmed by the 1850 census as born ca. 1823. The 2 males under age 5 would be John [who was born on a borderline ca. 1825] and Jacob [born ca. 1828]. R. Grant lists no daughters born 1830 or earlier, yet the 1830 census lists 7 females, age 5 to 10, some of whom were presumably daughters, although others were apparently orphaned nieces or other close relatives. Undocumented postings on Ancestry.com/OWT list three daughters born 1830 or earlier, although their ages do not quite correspond to the ages given in the census. I tentatively list all these daughters from the Ancestry.com record as a tentative starting point for further research. One of these internet (Ancestry.com) daughters—Mary Polly—is actually well documented, as my later entry for her explains. The Ancestry.com posting, confirmed by marriage and census records for Franklin Co., Va., lists her as the wife of Peter Fisher).

Children:

+131. Permalia Abshire.

+132. Mary Polly Abshire.

+133. Christina Teanor Abshire.

+134. James Luke Abshire.

135. John Abshire (born in Va., ca. 1825).

136. Elizabeth Eliza Jane Abshire (born ibid., ca. 1827; she is listed only by Ancestry.com/OWT, who lists her as marrying William Mills and having numerous descendants).

+137. Jacob Abshire.

138. Susan Abshire (born in Va., ca. 1831). [R. GRANT, 1:640-680; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 15; 1830 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 102; 1850 census ibid., p. 128; 1860 census ibid., p. 177; Anc.com/OWT, where numerous postings give conflicting lists of children]

22. Berry Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1787; married ibid. [Oct. 1, 1810] Polly Kelly [born in Salem, Franklin Co., Va., perhaps ca. 1795]. He consistently appears as a tax payer in Franklin Co., Va., until 1840. As R. Grant points out, the 1840 census contains only one Berry Wright, who resided with his family in Jackson Township, Wayne Co., Ind. The household contains: 1 male, aged 50-60; 2 males aged 15-20; 1 male aged 10-15; 1 female, aged 10-15, and 1 female aged 5-10. As Grant notes, This listing is consistent with the known information about Berry Wright and his family and is almost certainly Berry Wright, the son of 1823 James Wright of Franklin County. Even after 1840, however, Berry Wright continued to own 120 acres in his name in Franklin Co., Va. In the 1850 census of Huntington Co., Ind., we find: Mary Wright, age 50, born in Va.; Thomas Wright, age 20, farmer, born in Va.; Jane Wright, age 16, born in Va.; Berry Wright, age 15, laborer, born in Va. As Grant observes: This record indicates that Mary Wright was born in about 1800, which would be too late [for] her marriage in 1810 and, therefore, this was either not Mary [Kelly] Wright or her age was listed incorrectly. The Berry Wright listed in the household may have been the son of Armistead Basil Wright and grandson of Berry Wright).

Children:

139. James Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1811; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Nov. 6, 1837] Mary Polly Doran).

+140. Armistead Basil Wright (probable).

+141. Eleanor Wright.

142. Isabelle Wright (born in Va., April 30, 1828; married in Wayne Co., Ind. [Nov. 1, 1846] Abraham Thralls. She died in Wayne Co., Ind., Sept. 27, 1907, and she was buried at West Lawn Cemetery in Hagerstown, Ind.).

143. Thomas Wright (probable; born in Va., ca. 1830).

144. Jane Wright (probable; born ibid., ca. 1834).

145. Berry Wright, Jr. (probable; born ibid., ca. 1835). [Quotations from R. GRANT, 1:714 and 719 (see also 1:681-737); M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 249-250; 1850 census Huntington Co., Ind., p. 70; Anc.com/PMT]

23. George Wright (later styled George Wright Stiller; born ca. 1790; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Dec. 18, 1813] Susannah Abshire [born in Va., ca. 1797]. He begins to appear annually in the personal property and land tax lists in Franklin Co., Va., in 1810. He appears in the 1840 census ibid. with his wife, two sons, five daughters, and one male, age 30-40, too old to be a son, but apparently a close relative. The 1845 property tax list ibid. notes for his residence that he had moved west. He unfortunately has not been located in the 1850 census, but by 1860 he was farming in Wabash Co., Ind.).

Children:

146. Frances Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1815; married ibid. [Jan. 2, 1836] John Wray, Jr. [died Jan. 28, 1841]).

+147. James Wright (probable).

+148. Edward A. Wright.

