Wright Family
Photo Album
Wright Families of Overton & Fentress Counties, Tennessee
This site, created by the astounding genealogical researcher, Jerry Wright Jordan, has a tremendous amount of information about related surnames, but the site has not been updated since December, 2005.
Click here to visit the site. Be sure to follow all the links for complete information about your Wright and related families.
If you have Cherokee ancestry, please review the work Jerry has placed on-line through her transcription of the Cherokee by Blood series.
Related surnames on Jerry Jordan’s Wright Web site:
Adams Albertson Allred
Bales Barden Beaty Bertram Bethel Bilbrey Billy Black Boswell Boyl Braham Brock Brown Burford Byrd
Cannon Carney Carpenter Charter Chasteen Choate Claiborn Cole Colvin Copeland Copley Cowan Cox Crabtree Craig Cranford Craven Crocket Cully
Dale Davis Doran Dyer
Edmondson Edwards
Farris Flowers Frogge Fry
Garrett Gentry Golden Goode Graham Gravel Green Guthrie
Halbert Hale Hall Hancock Harris Hayter Hendon Hill Hinds Holbert Hopkins Hoppons Howard Huddleston Hudson Humphries Hunt Hutcherson
Isbill
Jesse John Jonathan Jones
Keith King Kirk Knox
Lamar Lawson Ledford Linder Lindley Lindsey Loy Lynn
Massengill Masters McFarland McGee McLendon Miller Mills Mullinix Murphy
Norris Nye
Osburn Overton Owens
Patrick Patton Paul Pearson Peavyhouse Penicuff Pierce Price Prichard Putman
Rains Ramsey Reagan Rebecca Reeder Reeser Richardson Ritchie Roberts Robinson Rocket
Scott Selby Sells Sharp Shaver Shelton Shook Simpson Small Smith Solomon Spurlock Stephens Storie Stringfield
Taylor Terrel Thacker Thomas Thompson
Vaughn
Wade Walker Warren Watson Westmoreland Wigley William Winningham Wood Woods Worley Wright Write
York Young
Zenor
Joseph Samuel Wright
Contributed by Sharon Wright
Father born in Kentucky 1819, and Mother born in 1818 North Carolina.
They lived in Overton County, TN, and part of their children born here. Then moved on a wagon train with other people from Overton county to Carroll County, Arkansas, in the Dry Fork area.
Joseph Samuel WRIGHT was a Methodist Episcopal Church South Minister, Farmer, Teacher and Eye Doctor. He was born July 31, 1819, in Kentucky, and we think his family was from N.C. He married Sarah Ababiah BROWN between 1839-1840. Her parents were Richard and Hannah BROWN.
They moved the WRIGHT family to Dry Fork, Carroll County, Arkansas on a wagon train. The last child born in TN was on April 07, 1850, and the next one born was in Arkansas on October 25, 1852. Sarah the first wife died between 1852-1857. They had 8 children: James Mitchell WRIGHT married Susan Minerva HEDGESPETH, Eliza A. WRIGHT died 1859. Obediah Richard WRIGHT married Saphronia Franzine FULTZ. John M. WRIGHT infant death. Hannah Brown WRIGHT married Richard T. CHADWICK and William GILSTRAP. Linnuary J. WRIGHT married Asbury OAKLEY. Armina Matilda WRIGHT married George Allen CHADWICK. Rachel Amanda WRIGHT married James Andrew WHITELEY.
After his first wife died he married Frances Ann ALLRED. They had 13 children: Louis Burr, Sarah Melvina, Thomas Bradley, Mary Ann, Nancy Jane, Catherine Alice, Abner Fletcher, Emma Josephine, Margaret Isabel, Iredale Dillard, William Worth, Martha Smith, Benjamin Franklin Wright.
and others went to Cumberland Co., KY and subsequently to Cole Co., Illinois.
Contributed by Paul Lemasters
“Death.” WRIGHT–On the 13th inst., at Sunbright, Debbie Caroline, daughter of the Rev. A.B. WRIGHT and Cynthia S. WRIGHT, lateof Jamestown, Fentress Co., Tn, aged twenty. [Source: Plateau Gazette, Rugby, Morgan Co., Tn., Thurs., 24 January 1884, Vol. IV, No. 3, p2.]
“Notes and Comments.” For the following items we are indebted to the Sunbright Dispatch:-The Rev. A.B. WRIGHT lost his daughter, Debbie Caroline, by death, on the 13th inst. [Source: Plateau Gazette, Rugby, Morgan Co., Tn, Thurs., 24 Jan. 1884, Vol. IV, No. 3, p2.]
“Jamestown Letter.” Miss WRIGHT died at her home near Armathwaite, Monday. Her remains were deposited in the cemetery at this place Tuesday. She was very old and always has been highly respected. [Source: Rugby Gazette, Rugby, Morgan Co., Tn, Sat., 13 June 1885, Vol. V, No. 24.]
These excerpts from the History of Fentress County, Tennessee, published by the Fentress County Historical Society in 1987, were transcribed by Michael Allen in 2000. See notes at the end.
Matthew D. Wright1
by Mary Shorter
Matthew D. Wright was born in Jedburgh, Scotland about one hundred miles from the border of England June 5, 1787. At the age of 14 he would sell himself into bondage for seven years. During the seven years, he served on board a ship, in the hopes of reaching America. Once he reached America, he settled in New Hanover, North Carolina. In 1814 he joined the second group of people led by Stockley Donaldson [sic] and John Robinson across the old Daniel Boone trail into the new State of Tennessee. Matthew would use the land granted to him by these two men to form a large farm. Matthew was very active politically. He served on the first civic legislature formed by John Clemens, John Oteir, James Reagan, Matthew Wright.
Matthew also established a friendship with John M. Clemens. John and his wife, Jane Lamptson, moved to Obed’s town in 1823. John and Jane brought three Negro slaves, as a gift from her father. John purchased 75,000 acres of land around Obed’s Town. While residents of Obed’s Town, John along with Matthew, James, and John would see the Obed’s Town name change to Jamestown. These four men had hope that Jamestown would become a large city. John and Jane Clemens would also have four of their children born in Jamestown. They being Orion, Benjamin, Pamela and Margaret. John would later, around 1835, move to Monroe County, Missouri as he lost most of his fortune in the 1832 crash. Their son, Mark Twain, would be born in Missouri in 1835. Orion would later trade 10,000 acres of the Fentress County land for a house and lot in Corry, Pennsylvania.
Matthew as a resident of the Indian Creek area of Fentress County, along with his wife, would have four children. They were: (1) Jacob born in 1822, Margaret born in 1827, William born in 1829 and Matthew born in 1830. His brother, Malachi Wright, would join him in Fentress County. His son, Jacob, became a well known farmer and landowner in Fentress County, his son, Matthew, would become a merchant, his son, William, would become a Large farmer, and his daughter, Margaret, would married John Allred.
In the 1850 census, the Matthew Wright household included: Margaret born in 1827, William born in 1829, Jacob born in 1822, Matthew born in 1830. Also Jacob’s wife, America Hinds two children James born in 1849 and Nina born in 1850.
1Author’s Notes – There may be some confusion over this Matthew D. Wright and Matthew W. Wright, both are attributed as the the father of Jacob who married America Hinds.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_matd.htm
Matthew W. Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Matthew W. Wright was born April 14, 1789, in Maryland, and died November 7, 1865, in Fentress County, Tennessee. He was married by December 1814, or earlier, to Margaret Ann Ritchie, who was born July 5, 1790, in Virginia, and died March 11, 1882, in Fentress County. He had 2 older brothers, David Wright, Sr. and John Wright. I don’t know the names of their parents, nor Margaret’s either. I first saw the name of Matthew W. and 2 of his sons, Mathias and Riley Matthew Wright, all listed by the name Matthew Wright, in the 1850 Fentress County census records with their families. I then learned that the middle Matthew, in age, was my great-grandfather Mathias Wright. But I thought that his parents had died back in Virginia. Then Wilma (Reagan) Pinckley, my 4th cousin, in Jamestown, Tennessee, told me that Matthew W. and Margaret Ann Wright were Mathias’s parents; and that they were buried in the old George Allred Cemetery, near Manson, in Fentress County. Then, from October 1980 till the summer of 1982, I drove around, off and on, searching for their graves — without success. Wilma told me that, sometime, she would show me the location of the old Allred farm, if I couldn’t find it:
So, in July 1982, my nephew Ralph Dean and his son Harry went down to Fentress County with me. And we went to Wilma’s house and she went along with us and showed us the old Allred farm. Then Ralph and I searched over perhaps 6 to 8 acres of fields and woods in the midday heat. We were hot and tired, and had found nothing that resembled a grave. So, I called off the search. Then, Wilma showed us to the King-Beatytown Cemetery, and to the farm where the old grownup Joel Beaty Cemetery is located. Then, on our way back to Jamestown, we stopped at Wright Cemetery a while. While we were there, Ralph got to inspecting an old marble headstone with part of the name “Wright” showing. He rubbed the inscription with a small piece of rock until we could read it. The inscription was “M.W. Wright”, with the birth and death dates. I said, “This is the grave that we’ve been looking for.” I was sitting between that grave and the next one, watching Ralph. Then, I reached and patted the next headstone and said, “And I’ll bet that this is his wife’s rock.” The birth date on Matthew’s rock was off only 2 years from the date that we already had for him. Then, when Ralph had rubbed the other inscription, which was Margaret’s, it was off only one year from the birthdate that we already had for her. Her name is listed as just “M. Wright.” And Wilma said, “Yes, I agree. These are the graves for which we’ve been searching.” I had been there 4 times before; and each time I had walked right by Matthew’s grave.
Since March 1981, I had been corresponding with Thomas Edward Mackey in Wilmington, Delaware, who was a great-greatgrandson of Matthew W.’ brother David Wright, Sr. Tom and I thought that John Wright, who had lived near Moodyville, was their brother; but we were not certain. Then, in August 1982, I located John’s great-granddaughter, Ada (Wright) Rains, in Pickett County, and got some information from her. And, about that same time, my second cousin, Judy Moulton at Parker City, Indiana, acquired copies of John’s widow Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright’s war pension application papers, which definitely proved that John and Matthew W. Wright were brothers. And various things indicate that Elizabeth Jane Wright, who married Mathias Austin Wright, the oldest son of Matthew W. Wright, was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright. So, Matthew and Margaret were my paternal great-great-grandparents, grandparents, while John and Elizabeth were my maternal great-great-grandparents. And, recently, (a few days ago), I learned that Riley Matthew Wright, (whom I have been calling Matthew K. Wright), a younger brother to Mathias, married Nancy Wright, a younger sister to Elizabeth Jane, wife of Mathias.
Both the 1850 and the 1860 Fentress County census records list Matthew W. Wright as having been born in Maryland. And the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 Fentress County census records all list Margaret Ann as having been born in Virginia. Some of the census records list John’s birthplace as Maryland, some list it as Virginia. It is the sane with his wife Elizabeth. Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright, my great-grandparents, both are listed as born in Virginia. And the pension application papers also prove that Matthew, Margaret, John and Elizabeth all 4 were living in southern Virginia in December 1814. And their children’s birthplace indicate that they lived in Virginia until 1822. Then they moved into Tennessee; probably the Sullivan-Washington-Greene County area.
Yet, in spite of all these facts, some persons say that “one of the grandmothers” (Margeret, Elizabeth, or Elizabeth Jane) was a “fullblooded German” or Dutch, and that, when she got angry, they couldn’t understand a word that she said. But one of the rumors “takes the cake,” by stating that Matthew W. Wright was a “full-blooded German” who immigrated from Germany to North Carolina; then came from there to Fentress County. Just how absurd can people be sometimes’!
In the first place, the name “Wright” is of English origin. “Lindley” probably is too. And “Ritchie” is Scottish in origin; meaning “of Richard”, “stern ruler.” And, in the second place, the records indicate that the idea of Matthew having immigrated to this country from Germany is ridiculous! Some of his ancestors may have even come over from England on the Mayflower, as far as I know. Anyway, it is certain that several Wrights came to this country during the 1600s. It is possible that the mother of Margaret, Elizabeth, or John and Matthew wee German or Dutch. But I have not seen one iota of proof that any one of these 4 had as much as one drop of German or Dutch blood. If one of them spoke a foreign Language, I suspect that it was Scottish. But my grandmother Wright (Dad’s mother) may have bad a great-grandmother who was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. If so, that would give me one drop of Cherokee blood out of every 32.
Six Ritchie brothers: Long John, James, Alexander, Gabriel, Isaac and Andrew, came over from England to Virginia, about 1768. It is said that they were born in Scotland. Long John and James fought through the American Revolutionary War, (on the American side), where Long John distinguished himself. James ended up in Kentucky. He was a great-great-great-grandfather of the Ritchie girls who attended Berea College with Fred Burkhard of Casey County. After the war, Long John settled at Cranes Nest, in what is now Wise County, Virginia; which probably was at one time a part of Scott County, Virginia; which probably is where my Wright ancestors lived in 1814. So, I think that Long John may have been the father of my great-great-grandmother, Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright. During the Civil War, James Ritchie’s folks were for the Confederacy; but Long John’s family sided with the Union. And all my ancestors and relatives were strongly pro-Union. And Matthew W. Wright probably was never anywhere near Germany. And he probably never set foot in North Carolina. His children were: Mathias Austin Wright, b. 1815; Jacob Wright, b. 1822; Margaret Ann Wright, b. 1824; Riley Matthew Wright, b. 1826; and William Wright, b. 1829. Riley bur. McCreary Co., Ky.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_mat.htm
Riley Matthew Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Riley Matthew Wright was born February 23, 1826, in northeast Tennessee, (Greene County, perhaps?), died November 19, 1904, in McCreary County, Kentucky, and is buried there, at Parkers Lake, in Roberts Cemetery. His father was Matthew W. Wright, who was born April 14, 1789, in Maryland, died November 7, 1865, in Fentress County, Tennessee, and is buried there, in Wright Cemetery. His mother was Margeret Ann (Ritchie) Wright, who was born July 5, 1790, in Virginia, died March 11, 1882, in Fentress County, Tennessee, and is buried there, in Wright Cemetery. Riley’s brothers and sisters were as follows: Mary Wright, b. May 15, 1814, in Va.; Mathias Austin Wright, b. 1818, in Va., died Aug. 3, 1899, in Fentress County, Tenn., and is buried there, in Bailey Bowden Cemetery, at Little Crab; Jacob Wright, b. 1822, in northeast Tenn., d. 1913, in Fentress County, and is buried there, in Wright Cemetery; Margaret Ann (Wright) Black, b. 1824, in northeast Tenn.; and William Wright, b. 1829, in northeast Tenn.; d. during the 18708, in Fentress County, Tennessee.
