In October 2008, I posted the will of my ancestor George Wright (1780–1853) of Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio ["Will of George Wright (1853), Brown County, Ohio," 9 Oct 2008]. This fall I went back to George in earnest — part of a cluster study of every Wright household in Clermont, Brown, Adams, and Highland counties from Ohio statehood to 1850 — and the will was one of the first records I re-read, this time from the recorded copy itself (Brown County Will Records, vol. 3, pp. 99–100). Eighteen years on, here is what the record actually says, what it doesn't say, and what I've had to correct.
What the will provides
George made his will in August 1845. His wife Elizabeth (Robins) Wright received a widow's life interest only — a room, furniture, and the rent of the farm — not the land itself. His sons John Wright and Samuel P. Wright were provided for, as were two daughters by way of small annuities: Susanna was to receive $10 a year for three years, and Sarah $10 a year for two years. George named three executors: his sons John and Samuel P., and "my brother Joseph Wright." Samuel and Joseph both declined to serve; John qualified alone, posting a $600 bond.
Untangling the dates
Three dates attached to this will have been conflated in family trees — including, at times, my own notes. The probate journal (vol. 1, p. 172) shows the will was probated on 22 August 1853, about two weeks after George's death on 5 August 1853. The recorded copy in the will book is endorsed 23 August 1853 — the day it was recorded, not the day it was probated. John's executor's account was filed 5 March 1856, and the estate was finally settled 9 November 1858, more than five years after George died. As for the will's own date: two careful readings of the date line give different days — the 10th and the 18th of August 1845. Until the original is examined again, I'm citing it honestly as August 1845.
The children — and one daughter who isn't
The will names four children: John, Samuel P., Susanna, and Sarah. Working from the full record set, their marriages are: John to Ann Wardlow (9 Sep 1834); Samuel Pangburn Wright to Rebecca Ruth Hall (17 Apr 1845 — the date sometimes given as 2 June 1845 is a misreading of the recording date); Sarah to Allen Hendrixson (29 Oct 1839); and Susanna, most probably, to Samuel Summers in Henry County, Indiana (22 Jan 1839).
That last identification matters, because there is a decoy. A Susanna Wright married William Riley Hall in Brown County on 29 Oct 1840, and she has been attached to George's family in tree after tree — a tidy story, since her husband's sister Rebecca married George's son Samuel. But that Susanna was not George's daughter. Her 1880 census entry shows both of her parents born in Pennsylvania, and she went on to marry Sidney Ogden in 1857 after Hall's death. She belongs to some other Wright family, still unidentified.
One more absence explained: compiled lists of George's children include a daughter Asenath (born 25 Jun 1825), who does not appear in the 1845 will. She isn't missing because she was cut out — she died 28 Jul 1830, aged five, fifteen years before the will was written.
What we know about George's parents — and don't
Three deeds prove George's mother: in 1808 George conveyed Clermont County land to "my Mother Sarah Wright Widow"; in 1812 Sarah conveyed land to "my son George Wright"; and George's own 1827 deed recites that the land was "deeded to George Wright by his mother the widow Wright." His father was probably the John Wright who died in Clermont County about 1801, but no record I have found states that in so many words — probable, not proven. Sarah's maiden name appears as "Fleming" in compiled sources; I have found no primary record for it, and it should be treated as unproven.
Elizabeth's parentage: still an open question
George's wife Elizabeth Robins (married 27 Jan 1812 in Adams County — a date that comes from Dumford's compiled Shaw Genealogy, since the original Adams County Marriage Book #1 survives at the West Union courthouse but has never been filmed) remains unplaced. I have tested the usual candidates against the records: Obadiah Robins of Allegheny County is unproven (no record names any child of his); Daniel Robins of Adams County is possible as a man, but his 1790 census household contains only one female — there is no room in it for Elizabeth, age nine. Current work is focused on a John Robins whose 1790 Washington County, Pennsylvania household held five females. Elizabeth herself left no will or estate in Brown County — a proven negative, and consistent with the life interest her husband's will gave her.
What's next
The cluster study continues: the John Robins household reconstruction, James Wright's 1899 Adams County probate file, and George's Brown County tax-list run (the FamilySearch images are currently blocked, so that one may wait for a research trip). George's WikiTree profile (Wright-61666) now carries these research notes with full citations, and I'll update this post's predecessor with a link forward rather than rewriting it — the 2008 post stands as part of the record of how this research has grown.
Sources: Brown County, Ohio, Will Records vol. 3, pp. 99–100; Probate Journal vol. 1, p. 172; Clermont and Brown County deed records (1808, 1812, 1827); Brown County marriage records; 1850 and 1880 U.S. censuses. Verdicts in this post follow the evidence grades I use in my research notes: proven, probable, possible, unproven, contradicted.
