Middlesex County CT Archives Biographies.....WRIGHT, Benjamin 1610 - March 26, 1677


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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Janece Carter Streig streig3@aol.com June 19, 2005, 11:13 pm

Author: J. H. BEERS & Co. 

Commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County Connecticut
J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1903

Pages 685 – 688

WRIGHT. The family of this name has been established in Connecticut from its 
earliest Colonial history, and the present representatives in the town of 
Essex, Middlesex county – Alfred Mortimer WRIGHT and his two sons – are worthy 
scions of an honored name.

Benjamin WRIGHT, the first of the name in America, came from Bolton or Swale, 
in the north of England, to Guilford, Conn. early in the settlement of that 
plantation. His name does not appear in the first list of planters who came 
hither in 1639, but as only the names of heads of families are given he may 
have been of the number. He took the oath of fidelity, as shown by the town 
record, May 9, 1645. In September, that year, he was granted permission by the 
authorities to put up a tan mill and to take the water “yt issueth from ye 
waste gate provided it hurt not ye town mill.” In 1650 a list of planters was 
made out, and also a list of freemen, and his name appears in the former, but 
not in the latter, probably because he was not a church member, Guilford 
allowing only members of its church to be freemen, while other Colonies allowed 
members of any approved New England Church. In 1659—four years before the 
survey and allotment of land on what is now Main street, Clinton—he was a 
freeman and living at Kenilworth (later Killingworth, now Clinton), and his 
home is supposed to have been nearly opposite the Pierce JONES place, on the 
old Clinton and Westbrook road. He appears to have been a very large 
landholder, in 1671 giving his land at Hammonasset, in East Guilford, to his 
son-in-law, Joseph HAND, and his wife, Jane; and in the Reports of the Colonial 
Assembly is found frequent mention of his landed property in Saybrook. While 
living in Guilford he clashed with the authorities several times, not as a 
willful lawbreaker, but as a man who stoutly defended what he knew to be his 
rights. His death occurred March 28, 1677. He had children: Benjamin lived to 
become a freeman, but died without heirs. Joseph and James had considerable in 
the division of their father’s estate. John. Jonathan married Asena HAND, and 
removed to Wethersfield. Jane married Joseph HAND, of Long Island. Elizabeth 
married Edward LEE (or LAY), of Guilford. Anna married John WALSTONE, and, for 
her second husband, Dr. Peter DALLMAN.

(II) James WRIGHT, son of Benjamin, the immigrant, was born in 1643, and died 
in 1727. His wife, Hannah WALSTONE, came from England to marry him, having been 
selected by a mutual friend. She died in 1719. A memorial tablet citing some of 
these facts is still to be found in the Clinton cemetery. As stated previously, 
James and his brother, Joseph, had difficulty in the division of their father’s 
estate. In 1791 a committee appointed by the Colonial General Assembly brought 
in their report concerning boundaries of land between James and Joseph WRIGHT, 
which was accepted by the General Assembly and confirmed to be a final issue of 
all controversy over land boundaries between them. In general terms the line 
between Killingworth and Saybrook was made the boundary of their farms, James 
holding on the Saybrook and Joseph on the Killingworth side. James is supposed 
to have resided at what has been known more recently as the Abner KIRTLAND 
place. The records of Oyster River Quarter show that he was a large landowner, 
deeds of land aggregating several hundred acres, located in what is now the 
town of Westbrook, having been given by him to various persons between 1720 and 
1727. James and Hannah (WALSTONE) WRIGHT had three children, James, Benjamin 
(the next in line to Alfred Mortimer) and Mercy. James married Sarah WISE, by 
whom he had a son James. For his second wife he married Judith BUSHNELL, and 
they had a son Samuel, from whom are descended the WRIGHTS of Pond Meadow. Two 
brothers of a later generation of this branch, Joab and John, went to New 
Durham, N. Y., and from one of them descended Silas WRIGHT, Governor of New 
York and United States Senator from that State. Mercy WRIGHT married William 
STANNARD, and one of their descendants, Daniel STANNARD, resided in Westbrook.

