Gideon Wright and Catherine Anderson

Submitted by Theda Pond Womack
1425 Wrights Lane
Gallatin, TN 37066

Gideon WRIGHT (son of John WRIGHT, Sr born 1740 and unknown wife - See Wright Family) was born December 30, 1777 in NC, possibly in Bute Co. The family was living in Warren Co. NC, after the formation of that county. On October 30, 1809, Gideon signed a deed for his interest in a farm in Warren Co. NC. to his brother, John WRIGHT, Jr. In 1813 Gideon married Catherine ANDERSON, daughter of Robert ANDERSON and Mary BURNEY, and granddaughter of John and Margaret ANDERSON. She was born in NC on April 14, 1790 and came with her parents and grandparents to Sumner County when she was only six years old. In 1814 Gideon WRIGHT bought a farm of 150 acres on Desha's Creek. He later bought and sold other tracts of land on the same creek. Aunt Myrtle Wright Bertrand said that they lived in a log house on the hill just south of our home, on land now (1988) belonging to Tommy Gordon. But they had probably earlier lived in a log house on the east side of the creek in a field now owned by Keith Myers's father-in-law, Mr. Innman.

In 1820 they appear on the census with older children and 1 male slave aged 14-26. He probably freed this slave because in 1830 there is a Peter WRIGHT, free Negro, living near him. Negro Peter is buried in the cemetery in our yard according to Aunt May Boles. He had no slaves in 1840 or 1850. By 1860 all children were gone and they appear on census aged 82 and 70 respectively, with real estate valued at $5250 and personal property at $3500.

In February 1833 Court Minutes show that Gideon, along with his sons William and Robert were indicted for assault and battery on Samuel C. TYREE. William was found not guilty, but Gideon and son Robert were fined $5 plus court costs each. Robert KILPATRICK, a neighbor signed as security for their fines and costs. Same Court Minute Book shows that he served as a juror later in 1833.

In addition to farming, Gideon owned and operated a woolen mill, where he made wool blankets and "woolsey-linsey" cloth, which was used for making men's pants. Other brought their wool to be made into cloth and blankets for which they paid a percentage of their wool. This was a family trade passed down to his sons and grandson. Son, James Porter WRIGHT, said that at age 20 he began learning the millwright trade.

Both Gideon and Catherine were members of Shiloh Presbyterian Church.

Gideon died September 26, 1867, aged almost 90. He is buried in the family cemetery in our yard. In 1870 Catherine was living with her grandson, John Worth WRIGHT and his wife and baby. John worked in the woolen mill with his father, Gideon Venuel WRIGHT. Catherine died February 20, 1873.

Children of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON are:

  1. William Wright born Nov. 28, 1814 Sumner Co. TN, died Nov. 8, 1870 Gallatin, Sumner Co. TN. Buried Gallatin City Cemetery. Married 1st in 1838 to Margaret J. PATON, married 2nd in 1861 to Jane GRIFFIN, married 3rd in 1862 to Libba FERGUSON.
  2. Jane S. Wright born Apr. 18, 1816 Sumner Co. TN, died Sept 1894 Sumner Co. TN. Buried Old Ft. Head Cemetery. Married John MCNEELY.
  3. Robert Anderson Wright born Apr 14, 1818 Sumner Co. TN, died Aug. 24, 1902 Sumner Co. TN. Buried at Drane's Cemetery. Married 1st Susan BARR, married 2nd Amanda ANGLEA, married 3rd Lucy TALLEY.
  4. John M. Wright born Aug. 13, 1819 Sumner Co. TN, died Apr. 19, 1865 Sumner Co. TN. Buried Barr Cemetery. Married 1st in 1843 to Mary WRIGHT, married 2nd in 1859 to Elizabeth J. PENN.
  5. Lucy Wright born abt. 1821 Sumner Co. TN, died 1840's. Buried at the family cemetery beside her parents. Never married.
  6. James Porter Wright born Aug. 18, 1823 Sumner Co. TN, died Nov. 18, 1893. Buried Pilot Knob Presby Church Cem. KY. Married on Dec. 21, 1848 to Susan E. STUART.
  7. Gideon Venuel Wright born July 14, 1825 Sumner Co. TN, died 1898 KY. Buried Drane's Cem in an unmarked grave. Married 1st on Feb. 18, 1847 to Mary Catherine DOBBINS, married 2nd on Nov. 24, 1875 to Mary Lou DRANE.