149. George N. Wright. [R. GRANT, 1:737-784, citing numerous Franklin Co., Va., tax records and also the 1840 census but failing to cite the page. He clearly refers to the entry to George L. Wright, p. 30 in the 1840 census. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1860 census Wabash Co., Ind., p. 62]

24. Jane Wright (born in Va., May 10, 1793; married [1st] ___ Wright, and she married in Franklin Co., Va. [2nd, on Oct. 6, 1823] Barnabas Arthur [born in Va., ca. 1803]. Actually, we know only that Jane Wright had a daughter named Ursula Ursley Wright. According to Marshall Wingfield’s Marriage Bonds of Franklin County Virginia 1786-1858, Ursula appears in the Franklin Co. marriage records as Usley [sic] Rite, daughter of Jane and Burnice [sic; read ‘Barnabas’] Kingery, stepfather. As R. Grant points out, Since Ursley Wright’s surname might be taken from her father or mother, it is unclear whether Jane was married or not at the time of Ursley’s birth. Another possibility, I suppose, is that Jane had a very brief and unhappy marriage that ended in divorce or abandonment, and that she could not bring herself to use her ex-husband’s surname for herself or her child.

In any event, Jane and her [second?] husband Barnabas resided in Franklin Co., Va., where he was a blacksmith. She died in Franklin Co., Va., Oct. 30, 1864. An undocumented posting by Kathie Trent Kingery on Ancestry.com/PMT gives the name of Jane Wright’s first husband as James Arthur Wright. She gives the name of this James A. Wright’s wife [the mother of Ursula Wright], however, as Bernice___).

Child (by her 1st husband):

+150. Ursula Wright.

Children (by her 2nd husband):

+151. Thomas R. Arthur.

152. Margaret Arthur (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1829).

+153. John Barnabas Arthur.

154. Nancy Arthur (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1831).

+155. William Goodman Arthur. [Quotation from R. GRANT, 1:785 (see also 1:785-795, citing Genevieve Wright Smith’s DAR approved application #388187 and Jane W. Arthur’s death record, Franklin Co., Va. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 24; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 126; 1860 census ibid., p. 184; Anc.com/PMT]

26. James Grant Wright (born in Va., ca. 1800; married in Montgomery Co., Va. [1st, on Jan. 9, 1827] Ann[a] King. He married in Franklin Co., Va. [2nd, on April 13, 1840] Susannah Anna Overfelt [born in Va., ca. 1805]. They farmed in Franklin Co., Va.).

Children (by his 1st wife):

+156. James Grant Wright, Jr.

157.___Wright (daughter; inferred from the 1840 census; she died young, ante 1850 census).

+158. Anthony K. Wright.

Child (by either his 1st or 2nd wife):

159. Margaret Wright (born in Va., ca. 1840; died unm. in Franklin Co., Va., Dec. 15, 1915, although the contradictory death record gives her age at death as 68 years, 2 months, 11 days).

Child (by his 2nd wife):

160. Pamelia/Permelia Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., June 1841; married ibid. [Jan. 2, 1889] William H. Beckner [born ibid., Feb. 1842; farmer]. R. Grant mentions no children. Their record is extremely confused. They appear in the 1900 census with Permelia listed as the mother of two children. This census lists only one child, a daughter Gertrude, born Dec. 1880, nine years before their reported marriage. The 1910 census lists Permelia Wright as a widow in Little Creek, Franklin Co., Va., with her grandchild Harry Lynch [born in Va., ca. 1896; at the age of thirteen, his occupation was listed as laborer at odd jobs, 1910]. Grant reports [1:838] without E.D. or page number an 1880 census Franklin Co., Va. record of Wm Beckner and wife Permelia which I cannot locate in the on-line census index). [R. GRANT, 1:796-840, citing 1840 census Franklin Co., Va. (no page given; he surely means the entry for James G. Wright, p. 318) and Genevieve Wright Smith, DAR approved application #388187; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 127; 1900 census ibid., E.D. 29, p. 14A (for Pamelia and William Beckner); 1910 census ibid., E.D. 38, p. 3A (for Pamelia Beckner)]

27. Margaret Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1806-1810; married ibid. [April 21, 1831] Anthony King [born in Montgomery Co., Va., Oct. 2 or 20, 1810; died in Floyd Co., Va.]. She died in Floyd Co., Va., July 13, 1872).

Children:

+161. Mary Ann King.