(III) Benjamin WRIGHT, son of James, was married in 1705 to Elisabeth HAND, of 
Southampton, L. I., who, it is asserted by some authorities, was the daughter 
of Joseph and Jane (WRIGHT) HAND, and thus a cousin of her husband. However, it 
is elsewhere stated, on good authority, that “she was the daughter of Benjamin 
and Elizabeth (WHITTIER) HAND.” The date of her death is given in the Westbrook 
Church Records as 1767, when she was ninety years of age. Benjamin WRIGHT died 
in 1751. Their children were Benjamin, Jeremiah, Josiah, David, Prudence, Lydia 
and Elisabeth. There is record of but two, Josiah and David. The former has a 
large estate on Horse Hill. David had a large estate by the sea extending to 
the main road between Saybrook and Killingworth and tradition says they 
quarreled over the fisheries. David, who was born in 1716, died in 1760 of 
smallpox, in a pest-house on Duck Island, and was buried on his own land. His 
memorial is on a large rock in the grove at Grove Beach, Clinton. Among his 
descendants were Jedediah and Oramel WRIGHT, of Westbrook; Edward and Doty 
WRIGHT, of Clinton; and Martha WRIGHT, Mrs. Steuben LAY, of Horse Hill. William 
WRIGHT, who served as governor of New Jersey, and as United States Senator from 
that State, was also one of David’s descendants. He had a son connected with a 
foreign legation, and the latter’s daughter is now the widow of Baron GEROLD, 
who was at one time, Ambassador from Holland to this country and subsequently 
Ambassador from Holland to Russia. She lives in Europe. Her son, the present 
Baron GEROLD, now minister from Holland at Washington, is said to be very proud 
of his American ancestry.

(IV) Josiah WRIGHT, son of Benjamin and Elisabeth (HAND) WRIGHT, was born in 
1708, and died in 1783. In 1735 he married Rhoda DOWD, who was born in 1714, 
daughter of Cornelius DOWD, of Madison, and died in 1790. The marriage is found 
in the Westbrook Church Record. Josiah WRIGHT lived on what is now known as the 
Josiah WRIGHT farm, a short distance west of the Horse Hill school house, the 
dwelling standing back in the fields, a short distance from the present 
highway. It is evident he was a large landholder, owning nearly all of what is 
not the Horse Hill District.

In 1745 a petition was presented to the General Assembly, signed by Thomas 
SPENCER, Michael HILL, Thomas SPENCER, Jr., Josiah WRIGHT, Josiah WILCOX, Job 
BULKLEY, Daniel EDWARDS and Ebenezer PLATTS, of the towns of Saybrook and 
Killingworth, declaring that they are sober dissenters from the worship and 
ministry established by the laws of this government; that they are of the 
persuasion of the people called Baptists, and are true Protestants, and pray 
for the indulgence of this Assembly. Their petition was granted on condition 
that they take the oath prescribed by Parliament in such cases. These eight 
were doubtless among the founders of the Baptist Church at Winthrop, which was 
organized in 1744, with seventeen members.

Josiah and Rhoda (DOWD) WRIGHT had children: Jeremiah, Josiah (the next in the 
line we are tracing), Ezekiel, Mary, Rhoda, Prudence, Jane and Elisabeth. Of 
these, Jeremiah, born in 1738, lived on Horse Hill, just north of what is now 
known as the William BURGHARDT house; he married Hannah BROWN and they had two 
children, Jeremiah and Lucretia (Mrs. Nathan STANNARD). Ezekiel occupied part 
of the farm near his father’s home, living in a house lately occupied by his 
grandson, Josiah WRIGHT; he had four sons and four daughters, David, Jonathan, 
Josiah, Ezekiel, Mrs. Justus CLARK, Mrs. Barber GRINNELL, Mrs. William JOHNSON, 
and Mrs. BURGHARDT. Jane married David THOMPSON. It is thought one of the other 
daughters married a man named BURGHARDT.