William WRIGHT (eldest son of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON), was born in Sumner County, TN 28 Nov. 1814. He married first Margaret J. PATTON in Sumner County on 18 Dec. 1838. They evidently went to IL for a short time where the eldest child was born Dec. 1839. They were back in Sumner County in 1841 when William was baptized and joined the Dry Fork C. P. Church on 22 Aug 1841, but Margaret joined Shiloh in October. Their two eldest children were baptized at Shiloh on 28 Sept 1842.

Before 1850 they moved to Gallatin, where it is shown on the census as a "wool carder." In 1860 his occupation is shown as "wool manufacturer." His first wife, Margaret, was born 11 June 1820, died 11 Oct 1860. On 28 June 1861 he married Jane GRIFFITH, who died 3 months later on the 8th of October. Aunt Myrtle said that his woolen mill was located on what is now Factory Street where Genesco Shoe Factory is located. But the last location was evidently near the present Baptist Church on East Main St. A title bond dated 1870 to the Christian Church shows the property bounded on the east by Howard Female College, and this bond says, "same building used by me heretofore as a woolen factory."

He was a loyal Unionist. He was elected City alderman in 1862. In 1865 he was elected to the House of Representatives but resigned because "his conservative notions met with no favor with the Radical majority." A very bitter southern man who had lost one son in the Conf. Army and another son lost a leg. He was elected Mayor of Gallatin in 1868 and he was able to get his son, G. B. appointed post master the same year.

Some time in 1862 he married his third wife, Miss Libba FERGUSON. They had a son who died and a daughter, Betty, born in 1864. In April 1870 Libba filed for divorce. That lawsuit contains pages and pages of testimony. It tells that the trouble began when they returned home from their honeymoon and his daughters had stomped on her bonnet. Testimony shows that Mrs. CONKLIN came to help care for her sister, Mrs. PARKER, at their father's home. Carrie PARKER died at her father's home in 1868. The daughters testified that she had a violent temper and drove the negro cook away and on one occasion "pulled out half their father's beard." Libba claimed that he became angry at her because she paid a lady to make quilts for her said she had plenty of time to make her own, since she had a negro cook and do the laundry for her.

When the census was taken in the summer of 1870 they were living separately, William with only a negro servant. Libba and daughter, Betty, were living with the family of Henry M. AUSTIN, a lawyer.

William died on 8 Nov. 1870 and is buried in Gallatin cemetery with his first two wives. Betty married John B. COOK in 1882.

Children of William WRIGHT and Margaret J. PATTON are:

  1. Gideon Blackburn Wright born Dec. 31, 1839 IL, died Feb. 13, 1911 Sumner Co. TN. Buried at Gallatin City Cemetery. Married Oct. 25, 1866 Sumner Co. TN to Carrie S. KING.
  2. Susan Catherine Wright born abt. 1841 Sumner Co. TN, died before 1850 Sumner Co. TN.
  3. Mary J. Wright born abt. 1843 Sumner Co. TN. Lived in Dewitt Co. IL. Married James H. CONKLIN.
  4. Carrie S. Wright born Jan. 27, 1845 Sumner Co. TN, died May 8, 1868 Sumner Co. TN. Buried at Gallatin City Cem. Married a PARKER.
  5. James Knox Polk Wright born Oct. 24, 1847, died Oct. 5, 1927 LaGuardo, Wilson Co. TN. Married 1st to Eliza G. VAUGHAN, married 2nd to Annie M. MCMURRAY.

Child of William WRIGHT and Libba FERGUSON are:

  1. Betty Wright born 1864 Sumner Co. TN. Married June 11, 1882 Sumner Co. TN to John B. COOK.

James Knox Polk WRIGHT (son of William WRIGHT and Margaret J. PATTON) was born October 24, 1847 Sumner Co. TN, died October 5, 1927 LaGuardo, Wilson Co. TN. He married 1st in 1869 to Elizabeth G. VAUGHN (daughter of Dr. Henry B. VAUGHN and Susan), married 2nd on 23 Oct. 1889 to Annie M. MCMURRAY.

Children of James Knox Polk WRIGHT and Eliz. VAUGHN are:

  1. Margaret "Maggie" Wright married a BASS.
  2. Alice B. Wright died in Paragould Ark, married H. R. PARTLOW.
  3. James Knox Wright b. 1879?.
  4. William Henry Wright born July 18, 1881 LaGuardo, Wilson Co. TN, died March 25, 1954 Shreveport La. Married 25 Sept. 1906 to Ethel Mae ELLIOTT (1886 - 1966). William served in the Phillippines in the Spanish American War. Moved to La.
  5. Graham C. Wright married Susie.