+162. Margaret Jane King.

+163. George Anthony King.

164. Martha King (born in Floyd Co., Va., ca. 1841).

165. John King (born ibid., ca. 1843).

166. Pheba King (born ibid., ca. 1845).

+167. Michael O. King. [R. GRANT, 1:840-870, citing 1831 Franklin Co., Va., marriage record, 1872 Floyd Co., Va. death record, and Genevieve Wright Smith, DAR approved application #388187; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 135; 1850 census Floyd Co., Va., pp. 393-394]

28. John B. Wright (born in Va., ca. 1808; a farmer, he married in Franklin Co., Va. [Dec. 29, 1831] Jemima Abshire [born in Va., ca. 1804]. They resided in Franklin Co., Va., where he lived apparently as a widower on the farm of his oldest son George in Maggodee District, 1880. John died July 15, 1896).

Children:

+168. Nancy Wright.

169. James G. Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1832; married ibid. [1st, on Aug. 4, 1859] his 2nd cousin, Mary Mills [born ibid., ca. 1839; she = #246]. As a widower, he later married ibid. [2nd, on Oct. 19, 1892] Irena Mills).

+170. Abraham H. Wright.

171. Robert Wright.

172. Margaret Jane Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., June 27, 1840; married ibid. [Oct. 25, 1859] her 2nd cousin, Colonel William Mills [born Sept. 8, 1835; #244, q.v. for issue, he died March 7, 1923]. She died April 15, 1898).

+173. William J. Wright.

+174. George Greenberry Wright.

175. Joseph Wright (born in Va., ca. 1849). [R. GRANT, 1:870-958, citing Genevieve Wright Smith, DAR approved application #388187, numerous Franklin Co. records, including personal property tax lists, 1832-1850, and death record of John B. Wright. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 126; 1880 census ibid., E.D. 106, p. 133C]

29. Goodman A. Wright (born in Boones Mill, Franklin Co., Va., Oct. 23, 1813; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Oct. 27, 1835] Elizabeth Jane Jamison [born in Boones Mill, Va., Nov. 6, 1806; as a widow, she resided at times with her son John Jacob Wright, who provided a separate room where she could smoke her clay pipe in peace. She died in Pomona, Franklin Co., Kans., Oct. 1, 1890]. Soon after their marriage, they settled on three acres located about five miles west of Boones Mill on the Raccoon branch of Little Creek in Franklin Co., Va. He then pursued his career as a blacksmith and wheelwright. A physically powerful man, he was also highly sought after as a harvester.

He paid personal property taxes in Franklin Co., Va., until 1855, and soon afterward he headed west in a covered wagon, traveling up the Kanawha Valley of what is now West Virginia, then across the Ohio River, and on to Wabash, Wabash Co., Ind. Here his oldest daughter Catherine soon married, but died just a year later, presumably in childbirth. About 1857 Goodman and his family moved to Jackson Township, Elkhart Co., Ind., and by 1870 they moved further west to Marion Township, Douglas Co., Kans. Members of the Church of the Brethren, they lived much of their life in a half log cabin with but two rooms. Although never financially prosperous, they were rich in the respect of their friends and in their tolerance to the rights and privileges of others. He died in Pomona, Kans., Sept. 4, 1886, and both were buried at the Brethren’s Cemetery in Appanoose, Douglas Co., Kans.).

Children:

176. Catharine Wright (born in Va., ca. 1837; married in Wabash Co., Ind., ___, and she died a year afterward).

+177. John Jacob Wright.

+178. Sarah Wright.

+179. Phoebe Wright.

180. Samuel Wright (born in Va., ca. 1850).

181. Jane Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., Aug. 30, 1853; absent in the 1860 census, she apparently died young). [Quotation from R. GRANT, 1:975 (see also 1:958-1039), citing numerous records including DAR application #388187, Genevieve Wright Smith. See also: M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 129; 1860 census Elkhart Co., Ind., p. 503 (the on-line census index misreads the surname as Dewright); 1870 census Douglas Co., Kans., p. 404 (this census also lists a Melvin Wright, born in Kans., age 1, whose relationship is obscure)]

30. Mary Wright (born in Va., ca. 1778; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Aug. 4, 1800] Henry Smith [born in Va., ca. 1775]. They resided with their unm. sons on their farm in Franklin Co., Va., 1850. Mary resided as a widow in 1860 with her son James on their farm near Gills Creek, Franklin Co., Va.).