(V) Josiah WRIGHT, son of Josiah, was born in 1739, and, according to the 
Westbrook Church Records, was baptized in 1740. He died in 1832, at the great 
age of ninety-three years. In 1761 he married Lydia, daughter of Joseph 
WHITTLESEY, and they lived in the southern part of the Horse Hill District, at 
what in recent years has been known as the “Uncle Ben place.” Their children 
were as follows: Martin is mentioned below. Paul removed in early manhood to 
the western part of Vermont, and Cornelius removed in early manhood to the 
eastern part of New York, settling near Albany. Both reared large families, and 
their descendants are now scattered over the Middle and Western States. 
Benjamin passed his early life at the John KELSEY place, in Kelseytown, and 
later removed to his father’s old home on Horse Hill, having received as a gift 
all of his father’s property, both real and personal. Lois had a daughter, also 
named Lois, who married Israel PELTON; their daughter Eliza married Asa 
PENFIELD< and their daughter, Mrs. Bela POST, is a resident of Centerbrook, 
Middlesex county. Huldah married Daniel DEWOLFE, of the Pond Meadow District, 
Westbrook, and they had three sons, Harvey, John and Daniel; Harvey and Daniel 
became Methodist ministers.

(VI) Martin WRIGHT, son of Josiah, Jr., was born in 1767 and died in 1826. In 
1792 he married Dolly Benjamin, who was born about 1765, and came with her 
father’s family from Long Island to the Connecticut shore when the British army 
took possession of New York and the western end of Long Island, in August, 
1776. It is said that her father and brothers were in the Revolutionary war. 
She died in 1848. Mr. and Mrs. WRIGHT occupied a house just south of the site 
of the present Martin WRIGHT house. Their children were: Richard, born in 1793, 
died in 1872; Daniel 1795-1872; Martin, 1797-1883; Russell, 1799-1885; Josiah, 
1803-1893. Richard, Martin and Russel passed all their lives in the towns of 
Westbrook and Clinton. Daniel always resided in Westbrook. Josiah removed about 
1850-51, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and thence in a few years to Utah, where 
children and grandchildren of his are now residing.

(VII) Martin WRIGHT, son of Martin, was born in June, 1797, and died in 1883. 
In 1820 he married Betsy WRIGHT, who was born in 1799, daughter of Jeremiah and 
Rachel WRIGHT, and died in 1876. Mr. WRIGHT followed farming on Horse Hill, and 
was considered a prosperous man in his day. For many years he served as justice 
of the peace. His children were as follows: Charles Benjamin, born March 31, 
1821, has resided since 1872 in California. John Burghardt, born January 28, 
1823, died April 25, 1892. Amelia Matilda, born April 26, 1825, is the wife of 
David L. WRIGHT, and is now living in Middletown. Rachel Adelia, born August 
28, 1827, was first married to Alpheus WRIGHT of Westbrook, and is now the wife 
of a Mr. MARTIN, of Boston; they reside in Marshfield Hills, Mass. Martin 
Jeremiah, born October 26, 1829, has been a permanent resident of California 
since 1860, and has been quite prominent in public life in that State. Cornelia 
Elisabeth, born February 19, 1832, married Joel NORTHAM, of Westbrook, and, 
after his death, became the wife of Eliphalet KILLAM, of New Haven, where she 
has since resided. Henry William, born February 5, 1836, is a minister of the 
M. E. Church, and since 1875 has been connected with the Detroit Conference of 
that denomination. Alfred Mortimer is mentioned below. Edgar Lester, born 
December 23, 1840, died January 14, 1843.