Riley Matthew Wright was married about 1849, in Fentress County, Tenn., to a first cousin, Nancy Wright. Nancy was born September 24, 1822, in northeast Tennessee, died July 14, 1906, in McCreary County, Kentucky, and is buried there, at Parkers Lake, in Roberts Cemetery. She was a daughter of John Wright (a brother to Matthew W. Wright) and Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright; who both were born in Maryland or Virginia, and died in Fentress County, Tennessee. Nancy’s sister and brothers were as follows: Elizabeth Jane Wright, who was born 1817-20, in Va., and died May 18, 1899, in Fentress County, Tenn.; John C. Wright, who was born 1818-20, in Va., and died during the 18608, in Fentress County, Tenn.; David F. Wright, who was born in 1829, in northeast Tenn.; Elihu Wright, who was born in 1834, in Fentress County, Tenn.; and Lemuel C. Wright, who was born in 1837, in Fentress County, Tenn., and died in 1909, in Texas.
The children of Riley and Nancy Wright, all of which were born in Fentress County, were as follows: Michael Wright, b. 1850, died as a child; Elizabeth J. Wright, b. 1852; Sarah M. Wright, b. 1854; John Lindsay Wright, the 1st, Dec. 5, 1855-Jan. 24, 1924; Mary A. Wright, b. 1857; Lemuel S. Wright, b. 1860; Patience Wright, b. 1862; and Permelia M. Wright, b. 1866. Mary A. Wright was a spinster. She is buried in Roberts Cemetery, at Parkers Lake, in McCreary County, Ky. Patience Wright married William Story. She is buried in Wright Cemetery, in McCreary County, Kentucky.
Some of the grandchildren of Riley and Nancy Wright, the children of John Lindsay Wright, the 1st, by Nancy (Clayborn) Wright, Aug. 11, 1859-Dec. 30, 1928, d/o Dr. Bob Clayborn, of Jamestown, Tennessee, whom he married Jan. 28, 1877, which were as follows: 1. Nancy Jane Wright, Jan. 1, 1878-Dec. 10, 1914; married July 1895, to Jim Reagan. 2. Robert Tanner Wright, Aug. 6, 1879-June 18, 1945; married Apr. 13, 1902, to Myrtle Sears, Apr. 9, 1881-Nov. 19, 1949. 3. Permelia Catherine Wright, June 5, 1881-Apr. 20, 1969; married June 1912, to Columbus King, July 30, 1877-Dec. 25, 1967. 4. John Lindsay Wright, the 2nd, July 9, 1884-Apr. 24, 1974; married Nov. 7, 1902, to Laura Bell Roberts, Apr. 9, 1SS9-June 13, 1978. 5. Ermine Ellen Wright, Feb. 19, 1883-June 17, 1953; married June 1903, to Logan Stephens, May 15, 1883-Jan. 28, 1958. 6. Dillard Logan Wright, July 18, 1887-June 12, 1968; married 1908, to Sylvia Marler, born Jan. 7, 1892. 7. Rosetta Wright, born Sept. 5, 1889; married Sept. 5, 1909, to Cornelius Keith. 8. Lemuel Artor Wright, b. Oct. 8, 1891: 1st marriage, June 19, 1912, to Minnie Barnett. and marriage to Ruby E. Lewis, 1898-1949. 9. Porter Lee Wright, b. Jan. 8, 1894; married Lucy Hamilton.
Some of the great-grandchildren of Riley and Nancy Wright. The children of John Lindsay Wright, the 2nd, by Laura Bell (Roberts) Wright, Apr. 9, 1889-June 13, 1978, whom he married Nov. 7, 1902, which were as follows: 1. Bessie Ellie Wright, married John Andrew Lockhart. 2. Hattie Estelle Wright, married Kenneth Meridith Parsons. 3. Dorothy Aileen Wright, married George Strunk. 4. Augusts Frances Wright, married Golda Jennings Deakins. 5. Betty Jane Wright, married Billy Don Perkins. 6. John Lindsay Wright, the 3rd, married Margie Stanley. 7. Arthur Donald Wright, married Anna Lee Rose. 8. Fred Carroll Wright, married Thelma Anderson. And 9. Billy Gene Wright, married Carlene Calhoun.
Some of the great-great-grandchildren of Riley and Nancy Wright. The children of Hattie Estelle Wright, Apr. 19, 1912-Oct. 14, 1976, by her 1st husband, Kenneth Meridith Parsons, Oct. 12, 1909-Mar. 26, 1938, whom she married Nov. 16, 1929, were: Kenneth Ward Parsons, b. January 4, 1931, and Alan Wright Parsons, b. July 11, 1932. Kenneth Ward Parsons was married Nov. 29, 1958, to Frances Eleandor Helton, b. Nov. 19, 1930. They have one son, Kenneth Ward Parsons, Jr., b. {redacted on this site}; and one daughter, Frances Nan Parsons, b. {redacted on this site}. Alan Wright Parsons is married to Freda Jean Parker, b. Oct. 24, 1932. They have 2 daughters, Kimberly Jean, b. {redacted on this site}, who is married to Kent Morton; and Mary Patricia Parsons, who was born {redacted on this site}. After Hattie Estelle’s 1st husband, Kenneth Meridith Parsons, died, she married Andrew L. Cowherd and had one daughter, Hattie Susan Cowherd, by him. Hattie Susan Cowherd, b. {redacted on this site}, was married Oct. 27, 1973, to William Hysinger, b. {redacted on this site}. They have 2 sons: William Lyle Hysinger, b. {redacted on this site}; and Andrew Lee Hysinger, b. {redacted on this site}. Kenneth Ward Parsons and his wife, Frances (Helton) Parsons, live in Pineville, Ky. He works for Kentucky Utilities, and she teaches school. Their son, Kenneth, Jr., works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and their daughter, Frances Nan Parsons, teaches school in South Carolina. Frances – the wife and mother – sent me this new information on Riley Matthew Wright and his descendents.
Riley Matthew Wright lived in Fentress County from about 1833, probably, until after 1880, then moved to Pulaski or McCreary County, Kentucky, with his family. During the Civil War, he drove a team of government mules for the Union Army. He was a Republican. He lived at Little Crab a while. He is the same person that Tom Mackey (my cousin) and I have been calling Matthew K. Wright. I don’t know where Tom got that “K” from. He was listed in the census records as just Matthew Wright. After Riley’s son John Lindsay Wright, the 1st, moved to Kentucky, he worked at logging for 7 dollars and a half per month. And he worked at a sawmill and in a coal mine for 54 cents per day.
Some other great-grandchildren of Riley Wright (grandchildren of John Lindsay Wright, the 1st) were: Alta Wright and Minnie Wright; daughter of Robert. Clyde Wright, Aileen Wright, Troy Wright, Josephine Wright, Joe Wright, Carl Wright, Dillard Wright, Jr., Donald Wright, Evelyn Wright, Minnie Wright, Denna Lou Wright, and Bessie Wright; children of Dillard Logan Wright. Theodore Wright, Thurston Wright, Claudie Wright, Porter Wright, Jr., and Ralph Wright; children of Porter Lee Wright. And Riley had several other descendants.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_rm.htm
John Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
John Wright, my grandfather John Taylor Wright’s maternal grandfather, was born about 1787 or 1788, in Maryland or Virginia. The identity of his parents is not known. But he was a brother to David Wright, Sr. and Matthew W. Wright, who was born April 14, 1789, in Maryland. David was the oldest of the 3 brothers, and Matthew was the youngest.
John was married December 26, 1814, to Elizabeth Lindley, at Bristol, Tennessee. But they were living in southern Virginia at the time. Probably just across the state line in nearby Scott County or Washington County, Virginia. Elizabeth was born about 1797, in Maryland or Virginia. The identity of her parents is not known. The children of John and Elizabeth were as follows: Elizabeth Jane Wright, b. about 1817; John C. Wright, b. about 1919; Nancy Wright, b. Sept. 24, 1822; Elkana Delaney Wright, b. Oct. 20, 1826; David F. Wright, b. 1829; Elihu Wright, b. 1834; and Lemuel C. Wright, b. 1837. Elizabeth Jane and John C. were born in Virginia; Nancy, E.D., and David F. were born in northeast Tennessee (Greene County, perhaps?); and Elihu and Lemuel C. probably were born in what is now Pickett County, Tennessee; but was part of Fentress County at the times of their births. Their marriages were as follows: Elizabeth Jane Wright married Mathias Austin Wright, a first cousin, s/o Matthew W. Wright and Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright; John C. Wright married Mary somebody; Nancy Wright married Riley Matthew Wright, a younger brother to Elizabeth Jane’s husband; Elkana Delaney Wright married Phoebe Reagan, d/o Charles and Anna (Grimsley) Reagan; David F. Wright married Judith Huddleston, d/o Fielding Huddleston; nothing is known about Elihu Wright, except that he is listed in the 1850 Fentress County census records with the John Wright family; and Lemuel C. Wright married Permelia Huddleston, d/o Jarriott A. and Caroline (Brock) Huddleston. John Wright was a miller by trade; as were his son David F., his brother Matthew W., and his nephew Mathias Wright, part of the time.
During September and October 1936, I worked for James Barnes in Pickett County. He had 5 other men working for him. Among them was James Poore, b. 1911. Mr. Barnes told me that James is a 3rd cousin to me; that his mother had been a Wright. That is all that I knew about them at that time. Then, in April 1981, I began corresponding with Thomas Edward Mackey in Wilmington, Delaware. He was a 4th cousin to me. We corresponded and exchanged genealogy information for 3 years. He was a great-greatgrandson of David Wright, Sr., a brother to my great-great-grandfathers, Matthew W. Wright and John Wright. Tom and I thought that the John Wright who had lived in Pickett County was a brother to David and Matthew, but we were not sure. Then, I learned about the “History of Pickett County, Tennessee,” by Tim Lee Huddleston, and ordered it; about January 1982. John Wright’s son, E.D. (Elkana Delaney) Wright, his wife, all their sons and daughters, and all, or most, of their grandchildren are listed in it. Also, a group picture of them, which was taken in 1896. And a group picture of one of his granddaughters, Ada (Wright) Rains, and her family, which was taken in 1953. Among those in the 1896 picture, were 2-year-old Ada and her 18-year-old sister Arvia Wright, who became the mother of James Poore. After I saw the book, I was still more convinced that John Wright was a brother to David and Matthew Wright.
Then, by August 1982, I had learned that Matthew’s son, Mathias, had married a Wright first cousin, who almost had to have been John’s daughter; as David Wright had no daughter who had lived in the Fentress County area. Also, I had Learned that Mathias Wright’s wife Elizabeth Jane’s “people” had lived “between Double Top Mountain and Byrdstown.” Which was exactly where John Wright and his family had lived. And that Elizabeth Jane’s granddaughters at Little Crab knew Elkana Delaney Wright’s nickname – “Kane” Wright – and called him “Uncle Kane” Wright. And the book states that Lemuel C. Wright’s wife, Permelia, had been post mistress, 1883-1889, at Permelia, Tennessee, 5 miles southeast of Byrdstown. Which would have been at, or near the present village of Moodyville.
In August 1982, I visited the Byrdstown, Etter and Moodyville areas and located Ada (Wright) Rains, who gave me some more information about John Wright and his descendants. Also, I learned that James Poore lives in Byrdstown now, and I visited him. But I still was not absolutely certain that John Wright was a brother to Matthew W. Wright, until July 1983. When my 2nd cousin Judy Moulton, who lives in Indiana, sent me copies of the 4 pension application papers of John’s widow Elizabeth, which definitely proves that John and Matthew were brothers. No less an authority than Matthew’s widow, Margaret Wright, herself, stated under oath, in plain English, that this John Wright was a brother to her husband, Matthew W. Wright, or Mathias, as he sometimes was called. John served in the War of 1812.
Which reminds me of 2 humorous incidents that 1 witnessed in North Carolina during World War 2. I was in the Headquarters Squadron of the Technical Training Command of the Army Air Force, at Knollwood Field, near Southern Pines, N.C., where I was stationed for over a year. We lived in The Mid Pines, a big fancy 5-story country club hotel building, that the Air Force had taken over, in the famous Sandhills golfing area. Our 1st Sergeant was a very intelligent young man from Illinois, named Chambers, who was about 23 years old. One day, we went out to the rifle range for target tests in shooting. And Sgt. Chambers said to me, “Roscoe, let’s show them how they shoot back in Kentucky.” I am not one of those straight shooting squirrel hunters that he had heard about, who spend a lot of time with rifles. I am more fond of books, poetry and music than I am of guns. And I knew that he was in for a big disappointment. But, I didn’t say anything. Most of my shots hit near the outer edge of the target. Some of them probably missed the whole target. Then Sgt. Chambers turned to me, with a disgusted expression on his face, and said, “Wright, you are a disgrace to the State of Kentucky!” Some of the soldiers would lie in bed just as long as possible, in the mornings, then rush into their clothes and run outside to stand in line for inspection. One morning, the Squadron Commander and Sgt. Chambers walked slowly along the 4 or 5 long lines of men and stopped in front of a soldier with long beard stubble on his face. Sgt. Chambers gave him a sour look and asked him, “Where did you go after you shaved?”
