Notes
Wright, John R.
John went with his family to Randolph County, Indiana, c.1816. According to the White River, Indiana Quaker Monthy Meeting records, on
4/4/1829, John's brothers Jacob, Abraham, Benjamin, Isaac, Daniel, sister Sarah and John himself "gct" (granted certificate to) Vermillion County,
Ill, from the White River MM in Randolph County, Indiana. This is where he must have met Keturah and married her. and then went back to Indiana
when Miami County was opened to development (Records there "early land entry - sect. 24 to John R. Wright. (See map in addendum) His oldest son,
William, b. 1830 (our direct ancestor) was born in IL. One census record (1840) shows a Mary born in Ohio (could this be Keturah's sister?) living
with them. James (b.1836) and Eber (b.1837) are listed as born in Indiana.
In a book "History of Vermilion County, IL, Vol. 1": Eli Thornton
built a water mill on the Little Vermillion at Wright - Cook ford in 1837" (Eli is John's father-in-law). Other books noted the river may
have dried up. (It appears the Wright's were often involved in building mills, dams, etc.)
The marriage record of John R. Wright and Caturah (Keturah) is
indexed at the Vermilion Co. Court House - - it was also verified through marriage lists at the Illiana Historical and Genealogical Society in
Danville, IL. (Birth records are not available) and the clerk advised we would find little additional information by ordering a copy of the
marriage record. Caturah (Keturah) Thornton, wife of John R. was definitely a Quaker. John and Keturah likely left the Quakers or were
'removed' for marrying outside of the church, as there were no groups in Miami County. John eventually became a member of the Presbyterian Church
in New London MN and his sons from his second marriage were also affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. However the obituary of his son
James C. (d.Idaho Springs, Co. 1898) states that James was born of "Good
old Quaker parents". (Keturah was buried in the Church of Christ (Christian) Cemetery in Concord, MN. in the Tilden area of the cemetery.
Perry Township in Miami County, Indiana was first settled in 1833.
It was then dense forest, which was subsequently cleared for farming. Names of some of the early settlers from an early history book in the
Genealogical Museum in Peru, Indiana include James Fiers (see William Fiers who married a daughter of Eber, William's brother). James is very
likely Rebecca Wright Dilley's first husband). Other names include: Willis Hill (see Levi Hill) and Jacob Kessling, These names appear later
as husbands' of Tilden daughters. In one record a John R. Wright is living on the William Deed farm in Perry Township, Miami County. In the
1850 census John lists assets of $2815.00. A John Wright is listed as a delegate to the Democratic Congressional Convention from Perry Twp.
(1847). (Note, there was another John Wright in Miami County so some uncertainty about which one was the delegate -see scrapbook)
John and Keturah moved with their sons William and James to
Concord, Dodge County, MN (where Keturah (Caturah) died and then John moved to New London (Monongalia/Kandiyohi County) and there he later
married Rebecca (Ayers) Fiers (later Dilley). Rebecca was previously married and had children that possibly John adopted as census records
show them with the name Wright. However, Rebecca and John had two children of their own, one of whom is John E. Wright who was accused of
shooting his wife. (See notes under John E ). In a History of Concord (MN) John Wright is not mentioned, although his son William Wright and
several of the Tilden's are (see scrapbook).
In a Master's thesis by John G. Rice, "Patterns of Ethnicity", March
1973, printed by University of Minnesota Dept of Geography, the author notes that considerable English and Irish settlement took place in the
New London area, as well as Swedish and Norweigan. Some other books of interest regarding Kandiyohi Co.(KC) are "Round Robin of KC" by Karl
Thurn and "Illustrated History of KC" by Victor Lawson and J. Emil Nelson. In a section "New London-other early settlers", E.A. Wright,
(Eber) son of John R. Wright is listed as dying in 1904. It states his daughter Ella Ramsett resides at Willmar. In one of the histories of KC
John Wright is listed as member of the first Board of School District No.6 (New London) established in 1866. The school was called "Pleasant
Hill" . He is also listed (in the "Centennial History of Kandiyohi Co.
1870-1970" p.35) as Probate Judge, Monongalia County 1887-89 (he died in 1889). (Monongalia Co. merged with Kandiyohi County.) New London
Township was first settled by the English and was the first town settled in Kandiyohi/Monongalia County. (See
scrapbook).
Efforts have been made to find John R.'s obituary, but newspapers
from New London and Willmar MN are missing for that time period. A copy of Joan's genealogy has been put on file with the Heritage Searchers of
Kandiyohi. His tombstone @@ Oakhill Cemetery in New London states he died in April 1889, age 84 years and 23 days - -" gone but not forgotten" is
inscribed on the stone. Joan has put his birth month as March because of information on the stone. His property in New London was near the Joe
Neer property and bridge. Joe Neer was born in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio in 1838, possibly a connection with Wrights there?
*A son of James L. Wright, son of Eber, is named Reuben, is that possibly
John's middle name?
Added from work done by Anne Elizabeth (Johnson) O'Leary:
The Maternal Great-Grandparents of Bertha Ramsett Johnson
John R Wright: We do not have the date of his birth, nor that of his
death. When he married he made his home near Marietta, Ohio, and later in Penn. They moved to Miami County, Indiana, where Eber Abraham was
born in 1837. They had three other sons, James, William and Solomon. His first wife was the mother of his sons. We do not
have her name
They moved from Miami County, Indiana, to New London, Kandiyohi County,
Minnesota,, in a covered wagon. They were early settlers there.
In the History of Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, by V. E. Lawson,
published in 1905, it was verified that John R. Wright lived at New London, but no biographical sketch of him is in this book.
His name is on a list of New London Township Homesteaders: John R. Wright, Section 11. October 20, 1871
On another list the Pleasent Hill School, District No. 6, was mentioned,
and also the fact that John R. Wright was the Treasurer-of this school district in 1873.
Abraham, Issac and Jacob Wright were John R. Wright's brother's. They
were over six feet tall,:and they lived to over eighty