Denver County, History of Colorado, BIOS: WRIGHT, James N. (published 1918) *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003643 September 3, 1999 *********************************************************************** "History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. (1918) Vol. II p. 107-108 JAMES N. WRIGHT. James N. Wright is president of the firm of James N. Wright & Company, investment bankers of Denver, with offices in the First National Bank building. He has been at the head of this business since 1909 and through the Intervening period the reliability of his business methods, his marked enterprise and sound judgment in investments have brought to him a very gratifying clientage. He is numbered among the native sons of Chicago. Illinois, born August 13, 1878. His father, Abner Miles Wright, was a native of Vermont and belonged to one of the old families of that state of English lineage. He became a successful grain dealer of Chicago and a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, with which he was thus identified in 1859. He continued active in the grain business in that city for many years and following his death his sons continued the business until 1903. He was very prominent in republican politics and was a candidate for mayor of the city, running against Carter H. Harrison. Sr., at his second election as the candidate on a fusion ticket. He was a member of the "old guard" which stood stanchly for the nomination of U. S. Grant for the presidency on fifty-six ballots in 1868, being a national committeeman and was prominent in national politics as well as in municipal affairs in Chicago. It was Mr. Wright who instituted the fight on bucket shops in that city which later led to their abolition, and he stood at all times for high standards in business affairs and public life. He passed away in Chicago in 1890, at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Helen Sophia Hickox, was a native of Ohio. where her ancestors settled at an early day. The family is of English lineage, the ancestry being traced also back to Lord Pemberton, of the famous Pemberton family of Ireland, who was lord chief justice of the king's bench in Ireland and presided at the trial of the famous Rye House plot, which is one of the historic treason plots of England. Mrs. Wright passed away in Florida, November 30, 1916, at the age of seventy-four years. In the family were three children, of whom Charles H. Wright is now a resident of Evanston, Illinois, while Halle is the wife of Judge T. P. Warlow, of Orlando, Florida. James N. Wright, the youngest of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of Chicago and in the John B. Stetson University at De Land, Florida. When his textbooks were put aside he entered the grain business in connection with his brother, under the firm style of A. M. Wright & Company, and was thus engaged until 1904, when he turned his attention to the bond business in Chicago, there remaining an active factor in financial circles until 1908, when attracted by the opportunities of the west, he came to Denver, The following year he established his present business, which was incorporated in 1913 under the name of James N. Wright & Company, investment bankers. He has been the head of the company since its establishment, directing its policy and shaping its interests. He has had long and valuable experience in this field and is a man of notably sound judgment and keen sagacity. On the 4th of October, 1906, in Chicago. Illinois, Mr. Wright was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Smith Rollo, a native of Chicago and a daughter of William F. and Mary Rollo. Her father is one of the oldest insurance men in Chicago, where the family has long resided. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born four children: Mary Rollo, who was born in Chicago in 1907; James N., born in Chicago, January 13, 1909; Pemberton, born in Denver, November 20, 1912; and Helen Sophia, born in Denver in 1916. Mr. Wright is still a member of the Union League Club of Chicago, while in Denver he has membership with the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club, the Mile High Club and the Cactus Club. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Denver Bond Dealers Association. He stands very high in business circles, enjoying the respect and confidence of colleagues and contemporaries, and his opinions in large measure carry weight. In politics he maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment with little regard for party ties. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in lodge, chapter and commandery. He was president of the Denver Country Club In 1917, has been president of the Mile High Club since the 1st of January, 1918, and is a member of the board of governors of the Investment Bankers Association of America.