John Wright died May 17, 1864, at the head of Hurricane Creek, near Moodyville. But I don’t know where he and his wife, Elizabeth, are buried. Their son Elkana Delaney Wright, his wife Phoebe, and several of their descendants, are buried in Mt. Era Cemetery, at Moodyville. Ada (Wright) Rains died Feb. 18, 1984, 18 months after I met her, at age 90. She is now buried beside her husband in the cemetery at Etter, between Byrdstown and Moodyville, Tennessee. E.D. Wright’s son John Wright, his wife Jennie (Coe) Wright, their son Aubrey G. Wright, and their daughter Phoebe Dee Wright are buried in the Cookeville Cemetery.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_john.htm
Lemuel C. Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Lemuel C. Wright was born in 1837, near Moodyville, Tennessee, in what is now Pickett County, but was a part of Fentress County at the time of his birth. He was the youngest son of John Wright, who was born about 1787 in Maryland or Virginia, and died in 1864, at the head of Hurricane Creek, near Moodyville, Tennessee, and of Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright, who was born about 1797, in Maryland or Virginia, and died in Fentress or Pickett County, Tennessee, after 1880. Lemuel’s sisters and brothers were as follows: Elizabeth Jane Wright, born 1817-20, in Virginia; John C. Wright, born 1818-20, in Virginia; Nancy Wright, born in 1822, in northeast Tennessee; Elkana Delaney Wright, born in 1826, in northeast Tennessee; David F. Wright, born in 1828, in northeast Tennessee; and Elihu Wright, born in 1834, in what is now Pickett County, Tennessee. During the Civil War, Lemuel was a 1st Lieutenant in D Company, 1st Tennessee Mounted Infantry, United States Army (Union Army). And, while out with a scouting group, his horse fell on one of his legs, injuring it. His occupation, in civilian life, was as a miller and as a farmer.
Soon after the Civil War ended, about 1866, he married Permelia Huddleston, who was born July, 1844, in what is now Pickett County, Tennessee. She was a daughter of Jarriott A. Huddleston and J. Caroline (Brock) Huddleston. The children of Lemuel C. Wright and Permelia (Huddleston) Wright were as follows: John A. Wright, born in 1867; Elizabeth W. Wright, born in 1869; Elihu Wright, born in 1871; Robert H. Wright, born in 1873; Nancy M. Wright, born in 1875; Charlotte Catherine Wright, born in 1877; James A. Garfield Wright, born in 1880; and Lucinda Wright, born in 1882. Permelia Wright was post mistress from 1883 to 1889, at Permelia, Tennessee; which was located 5 miles southeast of Byrdstown. Which would have been at, or near, the Moodyville.
In 1889, she and Lemuel left there with their children and moved to Alvord, Wise County, Texas; which is just northwest of Fort Worth. They lived there 3 years. Then, by October 21, 1892, Lemuel had bought 640 acres of land, which was within 2 miles of Estelline, Texas, in Hall County. Hall County is located at the southeast corner of the Texas panhandle. And Estelline, which is about 178 air miles northwest of Alvord, was located along the Fort Worth-Denver Railroad line. Permelia died there, at their home, October 8, 1893, and is buried in the Estelline Cemetery. She had been confined to her bed for 56 days, with a chronic inflammation of the stomach. Lemuel was living in Panhandle, Texas, (in the center of the Texas panhandle) on January 18, 1893. But he was back in Hall County by October 8, 1893. And he was still there October 22, 1893. He died in 1909, in Texas.
Since about 1923, or earlier, I have known that my parents and grandparents came here to Casey County, Kentucky, from Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee. Then, during September and October 1936, I worked for James Barnes, in Pickett County, Tenn., with James Poore, born in 1911, whom Mr. Barnes said was a 3rd cousin to me; that his mother had been a Wright. Then, about 1955, my 3 oldest sisters and I spent 2 nights with Dad’s 1st cousin, Fatima Jane Wright, at Little Crab. Then, about 1978, I obtained a copy of Hogue’s history of Fentress County. Then, about the first of 1980, I began corresponding with my 4th cousin, Wilma Pinckley, who lives in Jamestown, Tennessee, and started in genealogy. Since then, I’ve made 12 trips to Fentress County; visiting the old ancestral homeplace at Little Crab, the library in Jamestown, a total of about 45 cemeteries in the Fentress-Pickett- Overton County area, the homes of Wilma and about a dozen other relatives in that area, plus some other places. Wilma put me in communication with about 4 or 5 other cousins of mine. My folks and I have erected a new grave rock at our great-grandparents graves at Little Crab. We have located the graves of several other relatives in that area. And I have accumulated several genealogy hooks and a lot of information on our ancestors and relatives.
Also, about 1980, I saw the families of Matthew W., Mathias, Riley Matthew and John Wright listed in the 1850 Fentress County census records. Then, Wilma sent me copies of pages 307 and 308 from the history of Pickett County. I ordered the book, about January 1982, and I learned that John Wright and his folks had lived near Moodyville, and that Permelia (Huddleston) Wright had been post mistress in that area. I was determined to go into that area and locate some of those Wright relatives. And I did just that. I located Ada (Wright) Rains and 2 of her daughters. I got back in touch with James Poore. I visited the graves there of several of the relatives. And I have acquired definite proof that those Wrights are close kin to me. In fact, their ancestor, John Wright, is my ancestor too, my great-great-grandfather.
But there are a few of the Wright relatives whose graves I have not located yet. These include my father’s sister Emiline (Wright) Beaty; John Wright and his wife Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright; their sons John C. Wright, David F. Wright and Elihu Wright; their grandson Charles Wright; and David F. Wright’s wife, Judith (Huddleston) Wright, who died December 21, 1892, at Etter. (About 3 miles southeast of Byrdstown.) She may be buried in the Etter Cemetery, where Ada (Wright) Rains and some of the other relatives are buried. I have not really looked for her grave yet. Nor for the grave of her husband David F. Wright, my great-greatuncle.
The children of Lemuel C. Wright’s oldest brother, John C. Wright, and his wife Mary Wright, were as follows: William J. Wright, born in 1843; Jesse L. Wright, born in 1846; Arissa J. Wright, born in 1846; Noah Wright, born in l818;and Martha A. Wright, born in 1850. Noah Wright married Mahala King, daughter of James King and Elizabeth (Beaty) King; Martha A. Wright married William E. Huddleston, born in 1851, son of Thomas Huddleston and Malinda (Stinson) Huddleston. I don’t know who the others married, nor what Mary Wright’s maiden name was.
The children of Lemuel C. Wright’s brother, David F. Wright, and his wife Judith (Huddleston) Wright were as follows: Patience Wright, born in 1854; Martha Wright, born in 1856; Samuel W. Wright, born in 1858; Moses L. Wright, born in 1860; Elam C. Wright, born in 1862; and David M. Wright, born in 1864. I don’t know who any of them married.
The children of Noah Wright were as follows: David B. Wright, born 1868; John Allen Wright, born 1869, married “Little Katie” Boles; James E. Wright, born 1871, married Easter Ann Beaty; Dillard Wright, born 1876, married Matha Buck; and Hilary Wright, born 1888, married Garfield Turner. Martha A. Huddleston’s children were: John, Alice and LeAnn.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_lem.htm
Mathias Austin Wright 1815-1899
by Wilma Reagan Pinckley
Mathias A. Wright was born in 1815 in Virginia. He died at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee in 1899. He was the son of Matthew W. Wright, who was born April 14, 1789 and died November 7, 1865, and Margaret Ann Ritchie Wright, born July 5, 1790, and died March 11, 1882. Both of Mathias’ parents are buried in the Wright Cemetery located near Highway 52 west of Jamestown, Tennessee.
Mathias married Elizabeth Jane (Betsy) Wright about 1839. She was born in 1820 and died in 1898, and was the daughter of John Wright (1787-1964), who was a brother to Mathias’ father, Matthew W. Betsy’s mother was Elizabeth Lindley (1796 – ?); therefore, Mathias and Betsy were first cousins.
Betsy and Mathias came into the Little Crab area about 1840 as a young couple where they built a log residence on the old Livingston-Jamestown road.
Mathias became a big land owner. He operated a sawmill near his home on Crab Creek. At this mill, lumber was sawed and shipped by water routes to Nashville, Tennessee where it was used in the construction of our state capitol building.
In the early 1870s, in the days before banks were established in our county, Mathias was Trustee of the county. He would come to Jamestown, ten miles away, on certain days to pay county bills and to receive monies due for taxes, etc. As was necessary, he kept funds at home.
Late one afternoon two or three robbers appeared at Mathias’ home and demanded the money in his possession. He refused to reveal where the funds were. After searching the home diligently, the robbers found $400 which they kept. Not satisfied with this amount, the robbers insisted on the hiding place of other monies. Mathias continued to refuse the revelation of other funds. In anger and in haste, the robbers hanged Mathias to a cedar tree in his yard. History does not tell us why the robbers became nervous, and mounted their horses and rode away.
Hastily, Betsy rushed to the tree with her long-bladed butcher knife and cut Mathias down. He suffered no ill effects from the ordeal. He told his friends that the major portion of the funds were buried near the spring in a coffee pot. The robbers were never identified or caught.
On the third Saturday in May, 1876, Mathias and Betsy, with twelve other people, met and organized the United Cedar Grove Baptist Church at Little Crab. Mathias was elected as a Deacon and the church clerk. He served in these positions until ill health forced him to retire only a few months before his death in 1899.
Mathias was appointed as the first postmaster at Little Crab, Tenn. on January 18, 1871, and he served there until January 2, 1894, when he was succeeded by L.B. Chism. Mathias also operated a mercantile business near his home until 1888, which he sold to the same L.B. Chism.
Mathias’ and Betsy’s children were all born and reared at Little Crab. They were: James W., born February 8, 1840, married Sally Hunt of Carthage, Tenn.; Joseph H., born 1842, never married, was in the Civil War; Margaret Ann (Peggy), born 1844, married Isham Hinds; Nancy, born 1846, married Joel Lucy Reagan; John Taylor, born March 13, 1849, married Betz Ann King; Jacob R., born 1851, married Jane Beaty, and then Sarah Jones; stillborn infant, born 1854; Samuel, born 1856, married Naomi Choate; David M., born December 2, 1858, married first Celesta Bowden, second, Samantha Bowden, and third, Abby Bilbrey.
There are many, many descendants in our country who came from these families.
Mathias and Betsy are buried in the Bailey Bowden Cemetery at Little Crab. The land for this cemetery was given by Mathias years previous to their deaths. Recently, a nice granite marker was placed at their graves by a great grandson, Roscoe H. Wright, of Liberty, Kentucky.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_ma.htm
John Taylor Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
John Taylor Wright, my paternal grandfather, was born March 13, 1849, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee, and died January 22, 1917, in Casey County, Kentucky. His father was Mathias Austin Wright, born 1815, in Virginia; died August 3, 1899; Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee. His mother was Elizabeth Jane “Betsy” (Wright) Wright, born 1820 in Virginia; died May 18, 1899; Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee. His paternal grandfather was Matthew W. Wright, born April 14, 1789, in Maryland; died November 7, 1865, in Fentress County, Tennessee. His paternal grandmother was Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright, born July 5, 1790, in Virginia; died March 11, 1882, in Fentress County, Tennessee. His maternal grandfather was John Wright, born 1787, in Maryland; died May 17 1864, at “head of the Cane,” (Hurricane Creek), near Moodyville, in what is now Pickett County, Tennessee. He was a soldier in the War of 1812; served in the 4th Regiment of the Virginia Brigade. John T.’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright, born 1796 in Virginia; died after 1876, in Fentress County, Tennessee. Matthew W. and John Wright were brothers; so, John T.’s parents were first cousins. Mathias and “Betsy” are buried in Bailey Bowden Cemetery at Little Crab; while Matthew and Margaret are buried in Wright Cemetery near Manson. The burial place of John and Elizabeth is not known.
About 1869, John Taylor Wright married Elizabeth Ann King, who was born February 27, 1854, in Fentress County, Tennessee, and died April 16, 1911, in Casey County, Kentucky. Her father, Robert King, was born in March 1819; and died November 3, 1900; in Fentress County. Her mother, Nancy Agnes (Beaty) King, was born November 14, 1824; in what is now Clinton County, Kentucky; and died June 28, 1904; in Fentress County, Tennessee. Her paternal grandfather is thought to have been Robert King, Sr. or John A. King. Her maternal grandfather, Thomas Beaty, was born in 1801, in Clinton County, Kentucky; and died about 1880, in Fentress County, Tennessee. Her maternal grandmother, Jane (Mullinix) Beaty, was born in 1804, in Barren County, Kentucky; and died January 7, 1893, in Fentress County, Tennessee. Robert and Nancy are buried in King Cemetery; while Thomas and Jane are buried in Joel Beaty Cemetery in Riverton, in Fentress County.
John Taylor Wright and Elizabeth Ann King grew up and married in Fentress County, and all their children were born there. They were: Nancy Jane (Nov. 1869-Apr. 1892); James David (June 7, 1872-Mar. 12, 1928); Robert Richard (Oct. 5, 1875-Dec. 13, 1967); Matilda E. (July 1877-after 1903); Alfred Mathias (Dec. 5, 1879-Oct. 23, 1950); Emiline (b. about 1882-d. about 1901); Peter John (June 1986-Jan. 22, 1967); Frances “Frankey” (Mar. 1889-Feb. 18, 1932); Joe Green (Sept. 1890-June 12, 1973); and Effie (b. Aug. 1996-d. about 1903).
In May 1899, the oldest son, James David Wright, my father, migrated here to Casey County, Kentucky, with his wife and two oldest daughters, Maude Ann and Eva Ellen, arriving on the 18th – the day that his grandmother Wright died. And, about 4 years later, his parents came here with most of the other sons and daughters; some of which were already married and had from 1 to 3 children each of their own. The marriages were as follows: Naney Jane died unmarried in Fentress County; James David, my father, married Martha Isabel “Whited,” daughter of Emiline Scott, about 1894, in Fentress County; Robert Richard married Emma “Ledbetter” daughter of Bertha Ledbetter, about 1897, in Fentress County; Matilda E. married Dick Reynolds, about 1894, in Fentress County; Alfred Mathias married Easter Hancock, about 1900, in Fentress County; Emiline married Elan Beaty, about 1900, in Fentress County. She died giving birth to their first child, (still-born). So, she didn’t come to Casey County. Three of the other four married later, here in Casey County. Peter John first married Betty Grant, January 23, 1906; then Janie Peck, April 12, 1909; Frances (called “Frankey”) married Claude Rodgers, September 19, 1913; and Joe Green married Ida Lay, May 5, 1912. Effie died soon after arriving here, as a child, about 9 years of age.
