Sometime ago I was contacted by a Wright researcher, Newell Wright, who found a posting I had placed on the WRIGHT-L mailing list back in 1997 and 2002.
He believes that his paternal 3rd-great grandmother, Kate (aka Catherine or Cate) Wright might be the same as my maternal 5th-great grandaunt, Catherine Wright, daughter of John and Sarah (Fleming) Wright.
Newell's email stated the following information about the family :
My paternal 3rd great grand-mother Kate (aka Catherine or Cate)
Wright married Robert Wright (b 1784 Augusta Co., VA son of John and Margaret
(McKittrick) Wright) on 11 April 1811 in Adams Co., OH. Kate
Wright was born in KY likely between 1787 and 1790. Known children of
Robert Wright and Kate Wright are:
John Wright 1813 – 1841 OH
Samuel Milton Wright 1815 – 1880 IA
James Wright 1817 – 1871 KS
Sarah Ann Wright 1819 – 1894 KS
Isaac Newton Wright 1824 – 1872 KS (my ancestor)
Elvira Wright 1829 – 1867 KS
Amanda Wright 1831 IN – 1867 KS
(All believed to be born in Adams/Brown Co., OH except for Amanda
who was born in Fountain Co., IN)
The information that I have on my maternal 5th-great grandaunt, Catherine, was that she was born May 12, 1789 (no source data), the daughter of John and Sarah (Fleming) Wright.
There are several Wright families in the Adams/Brown/Highland County, Ohio area that I haven't yet sorted out. What led Newell to contact me was studying the migration pattern of Revolutionary War soldier Robert Wright (1758-1840 brother of my John) from Cambridge to Bordentown; then Philadelphia, move to Westmoreland Co., PA, Mason County, KY and then to Brown County, Ohio. His ancestor, William Wright had a migratory pattern from Ireland to Augusta Co., VA and then to Kentucky/Ohio. There were five brothers in this family. He states further:
Of the five brothers, I descend from John Wright and Margaret
McKittrick who settled north of Decatur, Byrd Twp, Brown Co., OH. John Wright
(bef 1757 - 1823) also served in Am Revolution and fortunately
several descendants applied to DAR for membership and did a fair job
of documenting his children and their respective spouses. John Wright
(bef 1757 - 1823) death has been taken from estate documents dated Sep 1823
that were were obtained from Brown County, OH which is different that the
"collective" date of 1824. Caldwell has William, James and
Alexander settling in Highland Co. Ohio and Samuel settling on Cherry Fork,
Wayne Twp,. Adams Co.
These early Wright families were in Brown County in Byrd Twp. at the same time my Wrights were in Pleasant Twp. Regarding his ancestor, Robert, he wrote further:
After Robert and Katy's 11 Apr 1811 marriage by Wm Baldridge in
Adams Co (Marriage Bk 1, pg 111)., Robert was enumerated in Byrd Twp., Brown
Co., Ohio in 1820 and 1830 with family member's ages that match Katy and
children's ages. Robert was again enumerated in 1840 Fountain Co., IN
and 1850 District 13 (Ashland) Wapello Co., IA with children, but not with Katy
and all children in IN or IA. Note, that on 21 Feb 1811 Wm Baldridge
married another Robert Wright, also born 1784 VA, but son of Samuel Wright
Wayne Twp., Adams Co., to Polly Kerr. This Robert and Poly subsequently
moved to and died in Clinton, IN. I mention this in that members of my
family were perplexed and frustrated for many of years by the number of
Wrights in Brown/Adams Co.
In his initial email, Newell left me with some questions that I wasn't able to answer. I'm posting them here in hopes that others who may be related to these families can respond.
After going for so many decades with no understanding of the MA
Wrights in Brown Co., your information has left me with a simple explanation to
uncountable hours of family discussions. I may as
well apologize now for the many questions that are swirling in my
head. It will take me a while to sort through them. However, if you
would be so kind to respond to the following three questions when you find
time?
1. Do you know if Robert (1758
MA - 1840) or John Wright (1755 MA - 1810) left wills or estate documents
that refer to heirs?
2. To your knowledge, did other
Wright families settle in what subsequently became Brown Co., Ohio
than descendants of John and Hannah (Fessenden) Wright and John and
Margaret (McKittrick) Wright?
3. Do you have source for date and place
of birth for Catherine and her KY born siblings?
Unfortunately, at this time the sources for the information I have on this line is unknown, probably from a family group sheet compiled by someone when in pre-computer days. I do not know if there were other Wright families that settled in the area beside "my" Wright line and the John and Margaret (McKittrick) Wright line. As for the wills, I might have them in my files, but I haven't put my hands on them yet.
