Bio of WRIGHT, Clark A. (b.1827), Wright Co., MN ======================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, 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. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Diane Hanson Submitted: April 2004 ========================================================================= 397 HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY Clark A. Wright was born in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, July 6, 1827, son of Johnson and Mary (Bliss) Wright, who spent the span of their years in New York state. Johnson Wright was a farmer and tanner and also a shoe merchant. His father was Alpheus Wright. Clark A. Wright was reared on the home place, became a tanner and farmer, and in due time married. Two children, Leroy Smith and Mary Alice, were born. May 3, 1857, Clark A. Wright, with his wife and two children, started for the West to establish for themselves a home in the wilderness. July 15, 1857, they reached the Crow river, three miles south of Delano, in Wright county. He chose for his location, sections 26 and 27, Franklin township, buying out the homestead rights of Oswald Spoon, paying $300 in gold. On this place there had been built a crude log cabin. Around the cabin a small clearing had been made. With this beginning they established their home, and it was not many years before the place became one of the best farms in the vicinity. The land was cleared and broken, and from time to time suitable buildings were erected. He later added fifty acres more, making 210 acres. Mr. Wright was a man of influence and served as supervisor of Franklin township. He was one of the first school officers in his district and took an active part therein. In this district Eliza Woolsey, a sister of Mrs. Clark A. Wright, taught the first school, this being the first in Franklin township. Miss Woolsey married Fletcher W. Ingerson and now lives in Minneapolis. Mr. Wright, who was a Universalist in faith, founded the Union Sunday School and was its superintendent for many years. He was one of the charter members of the Masonic lodge at Watertown, in Carver county, this state. During all these years of activity, Mr. Wright had been studying medicine. In 1874 he went to Howard Lake and opened an office for the practice of that profession. Since 1886, when he left Howard Lake, he has made his home in several different places. Mr. Wright married Myra Woolsey, born September 1, 1826, in Ohio, daughter of Joseph and Mehitable (Brown) Woolsey. Mrs. Wright died in 1896 at the age of seventy. The Woolsey family came of old New England stock, and some of the members have in their possession a mate to the wineglass deposited in the cornerstone of Trinity Church, of New York City.