I never saw my father’s mother, as she died before I was born. And I don’t remember my grandfather Wright, as he died when I was only two and a half years of age. But, apparently, he was not as prominent, nor in the limelight, as his father, Mathias Austin Wright, had been. I suppose that he was sort of a quiet, studious type. An acquaintance of mine – Granville Emerson – who died recently, who had known my grandfather when he, himself, was, a teenager, paid my grandfather what I regard as a great compliment. To me, he said, quote: “Your grandfather, John T. Wright, was a fine man highly educated.” Unquote. He also paid my father a nice compliment. Quite often, people would tell me and my younger sisters that our mother was a fine woman. And, although most people seemed to have a lot of respect for my father, (and most of the other Wrights too), about all that they’d say to us about Dad was that he had a temper. He used to help keep order at the church near our home when Granville (who was a 4th cousin to him) was a teenager. And some of the rowdy young men would come around with pistols and knives, drinking and disturbing church services, and Dad would sorter quiet them down. Apparently, he sorter impressed Granville. He told my youngest sister’s husband, quote: “That Jim Wright wasn’t afraid of anybody!” Unquote.
About 7 miles west of Liberty, and running parallel with Green River, is a ridge about 10 or 12 miles long. So many Fentress County families settled along it and the nearby creeks, that it was named “Tennessee Ridge.” There were people of all, or most, of the following Fentress County surnames: Barlow, Beaty, Bryant, Buck, Carter, Choate, Conatser, Cooper, Crockett, Evens Fletcher Garrett, Gunter, Hayes, Helm, Hughs, King Lay, Lee McFarland, Mullinix, Murphy Norman, Patron, Peavy(house), Pile, Scott Taylor, Whited, Wood and Wright. In 1901 my father bought 100 acres of land along the Tennessee Ridge road, near the upper end. In 1905, he sold his father (John Taylor Wright) 60 acres of it. His father sold each of his other 4 sons small tracts of it, totaling 46 acres. He kept 14 acres for himself He worked around sawmills and gristmills some during his life time; as did his father, uncles, and 4 of his 5 sons. He also farmed some. His youngest son Joe farmed all his life; and was quite successful at it. He had, and has, a lot of descendants; probably between 200 and 500, in all. He, his wife Elizabeth Ann, their son Joe, their daughters Matilda, Frances and Effie and several other relatives and friends, are now buried in Whited Cemetery; about one and a half mile up the road from where he lived, near the upper end of Tennessee Ridge. James and Alfred are buried in Austin Cemetery, at the lower end of the ridge. And Robert, Peter and some of their folks are buried in Indiana. Some North Carolina families, and some Swiss families also settled on Tennessee Ridge.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jt.htm
Robert Richard Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Robert Richard Wright, my father’s oldest brother, was born October 5, 1875, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee, and died December 13, 1967, in Washington County, Indiana. His parents were John Taylor Wright and Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright. His paternal grandparents were Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright. His paternal great-grandparents were Matthew W. Wright and Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright. Also John Wright and Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright. His maternal grandparents were Robert King and Nancy Agnes (Beaty) King. In 1897, Robert Richard Wright married Emma Ledbetter, who was born April 8, 1882, in Fentress County, Tennessee, and died May 10, 1956, at New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana. She was the daughter of Bertha Ledbetter and Peter Priam King. “Pete” King was an older brother of “Rob” Wright’s mother, Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright. So, my “Uncle Rob” Wright and his wife, Emma, were first cousins.
The children of Robert and Emma were as follows: Lillie Ellen Wright, Sept. 16, 1898 July 8, 1976; Pearl Wright, Mar. 31, 1900 Dec. 30, 1974; Nancy Jane Wright, May 9, 1903 – Dec. 30, 1964; Pansy Wright, born and died about 1905; Bertha Mae Wright, born Nov. 29, 1907 — still living; Della Wright, Dec. 17, 1909 — Mar. 1, 1981; Porter Taft Wright, Jan. 15, 1911- June 6, 1963; Coy Raymond Wright, Oct. 24, 1913 – Jan. 29, 1982; Ruth Wright, born Oct. 17, 1915 — still living; Herman H. Wright, born Apr. 29, 1918 — still living; Charles Herding Wright, born Mar. 11, 1921– still living; Ivan Carman Wright, born June 9, 1923 — still living; and Mabel Roxie Wright, born Nov. 24, 1925 still living.
The marriages of the sons and daughters were as follows: Ellen married Hubert Smith, Dec. 6, 1914; Pearl married Irvin Lewis, Mar. 13, 1924; Nancy married Herbert Lee, Feb. 13, 1923; Bertha married George Barbour, Dec. 3, 1926; Della married Elvin Wooldridge, Dec. 22, 1934; Porter married Sylvetta Lewis, d/o Irvin, Oct. 31, 1931: Raymond married Marie Deaton, Apr. 18, 1936; Ruth married Roy Miller, Nov. 25, 1933; Herman married Gladys Baker, Sept. 13, 1941; Charles married Thelma Hensley, Mar. 7, 1942; Ivan married Mary Ruth Farnsley, Dec. 11, 1943; and Mabel married John Proctor, III. Dec. 24, 1948.
The grandchildren of Robert and Emma Wright were as follows: Ellen’s children: Grace Clementine Smith, born Dec. 27, 1915; married Claude Webb; Bennie Harrison Smith, June 8, 1918 – Oct. 22, 1977, married Anna Elizabeth Durnil; Mary Marie Smith, born July 26, 1920, married Ray Rupe and Earl Atkins; an infant, born and died about 1923; James Wesley Smith, born about 1926, married Marcella Defraigne and Mildred Raiser; Emma Gladys Smith, born Oct. 22, 1928, married James York Cantrell; Martha Helen Smith, born Feb. 20, 1935, married Gerald George Michols; and Violet Marine Smith, born {redacted on this site}, married Clyde Vernon Smith. Pearl’s children: Christine Lewis, born Jan. 28, 1925, married Bill Farnsley; Irvin Eugene Lewis, born Feb. 2, 1931, married Josephine Beaty; and Lloyd Lewis, born Mar. 1, 1933, married Clarice Flora. Nancy’s children: Lola Mae Lee, born Oct. 22, 1923, married Harvey Pendleton; Bonnie Fay Lee, born June 7, 1925, married Alfred Kaiser; Virginia Lee, born about 1928, married Claude Helm; Geneva Lee, born about 1931, married Bill Best and Walker Mauldin, Jr.; Herbert Donald Lee, born about 1933, married Weyette Lewis; Darlene Lee, born Oct. 20, 1935, married Allen Brown; Doris Jean Lee, born Feb. 10, 1938, married Bob Hawkins.
Norma Marie Lee, born {redacted on this site}, married Olsen Crane; Nancy Jane Lee, born {redacted on this site}, married Ronald Creamer; and Ronnie Richard Lee, born {redacted on this site}, married Tonna Rosenberry. Bertha’s children: Evelyn Joyce Barbour, born Sept. 6, 1927, married Robert Roy Romans; Robert James Barbour, born Dec. 24, 1929, married Charlene Norman; George Allen Barbour, Jr., born Aug. 18, 1932, married Carolyn M. Kirk; Ruth Elaine Barbour, born Aug. 28, 1935, married James R. Crowder; and Pearl Louise Barbour, born Nov. 16, 1939, and died unmarried, Mar. 25, 1957, at age 17. Della’s children, 3 of them: Norma Wooldridge, married Leonard Johnson; Linda Wooldridge, married James Shelton; and Gerald Wooldridge, married Darlene somebody. Porter’s children: Joan Wright, born July 3, 1932, married Kenneth Phillips; and Helen Wright, born Jan. 7, 1938, married Ralph Hornickel. Raymond’s children: Robert C. Wright, born Apr. 26, 1938, married Carol Sue Bishop; and Earl Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Shirley Miller. I don’t know whether Ruth has children or not. Herman has one son, Billy H. Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Sherri Spalding. Charles’ children: Leroy Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Sherry Lynn Manship and Mary Lynnett Fortner; Mary Alice Wright, born Jan. 30, 1945, married Terry Wayne Morris and Delbert Earl Murphy; Alms Fay Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Donald Meldon Grimes; Pearl Elaine Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Alan Eugene Strange; Barbara Allene Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Paul Edison Brown; Donna Jane Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married John Charles Pirtle; and Patricia Ann Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Terry Lee Becht. Ivan has one son, Curtis Richard Wright, born {redacted on this site}. I don’t know his wife’s name. And Mabel’s children are: John Michael Proctor, III, born {redacted on this site}, married Joy Brooks, but is now divorced from her. And Jo Ann Proctor, born {redacted on this site}. She is not married. That concludes Robert Richard Wright’s grandchildren. But he has several other descendants, with which I am not acquainted.
Robert Richard Wright moved here to Casey County, Kentucky, in 1903, with his wife, their 3 oldest daughters, his parents, and most of his brothers and sisters. He Lived on Tennessee Ridge a while; then at Riffe Creek a while. Then, in 1924, he moved with his family to Floyd County, Indiana. Nine more children were born to him and Emma here in Casey County, and another daughter after they arrived in Indiana. Like 3 of his brothers (James, Alfred and Peter), he worked around sawmills and gristmills a lot, and farmed some. He was a fine man. He was liked and respected by everybody. He was my favorite uncle. Because he was so jolly, cheerful, friendly and accommodating. He was a generous, warmhearted person. He welcomed his friends and relatives to his home, with pleasure and sincerity. He enjoyed their visits. He set a fine table, and never made any unkind remarks after they left, about them not being wanted or “wearing out their welcome.”
Uncle Rob and Emma and a few other relatives are buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, at Floyd Knobs, Floyd County, Indiana. Seven of their thirteen sons and daughters have also passed on. And the other 6 are sorter scattered. Bertha lives in Illinois. Ruth lives in Florida. Ivan lives in Texas. Herman and Charles live in Washington County, Indiana now, while Mabel lives in Clark County, Indiana. My “Uncle Alf” Wright was my second favorite uncle. He was a fine man too. But I’ve always liked Uncle Bob the best of all of them.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_rr.htm
Roscoe Hollis Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Roscoe Hollis Wright was born July 25, 1914, on Tennessee Ridge, (where Mr. and Mrs. Clay Taylor now live), in Casey county, Kentucky. His parents were James David Wright and Martha Isabel (Choate) Wright. They both were born and reared in Fentress County, Tennessee. They both died in Casey County, Kentucky. His paternal grandparents were John Taylor Wright and Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright. They both were born and reared in Fentress County, Tennessee. They both died in Casey County, Kentucky. His paternal great-grandparents were Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright. They both were born in Virginia. They both died in Fentress County, Tennessee. His paternal great-great-grandparents were Matthew W. Wright, who was born in Maryland, and Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright, who was born in Virginia. They both died in Fentress County, Tennessee. John Wright, a brother to Matthew W. Wright, and Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright were also his paternal great-great- grandparents. They were born in Maryland or Virginia. They both died in Fentress County, Tennessee. His maternal grandmother was Matilda Emiline (Scott) Whited, who was born and reared in Fentress County, Tennessee, and died in Casey County, Kentucky. And his maternal great-grandfather was James Tunis Scott, who was born in North Carolina, and died in Fentress County, Tennessee. James Tunis Scott was a Union soldier during the Civil War. John Wright was a soldier during the War of 1812. And one of Roscoe’s paternal great-great-great-grandfathers, Andrew Beaty, Sr., was a soldier during the Revolutionary War,
Roscoe was his mother’s 12th child of 14. He was his father’s 12th child of 16. During the following years, he attended grade school at the following places: In 1922, Griffith School, Casey County, Ky. In 1923, at Riffe Creek School, Casey County, Ky. In 1924, at Floyd Knobs School, Floyd County, Ind. In 1925, at Ridge School, Casey County, Ky. and at Greenville School, Floyd County, Ind. In 1926, at Riffe Creek School, Casey County, Ky. In 1927, at Ridge School, Casey County, Ky. In 1928, 1929 and 1930, at Atwood School, Casey County, Ky. Some of his teachers, in this order, were: Johnnie Murphy, primer; Ernest Workham, 1st grade; Geraldine Shirley, 2nd grade; Ernest Workman, 4th grade; Ernest Workman, 5th grade; Bernice Perkins, 7th grade; and Bernice Perkins, Morris Montgomery, and Edward Grubbs, 8th grade. In 1927, while Roscoe was in the 5th grade, his teacher (Ernest Workman) told Roscoe’s father that he, Roscoe, was the best student in his school. He learned easily in school, while some of his relatives were slow to learn. He wanted to attend high school, but his folks were unable, financially, to send him. Among the persons that he has always admired the most, are: King Alfred, Robert Bruce, William Tell, Francis Marion, Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittler, Stephen Foster and Gene Autry.
