James Wright History

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The James Wright History has been well documented.

The Wright Family was among one of the first to settle in America,

we have this line proved to 1671

Our lineage starts with James Wright born in 1671

and first found in

Nottingham Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

It is said that he is from descendants of Yorkshire, England.

The Quaker movement started in England,

our root ancestors came to Pennsylvania (Hope)

and then moved to Virginia (Monocacy),

moved to South Carolina (Bush River),

moved to Tennessee (Greene Co.),

Ohio (Grant Co.),

Indiana and then Iowa.

James Wright sailed from Bristol as part of "Penn's Fleet" in 1682.

He was taxed in Chester Co., Penn. 1718-1726.

He moved his family briefly to Monocacy, Maryland, and to Hopewell, Virginia with a company of Quaker settlers.

From a book on Quaker ministers come the following on

James Wright

"An elder of Hopewell Monthly meeting, was one of the first settlers in that part of Virginia.

He was a sober, honest man, grave in manners, and solid and weighty in his conversations."

Continuing our Wright history; He was diligent in the attendance of religious meetings,

exemplary in humble waiting therein, and of a sound mind and judgment.

He was cautious of giving just offence to any one,

and was earnestly concerned for the unity of the brethren, and the peace of the church.

He appeared, say his friends, concerning him, for some time before his last illness

as one who had finished his last day's work, and who was waiting for his change.

James Wright History

James Wright History

He was a distinguished minister of Friends, and with certificates from

 Hopewell Monthly Meeting traveled widely in the exercise of his ministry.

He sustained much loss at the time of the French and Indian War

and with his wife Mary was the object of much concern

of the Meeting For Sufferings in Philadelphia,

which issued instructions that one=fifth of the money sent at that time

for relief of Friends in the ravaged district

"be lay'd out for the Use of aged Friends James Wright & His Wife."

At the same time the clerk of Hopewell Monthly Meeting refers to them as follows:

"Also our ancient Friends James Wright and his Wife are much reduced

 being driven from their Habitation and unable to Labour for a lively hood.""

From "Immigration of the Irish Quakers" note shows the James Wright

was appointed by the New Garden Monthly Meeting to

write Marriage Certificates for friends of Nottingham MM.

James Wright of the James Wright History, witnessed the will of Josiah Ballinger in 1748.

 He and Mary witnessed the will of John Nicklin on October 10, 1750

along with Sarah Pickering. Mary wrote her will on May 8, 1763 that was proved Mar. 1764.

In it she names her sons, Thomas, James, Isaac, and John;

daughters, Mary Hannah, Martha, Elizabeth, Ann and Sarah Pickering,

and Lidia; and grandson, Thomas Wright, son of Thomas and Esther Wright.

James Wright got married in about 1708.

 It has been shown that his wife is Mary Bowater or Mary Davis.

The Wright history shows his wife Mary, my research points me completely

to Mary Bowater whom was born February 12th, 1688 or 1689

 in Stepney Parrish, Steeplefields, near London, England.

The James Wright History got much larger.....

James Wright and Mary Bowater had 11 children together;

Mary born June 3rd, 1708, Hannah on January 24th, 1710,

Martha on February 14th, 1713, Elizabeth on November 23rd, 1714,

John on November 4th, 1716, James on November 8th, 1718,

 Thomas on January 14th, 1720, Isaac on March 25th, 1723,

Ann on January 1725, Sarah on March 15th, about 1729 and Lidia on August 31st, 1730.

The colony settled along what was known as the Great Wagon Road,

a road that wound its way through the Shenandoah Valley into the Carolinas.

The Colony was located near the present day town of Benton, Virginia.

In early May of 1754 a young British army officer named George Washington,

 visited the Colony accompanied by a famous Indian Chief named Half King,

his braves and a British army force of 150 men. George Washington,

the father of our country, was on his way to engage the

French and their Indian allies to set the French and Indian War in motion.

Two years later, in Mary of 1756, Britain almost absent mindedly,

got around to declaring War on France. The French retaliated with a vengeance,

sending wave after wave of well armed Indian warriors into the Shenandoah Valley,

massacring men, women and children which directly affected our Wright history.

 A big tragedy for our James Wright history; In 1759

the Quaker Colony where the Wrights lived was attacked

and James and his wife were killed and scalped.

Soon after, John Wright, his Wife Rachel, and their children, in frustration and grief,

moved to a Quaker Colony near present day Greensboro, North Carolina.

It was at this point the Quakers established the first college in North Carolina.

The College still exists and is called Guilford.

It is just one of many institutions of higher learning found by the Quakers in early America.

James and Mary Wright had 11 children, the 5th oldest was John C. Wright born November 4th, 1716.

To learn more about our Wright History and continuing the story of John C. Wright click on the link below.

JOHN WRIGHT B. November 4th, 1716

Wright History - 1671-1759/1716-1789/1748-1797/1771-Present

WEAR THE WRIGHT NAME PROUD!

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