(VII) ALFRED MORTIMER WRIGHT was born March 5, 1838, in Westbrook, and spent 
his boyhood on his father’s farm in that town, working on the home place during 
the summer season, and during the winter attending the district school. When 
twenty years old he attended the Westbrook Academy, and at the age of twenty-
one he was engaged in fishing on the Connecticut river, at that period also 
working for farmers during harvest time. The autumn after he reached his 
majority he borrowed $10, which, with what he had managed to save, enabled him 
to attend school one term at New Britain, after which he commenced teaching. 
The following spring he went to New Jersey, where he taught for six months, and 
returning to Connecticut, was similarly engaged in the Comstock District of 
Essex. In the spring of 1861 he and his brother Henry went to Michigan, and on 
the way had as traveling companions some young men from Springfield, Ill., who 
had been to Washington to witness the inauguration of Abraham LINCOLN, and to 
afford him protection from violence on the route, should it be needed. The 
brothers studied together one year at Adrian College, and in August, 1862, 
Alfred M. enlisted in the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry. He proceeded with the 
regiment as far as Washington, where he was left in hospital, sick with typhoid 
fever, and after some months in the hospital he was discharged, and returned to 
his native State. Not long afterward he received the appointment of Assistant 
Assessor of Internal Revenue, which position he held some eight years or 
longer, until the office was discontinued. In June, 1873, Mr. WRIGHT came to 
Centerbrook, town of Essex, having been appointed trustee to settle up the 
estate of the Centerbrook Manufacturing Company. In 1874 was organized the 
Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. WRIGHT was made 
secretary, treasurer and general manager, in fact, the entire responsibility 
devolved upon him, and the greater part of his time and attention since have 
been devoted to the development and management of this concern. In time he 
purchased the interests of the other shareholders and admitted his tow sons 
into partnership, but the name has remained the same throughout all the 
changes, and Mr. WRIGHT is now president of the company, though he no longer 
takes so active a part in its affairs, his sons having assumed the more arduous 
part of the work. The factory is devoted to the manufacture of auger bits and 
hardware specialties. In 1894 the plant was burned to the ground, and was 
replaced by a substantial brick structure.

Mr. WRIGHT has always been an ardent Republican in political sentiment, and 
though he has not craved official honors they have come to him, for no man in 
Essex stands higher in the public esteem or holds to a greater degree the 
confidence of his fellow citizens. He served ably as county commissioner four 
years and represented his district in the State Senate from 1897 to 1899, in 
both positions satisfying his constituency, by his efficient discharge of the 
duties pertaining thereto, that he was worthy the high trust reposed in him. In 
1901 Mr. WRIGHT was one of the vice-presidents of the Pan-American Exposition. 
Socially Mr. WRIGHT is a Freemason, affiliating with Mt. Olive Lodge, F. & A. 
M., of Essex, and he is a member of Mather Post, G. A. R., at Deep River. He is 
a member and active worker in the Congregational Church at Centerbrook, and 
serves as superintendent of the Sunday-school of that society, and he and his 
wife are both known as liberal contributors to various religious and benevolent 
enterprises, assisting in the support of various churches.
 
On January 1, 1864, Mr. WRIGHT married Mary J. HULL, of New Haven, who was born 
in Canandaigua, N. Y., daughter of Lyman and Betsey (BLATCHLEY) HULL, the 
former a native of Cheshire, Conn., the latter born in North Madison, daughter 
of Joel BLATCHLEY. Lyman HULL was a manufacturer. He and his wife had a family 
of nine children, only three of whom survive, Andrew, Ruth and Mary J. (Mrs. 
WRIGHT). Alfred M. and Mary J. WRIGHT are the parents of three children, 
namely: Walter Henry, who is mentioned below; Northam, who is mentioned below; 
and Bessie Mary. The daughter born September 10, 1872, is the wife of H. 
Wooster WEBBER, and resides in Ivoryton, Conn., where her husband is 
superintendent of the action department of the Comstock, Cheney & Co. Ivory 
Works.

WALTER HENRY WRIGHT, born May 6, 1865, received a thorough preliminary 
education in the common schools and subsequently attended Wilbraham Academy, 
Easthampton, Mass., from which he was graduated. He has since been associated 
with his father in business, and as treasurer of the Connecticut Valley 
Manufacturing Company assumes a large share of the responsibility of that 
concern, in whose management he had developed remarkable business ability, 
entitling him to an honorable place in the commercial circles of this section 
of the State. He resides at Centerbrook and is at present (1902) serving as a 
member of the board of education there. He married Miss Lily REDFIELD, of Essex.

NORTHAM WRIGHT, born May 3, 1867, like his brother, commenced his education in 
the local schools, supplementing the instruction there received with a course 
at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and another at Yale Law School. 
Though he practices law, his business life has centered around the welfare of 
the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company, of which he is now secretary, he 
and his brother relieving their father almost entirely of business cares. These 
young men have within a brief period won favorable standing among the 
substantial business men of Middlesex county, and bid fair to hold the record 
made by their father for ability and integrity of a high order. On October 5, 
1892, Mr. WRIGHT was united in marriage with Laura E. LANCASTER, of Hackensack, 
N. J., and they make their home in Centerbrook. 

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