Roscoe was in the Army Air Force for 3 years and 9 months — April 1, 1942 to December 31, 1945 — during World War 2. He was sworn in at Louisville, Ky., processed at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., and took his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo. He was in the headquarters Squadron of the Technical Training Command, and in the 834th Guard Squadron, at Knollwood Field, Southern Pines, N.C., from May 20, 1942, till Aug. 17, 1943. He was in the 3rd Air Force, at Morris Field, Charlotte, N.C., from August 1943 till May 1944. He took his overseas training at Greensboro, N.C., and embarked for oversees (on a ship) July 10, 1944, at Newport News, Va. He landed July 21, 1944, at Naples, Italy. He served in the A.T.C. (Air Transport Command) while overseas. He was stationed at Bahrein Island, Arabia, from Aug. 1944 til Jan. 1945; at Cairo, Egypt, Jan. to June, 1945; at Dakar, West Africa, June to Aug. 1945; and at Kunming, China, Sept. to Nov. 1945. He spent 8 days in Palestine; and was in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Iran and India. He spent about 2 weeks crossing India, west to east. He stopped near Karachi for about a week, and in east India a week or two, and visited Calcutta. After spending about 2 months in China, he embarked (on a ship) at Calcutta, Nov. 27, 1945, and landed in New York City, Dec. 26, 1945. It was sunny and nice on the Indian Ocean; but it was stormy on the Mediterranean Sea and on the Atlantic Ocean, as he came back. From New York City, he went to Camp Kilmer, N.J., then on to Camp Atterbury, Ind., where he was honorably discharged, Dec. 31, 1945. While at Knollwood Field, he passed an I.Q. test by 2 or 3 points extra; while his two college roommates, one from Detroit, and the other from Toledo, failed the test by about that amount. And, in a game of medicine ball, he outlasted every man in the guard squadron; including the air base’s two physical fitness Sergeants, who were big husky men, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighing about 190 pounds. Then, at lunch, an Italian-American from Brooklyn, who had been in the game, patted him on the shoulder and said, “What a man!”
Some of the other places that he visited during his military service were: Augusts, Ga., Columbia, S.C., Richmond, Va., Washington, D.C., New York City, Waterbury, Conn., Boston, Mass., Portsmouth, N.H., York Harber, Me., Fitchburg, Mass., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Detroit, Mich., Chicago, Ill., and Indianapolis, Ind. He has been in all the states east of the Mississippi River, except Wisconsin and Mississippi He worked as a general carpenter, 050, during the war. The highest rank he held was Corporal. Medals that he received include the American theater ribbon, Europe-Africa Middle East theater ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific theater ribbon, Good Conduct Ribbon, Carbine Marksman Medal and Victory Medal.
After the war, he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music 2 years and 9 months, including Summer School. He studied Theory, Harmony, Sight Reading, Dictation, Voice, Piano and Guitar. He has written about 160 poems, putting tunes to some of them. He took a 5-year Correspondence High School Course with the American School in Chicago; but did not complete it. He worked about 2 years at Guidara’s Italian-American Restaurant in Cincinnati. Then he lived in Lexington, Ky. eleven and two-third years 1952-1964 — doing carpenter work. He has been back in Casey County, Ky. since December 1963. He has never married. He doesn’t drink, smoke or mess with drugs.
Among his favorite interests and pastimes, are reading, writing poetry, playing music and listening to music, playing card games, going on picnics and sight-seeing trips, photography, baseball, basketball, geography, history, genealogy, carpentry, and visiting friends. Among his most exciting experiences, probably were spending 8 days in Palestine, viewing the historical sites mentioned in the Bible; visiting the sphinx and pyramids in Egypt; sailing on the ocean; entering the harbor at Naples, Italy; taking his first airplane ride, from Algeria to the Persian Gulf; visiting Washington, D.C., walking around the Capital Building, and visiting the Washington Monument; and visiting New York City, walking among the tall buildings, and visiting the Statue of Liberty!
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_rh.htm
Jacob Wright
by Marjorie Wright
Jacob Wright (November 17, 1822 – July 15, 1913) married America Hinds (April 22, 18- May 28, 1920). They had twelve children.
(1) Jim Wright married Tine Beaty 1st June Hood 2nd
(2) Nine Wright married Landon Bowden, John Skinner, Ballam Beaty
(3) Will Wright married Mary Beaty
(4) Sam Wright married Cynthia Beaty
(5) Jack Wright married Tilda King
(6) Margaret Wright married George Allred
(7) Dick Wright married Nancy York, Ellen Turner
(8) Bob Wright married Rose York, Margeret Cobb
(9) Catharine Wright married Jim King
(10) Jacob Wright married Kate Hood
(11) Luddly Wright married Minnie Cooper
(12) Emma Wright married David Beaty
Jacob’s descendants live on farms from Indian Creek, Manson, and Beatytown to the Glenoby Community.
Jacob Wright and his wife America Hinds Wright are buried in the Wright Cemetery on Highway 52 West of Jamestown.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_j.htm
Bertha “Bertie” Crockett Wright 1892-1986
by Maudean Shanks
Bertha Crockett Wright was born in Elgin in Scott County, Tennessee on December 19, 1892. Her parents, Robert Washington Crockett (Mar. 10, 1853- Feb. 19, 1923) and Minerva Jane Crabtree Crockett (Mar. 15, 1855 – June 13, 1930), who were originally from Fentress County, moved back with their family when “Bertie” was a small child. Bertie had four sisters, Nina (married George Brannon), Ermine (married “Teddy” Copley), Hattie (married Fount Stepp), and Christina (married Oakley Wright) and she had one brother, Stokely who married Allie Delk. Her brother, “Stoke” and two of her sisters, Ermine and Christina were residents of Fentress County as long as they lived. Her oldest sister, Nina moved to Texas and Hattie moved to Iowa.
Little history is known concerning her father’s family as his parents died when he was very young and he with his sisters, Hane and Armildie were brought to Fentress County to be taken care of by relatives. His Uncle Jim Crockett raised him; Hane, who later married John Koger, was raised by Mel Davidson at Forbus; and Armildie was taken back to Kentucky. Bertie’s mother was the daughter of Hiram Crabtree and Edie Delk Crabtree.
She grew up in Jamestown, Tennessee where in 1912 she began her long career with the telephone business which was almost synonymous with Bertie for some forty-six years. Her telephone office affiliation spanned from December 12, 1912 until her retirement on April 30, 1958. During this time she was out some three to four years following her marriage in 1923 to John Elmo Wright (Sept. 19, 1894 – Aug. 17, 1965) from Brush, Colorado. Although Elmo lived in Colorado, where he moved as a child with his mother, he was born in Fentress County to Louis McPherson Wright (Mar. 21, 1870 – Aug. 29, 1899) and Virginia Alice Millsaps Wright (Mar. 1873 – Dec. 5, 1946). His father, “Mack”, was a brother to John Marion Wright (1862-1926) who moved to Colorado and to E.J. Wright (1864-1929) who was a life- long resident of Jamestown and served as county judge for some time. Both of Elmo’s parents had deep family roots in Fentress County and from time to time, after he was grown, he and his sister, Maude returned to visit their many local relatives in this area. It was on one of these early visits that he and Bertie met and Later married.
A short time after the birth of their daughter, Maudean, who was born in Jamestown in 1925, Elmo returned to Colorado to live and he and Bertie were later divorced. Bertie and Maudean remained in Jamestown and when Maudean was nine months old, in September 1926, Bertie again became a vital part of the telephone system where she served as operator, cashier, and local office manager for the Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative Corporation and its predecessors until she retired. She saw her switchboard grow from 18-20 telephones in 1912 to more than 700 telephones on a modern dial system in 1958. Her picture above was made in 1915 at the first switchboard which served only about 30 telephones at that time.
Bertie was always a “bright spot” and had many interesting and entertaining stories to tell about her experiences in the telephone office. She often talked about the many phone calls and telegrams she received for Sgt. York when he returned home in 1919. Also, she remembered vividly the World War II years and the many problems she encountered in getting messages through to the servicemen vie the Red Cross and a laugh was always forthcoming when she recalled her experiences with the local “black-out” drills. After the war ended, many of the boys who returned told her how much it meant to them to hear her familiar voice when they called home.
Bertie served the people of Jamestown and Fentress County long and well and became somewhat of a legend in her own time. She is fondly remembered as a dedicated person who befriended many people and who provided a great service as a communicator. She willingly did what she could, whether it was trying to find a doctor for someone needing one; opening the doors of the telephone office at anytime, day or night, to people needing to make calls; relaying messages over noisy, unusable telephone lines; or sending messages to people who had no telephones via neighbors or messengers — to name only a few of the numerous ways in which she went that extra mile to be of service.
She was a long-time member of the First Baptist Church in Jamestown and her home in Jamestown, her family, and her many local friends were very dear to her throughout her long life. After she retired she spent the winters in Clinton, Tennessee with her daughter, Maudean, son-in-law, Marvin, and grandson, Mark Shanks, but uppermost in her mind each year – all winter Long – was returning home in the Spring. With this thought in mind, it was very symbolic that her final homecoming was in the spring of 1986 where she died on March 27, 1986 and is buried in the Fentress Memory Gardens at Jamestown, Tennessee.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_bc.htm
Jacob R. and Jane Smith Wright
by Judy Moulton
Jacob R. Wright was born in 1851 in the Little Crab area. He was the son of Mathias and Elizabeth J. (Wright) Wright. (1818-1899 and 1820-1898). He married Jane Smith (1847/53-1885), daughter of Russell M. Smith (1832-?) and Lucinda Poore (1834/40?). They had five children. Joseph Harrison (1875-1945), married Sarah Reagan and had eight children. Permelia Elizabeth (1877-1962), married Jacob Winningham and had 12 children: James Russell (1879-?), Nancy Jane (1881-1965), married John A. Beaty, had five children. John “Rabbit” married first Bell Nation and second, Frone Conatser.
Jane Smith Wright died in 1885 and is believed to be buried in a cemetery in the Moodyville area. After her death, Jacob married his housekeeper, Sarah Jones and they raised four children. Edward “Little Edd”, married Martha Beaty. Harrison (1875-1945?) married Emaline South. Lady Ann (1888-1929) married Dillard Beaty. Adeline married ? Moles. Dave Smith was the child of “Jake” and Lyn Smith.
By occupation, “Jake” was a school teacher and taught at the Little Crab School and others in the area. In his 1880 Teacher’s Register, he wrote “This closes the first month of school. I have had many bright eyed boys and girls attending my school — I got along very well with my students this month although they are so full of the mischief that I have had to whip about fifteen of them this month yet we enjoy peace and happiness. J.R. Wright, Teacher”
In addition to teaching, “Jake” must have enjoyed performing. The following story was relayed by Mrs. Wilma Reagan Pinckley through her mother, Mrs. Effie Chism Reagan, resident of the Little Crab area for many years. Jake held a “dialogue” at the Little Crab School on occasion. At this event, he would get up front and perform by playing an old 3 string banjo. He would squat down and jump up like a rabbit. As a result, he came to be known by the nickname “Rabbit”. The nickname was passed on to his children, as was the custom in those days. His son, John was called “John Rabbit”, as was John’s daughter Lena.
“Jake” lived to be 73 years old and is buried in the Wm. Reagan Cemetery at Little Crab beside his sister, Margaret Wright.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jr.htm
Jacob Wright, Sr.
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Jacob Wright, Sr. was born November 11, 1822, in northeast Tennessee, (Greene County, perhaps), and died July 15, 1913, in Fentress County, Tennessee. His father, Matthew W. Wright, was born April 14, 1789, in Maryland, and died November 7, 1865, in Fentress County, Tennessee. His mother, Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright, was born July 5, 1790, in Virginia, and died March 11, 1882, in Fentress County, Tennessee. His sisters and brothers were as follows: Mary Wright, born May 15, 1814, in Virginia; Mathias Austin Wright, born 1815-18, in Virginia, and died August 3, 1899, in Fentress County, Tennessee; Margaret Ann Wright, born in 1824, in northeast Tennessee; Riley Matthew Wright, born February 23, 1826, in northeast Tennessee, and died November 19, 1904, in McCreary County, Kentucky; and William Wright, born in 1829, in northeast Tennessee, and died during the 1860s, in Fentress County, Tennessee.
Jacob Wright, Sr. was married about 1848, to America Hinds ? Or, was she an Owens ? My cousin Thomas Edward Mackey in Wilmington, Delaware, listed her maiden name as America Owens. But my cousin Rebecca Hyder, in Jamestown, Tennessee, thinks that she was America Hinds. I am inclined to agree with Rebecca. Because 3 of her children — Nina Jane, Simeon and Perry — had Hinds names. I think that she may have been an older sister to Simeon, Perry and Nina Jane Hinds. My cousin Welter Webb, at Celina, Tennessee, also listed her maiden name as America Hinds. She was born May 28, 1829, and died April 23, 1896. She and Jacob both are buried in Wright Cemetery (under the shelter house) with their two youngest daughters, Catherine and Sarah Elizabeth. Jacob’s parents are also buried in Wright Cemetery.
The children of Jacob and America (Hinds) Wright were as follows: James Wright, born in 1849; Nina Jane Wright, born in 1850; William M. Wright, Dec. 6, 1851-May 21, 1920; Simeon Wright, born Oct. 20, 1952; Joseph Wright, May 11, 1855-Aug 13, 1922; Margaret Wright, born in 1857; Emeline Wright, Jan. 29, 1858-July 15, 1955; David “Dick” Wright, Jan 11, 1861-Dec. 6, 1953; Perry Wright, born in 1863; Jacob Wright, Jr., born in 1866; Catherine Wright, born in 1867; Sarah Elizabeth Wright, May 13, 1870 – Mar. 15, 1873; and Ludley Sample Wright, born in 1873.
The marriages of Jacob and America (Hinds) Wright’s sons and daughters were as follows: James Wright married Englantine somebody; Nina Jane’s 1st husband was a Bowden. Her 2nd husband Balaam Beaty, a son of Fleming Beaty and Sarah (Cobb) Beaty; William M. Wright married Mary E. Beaty, a daughter of Fleming Beaty and Sarah (Cobb) Beaty; Simeon Wright married Cynthia somebody; Joseph Wright married Matilda somebody; Emeline Wright married Dave “Nose” Beaty, a son of Fleming Beaty and Sarah (Cobb) Beaty; David “Dick” Wright’s 1st wife was Nancy York. His second wife was Ellen Turner; Sarah Elizabeth Wright died before her third birthday; I don’t know who any of the others married.
