The Wright Family Descendants of the Wryta family of Bayeux, Normandy, to England in 1066, with some of the descendants in A.. merica of the Kelvedon line of Sir John Wright, of Kelvedon Hall, County Essex, England, and of the Kilvestone line oi Sir Thomas Wright, of Kilvestone Hall, County Norfolk, England, with additional genealogies of the Turner, Belsher, Riley, Lingo, and Blakely Families. Compiled by George William Wright, L.L.B. of Albany, Oregon 1929 GEORGE WILLIAM WRIGHT Dedication I, George William Wright, of Albany, Oregon, dedicate this book to the living and future generations of the descendants of my parents, Gideon Allen Wright and Rebecca Jane (Turner) Wright, his wife; and in commemoration of their good deeds, and lives of Christian righteousness of which they were living ex­ amples; and also in honor of the rr1embers of the Old Saxon Family of W ryta, my ancestors, who, as soldiers, accompanied the Duke of Normandy to England in 1066; and with t:he hope that my posterity and all my kinsfolk, may be ~timulated to live lives worthy of the family stock to which they belong. "Any people who are indifferent to the noble achievements of remote an­ cestors are not likely to achieve anything worthy to be remembered by thei'r descendants. "-Macauley. Introduction About twelve years ago I took a trip to Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee to see my nearest relatives; and to view once more my old home in Randolph County, Missouri. I made a visit to the State University at Columbia, where I graduated in 1882. In my rounds I met a great aunt who was nearly one hundred years of age. She had some traditions of our family since their first landing in Plymouth Colony in 1635~ and about our people bting of the nobility in England. I became interested in the genealogy of our family, an<l I have spent nearly all my spare time since 1919 in gathering the history and genealogy of my kin. It has been a laborious task, and I have within the last twelve years written about three thousand letters to England, France, and to custodians of the records in every one of the original thirteen colonies of the United States. Members of the Kelvedon line and of the Kilvestone branches of the ancient Wryghta Family have been among the earliest settlers in New England and in Virginia. Their descendants became pioneers in every colony of the union as is shown by the first United States Census of 1790, and as well by my extensive search of the Colonial records of the various original colonies. To print all the W1·ight c1ata that I possess would make several volumes and would cost several thousand dollars. I have during the same time gathered the history of the Turner, Lingo, Riley, Belshe1- aud Blakeley Families. While the Oyster Bay Family of Wrights were of the Kilvestone line of Wrights, from County Norfolk, England, yet Jonathan Wright, who settled on Long Island, only eighteen miles distance from my ancestors, Peter Wright and wife, came from County Essex, England, and was of the Kelvedon line of Wrights. These two lines descend from the five Wryghta brothers from Bayeux, Normandy, who were soldiers in the army of the then William, Duke of Normandy, and accompanied him to England, in 1066, when the Duke won by battle the throne of England. Jonathan Wright came to Massachusetts Colony in 1635 on the ship "Safety" and Peter Wright the 1·ecords show was in Massachusetts as early as 1636, both becoming prominent in the affairs of Long Island, New York, and their descendants intermarried. In order to keep this book within reaso:-iable limits I have been compelled to leave out a great deal of interesting historical facts not only when our ancestors were close to the throne of England, but many of their noble deeds in the pioneer history of the Colonies. I express my gratitude to the various Town, County and State officials in the thirteen original states of our Union who have searche:l and sent me record' information of my kinsfolk in Colonial days, and to those who answered my many letters enabling me to give a true record of my genealogy. To Hon. R. Lee Wright of S.:1lisbury, N. C.