Children:

182. John Smith (born in Va., ca. 1803; resided on his brother James’s farm in Franklin Co., Va., 1860).

183. James W. Smith (born in Va., ca. 1817; a farmer, he resided in Franklin Co., Va.). [R. GRANT, 2:1108-1113; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 87; 1860 census ibid., p. 254; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 210]

31. John Anthony Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., ca. 1775; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Feb. 8, 1800] Elizabeth Abshire [born in Va., ca. 1790; resided as a widow in Franklin Co., Va., 1850 and 1860. Her date of death may be closely approximated by a deed concerning the disposition of her estate in the court of Franklin Co., Va., dated Dec. 12, 1864]. At one time, he owned over 500 acres on Maggodee Creek, Franklin Co., Va. He apparently died early in 1847, for a hearing to determine the disposition of his assets was held in the court of Franklin Co., Va., May 15, 1847).

Children:

+184. Mary Wright.

185. Nancy Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., Oct. 17, 1803; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Jan. 13, 1825] her 1st cousin, once removed, Pendleton Wright [he = #43, q.v. for issue]).

+186. Skelton Wright.

+187. Wright (or Right) W. Wright.

+188. Matthew W. Wright.

+189. John Bur(r)ell Wright.

190. Omey/Ome Wright (born in Va., May 3, 1814; married [July 7, 1835] John Nunnaly/Nunley. This family is extremely confused and elusive. They are sometimes equated with the family of John and Oney Nunley who appear in the 1860 census Washington Co., Va., with their five children: James, Maria, Anderson, Alexander, and Leo Davidson Nunley. This John and Oney, however, were born [at least according to this garbled census record] in ca. 1825 and 1830 respectively, which makes them much too young to be our Omey and John. The befuddled census taker, however, lists their five children as varying in age from 18 to 7, suggesting that the parents were apparently much older than the census portrays them. Like Grant, I cannot find them in the 1850 census).

191. Asa Wright (born in Va., March 26, 1816; married in Franklin Co., Va. [Oct. 19, 1841] Mary Huddleston [born in Va., ca. 1816; still living on Feb. 5, 1892, when she signed a deed in Franklin Co., Va., she died ante 1900]. They farmed in Franklin Co., Va., where he was a charter member of the Boones Mill Baptist Church. He d.s.p. ca. 1901, and his will was probated in Franklin Co., Va., Aug. 5, 1901).

+192. Rhoda Wright.

+193. William H. Wright.

+194. James Wright.

+195. Lewis Wright.

+196. Otey Wright. [R. GRANT, 2:1113-1470, citing Fam. Bible Record in the Va. Historical Society, numerous Franklin Co. personal property tax lists, and other records, including Chancery Court Order Bk. 1, dated May 13, 1847, Oct. 11, 1849, and Deed Bk. 27:399; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 118; 1860 census ibid., p. 297]

33. George Finney Wright (born in Va., ca. 1785; married in Franklin Co., Va. [April 5, 1813] Catharine or Keziah/Kessiah Simmons. He farmed in Franklin Co., Va., where he owned over 700 acres, and even at the age of 85 in the 1870 census he is listed as farmer).

Children:

197. Ammon Wright (born in Va., ca. 1814; resided unm. on his father’s farm in Franklin Co., Va., 1850).

198. Marquis/Markis D. L. Wright (possible; born in Va., ca. 1817; an inventory of his estate in Franklin Co., Va., is dated Feb. 29, 1876). [R. GRANT, 2:1492-1611, citing numerous Franklin Co., Va., records; M. WINGFIELD, Marriage Bonds of Franklin Co., Va., 250; 1850 census Franklin Co., Va., p. 113; 1860 census ibid., p. 320; 1870 census ibid., p. 293]

34. Hiram Wright (born in Va., ca. 1786; married in Franklin Co., Va. [March 6, 1809] Elizabeth Brockman [born in Va., ca. 1787]. He owned a 217-acre farm in Franklin Co., Va., and in 1821 was listed as the owner of five slaves. By 1831 he had moved to Carroll Co., Ga., and by 1840 to Paulding Co., Ga. In 1850 they were farming in Coosa District, Coosa Co., Ala.).

Children:

199. Mehala/Mehalia Wright (born in Franklin Co., Va., May 27, 1810).

+200. Catherine Wright.

201.