Some of Jacob and America (Hinds) Wright’s grandchildren were as follows: Children of James and Englantine Wright: Sarah Clementine Wright, Mar. 19, 1881-0ct. 29, 1933; Marion Wright; LeeAnn Wright, Sept. 14, 1886-July 3, 1952; ViAnn Wright; and Grover Wright; Children of William M. and Mary E. (Beaty) Wright were: David Wright, born Feb. 17, 1879; Matilda Wright; and Fannie Wright, Apr. 17, 1886-Apr. 2, 1972. Children of Simeon and Cynthia Wright: James Wright, born in 1879; and W. Nelson Wright, Mar. 25, 1883-Aug. 12, 1926. Children of David Dick Wright and Nancy (York) Wright: Sarah Wright; Helen Wright; and Tilford Chism “Pete” Wright, Mar. 3, 1889-Apr. 4, 1984. And Mitchell Wright, a son of Ludley Sample Wright.
The marriages of some of Jacob Wright, Sr.’s grandsons and granddaughters were as follows: Sarah Clementine Wright married William Robert King, s/o Peter Priam King and Susan (Beaty) King. LeeAnn Wright married Jasper Marion King, s/o Peter Priam King and Susan (Beaty) King. Fannie Wright married John McAllen King, s/o Peter Priam King and Susan (Beaty) King. W. Nelson Wright married Ida Beaty, d/o James Ecker Beaty and Catherine (Hogue) Beaty. Sarah Wright’s 1st husband was Bill Hayes. Her 2nd husband was Granville Cooper. Tilford Chism “Pete” Wright married Atlie Linder. And Mitchell Wright married Susie King, d/o James and Catherine (Hinds) King, and a granddaughter of Thomas and Ellen King.
Also, there was a James Wright, Apr. 16 1884-June 14, 1966, and his brother Perry Wright, born about 1890, who married daughters of Peter Priam King’s sister, Sarah Jane (King) Cooper, who I think may have been grandsons of Jacob Wright, Sr. Their parents are listed as Jack Wright and Tilda (King) Wright. James and his wife, Cora (Cooper) Wright, are buried in Bethsaida Cemetery at Monroe, Overton County, Tennessee. And, in April 1984, Perry Wright was still living, near Byrdstown. His brother Joe Wright was living near Jamestown, and their sister, Ratchie Wright, was living in the Beatytown area of Fentress County. Perry Wright’s wife, Ollie (Cooper) Wright, is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, in Pickett County.
I have met a few of these Wrights. I met Tilford Chism “Pete” Wright once, at his home in the Manson Community, about 1980. I have visited 2 of his sons, Arnold Wright and Brady Wright, about 3 or 4 times at their stores. I have visited Mitchell Wright’s widow, Susie Wright, twice at her home along Indian Creek, at Manson. I talked once with her son, Jack Wright, for a minute or two at Manson. (At the fork of the creek above Susie’s home). And I talked with a Wright woman once, at the home of Ova (Cooper) Beaty, near Cooper Cemetery, in 1980 or 1981, who could have been Ratchie Wright.
I am a 3rd cousin to Arnold, Gasper and Brady Wright. My great-grandfather Mathias Austin Wright — was a brother to their great-grandfather, Jacob Wright, Sr. I am also a 3rd cousin to Jack Wright. Arnold, Gasper, Brady, Jack and I all have a mutual set of great-great-grandparents — Matthew W. Wright and Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright — who are buried in Wright Cemetery. Descendents of theirs buried in Wright Cemetery, include: Jacob Wright, Sr., 4 of his sons: William M. Wright, Simeon Wright, Joseph Wright and David “Dick” Wright. Two of his daughters: Catherine and Sarah Elizabeth; Two grandsons: William M.’s son, David Wright; David “Dick” Wright’s son, Tilford Chism “Pete” Wright, and several others. Matthew W. Wright’s brother, David Wright, Sr., also has several descendents buried there.
Jacob Wright, Sr. donated land for the first schoolhouse in the area where he lived, (In the Wright Cemetery area), and allowed the school to use all the water that they needed, from his spring. And, later on, his granddaughter Sarah — David “Dick” Wright’s daughter — donated the land for Wright Cemetery, and had Wright Chapel Baptist Church built there.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jsr.htm
Jacob Wright, Sr.
by Mary Shorter
Jacob Wright, Sr., was born November 17, 1822, and died July 15, 1913. His father was Matthew Wright who was born in Maryland and his mother was Margaret (Ritchie)
Wright who was born in Virginia. Jacob inherited land from his father thought to have been obtained by grant from King George of England and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. He later acquired some property on Indian Creek in Boatland, Fentress County, Tennessee. Jacob worked a large farm, growing cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, and fruit trees. All goods to be sold were rafted down Obed River to the Cumberland to Nashville. (River rafting was a common mode of transportation for goods and its availability was one reason people settled in the Boatland area.) At some point, Jacob purchased one-half of Skinner Mountain from John and Sally Skinner. Sally was given life-time rights to live on the mountain, and when she died she was buried by her husband on the Indian Creek side of the mountain. This farm continued to pass to Jacob’s heirs for two generations.
About 1848, Jacob married America Hinds. They had fourteen children. The exact dates and names are difficult to trace, but after much searching and talking with family members these have been determined:
James (b. 1849 -d. ?) married Englantine Beaty; Nina Jane (b. 1850 – d. ?) married first a Bowden and then Balaam Beaty; William M. Wright (b. 1851- d. 1920) married Mary E. Beaty; Simeon (b. 1852- d. ?) married Cynthia — ; Polley (b.1854 d.1856); Joseph (b. 1855 – d. 1922) married Matilda –; Margaret (b. 1857 – d. ?) married G.N. Allred (7); Emmeline (b. 1858- d. 1955) married Dave “Nose” Beaty; David “Dick” Wright (b. 1861- d. 1953) married first, Nancy York, and second, Ellen Turner; Perry Robert “Bob” (b. 1863 – d. 1941) married Margaret Cobb; Jacob, Jr. “Jake” (b. 1866- d. 1916) married Catherine Hood; Catherine (b. 1867 – d. ?); Sarah Elizabeth (b. 1870 – d. 1873); Ludley Sample (b. 1873 – d. 1948) married Millie Cooper.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jsr2.htm
Jacob Wright, Jr.
by Mary Shorter
Jacob Wright, Jr., was born in 1866, the son of Jacob Wright, Sr., and America Hinds Wright. He married Catherine Hood and settled down to become a Fentress County farmer. Jacob and Catherine had eight children: Emma, Ogle, John Lincoln, Minnie Bell, Sampson, Margaret, Zeff and Gordon. Of these children only Zeff survives. Gordon, who died as a young man, left no heirs.
Emma, date of birth and death unknown, married Dave Goney and they had four children: Willie, Liddy, Frona and Jack. She was a housewife.
John Lincoln (b. 1887(?)- d. 1975) married Sarah Ema Hayes (b. 1898 d. 1978). Their children are: Orangie, Opal, Wilma, Edna, and Pauline. Often John Lincoln could be seen driving his mules and wagon to his favorite work — plowing gardens.
Sampson (b. 1889 d. 1987) married Edith Hoover (b. 1902 – d. 1985). Their children are: Coy, Audie, Ollie, Willie, Dolly, Lilly, Alfred, Jessie Nell, Janie, Buddy, and Dean. Sampson was a farmer and logger. His lifetime hobby was coon hunting. He also raised and trained coon dogs.
Ogle Oscar (b. 1891(?)- d. 1972) married Inness Hoover (b. 1904 – d. 1934). They had five children: Velma, Jean, Everett, Odell, and Delmer Dee. After the death of Inness, Ogle married Elsie Conatser (b. 1907 – d. 1950) and they had six children: J.L., Kirby, Bennett, Sue, Judy, and Jakie Ray. Ogle loved dancing and could be seen every 4th of July “on the square” in Jamestown.
Minnie was born December 13, 1893, and died October 10, 1972. She married James Alfred Wright on March 15, 19ll. They had ten children: Eugene, Raymond, Edna, and Virgie died while young; Grady, Lena, Oma, Ruby, Idell, and Junell survived their parents. Minnie liked music, gardening, and cooking. Her door was always open and her table always set.
Margaret Rachel (b. 1899(?) d. 1971) married Floyd A. Cooper and they had four children: Ave, Totsie Elmo, Lloyd, and Ruth. Margaret liked to keep the family informed and amused with family history and anecdotes.
Zeff Wright was born in 1902 and presently lives in Fentress County. He had one child by his first marriage. This child, Cane, died in 1986. His second wife, Velva Goney had one daughter, Lens Bell. Velva and Zeff have three children: Juanita, Willie Nell, and John Carson. Zeffs work was farming.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jjr.htm
James Alfred Wright
by Mary Shorter
James Alfred Wright (December 22, 1889 – October 4, 1969) was the son of Margaret Cobb and adopted son of Robert Perry Wright. On March 15, 1911, he married Minnie Bell Wright (December 13, 1893 October 10, 1972), daughter of Jacob Wright, Jr., and Catherine Hood Wright.
James A. and Minnie lived on Skinner Mountain and worked a farm he inherited from his father. It was here they reared their family. James had several trades, among them timber cutter and tie maker. During the Depression, his family traveled with him as he worked on WPA projects. Minnie kept boarders in “shacks” constructed at the work sites.
James A. and Minnie were devoted to each other, to their family, and to God. He was an “old fashioned” preacher who loved reading and studying the Bible. He also played the fiddle. Minnie loved singing, especially in church and at family gatherings. She could also play the organ, guitar, and banjo. To this marriage were born ten children. Four of the children died at an early age: Eugene, Raymond, Virgie, and Edna. Six children survived their parents and reared families of their own: Roy Grady (10-15-1913 – 11-12-1974) married Margaret Owens. Their children are: Mary Nell, Leroy, Eva Grace, James Alfred, Harvey Ray, Phyllis Jean, Mildred, and Billy Joe. His second wife was Marine Roark.
Lena (b. 3-10-1916 ) and her husband Willie Tipton have four surviving children: Juanita June, Aleeta Jean, Judy Key and Steven Dewayne. Two other children, Louise and Phyllis Carol, died in infancy.
Ruby (b. 8-29-1918 -) married Charlie Cravens and they had one son, James Danny. She and her husband Oscar Rhum have three children: Lula, Sue, and Gary. Another child, Basil, born to Oscar and Ruby died in infancy.
Oma Marie (10-22-1922 – 6-24-1984) married Preston Cooper. Their children are: Faye, Jerry Allen, Minnie Rose, and Phillip Bruce. Both Preston and Oma are buried in Fentress County Memory Gardens.
Idell (b. 5-4-1927 -) married Roland Warner. Their children are: Shirley June, Vickie Lynn, and Ronnie.
Junell (b. 7-5-1930 -) married, Howard McDaniel (b. 1920 d. 1975), Claude Brown,
and Paul J. Criswell. She has five children: Yvonne and Howard Thomas McDaniel, Robert Edward and Houston O’Neil Brown, and Patricia Gall (Pete) Criswell.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_ja.htm
James David Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
James David Wright, my father, was born June 7, 1872, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee. He died March 12, 1928, on Tennessee Ridge, in Casey County, Kentucky. His father, John Taylor Wright, was born Mar. 13, 1849, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tenn., and died Jan. 22, 1917, on Tennessee Ridge, in Casey County, Ky. His mother, Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright, was born Feb. 27, 1854, in Fentress County, Tenn., and died Apr. 16, 1911, on Tennessee Ridge, in Casey County, Ky. His paternal grandfather, Mathias Austin Wright, was born in 1815, in Virginia; and died Aug. 3, 1899, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee. His paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Jane Betsy (Wright) Wright, was born in 1820, in Va., and died May 18, 1999, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tenn. His paternal great-grandfather, Matthew W. Wright, was born Apr. 14, 1789, in Maryland; and died Nov. 7, 1865, in Fentress County, Tenn. His paternal great-grandmother, Margaret Ann (Ritchie) Wright, was born July 5, 1790, in Va., and died Mar. 11, 1882, in Fentress County, Tenn. His maternal great-grandfather, John Wright, (a brother to Matthew W. Wright), was born in 1787, in Md., served in the 4th Regiment of the Virginia Brigade, during the War of 1812, and died May 17, 1864, at “head of the Cane,” (Hurricane Creek), near Moodyville, in what is now Pickett County, Tenn. And his maternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright, was born in 1796, in Va.; and died after 1876, in Fentress County, Tennessee.
About 1894, James David Wright married Martha Isabel “Whited,” a illegitimate daughter of Matilda Emiline Scott. She was born July 8, 1878, in Fentress County, Tenn. She died Feb. 15, 1920, at Riffe Creek, in Casey County, Ky. Her mother, Matilda Emiline (Scott) Whited, was born Oct. 25, 1843, on Dry Creek, in Fentress County, Tenn., and died July 10, 1943, on Tennessee Ridge, in Casey County, Ky. Lacking exactly two and a half months of being 100 years of age. Her maternal grandfather, James Tunis Scott, was born about 1821, in North Carolina; and died about 1864 or 1865 -just before the Civil War ended – on Dry Creek, in Fentress County, Tenn. He and his oldest son, David Anderson Scott, both were Union soldiers during the Civil War. The identity of her father, paternal grandparents, and maternal grandmother is not known.
In May 1899, James David Wright, his wife Isabel, and their two daughters, Maude Ann and Eva Ellen, migrated here to Casey County, Ky.; arriving on the 18th the day that his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Jane Wright, died. In 1901, he bought 100 acres of land on Tennessee Ridge. It was located on the east side of the road, (which is now highway 1615). It extended along the road, on both sides of the Canoe Creek Road intersection, from the George Rodgers line to what was later the Bee Monday line; and reached down the south side of Canoe Creek Road to the top of the hill; to about the Mitchell Buck road, or to about the present Charlie Davis house. It adjoined the farms of Napoleon Scott, Ace Rodgers, George Rodgers, Mitchell Buck, the Sanders or Monday farm, and the land on the of the hill. Dad built his house on the present site of the Clay Taylor home, and set out some maple trees in the front yard. Seven of his 16 children, (Tholet, Roe, Al, Velma, Mossie, Roscoe and Carl), were born there. My mother, Martha Isabel Wright, was postmaster (or postmistress) of the Ridge post office there, from Feb. 15, 1901 until Nov. 30, 1912. And my father, James David Wright, built the first room of the Ridge School. About 1903, his parents, brothers and sisters, and their families, moved up here. And, in 1905, Dad sold 60 acres of his land to his father; who sold portions of it to his other 4 sons, Robert, Alfred, Peter and Joe.
