Family History 15: The Wright Stuff

My family history posts are almost at an end. Here is one of the loose ends.

1. My grandfather, Harry Shepherd, lost his mother when he was still just six years old. I can't imagine what that would be like. I've mentioned a poem my grandfather wrote in her memory.

Her name was Seba Elizabeth Wright, born March 19, 1847 in Sullivan County, Indiana. Her name was problematic for census takers. It's Lucebey in 1850, Luceba in 1860. In 1870 it's Celia, and in 1880 its Elizabeth, her middle name. She died March 27, 1890 at the age of 43. Her mother had only died three years earlier.

I know almost nothing about her. The 1870 census says that neither she nor my G-grandfather Washington could read or write. The 1880 census says they could both read, but she couldn't write. She and my G-grandfather married April 5, 1867 in Sullivan, just a couple years after he came back from the Civil War.

Although she was born in Indiana, her father was from Virginia (Hardin Wright) and her mother was from Tennessee (Sarah Bennet). They married in Greene County, Indiana in 1833, no doubt a typical convergence of people coming up from the south and people coming west.

Hardin's father William had come to Green County, Indiana by 1830, bringing Hardin with him. The Wright family had lived in Grayson County, Virginia for several generations before that time.

2. Hardin (1815-1874) was the son of William Jr (1789-1861), who came to Green County, Indiana from Grayson County, Virginia. William Jr. was the son of William Sr. (1758-1829), who lived his whole life in Comer's Rock, Grayson County, Virginia.

William Sr. was the son of Richard Wright (1739-1820), who also lived his whole life there, as had his father Thomas Wright (1688-1748).  His father was apparently a John Wright, a Judge, who was originally from Chester County, Pennsylvania (1650-1736).

His father was a Thomas Wright from Connecticut (1630-1683), who lived in Connecticut his whole life. And his father was Thomas Sr. (1610-1670), who came across from Essex, England, before 1630 with his wife, Mary Cranbroke. His father may have been a Lord, John Wright (1577-1640).

3. Now it goes back in England. John's father was Thomas (1542-1617). Then a Lord Robert of Brook Hall (1516-1587), son of John Sir Lord Kelvedon Wright (1488-1551). This John rose in the ranks by assisting Henry VIII in his separation from the Roman Catholic Church. He was made "Sir" and "Lord" as a result and purchased Kelvedon Hall, which I guess remained in the Wright family there until 1922.

And so back and back in Essex it seems to go. Wright becomes Whitebread becomes Whytebrede, somewhere in Essex in the early 1200s.

Earlier posts:

1. The Revivalin' Twenties
In the Year 1920 (Dorsey Schenck, also see here)
From Quaker to Pilgrim (Harry Shepherd in 20s)
The Great Generation (my parents)

2. The Depression Thirties
Dutch Reformed Past (Samuel Schenck)
North Carolina Flashback (Eli Shepherd)
Wanting to be Rich (Oscar Rich)

3. Passing Generations
Old German Baptist Heritage 1 (Amsy Miller, with clarifications here)
Old German Baptist Heritage 2 (Salome Wise)
The Dorsey Stream (Pearl Dorsey)

4. A New Family
Joining Two Streams (my parents)
A Young Family

5. The Closing Sixties
Prophet, Pastor, and Professor (Harry Shepherd)
The Wright Stuff (Seba Wright)
Flashback to Jamestown (Champion Shelburn)

6. Tales of My Life
Memories of Childhood
Notes for my Children