Biography of Maj. W. A. Bright,    Ouachita Parish, Louisiana 

Submitted by Mike Miller
Source: From Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, volume 2, p. 319. 



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    The well-known business man, Maj. William A. Bright, is a native of
Arkansas, and was born in Hempstead county, February 12, 1852.  His
parents, William L. and Elizabeth (Franks) Bright, were natives of South
Carolina and Alabama, respectively.  W. L. Bright removed with his
parents to Louisiana, when quite young.  He taught school at Farmerville
for some time, and in 1848, removed to Hempstead county, Ark., where he
became a prosperous planter.  He was one of the influential men of his
section and represented Nevada county in the lower house of the
legislature two terms.  He was for many years treasurer of Nevada
county, and was its sheriff at the time of his death in 1882.  Young
William A. Bright received the advantages of a good business education,
and early in life evinced a natural aptness to business pursuits.  At
the age of sixteen years he engaged as clerk in a mercantile
establishment, and at the age of eighteen began a mercantile business
for himself on a limited capital.  In this he continued with marked
success until December, 1879, when he removed to Little Rock, and in
partnership with T. W. Baird, under the firm name of Baird & Bright,
opened a wholesale machinery and implement distributing agency, in the
interest of which Maj. Bright traveled in Arkansas, Mississippi and
Louisiana.  The business under this management soon assumed mammoth
proportions, and at the time of Maj. Bright's retirement in 1887, was
one of the first of its kind in the South.  It was while traveling that
Maj. Bright conceived the idea of building what is now the Houston
Central & N. Arkansas R. R.  His plans soon materialized and a company
consisting principally of Little Rock business men was organized with
Maj. Bright as its president.  Only those who know the obstacles which
had to be overcome, can conceive the immensity of the undertaking.
Eastern capitalists were slow to take hold of a railroad in a section of
which they really knew nothing, and of which their impression served to
discourage the idea.  Notwithstanding this, the road was surveyed and
about sixty miles of road had been completed, when, in November, 1889, a
trade was effected with Mr. Gould, by which the road changed hands,
though Maj. Bright is yet one of its directors.  As a more central
business point, and a place with a promising future, Maj. Bright, in
1887, removed to Monroe, where he still resides.  He is largely
interested in the chief enterprises of Monroe, and is doing much toward
its development.  Maj. Bright was married in 1882, to Miss Ella
Meredith, of Hempstead county Ark.  Their elegant home is a model of
convenience and beauty.
 
Submitted by Mike Miller

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