The children of James David Wright and Martha Isabel Wright (of which the first 5 were born in Fentress County, Tenn.) were: Cora Bell (Jan. 5, 1895-died as an infant); Maude Ann (Jan. 17, 1896-May 18, 1984); Raymond (Jan. 10, 1897-died as an infant); Unnamed son (1898-died as an infant); and Eva Ellen (Mar. 20, 1899-still living). And, born in Casey County, Ky., were: Chester (Sept. 14, 1900-still living); Tholet (1902 or 1903-died as a child); Roe, named after Theodore Roosevelt, (Apr. 22, 1905-May 7, 1964); Al (June 17, 1907-still living); Sarah Velma (Apr. 19, 1909-still living); Mossie Delma (Jan. 8, 1911-still living); Roscoe Hollis (July 25, 1914-still living); Orion Carl (Apr. 14, 1916-Dec. 9, 1931); and Ruby Mae (Jan. 4, 1919-still living). The marriages were as follows: Maude married Jasper Granville Scott, Dec. 20 , 1912; Eva married John Corbett Buck, April 28, 1914; Chester married Zehna Wethington, May 4, 1937; Roe married Opal McDonald, Mar. 30, 1935; Al married Edith Spears, Dec. 27, 1928; Velma married John William Dean, May 28, 1932; Mossie married Riley Brown, July 28, 1928; and Ruby married Herbert Lemmon, Oct. 27, 1937. Roscoe is unmarried.
Just before he died in 1917, my grandfather Wright sold his farm to James Davis; and my father sold his to Clay Taylor’s father. After that, Dad moved around, all up and down Tennessee Ridge. On the following years, he lived at the following places: 1917-at Caney Fork, across from the church in the old Halker Brown house; 1918 and 1919-on Wilson Ridge, at the Brown Road intersection, Ruby was born there, in the Tan Edwards house; 1920-at Riffe Creek, Mom died there, of t.b.; 1921-at Creston, in the Galen Brown house; 1922-on Woods Creek, in Riley Pile house; 1923- on Nubbin Ridge, in the Will Lee house; 1924-on Nubbin Ridge, in Clell Evens house, till April 14; 1924 to April 22, 1926-in Floyd County, Indiana; 1926-after April 22, at Riffe Creek, in Clint Propes house; 1927-first part, at Ridge, in Della Farris house; 1927-last part, and 1928, first part, at Ridge, in the old Charlie Monday house. Dad died March 12, 1928, while living there.
In 1923, Dad married Fanny Carman (b. May 11, 1896) and had 2 children by her: Dorothy Ann (b. Sept. 7, 1924) and Omer Richard (b. May. 30, 1927). Dorothy married Albert Blackburn. Omer married Mary Ellen Pennington. Both live in Woodford County, Ky.
After Mom died, Dad seemed to go from bad to worse, financially and health-wise. He died broken down and almost a pauper at age 55. Like the proverbial rolling stone, he did not gather much “moss” — greenback, that is. He taught his children to obey him. And he didn’t take much “sass” from his children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces. He seldom whipped, but he whipped hard. But I adored my father. As I said in the 4O-line song poem, “My Dear Old Dad”, that I wrote about him — “He left me no heritage, no riches, no start; hut he left something better — ‘way down in my heart.” Dad was not a great farmer. But he was a fine blacksmith, carpenter and wheelwright. He also worked around sawmills and gristmills a lot. Once, I saw him rebuild a whole 5-horse farm wagon. Using just the hubs and iron from an old wagon, and buying new strips of iron for the tires. He built all new wood — the spokes, rims, axles, bed everything. And it looked great — almost like a brand new one. He died March 12, 1928, from a 3rd paralytic stroke. He and Mom are buried in the Austin Cemetery at Riffe Creek, Casey County, Ky. on the last farm that they ever owned.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jd.htm
James W. Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
James W. Wright was born February 8, 1840, at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee, and died April 30, 1900, at his home in Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee. He was the oldest son of Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright. His paternal grandparents were Matthew W. Wright and Margaret Am (Ritchie) Wright. His maternal grandparents were John Wright and Elizabeth (Lindley) Wright. Matthew and John were brothers. So, Mathias and Elizabeth Jane were first cousins. During the Civil War, James W. joined the U.S. Army, September 25, 1863, at Jamestown, Fentress County, Tennessee, as a private in Co. D. First Tennessee Mounted Infantry. And, on March 24, 1864, he was appointed Sergeant Major (Master Sergeant) of his regiment. He was mustered out, April 14, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee.
In November 1865, he married Sarah (called “Sally”) Hunt, at Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee. She was born in 1845; and died July 22, 1912, at age 67. I don’t have any information on her ancestors. They had one daughter, Lizzie J. Wright, who, obviously, was named after her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Jane Wright. Lizzie J. was born August 12, 1866; and died February 1, 1887; at 20 years of age. She never married.
After the war, James W. studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1870. He practiced law and dealt in real estate a while in Livingston, Overton County, Tennessee. Later on, he moved to Cookeville, Tennessee, to help organize the Bank of Cookeville, of which he was made cashier. And, at Cookeville, he got into polities. From April to November, 1873,he was Attorney General of the 16th Judicial Circuit. From 1876 to 1881, he was Chairman of County Court, Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court. And, from 1885 to 1887, he served in the Senate of the 44th Tennessee General Assembly, representing the following counties: Clay, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Fentress and Pickett. He was a Republican, just as most in our Wright line have been down through the years; including my father, myself, and most of my contemporary Wright relatives.
Back about 1981, when I learned that my great-uncle James W. Wright, his wife and daughter are buried in the Cookeville Cemetery, I wanted to go down and visit their graves. In October 1984, I got a chance to do so. I was enjoying a a-day visit in the Fentress County area. So, early one day, Tuesday or Wednesday, I think, I drove from Jamestown, via Highway 52, to Livingston; then on down to Cookeville on Highway 42. I spent about 3 hours in the cemetery (which is a large one) searching for their graves. I looked all over the cemetery 2 or 3 times, and was very disappointed when I failed to locate them. I found 14 other Wright graves, but not the ones that I sought. I started out to find other cemeteries to search, but I changed my mind, as I am not familiar with Cookeville, which is a fair sized little city, and I didn’t have a map.
Then, on Friday, I went over to Overton County to spend 2 days with my second cousin Anna Lee Smith and her husband Wilbur. On Saturday afternoon, they were to attend the wedding of one of his great-nieces in Cookeville, and asked if I wanted to go along. I decided to do so and search the cemetery again for the graves while they attended the wedding. So, I went along and they let me out at the north end of the cemetery. During my first visit there, I had looked for the care-taker woman, but failed to find her. On my second visit, I located her, and she told me that there wasn’t any James W. Wright buried in the cemetery. But I didn’t believe her, and I continued my search. For she had talked with me through a fastened screen door, and she hadn’t checked her cemetery records. Besides, two of my cousins – Thomas Mackey, in Delaware, and Wilma Pinekley, in Jamestown — had told me that James, Sarah and Lizzie were buried there. I think that the woman just told me that they weren’t to get rid of me.
About an hour before sunset, I still hadn’t found the graves, and had about given up hope of doing so. But I thought that it was about time for Wilbur and Anna to be back, so, I headed back to the north end of the cemetery to wait for them — still searching as I went. About four-fifths of the way back, I stopped and looked all around me, in a circle. About 40 feet back, on an angle, and a little Lower than I was, I saw a rock with “Wright” on it and went hack for a closer look. It was the double (granite) rock of John E. Wright and his wife Virginia (Coe) Wright. He was a first cousin to James W. and my grandfather. Their son was buried on one side of them, and their daughter on the other. I didn’t know that they were buried down there. I wrote down the inscriptions, took pictures of the grave rocks, and went on back. At about the same time where I had been before, I stopped and looked all around me again. This time, I saw a tall rock with “Wright” on it, close by, near a big white oak tree, and almost in line with the John E. Wright rock. I walked over and examined it, and lo! and behold! and eureka! — I had found it! — the grave rock of James W. Wright, his wife Sarah, and their daughter Lizzie J. Wright. Imagine my joy, my delight, and my excitement! My persistence had finally paid off.
About ten minutes later, before I had finished copying the inscriptions, Wilbur and Anna came cruising through the cemetery, turned onto the cross drive beyond me and stopped, “Did you find it?” one of them asked. I said, “Yeah!” “Where?,” he or she asked, as they looked all around. “Right there!,” I replied, as I pointed to it. The names on the rock were not very conspicuous. That is why it had been so hard for me to find it. I finished copying the inscriptions, took a picture of the rock, and had Wilbur to take one with me standing beside it. By then it was only about 20 minutes till sunset.
Lizzie J. is buried straight in front of the rock, with a parent on each side of her. Her inscription is on the back of the rock, while those of her parents are on the sides. Each of the 3 has a 1-line verse. James W.’s and Lizzie’s each has a line that is phrased wrong. Here is what was intended to be expressed. James W.’s: “To those who for thy Loss are grieved, This consolation’s given; Thou art from a world of woe relieved, And dwelling safe in heaven.” Sarah’s: “Thou best Left us many tokens, Of they perfect trust in God. And we feel that thou art Living, Though they form lies ‘neath the sod.” Lizzie J.’s: “List! father, mother, list! A harp to me is given. Although I touch its softest strains, ‘Tis heard all over heaven.”
James W.’s brothers and sisters were as follows: Joseph Harrison Wright, Sept. 9, 1842 – Nov. 19, 1865; Margaret Ann Wright, born in 1844; Nancy Wright, Feb. 7, 1847 Jan. 17, 1881; John Taylor Wright, my grandfather, Mar. 13, 1849-Jan. 22, 1917; Jacob R. Wright, born in 1851, died Oct. 27, 1924; A still-born male infant, May 13, 1854; Samuel Winfield Wright, born July 16, 1856, died in 1903; and David Millican Wright, Dec. 2, 1858- Mar. 14, 1920. Joseph never married; Margaret married Isham Hinds; Nancy married Joel Lucy Reagan; John married Elizabeth Ann King; Jacob married Jane Smith and Sarah Jones; Samuel married Naomi Choate; and David married Celesta Bowden, Samantha Bowden, and Flora Abbiline Bilbrey.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jw.htm
Joe Green Wright
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Joe Green Wright, my father’s youngest brother, was born at Little Crab, Fentress County, Tennessee, and died June 12, 1973, in Casey County, Kentucky. His grave rock lists his date of birth as June 5, 1891; but the 1900 Fentress County census records list it as September 1890. He came here to Casey County in 1903, with his parents and their family. He was about 12 years old at the time. His parents were John Taylor Wright and Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright. His paternal grandparents were Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright. His maternal grandparents were Robert King and Nancy Agnes (Beaty) King. On May 5, 1912, he married Ida Lay, a native of Casey County. Her parents were William L. Lay and Sarah Jane Lay. William was born in Tennessee, and Sarah in Kentucky. Ida’s grave rock lists her birth date as April 7, 1892; but the 1900 Casey County census records list both Ida and her younger brother, George Lay, a year older than their grave rocks do. Ida died January 17, 1978, here in Casey County, Kentucky.
The children of Joe Green Wright and Ida (Lay) Wright were as follows: John William Wright, born Mar. 26, 1913, is still living. Elvin Estill Wright, May 13, 1915 – Feb. 1, 1985. Armer Willis Wright, Nov. 10, 1918 Oct. 27, 1937. Flora Wright, born June 1, 1922, is still living. And Shelby Wright, born Sept. 17, 1925, is still living. The marriages of the sons and daughter were as follows: John William Wright married Linnie Sapp, Feb. 5, 1936. She is a daughter of John quincy Sapp and Lille (Rich) Sapp. Elvin Estill Wright married Edith Emerson, Sept. 24, 1935. She is a daughter of William Columbus “Buddy” Emerson and Myrtle (Grooms) Emerson. Armer Willis Wright died as a teenager, and never married. Flora Wright married Berkley Buck. I don’t have their wedding date, nor information on his parents. And Shelby Wright married Juanita Ray, Dec. 24, 1944. She is a native of Overton County, Tennessee; a daughter of Benton W. Ray and Mattie (Sanders) Ray. The others are natives of Casey County.
The grandchildren of Joe Green Wright and Ida (Lay) Wright were as follows. John and Linnie’s children; Murrel Quincy Wright, born Oct. 20, 1937, died as a child. Juanita Wright, born Mar. 6, 1939, married Wendell Delp, Dec. 21, 1957. Russell Oris Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Mabel Christine Adams, July 7, 1962. Freida Verona Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Ronald Atwood, Mar. 31, 1962. A Wright infant, not named, born and died Dec. 7, 1945. Ronald Darrell Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Pauline Coleman, Oct. 17, 1970. And Deborah Kaye Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Dennis Wilkerson, Oct. 3, 1970. Elvin and Edith’s children: Wayne Wright, married Elizabeth somebody; Sherrill Wright; and Jerry Wright. I don’t have any dates on these three. Flora and Berkley’s children: Gary Buck; and Linda Sue Buck. I don’t have any dates on these two. Both were unmarried, I think, 2 or 3 years ago. Shelby and Juanita have one son, Richard Warren Wright, born {redacted on this site}, married Sharon Key Mottweiler, Oct. 16, 1965.