Children of James Knox Polk WRIGHT and Annie MCMURRAY are:

  1. Mary Jane Wright b. abt. 1890, died in Little Rock Ark. Married Edgar LECLAIR.
  2. Frank K. Wright b. abt. 1891 Wilson Co. TN. Married Ruth.
  3. Walter S. Wright born July 11, 1893 Wilson Co. TN, died October 27, 1973. Married 1st to Manie BATES, married 2nd to Anna KIRKPATRICK. Lived at the home of his father.
  4. Charles B. Wright born September 1, 1895 Wilson Co. TN, died January 3, 1924 LaGuardo, Wilson Co. TN. Unmarried.

Jane S. WRIGHT (daughter of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON) born April 18, 1816 in Sumner Co. TN, died September 1894 Portland, Sumner Co. TN. Buried in an unmarked grave at Old Ft. Head Cem. Married John MCNEELY born September 1806, died Dec. 3 1857. Information from Mamie in 1979 Mamie was 11 when her grandmother died and remembered her as a small lady who helped care for the grandchildren, "always seeing that they got their baths at night."

Children of Jane S. WRIGHT and John MCNEELY are:

  1. Robert McNeely born 1842 Sumner Co. TN, died 1860's in Texas. Was a Dr. died during the Civil War.
  2. Sarah Catherine "Kate" McNeely born 1844 Sumner Co. TN, died 1910 Sumner Co. TN. Married Joseph B. MCNEILL (1835-1920). Their children: Lovey, Robert, Mattie, Gideon, Bill, Johnnie, Harris (Mamie says Harris is not Aunt Kate's son but that she reared him).
  3. John Wright McNeely born May 1847 Sumner Co. TN, died Feb. 22, 1916 Sumner Co. TN. Married on May 1, 1880 to Eunice Jane GARRETT. Children are: John, Lillie, Mamie, Lorena, Edna Ruth, Ruby Erlene, Roy, and William.
  4. Gideon Venuel "Gid" McNeely born June 28, 1850, died July 18, 1902 Sumner Co. TN. Married on Feb. 18, 1874 to Elizabeth MCGLOTHLIN. Buried at Ft. Head Cemetery there are 5 small children buried with them. Only three lived to maturity. Children are: Carrie, William went north, Daisy, and Ollie went north.

Robert WRIGHT (son of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON), was born in Sumner Co. TN, on April 14, 1818. He married first Susan BARR, who was the mother of eight children. They moved to KY, where the elder children were born, but were back in TN before 1850. Susan BARR was born abt 1820 and died between 1850 and 1860.

He married second Amanda ANGLEA on March 5, 1860. Aunt Myrtle told us an interesting story about "Uncle Bob" and Amanda. He was very jealous of her. One day he told her that he was going to visit a friend, but instead of leaving hid in the back yard, under a wooden box, expecting her to have a male visitor. But she saw him hide. She went out, killed a chicken, laid the chicken on the box and poured boiling water over it. Of course, the boiling water ran through the cracks and burned Bob. She then left him and went home to her family.

"Uncle Bob" was much dislike by "Pappy Wright" and his brothers, Bob, Andy and Jimmy. When they were teenagers they sent him a valentine which they had made and which read.

"You hog, you dog, you dirty swine,
we picked you for our Valentine;
We picked you from among the dozen,
Because we know you are a hog's own cousin."

In 1860, Bob, Amanda and his children lived in District 2, post office Enon College.

On 7 Sept, 1868 he married Lucy TALLEY and in 1870 they were living on Dry Fork Creek. He was shown as aged 51, Lucy 40, and the single children Sarah 25, Mary 20, Cynthia 17, James 15, and Susan 12. He was born in VA which is incorrect. Lucy was born in VA. In 1880 he and Lucy and their daughter Luella age 9.

In 1883 his brother, Gideon Venuel WRIGHT, had borrowed money and mortgaged his woolen mill to three persons, the largest lien holder being Bob. He sued his brother, after paying off the other two people. The court awarded him the woolen mill and the farm, but Gideon appealed the case, which was reversed in State Supreme Court. Bob got the woolen mill machinery, but Gideon kept the farm and this house. Aunt Myrtle said that Bob took all the machinery up to his farm and stored it and it was never used again. Naturally Gideon's sons disliked him even more after this lawsuit.

Aunt Myrtle said that when he died, her parents were discussing sending flowers and "Pappy Wright" said, "No, send him dog fennel." (Dog fennel is a foul smelling weed).