~ and to Hon. William M. Blakeley of Pendleton, Oregon, I especially extend my sincere gratitude for the financial assistance given me towards publishing this history. To Miss Adelaide L. Fries of Winston-Salem, N. C., I am indebted for record information of my ancestors and kin in North Carolina, and to my cousin Mrs. Lillian R. Wright Kelly of Summit, New Jersey, and to Hon. H. D. Perrine of N. Y., and especially to the heirs of my cousin, Hon. Curtis Wright, deceased, late of Carthage, Missouri. I also mention especially my cousin, Mrs. Anna Otto Fea, of Amsterdam, New York, who was zealous in assisting me to gather our kin. She made a visit to the old Wright plantation along with her daughter and husband three years ago, and found that the old Wright Court House on the bank of Yadkin River now near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is in ruins but she sent me a portion of the slate roof and a bdck therefrom for mementos. To my good wife, who has been my faithful· and loving companion for• forty-two years, I extend my gratitude for the help and encouragement she has rendered me in this great painstaking work. I trust my kinsfolk and my posterity will ever maintain the high reputation of the Wrights for righteousness, truth, and their adherence to the good prin­ ciples that have brought honor to our family name since the year 1066. GEORGE WILLIAM WRIGHT. Albany, Oregon, October, 1929. Tl1e Early Hjstory of the Wright Family When Feudalism was at its height in England, when the church of Rome ruled the British Isles and the most of Europe, when the people had no Bible, when their source of spiritual inspiration and religious belief were derived from the priesthood, even then the early Wright families of England, were prom­ inent in civil and spiritual affairs, and many were Knights, Lords, members. of Parliament, Judges, and other high officers of the King. In England, for centuries, the records have been c::treful1y kept, and are now available for all proper use. Morant's History of Essex, Wright's History of Essex, the Records of t 1~e Prerogative (Probate) Court of Canterbury, the various town, church, and pari.-;:1 Registers, of Essex, Norfolk, and other counties of England, furnish much authen­ tic history of the Wright families of England from the time of Wiiliam, the Conqueror, in 1066. In America where many of the Wright family from England, early emigrated, their records of achievement may be found, and often their gene3.logy in the Old Northwest Genealogical Quurterly, Savages Genealogical Dictionary, New Eng­ land Gene;1.logical and Historical Register, Plymouth Co]ony Records, and the numerous town records, aad Genealogical Publications in New England, and in every one of the thirteen original colonies, and generally spe;1.king in every state of the United States. The Wrights have been among the earliest settlers in every colony, and in every territory of the Union. To their great credit, th~ Wrights have been men and women of strong belief in God, and were, and still are, men and women of high moral convictions. The Old English Biographical Dictionary states that the Wryghts of our family came from Normandy with William, the Conqueror, in 1066. ; The founders of the Wright Family were of Saxon origin, being among those early Saxon Vikings, who early settled in Normandy, at what is now Bayeux, France. The Saxons were a war-like adventurous people, probably more so than any other of the Teutonic Tribes, and as early as the year 400 A. D., they commenced to settle along the coast of what is now France. Their ~ettlement, along the co;1.st of France extended to the mouth 'of the Loire River, and they finally became an integral part of the p:>pulation of Nor­ mandy, and intermarried with the Franks. Their expeditions to England, finally resulted in the foundations of the Kingdoms, Essex, Sussex, and W c.3sex, now absorbed as part of England. The AngJias being as the same stock as Saxon:-:, gave to England its name, the Angle land, or England. At the time of the settlement at Bayeux, surnames or family names as we have them now were not in process of formation, Wry<le, or Wryta, in Old Saxon meant a skilled workman. Hereditary surnames were unknown in England in 1066, and they were just coming into use in Normandy. The Normans brought the fashion into England. (Vol. VIII, p. 300, Enc. Brittanica, Vol. XVII, p. 169, ninth ed.) Names originated not only from the location, but from the occupa­ tion, or some noted incident in the man' s life. (11) John Wryta, the founder of the Wryde or Wryta Fa1nily, as the name be­ came known in Bayeux, Normandy, was an expert in carving in wood, and in the manufacture of wooden and metalic articles and weapons of warfare, and his sons became experts as well. His descendants taking up the manufacture of both wooden and metallic weapons of warfare became noted and wer8 given the name "The Wryta Family". Two of the family were knighted for bravery in Normandy-Sir Richard Wryghta and Sir William Wryghta. It is said that Sir William Wryghta was Captain of the Body Guard of William the Conqueror.