The great-grandchildren of Joe Green Wright and Ida (Lay) Wright: Juanita and Wendell Delp have one daughter, Cheri Delp, born {redacted on this site}, married Jeff Burchell, June 28, 1980. Russell and Mabel Wright have one son and one daughter. Russell Keith Wright, born {redacted on this site}; and Karen Dale Wright, born {redacted on this site}. Karen played on the Casey County High School basketball team, back about 1980. I think that Keith is married now, but that Karen is still single. Freida and Ronald Atwood have one daughter and one son: Vicki Lee Atwood, born {redacted on this site}; and Ronald Brent Atwood, born {redacted on this site}. Ronald and Pauline Wright’s children: Ronald Brian Wright, born {redacted on this site}; and Tracie Jo Wright, born {redacted on this site}. Deborah and Dennis Wilkerson’s children: Jonathan Bradley Wilkerson, born {redacted on this site}; and Jamie Dale Wilkerson, born {redacted on this site}. And Richard and Sharon’s children: Melanie Marlene Wright, born {redacted on this site}; Melissa Marcanne Wright, born {redacted on this site}; and Jennifer Joanne Wright, born {redacted on this site}. This concludes my listing of the great-grandchildren.
Joe Green Wright bought 15 acres of land from his father, May 22, 1914, and paid $60.00 cash for it. The land was on Tennessee Ridge, at the headwaters of Canoe Creek. Al of Joe’s children were born on the little farm, except John, the oldest. This farm was located on the Tennessee Ridge road, (now Highway 1615), between the farm of Joe’s father, on Canoe Creek Road, and the farm of Napoleon Bonaparte Scott, which was across the Tennessee Ridge road. That was 2 months and 3 days before I was born. My parents were living just up the road from Joe, where Clay Taylor and his wife, Gertrude, live now. Two or three of Joe’s other brothers lived in between, just across Canoe Creek Road. My parents had arrived here May 18, 1899. And, on March 25, 1901, they had bought 100 acres of land. Then, on February 21, 1905, they sold 60 acres of it to Grandpa Wright, and kept 40 acres for themselves. Joe’s farm was part of the 100 acres.
By 1927, Joe was beginning to farm quite a bit. He needed more land. And he also needed firewood. So, about 1930 or a little later, he bought a large tract of level woodland, down the main road about a mile and a quarter, and off it a short way. And, during the next few years, he and his sons cleared most of it and turned it into a nice farm. He built a fairly nice house and a barn on it, and spent the rest of his life there. He farmed all his life, and was successful at it. He probably was a better farmer than his 4 brothers, who all worked around sawmills and gristmills a large part of their lives.
During the 1940s, his sons, Elvin and Shelby, and his daughter, Flora, went to Anderson, Indiana, to live and work. They remained up there and prospered. The oldest son, John William Wright, remained in Casey County, near his parents. He started a business in Liberty, the county seat, called Wright Implement Company, and is doing quite well with it. His oldest son, Russell Wright, and family, help to run the business. His other son, Ronald Wright, and wife, Pauline, now own and operate the A and D Supermarket in Liberty. The Joe Wright house and farm is still owned by the family, and a Wright family reunion is held there each year, on the first Sunday in August. John and his son Ronald each have built a modern brick home on the farm and Live there. Grandpa Wright’s sons and daughters all are dead now. and John and I are his only grandsons who still live in Casey County. Our Fentress County Wrights are no kin to any other Wrights who have ever lived in, or near, Casey County. Uncle Joe, 3 of his sisters, their parents, and various other relatives and friends are buried in Whited Cemetery, on the upper end of Tennessee Ridge, here in Casey County. Dad (James David Wright), and Uncle Al Wright are buried in Austin Cemetery, at Riffle Creek. Uncle Rob Wright and Uncle Pete Wright are buried in Indiana. And we have relatives at Cincinnati, in Louisville, in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, California, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia; plus the ones back in Tennessee.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jg.htm
John W. and Hattie (Robbins) Wright
by Lloyd D. Bryant
John William “Willie” Wright and Hattie Dorthy Robbins were married on May 4, 1929 in the home of her parents, Fate and Mary Ellen Robbins. Willie Wright was the son of Joseph Wright (March 1, 1883) and Sarah “Joe” Reagan (October 7, 1882). The brothers and sisters of Willie were Welter, married Sarah Ann Upchurch; Auda, married Joe Johnson; Homer, married Pansy Smith; Comer; Fred, died young; Wheeler, married Leafy Gunter; and Zadie.
Willie’s father, Joseph Harrison Wright, was the son of Jacob “Jake” Wright (1851 to October 27, 1924) and his first wife Jane Smith. Jake was a school teacher in Little Crab in the late 1800’9. “Jake” Wright was the son of Mathias Wright (1815) and Mathias’ first cousin, Elizabeth Wright Wright (1819). They are buried in the Bailey Bowden Cemetery in Little Crab. Mathias was the son of Matthew W. Wright (April 14, 1789 to November 7, 1865) and wife Margaret Ann Ritchie (July 5, 1790 to March 11, 1882) who are buried in the Wright Cemetery west of Jamestown near Highway 52. Elizabeth, Willie’s paternal great grandmother, was the daughter of John Wright (1787-1864) and wife Elizabeth Lindley (1796).
Willie Wright’s mother, Sarah Joe Reagan Wright, was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson (September 30, 1847) and Susan “Ann” Hayes Reagan (1851). Thomas was the son of John “Appleseed” Reagan (February 8, 1802 to October 5, 1876) and wife Naney Findley (September 2, 1813 – after 1880). John was the son of Peter Reagan, Jr. (1779-1854) and wife Nancy Cauthon (1779). Peter Reagan, Jr. was the son of Peter Reagan, Sr. (1755-1828) and wife Rebecca McCarth or McCardy (1755 – after 1830). Nancy Findley was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Findley. Captain James Findley (1780-1854) was part Cherokee Indian.
“Ann” Hayes, Willie’s maternal grandmother, was the daughter of Jonathan Hayes (1826) and wife Jane Beaty (1826). Jane was the daughter of Isaac Beaty (1803-1854) and Susanna Gwynn (1902-1892). Susanna, the daughter of John Gwynn and Jane Holbrooke, saw five of her six sons die in the Civil War. Isaac was the son of James Beaty and Mary Catherine Smith Beaty. James was the son of John Beaty (1725) and Margaret Montgomery.
Hattie Robbins Wright (October 6, 1907) is the daughter of Lafayette Bransford “Fate” (October 7, 1881 to November 5, 1929) and Mary Ellen Robbins Robbins (March 1, 1883 to October 8, 1975). Hattie’s brothers and sisters are Oshie Frankie, born June 10, 1905; Vonnie Lee, born January 25, 1910; Cecil Britten (October 24, 1912 – November 20, 1916); Edith Flossie, born May 9, 1915; Kenneth Estil, born August 18, 1918; Elsie Beatrice, born January 26, 1921; Delphia Iowa, born October 15, 1924; and Willie Mae, born June 20, 1927.
Fate Robbins and his brothers are known to have “gone north” to work. They were noted as handsome men and, according to local standards, fancy dressers. Fate is reputed to have lived and worked in thirty eight states during his early years. He died as a result of a car accident. Fate’s parents were Isaac “Bud” or “Big Bud” and Mary Winningham Robbins. Mary was the daughter of Henry Bransford (born ca 1810 in NC; died ca 1880) and Susanna Mayfield (1820 – after 1880) Winningham; the daughter of Polly Mayfield. Henry was the son of Adam Winningham (1781-1859). Adam may have had as many as three wives — only Isobell is known for sure — and is buried in an unmarked grave in Bethesda Cemetery, Overton County. Adam’s father was Richard Winningham who was living in Randolph County, North Carolina in 1779 and who died before November 13, 1806.
The ancestry of Isaac, Fate Robbin’s father, is less certain. The family believes he was the son of Bred (John Allen) and “Sis” (Lavina) Reagan Robbins-the daughter of Charles (1804) and Lavina Reagan. The 1880 Fentress Census has household number 18 which contains Isaac (1818), Mary (1857), Andrew (1871), Willis (1873), Susan (1879), and Mertha Masengal (1868) who is listed as a boarder. Fate’s brothers and sisters are known to have been Andy; Willis; Susan who married Landon York and died in childbirth with her third child; Mack; Eddie; and Edger. This would tend to confirm that the 1880 Census Isaac is the “Bud” Isaac who married Mary Winningham with children as noted.
Hattie’s mother, Mary Ellen (March 1, 1883 to October 8, 1975), was the daughter of John Robbins (b. 1840 according to Census records or February 15, 1842 according to family records) and Rhoda Cravens Robbins (July 4, 1847). John was the son of Arter Robbins (1914-1887) and Mary “Pop” Winningham (1919-1873). Mary “Pop” was the daughter of Richard Winningham (1796-1893), brother of Adam noted above, and wife Mary Ann “Polly” Hooser (1803 – living in 1870 at the age of 67). Richard was the son of the Richard Winningham noted above. Rhoda was the daughter of Henry Cravens and wife Fatsy Livingston (Peggy). Mary Ellen’s sisters and brothers were William Isaac, James Arter, Henry Elliot, Susan, Lucy Emiline, and Macky.
Willie and Hattie Wright had six children. They were Lester Paul, born May 11, 1929; Betty Jean, born January 26, 1932, who married Kirby Roark; Jackie Leonard, born May 12, 1933; a daughter who was stillborn; Maudean, born August 20, 1938, who married Welter Davis; and William, Jr., born {redacted on this site}, who married Margaret Hovel. Willie worked in the coal mines moat of his life. He died August 31, 1957. Hattie is now living in Jamestown, Tennessee. She is enjoying her retirement after a life of hard work. She especially enjoys her telephone, TV Soaps, and spends hours “keeping her scrap books.” However, hard work is still her habit. She keeps her house immaculate and by 9:00 AM her floors are mopped; beds made; and spider webs are off the wall.
Special thanks are due to Mrs. Wilma Pinckley who provided most of the genealogical information for this story from her extensive research records.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_jwhr.htm
Joshua Foster Wright, Jr.
by Ruby E. Wright
Joshua Foster Wright, Jr. was born May 16, 1836 and died February 28, 1900. He was a Mason. Joshua was the son of Wilson L. Wright and Hannah Boswell Wright. His grandparents were Joshua F. Wright, Sr. who came with his family from Virginia and settled at Clarkrange. He was probably the first settler in that region. Joshua F., Sr. was the father of Wilson L. and Mitchell (Mitch) Wright. Wilson was an office holder in Fentress County for forty-two years in succession. He rode to Jamestown on a side saddle to attend the sessions of the county court of which he was a member when very old and unable to ride otherwise. He was serving as County Judge when the second courthouse was built. Wilson married Hannah Boswell Wright and they had the following children: Major John C. Wright, Sr., Joshua Foster, Jr., Boswell F. Wright, Jane Wright who married Wash Peavyhouse and they were the parents of Abe, John, Sam and Virgil Peavyhouse; Elizabeth Wright who married John Conatser; Victoria Wright who married Erasmus Pile; Permelia who married a Benjamin Brannon. Elizabeth Wright married John Conatser and they had one son, Pierce, and one daughter, Margaret. Pierce married Loucinda Delk and their children were Pearl, Ellen and Victoria. Pearl married Dr. Lockhart and Ellen married Sam Smith whose children were Sam, Jr., Edith Eleaner, Ella Grace and William Luther. After John Conatser died, Elizabeth married Thannie Mullinix and their children were Vina, Marion, Abagail who married Hiram Pogue, Hattie who married Charlie Anderson, and Celestia who married a Bradley of Sparta.
Victoria Wright who married Erasmus Pile had two daughters, Ella and Delta. Ella married S.E. Frogge and their children were Wright, Maxine and Justine. Delta married W.E. Mullinix and their children were Lucille, Glenn and Eston. Victoria died and Erasmus married Cindy Young. They had two daughters: Carrie and Victoria. Carrie married Clay Conatser and Victoria married Arvil Key.
John C. Wright, the eldest son of Wilson, became a Major in the Ninth Tenn. Volunteer Cavalry of USA where he served throughout the Civil War. He married Mary Williams and their children were Ida, Minnie, Jim, Cos, Webster, and Noble. Noble married Fley Baxter and their children were John B., Harlan, Mary Elizabeth, Ellen and Bonnie. Noble served as County Judge in 1926.
Joshua Foster Wright, Jr. married Zibbie Angeline Price who was born June 21, 1842 and died August 30, 1905. They were the parents of Edmond Jasper, Louis McPherson (Mack) and John Marion. Edmond Jasper was born May 20, 1864 and married Alice Ann Mace. Their children were Jasper Dewey, Oakley Edmond, Ophie Ethel, Rebecca Victoria, Ruby Esther, Ray Fred and Roy Porter, Sr. Mack taught school, served as county court clerk and as deputy sheriff, and was a Mason. He married Virginia Alice Millsaps who was born March 23, 1873. They had one son, John Elmo born September 19, 1894, and one daughter, Maude Gertrude born January 11, 1898. John Elmo married Bertha Crockett and they had one daughter, Maudine who married Marvin Shanks. Maude Gertrude married Joe Rowland and no children. Mack died August 19, 1899 and is buried in the Franklin Cemetery in Popular Cove. After Mack died, John Marion married Mack’s widow, Virginia Alice Wright. They had one daughter, Rosemary Wright Burch born October 1, 1905, and one son, Jasper Marion born November 15, 1911.
Zibbie Angeline Price, the wife of Joshua F. Wright, Jr., was the daughter of John H. Price born in 1912 who married Sarah Wright Price born in 1815. Zibbie’s brothers and sisters were Jenina, Edmonson, Marion, Nancy, Benjamin, and William.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/wright_joshjr.htm
On January 24, 2022, an article entitled “Perry Robert (B0b) Wright” was not found on the server where these stories are located.
Transcriber’s note: Most, but not all, [transcribed] excerpts relate to Beaty families. Don’t forget the first rule of genealogy — everything should be backed by primary documentation — This book was written by the Fentress Co. Historical Society. It’s mainly a collection of personal histories told from memory and family tradition with little documentation, and should be taken as such.
TNGenWeb Coordinator’s note: Curtis Media Corp. gave permission to post this material originally, and it was uploaded in a free account at Rootsweb. We do not intend copyright infringement on anyone. However, Rootsweb has experienced viability issues in the past. We want to make sure the information is retained and available for Fentress County researchers.