Children of Robert Anderson WRIGHT and Susan BARR are:

  1. John Venuel Wright b. June 13, 1840 KY, died Nov. 27, 1881 of pneumonia. Married on Nov.14, 1867 Sumner Co. TN to Nannie Lurena BEARD (daughter of Joseph Wallace BEARD. Married 2nd to Hannah SLOAN (1843-1877). John served in the 24th Inf CSA was shot in at Shiloh, but recovered. Children are: Maggie married Jesse WADE, moved to Mayfield, Kansas, Robert Beard b. 1872, died 1876 of diphtheria, Vada Catherine b. 1875, died 1910 of T.B.
  2. Robert Barr Wright b. Dec 14, 1841 KY, died Dec. 26, 1917 Sumner co. TN. Married Penelope SIMPSON. Robert served in the 2nd TN Inf. CSA, wounded in right ankle at Shiloh. He and Penelope "Puss" had no children.
  3. Sarah Catherine "Kate" Wright b. 1844/1855 KY. Married Feb. 7, 1877 Sumner Co. TN to D. M. DOBBINS.
  4. Thomas Gideon "Gid" Wright b. 1848/1850 KY, died 1892 Hermitage, Davidson Co. TN. Married 1st July 3, 1869 to Lucy C. TALLEY, married 2nd Dec. 27, 1873 to P. Annie TALLEY.
  5. Mary E. J. "Mollie" Wright b. 1850 Sumner Co. TN, died 1927. Married Nov. 27, 1872 to William P. FAULLIN (1844-1908). Children: Bob, Willie, Mollie, and Loy.
  6. Cynthia Ann "Annie" Wright b. April 1850, died Mar 3, 1911. Married Jan 24, 1877 Sumner Co. TN to Joseph Roger SIMPSON.
  7. James C. "Jimmy" Wright b. 1852 Sumner Co. TN, died Nov 10, 1931. Married Sept 9, 1877 to Charity Willie CARR. Moved to OK about 1909. Children: Catie Belle, Robert M, W. Clifton, Nannie, and D. M.
  8. Susan T. B. Wright b. March 15, 1856 Sumner Co. TN, died May 7, 1892 Sumner Co. TN. Married Dec. 20, 1876 to Benj. A. FRANKLIN. Two sons Robert and Ed went to CA.

Child of Robert Anderson WRIGHT and Lucy H. TALLEY:

  1. Louella S. Wright b. 1872 Sumner Co. TN, died 1827. Married Feb. 20, 1900 to John M. WRIGHT. Children are: John Anderson, James, Porter, William and Annie Lucy.

John M. WRIGHT (son of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON) born August 13, 1819 Sumner Co. TN, died April 19, 1865. Buried at Barr Cem, Baskerville Lane. Married 1st to Mary WRIGHT (daughter of William R. WRIGHT? and Elizabeth SANDERSON?). Married 2nd to Elizabeth J. PENN.

Children of John M. WRIGHT and Mary WRIGHT are:

  1. Catherine Wright b. 1844, died in childhood.
  2. Emily Jane Wright b. Dec. 26, 1847 Sumner Co. TN, died Jan 19, 1919 Sumner Co. TN. Married Oct 15, 1874 to James FRANKLIN. Children are: Bettie, John T, and William C.
  3. Samuel B. Wright b. June 18, 1850 Sumner Co. TN, died 1914. Buried Brooks Cem, Stanford IL. Married in Dec. 23, 1875 in McLean Co. IL to Rachel BROOKS.

Children of John M. WRIGHT and Elizabeth J. PENN.

  1. George B. Wright b. Aug, 27, 1860 Sumner Co. TN, died Jan 18, 1862.
  2. James M. Wright b. Aug 1, 1862, died Aug 16, 1883. Died "of consumption in IL."

James Porter WRIGHT (son of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON) was born August 18, 1823 in Sumner Co. TN, died Nov. 10, 1893 in Simpson Co. KY. He married on December 21, 1848 to Susan E. STUART (daughter of Robert STUART and Elizabeth BIBB). Susan was born February 29, 1828, died July 24, 1877 in Simpson Co. KY. James and Susan are buried at Pilot Knob Presby. Church Cem.

Children of James Porter WRIGHT and Susan E. STUART are:

  1. Louis C. Wight
  2. Elizabeth C. Wright married Newton BOGAN.
  3. Pliny A. Wright b. June 9, 1853, died June 29, 1911 Simpson Co. KY, buried Green Lawn Cem. Married Sarah Rebecca Wright.
  4. Mary J. Wright
  5. Victoria Wright b. Feb. 13, 1861 Simpson Co. KY.

Gideon V. WRIGHT (son of Gideon WRIGHT and Catherine ANDERSON) born July 14, 1825 Sumner Co. TN. Married Feb. 18, 1847 Sumner Co. TN to 1st Mary Catherine DOBBINS (daughter of Thomas Carson DOBBINS and Annie BEARD. married 2nd on Nov. 24, 1875 to Mary Lou DRANE. For information on this family see see Thomas Carson Dobbins.


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