Pulaski-Nevada-Washington County ArArchives Biographies.....Bright, Richard Calhoun ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 19, 2009, 5:58 pm Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) RICHARD CALHOUN BRIGHT. In insurance circles in Arkansas the name of Richard Calhoun Bright of Little Rock is prominently known. He has developed a business of large proportions as state manager for The Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company and what he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate powers and talents which are his. Mr. Bright is a native of this state, his birth having occurred on a farm in Nevada county. March 17, 1872. His father, William Loderick Bright, was born in South Carolina in 1827, belonging to one of the old families of that state. With his parents he came to Arkansas in early life and lived for many years in Nevada county, where he followed the occupation of farming, bringing his land under a high state of cultivation and contributing much to the agricultural development of that section. Through the period of the Civil war he was a private in the ambulance service. He was married in Bossier parish, Louisiana, to Miss Elizabeth Franks, who was born in Alabama in 1829. Both have departed this life, the death of Mr. Bright occurring in 1882, while his wife, surviving him for seven years, died in 1889. They were parents of nine sons and a daughter and of this family the daughter and three sons are yet living. Richard C. Bright, the youngest of the family, spent his boyhood days upon the home farm in Nevada county and his experiences were those that usually fall to the lot of the farm bred boy who divides his time between the acquirement of an education in the country schools, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields, for the summer months were given to tasks suited to his age and strength in connection with the farm work. After attending the district schools he continued his education in public schools of Prescott and of Little Rock. His identification with the insurance business covers twenty-eight years. He first became connected with The Fidelity in 1893. Step by step he has steadily worked his way upward and is now occupying the responsible position of state manager with The Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is widely known in this connection and his ability is evidenced in the splendid results which have followed his labors in the upbuilding of the interests of the corporation which he represents in the state. On the 22d of October, 1896, in Jacksonville, Arkansas, Mr. Bright was married to Miss Annie Louise Stone, who was born in Pulaski county and is a daughter of Manci and Mary (Ferguson) Stone, the former a native of South Carolina. Both are deceased, their deaths occurring at their home at Jacksonville, Pulaski county. Mr. and Mrs. Bright have become parents of three children: Mary E., now the wife of William A. Moncrief, of Ponca City, Oklahoma; Richard C., who was born December 23, 1902; and Miles Alfred, born May 24, 1908. During the World war period Mr. Bright rendered every possible service to the government and from December, 1917, until Armistice day was chairman of Local Exemption Board No. 1. He is a democrat in his political views, thoroughly informed concerning the vital questions and issues of the day, but has never been an aspirant for office. He belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal church. South, giving loyal adherence thereto and taking a helpful interest in its work. He is particularly well known in Masonic circles in Arkansas, being a thirty-third degree Mason and a past potentate of Al-Amin Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Little Rock. He is a past master of Western Star Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M., of Little Rock, and has served as grand treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas and also as secretary of the board of finance of the Grand Lodge. In club circles he is a prominent and well known figure, being a past president of the Quapaw Club, a member of the Spring Lake Club and of the Big Lake Club. He has been a forceful factor in business and social circles and in the public life of the community, standing as one of the representative residents of the capital city. Additional Comments: Citation: Centennial History of Arkansas Volume II Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1922 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/pulaski/bios/bright277bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 4.8 Kb