Genealogy Data
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Birth : 1867 in New London (Kandyohi Co) Minnesota
Death : 1948 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Burial : Oak Hill Cemetery, New London, Minnesota
[joan'sfam.FTW]
John E. Wright is the half- brother of William Wright. At the time he was born, his half brother William was about 37 years old, so they never lived together, as William was already married to Mary Tilden and had established his own household.
On Sunday, April 29, 1919, John Wright and his wife Annie Pelkey had been visiting the Larson home at Green Lake (probably the Oliver Larson who owned the Interlochen Hotel and from whom George W. and Etta Johnson purchased the property which became our family's Green Lake home). An Oliver Larson (son?) was best man in Ella Mae and Harold Bennett's wedding in 1927. Upon coming home John Wright continued to drink and when shortly after midnight he saw a figure in the window, he took his rifle and shot at what he saw. It turned out to be his wife. He was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. When he was released he lived first with his old hired man, John Batterberry, and then alone at a home he built on Wright property East of New London (presumably the John R. Wright homestead) on the Crow River.
Etta Johnson kept in touch with him and when Joan was a child (c. 1930's) we took food and baked goods to him (Joyce and Joan had to stay in the car while the adults went in the house). This John Wright would be Wallace Pease and Etta Johnson's great half-uncle (half brother to William). Possibly John Wright's second family and his son William's children were raised more like cousins as they were similar in age, though a generation apart. John E. Wright died in a nursing home in Fergus Falls, where he went after his house burned in New London. For more information on John Wright see appended notes which include copies of newspaper articles and map of the New London area showing the Wright homestead. (Joyce Bennett Swanson provided much of this information).
In an E-Mail from Earl W. Leaf (leafhg@tds.net) a member of the Kandiyohi County "Heritage Seekers" (May 1998) he says John's wife was a Pelkey, originally Peltier or Peletier daughter of Moses Pelkey and Marie Dufresne. The Pelkey or Peltier ancestors were Acadian farmers in Nova Scotia, who were driven from their homes by the English in the 1700's and many ended up in Louisiana (causian's) (immortalized in Longfellow's EVANGELINE).
Parents:
Father: Wright, John R.Family:
Mother: Ayres, Rebecca
Marriage: 13 November 1890 in New London, Minnesota
Spouse:Pelkey, Anna
Death : 29 April 1919 in New London (Kandiyohi Co.) Minnesota
Burial : Paynesville, Minnesota
[joan'sfam.FTW]
(See John E. Wright for details of Anna's death). In one record of her death it states she spoke in French as she died and asked for a priest. Earl Leaf noted that her family were French Canadians.
There are many interesting stories in the lives of those represented here. Please help me add information, photos, or whatever you feel comfortable with.
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This page has been slightly reformatted and preserved in memory of its creator and my brother.
(aka Bruce Johnson)
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